Make me to understand the way of thy precepts: so shall I talk of thy wondrous works.
Parallel translations
- WEB Let me understand the teaching of your precepts! Then I will meditate on your wondrous works.
- BSB Make clear to me the way of Your precepts; then I will meditate on Your wonders.
- NKJV Make me understand the way of Your precepts; So shall I meditate on Your wonderful works.
- NASB Make me understand the way of Your precepts, And I will meditate on Your wonders.
- NLT Help me understand the meaning of your commandments, and I will meditate on your wonderful deeds.
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 for understanding of God's precepts so that he can meditate on His wonderful works. It matters because grasping God's word leads to deeper reflection on His mighty deeds.
Overview
Understanding the way of God's precepts equips the psalmist to ponder God's wondrous works. Comprehension of the word and meditation on God's acts reinforce one another. Such Spirit-given understanding finds its fullness in the gospel, where the greatest of God's wondrous works is salvation accomplished in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Ps 145:5–6I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works.
- Ps 105:2Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him: talk ye of all his wondrous works.
- Ps 71:17O God, thou hast taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works.
- Rev 15:3And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.
- Ps 111:4He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered: the LORD is gracious and full of compassion.
- Acts 2:11Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.
- Ps 78:4We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done.
- Exod 13:14–15And it shall be when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What is this? that thou shalt say unto him, By strength of hand the LORD brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage:
- Josh 4:6–7That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 119:27 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.