Let my cry come near before thee, O LORD: give me understanding according to thy word.
Parallel translations
- WEB Let my cry come before you, Yahweh. Give me understanding according to your word.
- BSB May my cry come before You, O LORD; give me understanding according to Your word.
- NKJV Let my cry come before You, O Lord; Give me understanding according to Your word.
- NASB ¶Let my cry come before You, Lord; Give me understanding according to Your word.
- NLT O Lord, listen to my cry; give me the discerning mind you promised.
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 asks that his cry reach God and that God grant understanding according to His word. He seeks both a hearing and insight from God.
Overview
Opening the final 'Tav' stanza, the psalmist prays that his cry would 'come before' God and that God would give understanding shaped by His Word. He wants not merely to be heard but to be taught. This longing for God-given understanding is met as the Spirit illumines Scripture to those who are in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Jas 1:5If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
- Ps 119:144–145The righteousness of thy testimonies is everlasting: give me understanding, and I shall live.
- Prov 2:3–5Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;
- Ps 18:6In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.
- 2 Chr 1:10Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people: for who can judge this thy people, that is so great?
- 1 Chr 22:12Only the LORD give thee wisdom and understanding, and give thee charge concerning Israel, that thou mayest keep the law of the LORD thy God.
- 2 Chr 30:27Then the priests the Levites arose and blessed the people: and their voice was heard, and their prayer came up to his holy dwelling place, even unto heaven.
- Dan 2:21And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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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 119:169 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.