The affirmation 'For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him' employs cosmic imagery to express the immensity of God's merciful love. The comparison to the heavens above the earth suggests that God's hesed is as vast as the space between the highest realm and the earth, an incomprehensible distance and magnitude. The phrase 'toward those who fear him' qualifies the recipients of this mercy: those who stand in proper reverence before God. The conjunction 'fear' and 'love' suggests that dread and trust, awe and confidence, are not opposed but interdependent; to fear God properly is to open oneself to God's love. The use of comparative language ('as...so') suggests that the psalmic speaker is attempting to bridge the inexpressible: how can finite language capture infinite love? Yet the very attempt affirms that love is beyond measure and expression.

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