Psalms 145:17
in Psalms 145The LORD is righteous in all His ways and kind in all His deeds.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Jehovah is righteous in all his ways, And gracious in all his works.
KJV
The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.
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This verse in Psalms 145
Commentary
9 notes on this verseThe Lord is righteous in all his ways,.... Christ is righteous in all the ways of providence, in which he is jointly concerned with his Father: there are some of the ways of providence, which are now intricate and perplexed, are unsearchable and past finding out, and cannot be easily reconciled to the justice and faithfulness of God, respecting the prosperity of the wicked and the afflictions of the righteous; but these will before long be made manifest, and they will appear to be just and true.
This site's exposition
The LORD is righteous in all His ways
on Psalms 145:17-20
The LORD is called righteous and kind in everything He does. Verse 18 puts Him near everyone who calls on Him in truth, and Gill read that nearness as nearness of place and presence. Verse 20 keeps all who love Him and destroys all the wicked.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"Righteous is the Lord in all His ways, and holy in all His works" (ver. 17). Both when He smiteth and when He healeth, He is righteous, and in Him unrighteousness is not. Finally, all His saints, when set in the midst of tribulation, have first praised His righteousness, and so sought His blessings. They first have said, "What Thou doest is righteous." So did Daniel ask, and other holy men: "Righteous are Thy judgments: rightly have we suffered: deservedly have we suffered." They laid not unrighteousness to God, they laid not to Him injustice and folly. First they praised Him scourging, and so they felt Him feeding.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
) the Lord is righteous in all his ways, and not unrighteous in any of them; he is holy, and acts like himself, with a perfect rectitude in all his works. In all the acts of government he is just, injurious to none, but administering justice to all.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works. His ways and works are both worthy to be praised. Jehovah cannot be unjust or impure. Let his doings be what they may, they are in every case righteous and holy. This is the confession of the godly who follow his ways, and of the gracious who study his works. Whatever God is or does must be right.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
holy . . . works--literally, "merciful" or "kind, goodness" (Ps 144:2) is the corresponding noun. righteous--in a similar relation of meaning to "righteousness" (Ps 145:7).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works. His ways and works are both worthy to be praised. Jehovah cannot be unjust or impure. Let his doings be what they may, they are in every case righteous and holy. This is the confession of the godly who follow his ways, and of the gracious who study his works. Whatever God is or does must be right. In the salvation of his people he is as righteous and holy as in any other of his ways and works: he has not manifested mercy at the expense of justice, but the rather he has magnified his righteousness by the death of his Son.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
The Lord is righteous - It was the similarity of this to the omitted verse, which should have been the fourteenth, that caused it to be omitted.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The Lord is righteous in all his ways - In his own character; in his laws; in his providential dealings; in his arrangements for the redemption and salvation of man. In his own character he is what it is desirable that a God should be; in all his laws he ordains that only which it is desirable should be enacted; in all his dealings with people he does that which it is desirable should be done. He violates no right; he wrongs no one; he demands of no one a service which would be unjust; he makes no arrangements for pardon and salvation which it is not best should be made. It is much for a man to be able to say in all that occurs to him under the divine administration, “It is right;” it is much for a man to have such confidence in God as to be able to feel that all he does in respect to nations is the best thing that could be done. Compare Psa 89:14, note; Psa 97:2, note. And holy in all his works - Margin, merciful, or bountiful. The Hebrew word is merciful. The idea seems to be that righteousness and mercy are equally consulted in his arrangements; that they meet together, and act harmomoniously in the divine plans. Compare the notes at Psa 85:10.
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| צַדִּ֣יק | tzadik | [is] righteous | H6662 → | 206 times |
| יְ֭הוָה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| בְּכָל־ | bekhol | in all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| דְּרָכָ֑יו | derakhav | ways his | H1870 → | 707 times |
| וְ֝חָסִ֗יד | vechasid | and faithful | H2623 → | 33 times |
| בְּכָל־ | bekhol | in all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| מַעֲשָֽׂיו׃ | maasav | works his | H4639 → | 236 times |
צַדִּ֣יק[is] righteous
tzadikH6662 →206 times
יְ֭הוָהYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
בְּכָל־in all
bekholH3605 →5413 times
דְּרָכָ֑יוways his
derakhavH1870 →707 times
וְ֝חָסִ֗ידand faithful
vechasidH2623 →33 times
בְּכָל־in all
bekholH3605 →5413 times
מַעֲשָֽׂיו׃works his
maasavH4639 →236 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Deuteronomy 32:4He is the Rock, His work is perfect; all His ways are just. A God of faithfulness without injustice, righteous and upright is He.
it leads to
- Psalms 18:30–31
As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless. He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.
- Psalms 92:15
to proclaim, “The LORD is upright; He is my Rock, and in Him there is no unrighteousness.”
- Isaiah 26:4
Trust in the LORD forever, because GOD the LORD is the Rock eternal.
- Psalms 18:2
The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer. My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
- 2 Samuel 22:31–32
As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless. He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.
- Psalms 18:30–31
Through
Psalms 103:6The LORD executes righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.
it leads to
- Psalms 12:5
“For the cause of the oppressed and for the groaning of the needy, I will now arise,” says the LORD. “I will bring safety to him who yearns.”
- Psalms 9:9
The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.
- Psalms 12:5
Through
Zephaniah 3:5The LORD within her is righteous; He does no wrong. He applies His justice morning by morning; He does not fail at dawn, yet the unjust know no shame.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 32:4
He is the Rock, His work is perfect; all His ways are just. A God of faithfulness without injustice, righteous and upright is He.
- Deuteronomy 32:4
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Psalms
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 145; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 7; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.