Bible Strands
Psalms 69:34
Let heaven and earth praise Him, the seas and everything that moves in them.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist, speaking to God and the gathered community, issues a universal call to praise immediately after noting that the Lord listens to the needy and captive people. This command functions as a bridge between a plea for deliverance and the subsequent promise that God will save Zion and rebuild Judah.
The words — The Hebrew imperative יְֽ֭הַלְלוּ (Ye.ha.lu) translates literally as "may they praise" or "let them praise," directing the summons outward. It governs the coordinated subjects שָׁמַ֣יִם (sha.Ma.yim, "heaven") and אָ֑רֶץ ('A.retz, "earth") to establish the commanded scope.
The thread — The text commands heaven and earth to praise God, a motif repeated in Isaiah 49:13 where creation is told to rejoice because the Lord has comforted His people. It aligns with Psalm 96:11, which calls the heavens, earth, and sea to resound, and Psalm 150:6, which extends the praise mandate to everything possessing breath.
Why it lands — The verse requires the reader to acknowledge that worship is not confined to human participants but encompasses all created order. It demands a shift in focus from personal circumstance to a cosmos summoned to recognize divine action.
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
Let the heaven and earth praise him, the seas, and every thing that moveth therein.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 49:13 Shout for joy, O heavens; rejoice, O earth; break forth in song, O mountains! For the LORD has comforted His people, and He will have compassion on His afflicted ones.
- Psalms 150:6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! Hallelujah!
- Psalms 96:11 Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice; let the sea resound, and all that fills it.
- Isaiah 55:12 You will indeed go out with joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.
- Psalms 148:1 Hallelujah! Praise the LORD from the heavens; praise Him in the highest places.
- Isaiah 44:22 I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like a mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.
- Psalms 98:7 Let the sea resound, and all that fills it, the world, and all who dwell in it.
- Revelation 7:11 And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. And they fell facedown before the throne and worshiped God,
- Genesis 1:20 And God said, “Let the waters teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the sky.”