Commentary - Psalm 145:8-9

Bird's-eye view

This portion of David's great alphabetic psalm of praise continues to declare the character of God. Having just spoken of the majesty and glory of God's kingdom, the psalmist now turns to the moral attributes of that King. These are not abstract qualities, but are the very grounds of our worship and the foundation of our hope. This section is a direct quotation and expansion of God's self-revelation to Moses in Exodus 34:6-7. God is not a remote, unknowable deity; He has revealed Himself, and He has revealed Himself as a God of grace, compassion, and steadfast love. The praise here moves from the specific dealings of God with His people to His universal goodness over all creation, providing a comprehensive picture of His benevolent reign.

What we have here is a distillation of the gospel. God's character is the ultimate reality upon which the universe is built. He is not capricious or moody. He is slow to anger, abounding in love. This is the bedrock. But this goodness is not a sentimental, universalist mush. It is the goodness of a holy King who rules all things. His compassion extends over all His works, but this compassion is what establishes the moral framework of the world, a framework that includes both blessing for the righteous and eventual judgment for the wicked. The psalmist is teaching us to see the world as it truly is, under the governance of a good and gracious God.

Outline

Context In Psalms

Psalm 145 is the last of the acrostic psalms, where each verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. This structure lends a sense of completeness and order to the praise being offered. The psalm is titled "A Psalm of praise. Of David." and it is the only psalm to bear this specific title, highlighting its central theme. The psalm is a majestic crescendo of worship, celebrating God's greatness, His mighty acts, and His eternal kingdom. Verses 8-9 sit in the heart of this psalm, grounding the external acts of God in His internal character. The praise is not for raw power alone, but for power wielded by a King who is gracious, compassionate, and good. This section echoes one of the most central confessional statements in the Old Testament, God's revelation of His name to Moses on Mount Sinai (Ex. 34:6-7), a theme repeated in Numbers 14:18, Nehemiah 9:17, Psalm 86:15, and Joel 2:13. This shows that the core identity of Yahweh, as understood by Israel, was His covenantal love and mercy.

Verse by Verse Commentary

Verse 8

Yahweh is gracious and compassionate; Slow to anger and great in lovingkindness.

The psalmist begins with a fourfold description of God's essential nature, and it is a direct echo of God's own self-disclosure. This is not what we think God might be like; this is what He has told us He is like.

First, He is gracious. This means He is inclined to give favor and blessing that is not earned or deserved. Grace is God's unmerited favor. It is the fountainhead of our salvation. If God were not gracious, our only expectation would be judgment. But He is, by nature, a giving God.

Second, He is compassionate, or full of compassion. This speaks to the tender, motherly pity God has for His creatures in their misery and weakness. It is not a distant, detached benevolence, but a deep, heartfelt mercy. He feels for His people in their affliction. This is the attribute that moved God to send His Son.

Third, He is slow to anger. This does not mean that God is never angry. The Bible is replete with examples of God's wrath against sin and rebellion. But His anger is not like our petty, hair-trigger tempers. It is a slow, deliberate, and righteous indignation. He is long-suffering, patient, giving men space and time to repent. He puts up with an astonishing amount of provocation from a rebellious world, and from His own people. This slowness to anger is what keeps the world from being consumed in a moment.

Fourth, He is great in lovingkindness. The Hebrew word here is hesed, a rich term that speaks of covenant faithfulness, steadfast love, and loyal mercy. This is not a generic niceness. This is God's unbreakable commitment to His covenant people. His love is not fickle; it is great, abundant, and inexhaustible. It is the love that pursues us, keeps us, and will never let us go.

Verse 9

Yahweh is good to all, And His compassions are over all His works.

Here the psalmist broadens the scope. The covenant love of God, His hesed, is for His people. But His general goodness extends to every creature He has made. Yahweh is good to all. This is what theologians call common grace. The sun shines on the evil and the good, and the rain falls on the just and the unjust (Matt. 5:45). The unbeliever who enjoys a good meal, the beauty of a sunset, or the love of his family is enjoying a good gift from a God he refuses to acknowledge. Every breath an atheist takes is a gift of grace from the God he denies.

This goodness is universal. It is not that God feels the same way about the reprobate as He does about His elect, but He is genuinely good to all. There is no person on earth who has not received countless blessings from His hand. This universal goodness makes their rebellion all the more heinous. They take His gifts and use them to fuel their war against Him.

And His compassions are over all His works. The word for compassions is the same root as in verse 8. It is a tender mercy. God's tender care extends to the entirety of His creation. This includes the animal kingdom, the mountains, the seas, everything. He provides for the sparrow and clothes the lily. This is not pantheism; it is the doctrine of providence. The entire created order is upheld and sustained by the tender, moment-by-moment care of its Creator. This compassion over all His works is what will ultimately lead to the restoration of all things, when the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption (Rom. 8:21).

So we see a beautiful balance. God has a particular, saving, covenantal love for His chosen people. But He also has a general, universal goodness and compassion that extends to every person and every thing He has made. Our worship should reflect this. We praise Him for our salvation in Christ, and we praise Him for the beauty of a mountain stream, for they both flow from the same good and gracious heart.

Application

First, this passage should be a source of immense comfort and assurance for the believer. Your God is not a tyrant. He is gracious, compassionate, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. When you sin, you should not run from Him in terror, but run to Him in repentance, knowing that this is His character. He is more willing to forgive than you are to ask. Rest in His hesed love for you in Christ.

Second, we are called to imitate the God we worship. Are you gracious to those who have wronged you? Are you compassionate toward the suffering? Are you slow to anger when provoked, or do you fly off the handle? Is your love for others steadfast and loyal? We are to be mirrors of God's character to the world. We have received grace, so we must be agents of grace.

Third, this passage should cultivate in us a profound sense of gratitude for common grace. Do not take the simple pleasures of life for granted. The food you eat, the air you breathe, the beauty you see, these are all gifts from a good God. Thank Him for them. Acknowledging God's goodness in all things is a powerful antidote to grumbling and discontentment. It trains us to see the world as it is: a theater of God's glory, overflowing with His goodness.

Finally, recognize that God's goodness and patience have a purpose. For the unbeliever, God's slowness to anger is a space granted for repentance (2 Pet. 3:9). But it will not last forever. The day is coming when the patience of God will give way to the judgment of God. Therefore, we must urge all to be reconciled to this good and gracious God through His Son, Jesus Christ, before that day arrives. His universal goodness is an invitation, but it is an invitation with an expiration date.