That the physical heavens are permanent is shown by the fact that they are used in similes relating to things that are everlasting, such as the peaceful, righteous results of the Davidic kingdom inherited by God’s Son. (Ps 72:5-7; Lu 1:32, 33) Thus, texts such as Psalm 102:25, 26 that speak of the heavens as ‘perishing’ and as ‘being replaced like a worn-out garment’ are not to be understood in a literal sense.

Psalm 102:25-27 stresses God’s eternity and imperishability, whereas his physical creation of heavens and earth is perishable, that is, it could be destroyed​—if such were God’s purpose. Unlike God’s eternal existence, the permanence of any part of his physical creation is not independent. As seen in the earth, the physical creation must undergo a continual renewing process if it is to endure or retain its existing form. That the physical heavens are dependent on God’s will and sustaining power is indicated at Psalm 148, where, after referring to sun, moon, and stars, along with other parts of God’s creation, verse 6 states that God “keeps them standing forever, to time indefinite. A regulation he has given, and it will not pass away.”

The words of Psalm 102:25, 26 apply to Jehovah God, but the apostle Paul quotes them with reference to Jesus Christ. This is because God’s only-begotten Son was God’s personal Agent employed in creating the physical universe. Paul contrasts the Son’s permanence with that of the physical creation, which God, if he so designed, could ‘wrap up just as a cloak’ and set aside.​—Heb 1:1, 2, 8, 10-12; compare 1Pe 2:3, ftn.