It is time to act, Yahweh, for they break your law.
Parallel translations
- KJV It is time for thee, LORD, to work: for they have made void thy law.
- BSB It is time for the LORD to act, for they have broken Your law.
- NKJV It is time for You to act, O Lord, For they have regarded Your law as void.
- NASB It is time for the Lord to act, For they have broken Your Law.
- NLT Lord, it is time for you to act, for these evil people have violated 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
He declares it is time for God to act, because people are breaking His law. Widespread lawlessness calls for God's intervention.
Overview
Grieved by rampant disregard for God's law, the psalmist calls on God to step in and act. His zeal is for God's honor, not merely his own relief. This cry for God to vindicate His own name and righteousness anticipates the day when Christ will return to judge and set all things right (2 Thess. 1:7-8; Ps. 102:13).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Jer 8:8“‘How do you say, “We are wise, and Yahweh’s law is with us?” But, behold, the false pen of the scribes has worked falsely.
- Hab 1:4Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails; for the wicked surround the righteous; therefore justice comes out perverted.
- Mal 2:8But you have turned aside out of the way. You have caused many to stumble in the law. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi,” says Yahweh of Armies.
- Ps 9:19Arise, Yahweh! Don’t let man prevail. Let the nations be judged in your sight.
- Rom 3:31Do we then nullify the law through faith? May it never be! No, we establish the law.
- Rom 4:14For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void, and the promise is made of no effect.
- Matt 15:6he shall not honor his father or mother.’ You have made the commandment of God void because of your tradition.
- Isa 42:14“I have been silent a long time. I have been quiet and restrained myself. Now I will cry out like a travailing woman. I will both gasp and pant.
- Ps 102:13You will arise and have mercy on Zion; for it is time to have pity on her. Yes, the set time has come.
- Deut 32:36For Yahweh will judge his people, and have compassion on his servants, when he sees that their power is gone; that there is no one remaining, shut up or left at large.
- Gen 22:14Abraham called the name of that place Yahweh Will Provide. As it is said to this day, “On Yahweh’s mountain, it will be provided.”
- Gen 22:10–11Abraham stretched out his hand, and took the knife to kill his son.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 119:126 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.