Skip to main content
Psalmlog Logo
Read

Psalm 103:11

For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his loving kindness toward those who fear him.

9He will not always accuse; neither will he stay angry forever.
10He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor repaid us for our iniquities.
11For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his loving kindness toward those who fear him.
12As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
13Like a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him.
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →
← Psalm 103:10Psalm 103:12 →
Notice

The height of the heavens stretches your sense of God's loving kindness, while the closing words connect that kindness with reverence for him.

Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.

What does the height of the heavens help you grasp about God's loving kindness?

Write on this

How does kindness toward those who fear God shape your understanding of reverence?

Write on this

How do the surrounding words about forgiveness affect your reading of this vast kindness?

Write on this
Connect

Where else Scripture says this

12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.

This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Isaiah 55:9“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.Both compare the heavens' height above the earth with God's greatness: his loving kindness in the psalm, his ways and thoughts in Isaiah.
Psalm 57:10For your great loving kindness reaches to the heavens, and your truth to the skies.Both describe God's great loving kindness through the height of the heavens.
Psalm 117:2For his loving kindness is great toward us. The LORD’s faithfulness endures forever. Praise the LORD!Both declare the greatness of God's loving kindness toward people, rather than describing kindness as an abstract quality.
Luke 1:50His mercy is for generations and generations on those who fear him.Both name those who fear God as recipients of his kindness or mercy.
Psalm 36:5Your loving kindness, LORD, is in the heavens. Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.Both use the heavens to express the vastness of the LORD's loving kindness.
Psalm 103:17But the LORD’s loving kindness is from everlasting to everlasting with those who fear him, his righteousness to children’s children,Both speak of loving kindness toward those who fear the LORD, describing its greatness through height and its endurance through time.
Ephesians 2:4–7But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us,Both describe God's love as great and directed toward people.
Proverbs 25:3As the heavens for height, and the earth for depth, so the hearts of kings are unsearchable.Both use the heavens' height as a comparison, though Proverbs concerns kings' unsearchable hearts rather than God's kindness.
Lamentations 3:32For though he causes grief, yet he will have compassion according to the multitude of his loving kindnesses.Both speak of the abundance of God's loving kindness, with Lamentations naming compassion amid grief.
Ephesians 3:18–19may be strengthened to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and height and depth,Both use the language of height; the supplied Ephesians excerpt does not yet name what is being measured.
Revelation 11:18The nations were angry, and your wrath came, as did the time for the dead to be judged, and to give your bondservants the prophets, their reward, as well as to …Both identify those who fear God as recipients of his favor: loving kindness in the psalm and reward in Revelation.
Job 22:12“Isn’t God in the heights of heaven? See the height of the stars, how high they are!Both draw attention to heaven's height, though Job's words concern God's position and the stars rather than his loving kindness.
Where this verse fits

Guilt and confession. gratitude. praise and worship.

What the Bible says about guilt →What the Bible says about gratitude →What the Bible says about worship →
One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

Read Psalm 103:9–13 and mark each expression of mercy

scriptureoncelight
Encouragement

The heavens supply the scale for God's kindness. In a passage that speaks of sins and forgiveness, his loving kindness toward those who fear him remains vast.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 103:11. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.

Keep goingPsalm 103 · the whole chapter with its connection mapPsalms · every chapterBuild a reading plan through Psalms

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).