Question 121

Why is there added: Which art in Heaven?

Lest we should form any earthly conceptions of God’s heavenly majesty (1 Kings 8;27): and that we may expect from his almighty power all things necessary for soul and body (Ps. 115;3).

1 Kings 8;27.—But will God indeed dwell on earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee.— Acts 17;24, 25.

Ps. 115;3.—But our God is in the heavens; he hath done whatever he pleased.—2 Chron. 20;6.—Rom. 10;12.—Acts 17;25.—Eph. 3;20.

Scripture references for paragraph 1

Berean Standard Bible. Public domain text and source credits.

1 Kings 8:27
27But will God indeed dwell upon the earth? Even heaven, the highest heaven, cannot contain You, much less this temple I have built.

Psalms 115:3
3Our God is in heaven; He does as He pleases.

Acts 17:24
24The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples made by human hands.

Acts 17:25
25Nor is He served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He Himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.

2 Chronicles 20:6
6and said, “O LORD, God of our fathers, are You not the God who is in heaven, and do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations? Power and might are in Your hand, and no one can stand against You.

Romans 10:12
12For there is no difference between Jew and Greek: The same Lord is Lord of all, and gives richly to all who call on Him,

Ephesians 3:20
20Now to Him who is able to do so much more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us,

Source and edition

Heidelberg Catechism. RCA English, E. R. Good & Bro., Tiffin, 1879. RCA English, E. R. Good & Bro., Tiffin, 1879

Public Domain (historic text); CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikisource transcription). Source transcription.

Transcription licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0.

Berean Blue opens December 1, 2026 for Bible reading, study, and research. View this work in the app preview.