Bible Strands
Psalms 148:4
Praise Him, O highest heavens, and you waters above the skies.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist issues a direct command to the highest heavens and the waters above the skies during a broader summons for all celestial bodies to worship God.
The words — הַֽ֭לְלוּ/הוּ (hallu/hu) translates to praise/him, and מֵ/עַ֬ל (me/'al) translates to from/above.
The thread — The phrase "highest heavens" echoes Deuteronomy 10:14 and 1 Kings 8:27, while the "waters above the skies" directly recalls the separation described in Genesis 1:7.
Why it lands — The text commands created realms to direct praise to their Creator, establishing that worship belongs to God alone rather than to the physical cosmos itself.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens.
Cross-references
- 1 Kings 8:27 But will God indeed dwell upon the earth? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain You, much less this temple I have built.
- Genesis 1:7 So God made the expanse and separated the waters beneath it from the waters above. And it was so.
- Deuteronomy 10:14 Behold, to the LORD your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, and the earth and everything in it.
- Nehemiah 9:6 You alone are the LORD. You created the heavens, the highest heavens with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to all things, and the host of heaven worships You.
- Genesis 7:11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, on the seventeenth day of the second month, all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened.
- Psalms 68:33 to Him who rides upon the highest heavens of old; behold, His mighty voice resounds.
- Psalms 104:3 laying the beams of His chambers in the waters above, making the clouds His chariot, walking on the wings of the wind.
- Psalms 113:6 He humbles Himself to behold the heavens and the earth.
- 2 Corinthians 12:2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of it I do not know, but God knows.