Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 145:6
And [men] shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts: and I will declare thy greatness.
6. Jehovah, Who is “the great, mighty, and terrible God” (Deu 10:17), manifests Himself not only in ‘mighty acts’ of deliverance ( Psa 145:4), but in ‘terrible acts’ of judgement, which inspire His enemies with terror, and His people with reverence. Cp. Psa 65:5. Might is a different word from that in Psa 145:4 ; Psa 145:12, and may be rendered strength, to bring out the connexion of the two words with the epithets strong and mighty in Psa 24:8.
thy greatness ] So the Q’r, as in Psa 145:3. But the K’thibh, ‘ great deeds,’ suits the parallelism better. Cp. 1Ch 17:19; 1Ch 17:11 (R.V.).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts – The force, the power of those things done by thee which are suited to inspire fear or reverence. The great power displayed in those acts shall be a ground or reason for celebrating thy praise. The manifestations of that power will so deeply impress the minds of people, that they will be led to speak of them.
And I will declare thy greatness – Hebrew, And thy greatness, I will declare it. In respect to that, I will recount it, or I will make it known to others.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 145:6-7
And men shall speak of the might of Thy terrible acts: and I will declare Thy greatness.
How the unspeakable is spoken of
Various are the ways in which men speak of the Lord. There is an ascending scale in the four sentences of our text. We hear–
I. The awestruck talk. Men shall . . . terrible acts. There have been times m human history when men have thus spoken. As often the flood, the destruction of Sodom, the judgments on Egypt, on Canaan. So, too, in regard to Nineveh, Babylon. When such acts are abroad turn them into prayer that men may learn Gods lesson from them. Such acts leave deep impress; the boldest blasphemers are silenced then.
II. The bold discourse. And I will declare Thy greatness. After the many have spoken in awe I will deliver my soul with courage. It is the right time for this. I heard it said of a certain preacher by one who was no ill judge, though a simple countryman, I have heard many preachers, but I never heard one that seemed to make God so great as that man does. That was high praise–too little deserved in our day. All divinity is now to be shaped according to man, and from mans point of view. Men are such wonderful beings in this nineteenth century that we are called upon to tone down the Gospel to the spirit of the age–that is, to the fashions and follies of human thought as they vary from day to day. This, by Gods help, we will never do. But after the awestruck people talking of Gods mighty acts, and then the child of God coming in with his personal testimony, we have–
III. The grateful outpouring of thankful spirits. They shall abundantly utter the memory of Thy great goodness. The Hebrew word tells of a bubbling up, as of a full fountain, a springing well. Did you ever tell the story of your life to anybody to the full? Did you ever write it? I am sometimes not a little amused, certainly not surprised, when I get, as I did this week, a letter upon foolscap, twelve sheets, twenty-four pages, all filled up with the story of a man I never saw, who lives far away in the backwoods. Nothing will do but he must tell somebody or other what God has done for him, and he has selected me to hear it. But I like the instinct that makes a man feel, I must tell what the Lord hath done for me.
IV. Listen to the select song. It is of Thy righteousness. David says in Psa 51:1-19. that he will sing aloud of this. Is it not a strange choice? Gods righteousness is a terror to many. But see how Gods righteousness is preceded and succeeded by mention of His goodness. It is righteous mercy and merciful righteousness. What a horror it would be if we had an unrighteous God. But He is righteous in all that He reveals, commands, decrees, does; in all His judgments, but especially in Christ Jesus. To sing of Gods righteousness is in our day one chief mark of real conversion. If we were more sanctified we should be less tempted to cavil at the righteousness of God. Here is a man who takes down his Bible, and he reads, These shall go away into everlasting punishment. Cant bear it, says he. It is because you do not know the mind of God fully, or else, terrible as it is, you would say, It must be right if God determines it. The modern men blot out from Gods Word what they like, or they lay it aside altogether. But when the soul is brought to know God it does not question His Word or His doings any more. Men dream, and then assert their visions as truth. If there be a larger hope, so be it, but let me not preach it as a doctrine. Let us each learn to say, I will sing of Thy righteousness. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
6. terrible actswhich producedread or fear.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And [men] shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts,…. The terrible things of Christ, which his right hand has taught him, and his mighty power has performed; such as the destruction of a disobedient and ungodly world by a flood, to whom he preached by his Spirit in the days of Noah; the burning of Sodom and Gomorrah by raining on them fire and brimstone from the Lord out of heaven; and the dreadful things he did in Egypt and at the Red sea by the hands of Moses; these, men or saints of the former dispensation, in, before, and after the times of David, could speak of: there are others done by him on the cross, as the bruising the serpent’s head, destroying his works, and him himself with his principalities and powers; and at the time of his sufferings, when the sun was darkened at noon day, the earth quaked, the rocks were split, the vail of the temple rent in twain, and graves opened, which threw the centurion and his soldiers into a panic that watched Jesus on the cross; and at his resurrection, when was a great earthquake also, and angels appeared, which made the keepers shake and tremble; and in a few years followed the terrible destruction of the Jewish nation, city, and temple, for the rejection of the Messiah; as also of Rome Pagan in a few ages after that; which are things besides the others that men under the Gospel dispensation can speak of: and there are others yet to be done, terrible to the kings of the earth, as the destruction of antichrist and all the antichristian states, the burning of Rome, the fall of the tenth part of the great city, or Romish jurisdiction, and also of the cities of the nations by an earthquake, and the downfall of all kingdoms and states, to make way for the everlasting kingdom of Christ. Now the power of Christ, as the mighty God, is seen in all these things, which show his eternal power and Godhead, and that with him is terrible majesty; and these are to be spoken of by good men to the terror of the wicked, and to command a proper awe and reverence of Christ in the minds of others;
and I will declare thy greatness; the greatness of his person, offices, and grace, as well as he could, being unsearchable,
[See comments on Ps 145:3].
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(6) Thy greatness.Or, according to the written text, greatnesses. So Aquila and Jerome. The parallelism is decidedly in favour of the plural.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 145:6. And men shall speak So shall men speak of the might of thy awful doings, when I have declared thy greatness. Mudge, Houbigant, Bishop Hare, and others, read the 5th verse they shall speak; and so on in the plural.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Psa 145:6 And [men] shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts: and I will declare thy greatness.
Ver. 6. And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts ] Those that will not talk of thy bounty shall be made to say, Oh the severity of God!
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
And men = And they. See Structure (4-7, above).
terrible. See note on Psa 111:9.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
And men: Psa 22:22, Psa 22:23, Psa 22:27, Psa 22:31, Psa 98:2, Psa 98:3, Psa 113:3, Psa 126:2, Psa 126:3, Jos 2:9-11, Jos 9:9, Jos 9:10, Ezr 1:2, Jer 50:28, Dan 3:28, Dan 3:29, Dan 6:25-27, Hab 2:14
I will declare thy greatness: Heb. thy greatness I will declare it, Psa 92:1, Psa 92:2, Psa 107:21, Psa 107:22, Psa 107:31, Psa 107:32
Reciprocal: Exo 34:10 – a terrible Deu 3:24 – thy greatness 2Sa 7:23 – great things 1Ch 16:8 – make Job 37:14 – consider Psa 47:2 – is terrible Psa 78:4 – praises Psa 92:4 – General Psa 119:27 – so shall I talk Psa 124:6 – who hath not Psa 145:12 – make known Psa 150:2 – for his mighty Nah 1:7 – Lord Joh 12:17 – people Rev 15:3 – Great
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
145:6 And [men] shall speak of the might of thy {d} terrible acts: and I will declare thy greatness.
(d) Of your terrible judgments against the wicked.