How sweet are your promises to my taste, more than honey to my mouth!
Parallel translations
- KJV How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
- BSB How sweet are Your words to my taste—sweeter than honey in my mouth!
- NKJV How sweet are Your words to my taste, Sweeter than honey to my mouth!
- NASB How sweet are Your words to my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
- NLT How sweet your words taste to me; they are sweeter than honey.
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
God's promises are sweeter to him than honey to the mouth. The word brings genuine, tasteable delight.
Overview
The psalmist uses the image of honey to express how pleasurable God's words are to his soul. Far from a burden, Scripture is a source of joy and satisfaction that exceeds the sweetest earthly pleasure. This delight in the word reflects the goodness of the Lord that believers taste in Christ (Ps. 34:8; 1 Pet. 2:2-3).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Prov 8:11For wisdom is better than rubies. All the things that may be desired can’t be compared to it.
- Ps 19:10More to be desired are they than gold, yes, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the extract of the honeycomb.
- Prov 24:13–14My son, eat honey, for it is good; the droppings of the honeycomb, which are sweet to your taste:
- Ps 63:5My soul shall be satisfied as with the richest food. My mouth shall praise you with joyful lips,
- Job 23:12I haven’t gone back from the commandment of his lips. I have treasured up the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.
- Prov 3:17Her ways are ways of pleasantness. All her paths are peace.
- Song 5:1I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride. I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk. Eat, friends! Drink, yes, drink abundantly, beloved.
- Song 1:2–4Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth; for your love is better than wine.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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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 119:103 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.