Psalm 145:7 means that God’s people keep alive the memory of his goodness and speak of it out loud, turning remembrance into song. The verse is part of a psalm of praise attributed to David, and it describes a community that passes God’s kindness from one voice to the next. It is a call and a description at once: this is what God’s people do, and this is what they should keep doing.
They will utter the memory of your great goodness, and will sing of your righteousness.
Psalm 145:7 (WEB)
What Psalm 145:7 Means
The phrase “utter the memory of your great goodness” pictures people speaking aloud about something they have not forgotten. Memory here is not nostalgia. It is the active recalling of what God has already done, so that past mercy shapes present trust. The word “great” tells us the goodness in view is abundant and far larger than any single blessing.
The second half, “sing of your righteousness,” moves from speech to song. Righteousness in the psalms refers to God’s faithfulness to his character and promises, his doing what is right and keeping his word. Singing about it means letting that trustworthiness become the theme of worship, not just a fact to be acknowledged.
The verse does not promise that every believer will feel joyful at every moment, or that remembering will always come easily. It describes a pattern of worship and testimony that the faithful practice. It is a description of what praise looks like when it is healthy, rooted in God’s track record rather than in the mood of the day.
The Context of Psalm 145:7
Psalm 145 is the last of David’s acrostic psalms in the Psalter, arranged so each verse begins with the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Its tone is steady, expansive praise. The psalm moves outward from the king’s personal praise in verses 1 and 2 to every generation and every creature. Verse 7 sits in the middle of this widening circle, where the praise is being handed down.
Just before verse 7, the psalmist says that one generation will commend God’s works to another, and right after it he says the Lord is gracious and merciful and that the Lord is good to all. Read in that setting, the memory and song of verse 7 are not private devotion. They are the means by which God’s character is taught to the next generation and recognized across the world, so the goodness described in verses 8 and 9 becomes something the community knows and sings about together.
Key Phrases in Psalm 145:7
Psalm 145:4
One generation will commend your works to another, and will declare your mighty acts.
(WEB)
This verse sets up the handing down of God’s works from one generation to another, which is exactly the pattern verse 7 continues. Reading them together shows that remembering God’s goodness is a shared responsibility across the years.
Psalm 103:2
Praise the LORD, my soul, and don’t forget all his benefits…
(WEB)
This verse warns against forgetting God’s benefits, which is the opposite of what verse 7 calls for. Pairing the two makes clear that deliberate remembrance is a discipline the psalmists considered essential to a healthy faith.
A Short Prayer From Psalm 145:7
Lord, you have been good to me in ways I have often forgotten. Help me to remember your kindness, especially on the days when my thoughts run only to my worries. Let my mouth speak of what you have done, and let my heart sing of your faithfulness to every promise you have made. Teach me to tell my children and my friends what I have seen you do, so that they too can know your goodness. May my remembering and my singing point others to you. Amen.
