Psalms 145:4
in Psalms 145One generation will commend Your works to the next, and will proclaim Your mighty acts—
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
One generation shall laud thy works to another, And shall declare thy mighty acts.
KJV
One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.
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This verse in Psalms 145
Commentary
8 notes on this verseOne generation shall praise thy works to another. There shall be a tradition of praise: melt shall hand on the service, they shall make it a point to instruct their descendants in this hallowed exercise. We look back upon the experience of our fathers, and sing of it; even thus shall our sons learn praise from the Lord's works among ourselves. Let us see to it that we praise God before our children, and never make them think that his service is an unhappy one. And shall declare thy mighty acts.
This site's exposition
Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised
on Psalms 145:3-4
The greatness is called unsearchable, and the word is cheqer, an inquiry or a measuring out. Henry said that where the bottom cannot be found by searching, a man sits down at the brink and adores the depth. One generation commends the works to the next.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
For how great things besides has His boundless Goodness and illimitable Greatness made, which we do not know! When we lift the gaze of our eyes even to the heaven, and then recall it from sun, moon, and stars to the earth, and there is all this space where our sight can wander; beyond the heavens who can extend the eyesight of his mind, not to say of his flesh? So far then as His works are known to us, let us praise Him through His works. "Generation and generation shall praise Thy works" (ver. 4). Every generation shall praise Thy works. For perhaps every generation is meant by "generation and generation." ...Did he perchance mean to imply two generations by that repetition? For we are in this generation sons of God, we shall be in another generation sons of the Resurrection. Scripture hath called us "sons of the Resurrection;" the Resurrection itself it hath called Regeneration. "In the regeneration," it saith, "when the Son of Man shall be seated in His Majesty." So also in another place; "For they shall not marry, nor be given in marriage, for they are the sons of the Resurrection." Therefore "generation and generation shall praise Thy works. ...And they shall tell out Thine excellence." For neither shall they praise Thy works, save in order to "tell out Thine excellence." Boys at school are set to praise, and all such things are set before them to be praised, as God hath wrought: a mortal is set to praise the sun, the sky, the earth; to come to even lesser things, to praise a rose, or a laurel; all these are works of God: they are set, they are undertaken, they are praised: the works are lauded, of the Worker they are silent. I desire in the works to praise the Creator: I love not a thankless praiser. Dost thou praise what He hath made, and art silent of Him who made? In that which thou seest, what is it that thou praisest? […]
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
When we cannot, by searching, find the bottom, we must sit down at the brink, and adore the depth, Rom. xi. God is great, for, (1.) His majesty is glorious in the upper world, above the heavens, where he has set his glory; and when we are declaring his greatness we must not fail to speak of the glorious honour of his majesty, the splendour of the glory of his majesty (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
One generation shall praise thy works to another,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
One generation shall praise thy works to another. There shall be a tradition of praise: melt shall hand on the service, they shall make it a point to instruct their descendants in this hallowed exercise. We look back upon the experience of our fathers, and sing of it; even thus shall our sons learn praise from the Lord's works among ourselves. Let us see to it that we praise God before our children, and never make them think that his service is an unhappy one. And shall declare thy mighty acts. The generations shall herein unite: together they shall make up an extraordinary history. Each generation shall contribute its chapter, and all the generations together shall compose a volume of matchless character. David began with "I", but he has in this verse soon reached to an inconceivable multitude, comprehending all the myriads of our race of every age. The praise of the Lord enlarges the heart, and as it grows upon us our minds grow with it. God's works of goodness and acts of power make up a subject which all the eras of human story can never exhaust. A heart full of praise seems to live in all the centuries in delightful companionship with all the good. We are not afraid that the incense will ever cease to burn upon the altars of Jehovah: the priests die, but the adoration lives on. All glory be unto him who remains the same Lord throughout all generations.
One generation - Thy creating and redeeming acts are recorded in thy word; but thy wondrous providential dealings with mankind must be handed down by tradition, from generation to generation; for they are in continual occurrence, and consequently innumerable.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
One generation shall praise thy works ... - Shall praise thee on account of thy works or thy doings. That is, Thy praise shall be always kept up on the earth. See the notes at Isa 38:19; notes at Psa 19:2. One generation shall transmit the knowledge of thy works to another by praise - by hymns and psalms recording and celebrating thy praise. Successive generations of people shall take up the language of praise, and it shall thus be transmitted to the end of time. And shall declare thy mighty acts - Thy works of strength or power. God’s greatness - his infinity - is in itself a just ground of praise, for we should rejoice that there is One Infinite Eternal Being; and as all that greatness is employed in the cause of truth, of law, of good order, of justice, of kindness, of mercy, it should call forth continued praise in all parts of his dominions.
The words behind it
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| דּ֣וֹר | dor | generation | H1755 → | 167 times |
| לְ֭דוֹר | ledor | to generation | H1755 → | 167 times |
| יְשַׁבַּ֣ח | yeshabach | it will extol | H7623 → | 11 times |
| מַעֲשֶׂ֑יךָ | maaseikha | works your | H4639 → | 236 times |
| וּגְב֖וּרֹתֶ֣יךָ | ugevuroteikha | and mighty deeds your | H1369 → | 61 times |
| יַגִּֽידוּ׃ | yagidu | they will declare | H5046 → | 370 times |
דּ֣וֹרgeneration
dorH1755 →167 times
לְ֭דוֹרto generation
ledorH1755 →167 times
יְשַׁבַּ֣חit will extol
yeshabachH7623 →11 times
מַעֲשֶׂ֑יךָworks your
maaseikhaH4639 →236 times
וּגְב֖וּרֹתֶ֣יךָand mighty deeds your
ugevuroteikhaH1369 →61 times
יַגִּֽידוּ׃they will declare
yagiduH5046 →370 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 6:7And you shall teach them diligently to your children and speak of them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 11:19
Teach them to your children, speaking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
- Ephesians 6:4
Fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath; instead, bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
- Psalms 78:4–6
We will not hide them from their children, but will declare to the next generation the praises of the LORD and His might, and the wonders He has performed.
- 1 Peter 3:15
But in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give a defense to everyone who asks you the reason for the hope that is in you. But respond with gentleness and…
- Deuteronomy 4:9–10
Only be on your guard and diligently watch yourselves, so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen, and so that they do not slip from your heart as long as…
- Deuteronomy 11:19
Through
Psalms 71:18Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, until I proclaim Your power to the next generation, Your might to all who are to come.
it leads to
- Isaiah 46:4
Even to your old age, I will be the same, and I will bear you up when you turn gray. I have made you, and I will carry you; I will sustain you and…
- Psalms 78:4
We will not hide them from their children, but will declare to the next generation the praises of the LORD and His might, and the wonders He has performed.
- Psalms 71:9
Do not discard me in my old age; do not forsake me when my strength fails.
- Isaiah 46:4
Where this verse is studied
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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; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.