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Salvation is far from the wicked: for they seek not thy statutes.
Psalms 119:155 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB Salvation is far from the wicked, for they don’t seek your statutes.
  • BSB Salvation is far from the wicked because they do not seek Your statutes.
  • NKJV Salvation is far from the wicked, For they do not seek Your statutes.
  • NASB Salvation is far from the wicked, For they do not seek Your statutes.
  • NLT The wicked are far from rescue, for they do not bother with your decrees.

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

Salvation is far from the wicked because they do not seek God's statutes. Rejecting God's Word leaves a person far from deliverance.

Overview

The psalmist observes that the wicked forfeit salvation by their refusal to seek God's ways. Their distance from rescue flows from their distance from God's revealed will. The verse warns that to ignore God's Word is to remain outside the salvation freely offered in Christ to all who seek Him.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 10

  • Job 5:4His children are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, neither is there any to deliver them.
  • Eph 2:17–18And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.
  • Rom 3:11There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
  • Ps 18:27For thou wilt save the afflicted people; but wilt bring down high looks.
  • Ps 10:4The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.
  • Isa 46:12Hearken unto me, ye stouthearted, that are far from righteousness:
  • Prov 1:7The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
  • Isa 57:19I create the fruit of the lips; Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the LORD; and I will heal him.
  • Luke 16:24And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
  • Job 21:14–15Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Psalms videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Psalms 119:155YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on PsalmsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 119:155 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.