Short answer: Psalm 145:9 declares that God's goodness has no narrow boundary: "The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works" (KJV). David is not making a claim only about believers. He says God's kindness extends across everything He has made — a truth that grounds both worship and hope.
The context: David's alphabet of praise
Psalm 145 is the last psalm in the Psalter attributed to David, and it carries the heading "David's Psalm of praise." It is an acrostic: successive verses begin with successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet, a structure that signals completeness — praise from A to Z.
The psalm's theme is God's greatness on display. David speaks of extolling God every day (v. 2), of one generation praising His works to another (v. 4), of His mighty acts and majesty (vv. 5–6). Verse 8 sets up verse 9 by echoing a formula that runs through the Old Testament: "The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy" (KJV) — language rooted in God's self-description to Moses in Exodus 34:6.
Verse 9 then draws the scope. Not just gracious — gracious to all.
What it means, phrase by phrase
"The LORD is good." Goodness is not one attribute among many for God; Scripture treats it as intrinsic to who He is. Psalm 119:68 says of God, "Thou art good, and doest good" (KJV) — being and acting held together.
"To all." The universal reach is the point. The Hebrew word is comprehensive. David is not qualifying it with "to all who deserve it" or "to all Israel." Jesus makes the same point directly: God "maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust" (Matthew 5:45, KJV).
"And his tender mercies are over all his works." The word behind "tender mercies" carries the sense of deep, womb-like compassion. "Over all his works" spreads it across the entire created order — the psalm goes on to say all God's works praise Him (v. 10) and that He gives food to every living thing in due season (vv. 15–16).
Theologians often connect this verse to what is called common grace: real kindness God shows to all people and all creation, distinct from saving grace given to those who trust Him. Christians differ on how the two relate — whether common grace is chiefly a restraint on evil, a genuine expression of God's benevolence toward all, or both. But few dispute that Psalm 145:9 asserts a goodness wider than the covenant community.
Cross-references
- Matthew 5:45 — sun and rain on the evil and the good alike.
- Acts 14:17 — God "left not himself without witness," giving rain and fruitful seasons.
- Exodus 34:6 — the LORD, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, abundant in goodness and truth.
- Psalm 100:5 — the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting.
- Lamentations 3:22–23 — His compassions fail not; they are new every morning.
- Psalm 145:15–16 — God opens His hand and satisfies the desire of every living thing.
How to apply it today
The first application is the hardest: believing it when your circumstances argue otherwise. Psalm 145:9 is a claim about God's character, not a running tally of your last twelve months. David's own life included betrayal, exile, and grief, and he still wrote the acrostic.
Second, it retrains attention. If God's tender mercies are over all His works, then the ordinary good things around you — food, sleep, a friend, sunlight, work that occupies your hands — are evidence, not background noise. Gratitude becomes accurate observation rather than forced positivity.
Third, it shapes how you view people outside your circle. If God is good to all, contempt for anyone becomes hard to sustain. Jesus grounds the command to love enemies in exactly this fact (Matthew 5:44–45). A person you find difficult is someone toward whom God is currently being kind.
One honest note: this verse does not erase the Bible's teaching about judgment or suffering — the same psalm ends by saying God preserves those who love Him and will destroy the wicked (v. 20). Faithful Christians hold both, and Scripture never asks us to resolve the tension by deleting either half.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does "good to all" mean everyone is saved? The verse is about God's goodness in His dealings with all creation, not about the final salvation of every individual. Psalm 145 itself distinguishes outcomes in verse 20. Most Christian traditions read verse 9 as describing God's universal kindness — often called common grace — while reserving questions of salvation for passages that address it directly.
How can God be good to all when there is so much suffering? Scripture does not treat this as an easy question; whole books (Job, Lamentations, many psalms) sit with it. Psalm 145:9 asserts God's character rather than denying pain, and the same Psalter contains Psalm 88, which ends in darkness. Christians have offered various answers, but the Bible's own pattern is to hold God's goodness and human suffering together rather than explain one away.
What are "tender mercies"? The Hebrew term conveys deep compassion, related to the word for a mother's womb — visceral, protective care rather than cool benevolence. The same word family appears in Exodus 34:6 and Lamentations 3:22, where God's compassions are said never to fail.
Is Psalm 145:9 talking about animals and creation too? "All his works" is broad, and the psalm makes it explicit a few verses later: God gives every living thing its food in due season and satisfies their desire (vv. 15–16). Other passages agree that God's care extends to creatures (Matthew 6:26; Psalm 104).