I constantly take my life in my hands, yet I do not forget Your law.
Parallel translations
- WEB My soul is continually in my hand, yet I won’t forget your law.
- KJV My soul is continually in my hand: yet do I not forget thy law.
- NKJV My life is continually in my hand, Yet I do not forget Your law.
- NASB My life is continually in my hand, Yet I do not forget Your Law.
- NLT My life constantly hangs in the balance, but I will not stop obeying your instructions.
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
Though his life is constantly in danger, he will not forget God's law. Mortal peril does not loosen his grip on the word.
Overview
The phrase 'my soul is continually in my hand' pictures life held in perpetual jeopardy. Yet even under constant threat the psalmist refuses to forget God's law, showing that danger cannot shake his loyalty to the word. This steadfastness amid risk reflects the faith that values God's truth above life itself, as Christ taught His followers to do (Matt. 16:25; Acts 20:24).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Judg 12:3When I saw that you would not save me, I risked my life and crossed over to the Ammonites, and the LORD delivered them into my hand. Why then have you come today to fight against me?”
- 1 Cor 15:31I face death every day, brothers, as surely as I boast about you in Christ Jesus our Lord.
- Job 13:14Why do I put myself at risk and take my life in my own hands?
- Ps 119:83Though I am like a wineskin dried up by smoke, I do not forget Your statutes.
- 2 Cor 11:23Are they servants of Christ? I am speaking like I am out of my mind, but I am so much more: in harder labor, in more imprisonments, in worse beatings, in frequent danger of death.
- Rom 8:36As it is written: “For Your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
- Ps 119:152Long ago I learned from Your testimonies that You have established them forever.
- Ps 119:117Uphold me, and I will be saved, that I may always regard Your statutes.
- 1 Sam 19:5He took his life in his hands when he struck down the Philistine, and the LORD worked a great salvation for all Israel. You saw it and rejoiced, so why would you sin against innocent blood by killing David for no reason?”
- 1 Sam 20:3But David again vowed, “Your father knows very well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he has said, ‘Jonathan must not know of this, or he will be grieved.’ As surely as the LORD lives and as you yourself live, there is but a step between me and death.”
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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 119:109 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.