Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live, and keep thy word.
Parallel translations
- WEB Do good to your servant. I will live and I will obey your word.
- BSB Deal bountifully with Your servant, that I may live and keep Your word.
- NKJV Deal bountifully with Your servant, That I may live and keep Your word.
- NASB ¶Deal generously with Your servant, That I may live and keep Your word.
- NLT Be good to your servant, that I may live and obey your word.
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
The psalmist asks God to deal bountifully with him so that he may live and keep God's word. It matters because both life and obedience are gifts that depend on God's gracious dealing.
Overview
Opening the Gimel stanza, the psalmist prays for God's generous goodness as the foundation for living and obeying. He sees obedience as flowing from God's bounty, not human merit. This dependence on grace for life and obedience is fulfilled in the gospel, where God grants new life in Christ and empowers faithful living.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Ps 13:6I will sing unto the LORD, because he hath dealt bountifully with me.
- Titus 2:11–12For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
- Eph 2:4–5But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
- Ps 116:7Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee.
- Ps 119:124Deal with thy servant according unto thy mercy, and teach me thy statutes.
- Ps 119:65Thou hast dealt well with thy servant, O LORD, according unto thy word.
- 1 Jn 5:3–4For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
- 1 Jn 2:29If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.
- Phil 4:19But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
- Ps 119:132Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me, as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name.
- John 1:16And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.
- Eph 2:10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
- 2 Cor 9:7–11Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.
- Rom 8:2–4For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
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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 119:17 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.