My soul is continually in my hand: yet do I not forget thy law.
Parallel translations
- WEB My soul is continually in my hand, yet I won’t forget your law.
- BSB I constantly take my life in my hands, yet I do not forget Your 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 12:3And when I saw that ye delivered me not, I put my life in my hands, and passed over against the children of Ammon, and the LORD delivered them into my hand: wherefore then are ye come up unto me this day, to fight against me?
- 1 Cor 15:31I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our LORD, I die daily.
- Job 13:14Wherefore do I take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in mine hand?
- Ps 119:83For I am become like a bottle in the smoke; yet do I not forget thy statutes.
- 2 Cor 11:23Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft.
- Rom 8:36As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
- Ps 119:152Concerning thy testimonies, I have known of old that thou hast founded them for ever.
- Ps 119:117Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe: and I will have respect unto thy statutes continually.
- 1 Sam 19:5For he did put his life in his hand, and slew the Philistine, and the LORD wrought a great salvation for all Israel: thou sawest it, and didst rejoice: wherefore then wilt thou sin against innocent blood, to slay David without a cause?
- 1 Sam 20:3And David sware moreover, and said, Thy father certainly knoweth that I have found grace in thine eyes; and he saith, Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved: but truly as the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, 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.