How blessed are those who maintain justice, Who practice righteousness at all times!
Parallel translations
- WEB Blessed are those who keep justice. Blessed is one who does what is right at all times.
- KJV Blessed are they that keep judgment, and he that doeth righteousness at all times.
- BSB Blessed are those who uphold justice, who practice righteousness at all times.
- NKJV Blessed are those who keep justice, And he who does righteousness at all times!
- NLT There is joy for those who deal justly with others and always do what is right.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Blessed are those who keep justice and do what is right at all times. It matters because God's people are called to consistent righteousness.
Overview
After praising God, the psalm sets forth the blessedness of upright living. True devotion expresses itself in justice and righteousness, not occasionally but continually. Yet the psalm soon confesses how far Israel fell short, pointing to the need for the righteousness God provides in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 28
- Ps 15:2He who walks blamelessly does what is right, and speaks truth in his heart;
- Jas 1:25But he who looks into the perfect law of freedom, and continues, not being a hearer who forgets, but a doer of the work, this man will be blessed in what he does.
- John 15:14You are my friends, if you do whatever I command you.
- John 13:17If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
- Gal 6:9Let us not be weary in doing good, for we will reap in due season, if we don’t give up.
- Rev 22:14Blessed are those who do his commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter in by the gates into the city.
- Ps 119:44So I will obey your law continually, forever and ever.
- Mark 3:35For whoever does the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.”
- Rom 2:7to those who by perseverance in well-doing seek for glory, honor, and incorruptibility, eternal life;
- Ps 119:112I have set my heart to perform your statutes forever, even to the end. SAMEKH
- Ps 119:20My soul is consumed with longing for your ordinances at all times.
- Ps 119:106I have sworn, and have confirmed it, that I will obey your righteous ordinances.
- Ps 119:1–3ALEPH Blessed are those whose ways are blameless, who walk according to Yahweh’s law.
- Deut 11:1Therefore you shall love Yahweh your God, and keep his instructions, his statutes, his ordinances, and his commandments, always.
- Rev 7:15Therefore they are before the throne of God, they serve him day and night in his temple. He who sits on the throne will spread his tabernacle over them.
- Deut 5:19“You shall not steal.
- Isa 64:5You meet him who rejoices and does righteousness, those who remember you in your ways. Behold, you were angry, and we sinned. We have been in sin for a long time. Shall we be saved?
- Isa 56:1–2Yahweh says, “Maintain justice, and do what is right; for my salvation is near, and my righteousness will soon be revealed.
- Ezek 18:21–22“But if the wicked turns from all his sins that he has committed, and keeps all my statutes, and does that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live. He shall not die.
- Luke 1:74–75to grant to us that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, should serve him without fear,
- Luke 6:47–49Everyone who comes to me, and hears my words, and does them, I will show you who he is like.
- Luke 11:28But he said, “On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God, and keep it.”
- Acts 24:16Herein I also practice always having a conscience void of offense toward God and men.
- Ps 84:11–12For Yahweh God is a sun and a shield. Yahweh will give grace and glory. He withholds no good thing from those who walk blamelessly.
- Ps 1:1–3Blessed is the man who doesn’t walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand on the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers;
- John 14:21–23One who has my commandments, and keeps them, that person is one who loves me. One who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him, and will reveal myself to him.”
- Jer 22:15–16“Shall you reign, because you strive to excel in cedar? Didn’t your father eat and drink, and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him.
- Luke 11:42But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, but you bypass justice and God’s love. You ought to have done these, and not to have left the other undone.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 106:3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.