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Let praise flow from my lips, for you have taught me your decrees.
Psalms 119:171 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB Let my lips utter praise, for you teach me your statutes.
  • KJV My lips shall utter praise, when thou hast taught me thy statutes.
  • BSB My lips pour forth praise, for You teach me Your statutes.
  • NKJV My lips shall utter praise, For You teach me Your statutes.
  • NASB Let my lips pour out praise, For You teach me Your statutes.

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 lips overflow with praise because God teaches him His statutes. Being taught by God naturally produces praise.

Overview

The psalmist desires praise to 'pour out' as the response to God's instruction in His statutes. Learning God's ways is not dry information but the occasion for worship. This God-taught praise anticipates the new covenant promise that God's people will all be taught by Him, fulfilled through Christ and the Spirit.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 6

  • Ps 71:23–24My lips shall shout for joy! My soul, which you have redeemed, sings praises to you!
  • Ps 94:12Blessed is the man whom you discipline, Yah, and teach out of your law;
  • Ps 119:7I will give thanks to you with uprightness of heart, when I learn your righteous judgments.
  • Ps 71:17God, you have taught me from my youth. Until now, I have declared your wondrous works.
  • Ps 51:15Lord, open my lips. My mouth shall declare your praise.
  • Ps 50:23Whoever offers the sacrifice of thanksgiving glorifies me, and prepares his way so that I will show God’s salvation to him.”

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

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 119:171YouTube · 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 119:171 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.