Mine eyes prevent the night watches, that I might meditate in thy word.
Parallel translations
- WEB My eyes stay open through the night watches, that I might meditate on your word.
- BSB My eyes anticipate the watches of night, that I may meditate on Your word.
- NKJV My eyes are awake through the night watches, That I may meditate on Your word.
- NASB My eyes anticipate the night watches, So that I may meditate on Your word.
- NLT I stay awake through the night, thinking about your promise.
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 stays awake through the night to meditate on God's word. Devotion to Scripture fills even his sleepless hours.
Overview
Anticipating each 'night watch,' the psalmist gives his wakeful hours to meditating on God's Word rather than anxiety. Such meditation is the believer's habit of dwelling on Scripture until it shapes the heart. This pictures the blessed man of Psalm 1, who meditates day and night and is ultimately the righteous one fulfilled in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Ps 63:6When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.
- Lam 2:19Arise, cry out in the night: in the beginning of the watches pour out thine heart like water before the face of the LORD: lift up thy hands toward him for the life of thy young children, that faint for hunger in the top of every street.
- Luke 6:12And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.
- Ps 63:1O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;
- Ps 139:17–18How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!
- Ps 119:62At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto thee because of thy righteous judgments.
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 119:148 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.