What Does Psalm 75:1 Mean in the King James?

To the chief Musician, Al-taschith, A Psalm or Song of Asaph. Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks, unto thee do we give thanks: for that thy name is near thy wondrous works declare.
Psalm 75:1 · KJV
The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

God’s name is near as nature made legible: the wonders themselves are telling you who God is.

God’s nature is close to you, and what God does makes that closeness readable. Your repeated thanks are a present acknowledgment of a nearness already speaking through wonders.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

The belief that God’s nature is distant or unknowable dissolves here: the name is near, and the wonders are already declaring it.

קָרוֹב

qarov

GROWS FROM

קרב

q-r-b

Approach; draw near.

The word qārōv (⁨קָרוֹב⁩, near) carries the movement of coming close. The verse presents God’s name, God’s nature, as within reach, not as a distant label.

ALSO GROWS

qarav: To approach or draw near.

קָרַב

The shared root makes nearness a movement toward relationship, not merely a description of distance.

qorban: Drawing near.

קָרְבָּן

This branch carries the same movement of approach, echoing the verse’s claim that God’s name is near.

הוֹדִינוּ

hodinu from yadah

GROWS FROM

ידה

y-d-h

Acknowledge, confess, praise, or give thanks.

The repeated hodinu (⁨הוֹדִינוּ⁩, we give thanks) comes from yādāh (⁨יָדָה⁩, acknowledge or praise). The thanks here are recognition directed toward God, as the wonders disclose the nature being acknowledged.

ALSO GROWS

todah: Thanksgiving; acknowledgment.

תּוֹדָה

This related word keeps gratitude connected to recognizing what is present.

Yehudah: Judah; associated with praise or thanksgiving.

יְהוּדָה

The name shares the praise-root, showing how acknowledgment can be carried even in a name.

יְסַפְּרוּ

yisapperu they recount

GROWS FROM

ספר

s-p-r

Count, recount, or tell.

“declare” in this verse is yisapperu they recount. The verb yisapperu (⁨יְסַפְּרוּ⁩, they recount or tell) comes from a root that carries both counting and recounting. God’s wonders are presented as testimony: their telling makes the nearness of God’s nature perceptible.

ALSO GROWS

sefer: Book or scroll.

סֵפֶר

A sefer preserves what is recounted, giving the telling of wonders a lasting form.

mispar: Number or count.

מִסְפָּר

The counting sense of the root sits beneath its storytelling sense, as if the wonders are registered one by one.

God’s nearness becomes legible when God’s character is proclaimed through acts and words.

That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works.
Psalm 26:7 · KJVThanksgiving and recounting wonders appear together, making what God does a telling of God’s nature.
And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,
Exodus 34:6 · KJVGod’s nature is made known through a proclamation that names the character behind the works.
No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
John 1:18 · KJVThe verse presents God as declared and made knowable through the one who reveals him.
That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works.
Psalm 26:7 · KJV

Psalm 75’s “declare” and Psalm 26’s “tell” share the root ⁨סָפַר⁩ (saphar, count, recount, or tell). Psalm 26 also joins thanksgiving with telling wonders, showing how gratitude becomes a recounting of what God has made known.

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Psalm 75:1 KJV Meaning