Depart from me, you evildoers, that I may obey the commandments of my God.
Parallel translations
- WEB Depart from me, you evildoers, that I may keep the commandments of my God.
- KJV Depart from me, ye evildoers: for I will keep the commandments of my God.
- NKJV Depart from me, you evildoers, For I will keep the commandments of my God!
- NASB Leave me, you evildoers, So that I may comply with the commandments of my God.
- NLT Get out of my life, you evil-minded people, for I intend to obey the commands of my God.
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
He commands evildoers to depart so that he may keep God's commandments. Faithful obedience sometimes requires separating from corrupting company.
Overview
The psalmist resolutely tells evildoers to leave him so that he can keep the commandments of his God. He recognizes that ungodly companionship hinders obedience, so he distances himself. This call to separation anticipates the New Testament summons to come out and be separate, and to walk as children of light in Christ (2 Cor. 6:17; Eph. 5:8-11).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- 1 Cor 15:33Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good character.”
- Ps 6:8Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity, for the LORD has heard my weeping.
- Matt 7:23Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’
- Ps 119:106I have sworn and confirmed that I will keep Your righteous judgments.
- Ps 139:19O God, that You would slay the wicked—away from me, you bloodthirsty men—
- Ps 26:5I hate the mob of evildoers, and refuse to sit with the wicked.
- Matt 25:41Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
- Ps 26:9Do not take my soul away with sinners, or my life with men of bloodshed,
- Josh 24:15But if it is unpleasing in your sight to serve the LORD, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD!”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 119:115 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
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