The Meaning of Psalms 145:9 Explained

Psalms 145:9

KJV: The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.

YLT: Good is Jehovah to all, And His mercies are over all His works.

Darby: Jehovah is good to all; and his tender mercies are over all his works.

ASV: Jehovah is good to all; And his tender mercies are over all his works.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

The LORD  [is] good  to all: and his tender mercies  [are] over all his works. 

What does Psalms 145:9 Mean?

Context Summary

Psalms 145:1-9 - God's Unsearchable Greatness
This psalm is an acrostic, the verses beginning with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The couplet for the fourteenth letter, Nun, between Psalms 145:13-14, has no place in the text. Some versions have supplied the omission as follows: "The Lord is faithful in all His words and holy in all His works." This is virtually a repetition of Psalms 145:17.
The word all is characteristic of this psalm. It was the Te Deum of the Hebrew Church. The Jews said that its threefold repetition was the best preparation for the praises of the world to come. Speaking of this psalm and those following, Dr. Gilfillan says: "They are the Beulah of the Book; the sun shineth night and day. Coming at the close of all the prayerful, penitential, and mournful psalms, they unconsciously typify the joy and rest of glory." The theme of the psalm is God. He is great, Psalms 145:3; gracious, Psalms 145:8; good, Psalms 145:9; upholdeth, Psalms 145:14; is righteous, Psalms 145:17; is nigh, Psalms 145:18; preserved, Psalms 145:20. And the main aspect of His handiwork is the creation and maintenance of a universe of happy beings who subsist on His bountiful care. His tender mercies are over all His works. [source]

Chapter Summary: Psalms 145

1  David praises God for his fame
8  For his goodness
11  For his kingdom
14  For his providence
17  For his justice, holiness, and savings mercy

What do the individual words in Psalms 145:9 mean?

Good Yahweh [is] to all and His tender mercies [are] over all His works
טוֹב־ יְהוָ֥ה לַכֹּ֑ל וְ֝רַחֲמָ֗יו עַל־ כָּל־ מַעֲשָֽׂיו

טוֹב־  Good 
Parse: Adjective, masculine singular
Root: טָבַב 
Sense: good, pleasant, agreeable.
יְהוָ֥ה  Yahweh  [is] 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
לַכֹּ֑ל  to  all 
Parse: Preposition-l, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: כֹּל  
Sense: all, the whole.
וְ֝רַחֲמָ֗יו  and  His  tender  mercies  [are] 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine plural construct, third person masculine singular
Root: רַחַם 
Sense: womb.
עַל־  over 
Parse: Preposition
Root: עַל 
Sense: upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against.
מַעֲשָֽׂיו  His  works 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, third person masculine singular
Root: מַעֲשֶׂה  
Sense: deed, work.