My flesh trembles in awe of You; I stand in fear of Your judgments.
Parallel translations
- WEB My flesh trembles for fear of you. I am afraid of your judgments. AYIN
- KJV My flesh trembleth for fear of thee; and I am afraid of thy judgments.
- NKJV My flesh trembles for fear of You, And I am afraid of Your judgments. ע Ayin
- NASB My flesh trembles from the fear of You, And I am afraid of Your judgments. Ayin
- NLT I tremble in fear of you; I stand in awe of your regulations. Ayin
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
His flesh trembles in fear of God, and he stands in awe of His judgments. Reverent fear is the fitting response to God's holiness.
Overview
Closing the SAMEKH stanza, the psalmist describes a holy trembling before God, awed by His righteous judgments. This fear is not terror that flees God but reverence that draws near in humility. Such godly fear is the beginning of wisdom and remains fitting even for those who, in Christ, approach God as Father with reverence and awe (Prov. 9:10; Heb. 12:28-29).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Dan 10:8–11So I was left alone, gazing at this great vision. No strength remained in me; my face grew deathly pale, and I was powerless.
- Hab 3:16I heard and trembled within; my lips quivered at the sound. Decay entered my bones; I trembled where I stood. Yet I must wait patiently for the day of distress to come upon the people who invade us.
- Heb 12:28–29Therefore, since we are receiving an unshakable kingdom, let us be filled with gratitude, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe.
- Heb 12:21The sight was so terrifying that even Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”
- Phil 2:12Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now even more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.
- Isa 66:2Has not My hand made all these things? And so they came into being,” declares the LORD. “This is the one I will esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, who trembles at My word.
- Lev 10:1–3Now Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense, and offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, contrary to His command.
- 2 Chr 34:21“Go and inquire of the LORD for me and for those remaining in Israel and Judah concerning the words in the book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the LORD that has been poured out on us because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD by doing all that is written in this book.”
- 2 Sam 6:8–9Then David became angry because the LORD had burst forth against Uzzah; so he named that place Perez-uzzah, as it is called to this day.
- 2 Chr 34:27because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard His words against this place and against its people, and because you have humbled yourself before Me and you have torn your clothes and wept before Me, I have heard you,’ declares the LORD.
- Ps 119:53Rage has taken hold of me because of the wicked who reject Your law.
- Rev 1:17–18When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. But He placed His right hand on me and said, “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last,
- 1 Sam 6:20The men of Beth-shemesh asked, “Who can stand in the presence of the LORD, this holy God? To whom should the ark go up from here?”
- 1 Chr 24:16–17the nineteenth to Pethahiah, the twentieth to Jehezkel,
- 1 Chr 24:30And the sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jerimoth. These were the sons of the Levites, according to their families.
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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 119:120 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.