Psalm 145:3

Psalm 145:3, in plain English

God is so incredible that His greatness cannot be measured or fully understood, and He deserves the highest praise because of it.

Why it's here

After making personal commitments, the psalmist shifts to declaring a universal truth: God's magnitude is beyond human comprehension. This isn't doubt—it's awe. He's saying, 'The more you study God, the more you realize how much you don't know.'

Who's speaking

David, now speaking as a theologian reflecting on God's nature.

Where it sits in the story

This captures the tension that runs through Scripture: God invites us to know Him intimately, yet He remains mysterious and infinite. Job wrestled with this. The Apostle Paul marveled at it. It's the healthy humility that should mark anyone who truly encounters God.

The scholarly reading

A formal theological affirmation: God's magnitude is intellectually overwhelming and transcends human comprehension or exhaustion.

Language and setting

The declaration of divine greatness (גָּדוֹל, gadol) shifts from first-person vow to third-person theological statement. The phrase 'greatly to be praised' (מְאֹד לַשָּׁבַח, meod la-shavach) employs superlative intensification characteristic of hymnic literature. The assertion that God's greatness is 'unsearchable' (אֵין חֵקֶר, ein cheqer—literally without investigation or fathoming) invokes apophatic theology—what we cannot comprehend about God's nature. This language resonates with Job's theodicy and the later Kabbalistic tradition's emphasis on divine transcendence.

Voice

The psalmist now speaking as theological authority, inviting assent to metaphysical truth.

Significance

This formulation positions human praise within the vast asymmetry between creature and Creator—a central theme from Isaiah's visions (Chapter 40, the incomparability passage) through the Chalcedonian Christology's affirmation of divine mystery.

1I will exalt You, my God and King; I will bless Your name forever and ever.

2Every day I will bless You, and I will praise Your name forever and ever.

3Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised; His greatness is unsearchable.

4One generation will commend Your works to the next, and will proclaim Your mighty acts—

5the glorious splendor of Your majesty. And I will meditate on Your wondrous works.

Read all of Psalm 145 — David's last psalm of praise. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised. His greatness is unsearchable — but David searches anyway.