The LORD hath chastened me sore: but he hath not given me over unto death.
Parallel translations
- WEB Yah has punished me severely, but he has not given me over to death.
- BSB The LORD disciplined me severely, but He has not given me over to death.
- NKJV The Lord has chastened me severely, But He has not given me over to death.
- NASB The Lord has disciplined me severely, But He has not turned me over to death.
- NLT The Lord has punished me severely, but he did not let me die.
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
The Lord disciplined him severely but did not hand him over to death. It matters because God's chastening is purposeful, never destroying his own.
Overview
The psalmist recognizes his suffering as the Lord's discipline, yet bounded by mercy that spared his life. God corrects his people without abandoning them (Heb. 12:6). This fatherly discipline that stops short of death reflects the security believers have in Christ, who bore the ultimate judgment in their place.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- 1 Cor 11:32But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.
- Job 5:17–18Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty:
- 2 Cor 6:9As unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed;
- Prov 3:11–12My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction:
- Ps 94:12–13Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O LORD, and teachest him out of thy law;
- 2 Cor 1:9–11But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead:
- Jonah 2:6I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God.
- Ps 66:10–12For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried.
- Job 33:16–30Then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction,
- Heb 12:10–11For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.
- 2 Sam 13:1–39And it came to pass after this, that Absalom the son of David had a fair sister, whose name was Tamar; and Amnon the son of David loved her.
- 2 Sam 12:10Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.
- 2 Sam 16:1–23And when David was a little past the top of the hill, behold, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him, with a couple of asses saddled, and upon them two hundred loaves of bread, and an hundred bunches of raisins, and an hundred of summer fruits, and a bottle of wine.
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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 118:18 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.