I cling to Your testimonies, O LORD; let me not be put to shame.
Parallel translations
- WEB I cling to your statutes, Yahweh. Don’t let me be disappointed.
- KJV I have stuck unto thy testimonies: O LORD, put me not to shame.
- NKJV I cling to Your testimonies; O Lord, do not put me to shame!
- NASB I cling to Your testimonies; Lord, do not put me to shame!
- NLT I cling to your laws. Lord, don’t let me be put to shame!
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 clings to God's testimonies and pleads not to be put to shame. It matters because holding fast to God's word is the ground of confident hope before Him.
Overview
Gripping God's testimonies tightly, the psalmist asks the LORD not to let him be disgraced. His security rests in clinging to the word rather than his own strength. This hope of never being put to shame is guaranteed in Christ, in whom all who believe are vindicated and secure.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Rom 5:5And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.
- John 8:31So He said to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, you are truly My disciples.
- Prov 23:23Invest in truth and never sell it—in wisdom and instruction and understanding.
- Acts 11:23When he arrived and saw the grace of God, he rejoiced and encouraged them all to abide in the Lord with all their hearts.
- Isa 45:17But Israel will be saved by the LORD with an everlasting salvation; you will not be put to shame or humiliated, to ages everlasting.
- 1 Jn 2:28And now, little children, remain in Christ, so that when He appears, we may be confident and unashamed before Him at His coming.
- Ps 25:20Guard my soul and deliver me; let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in You.
- Ps 25:2in You, my God, I trust. Do not let me be put to shame; do not let my enemies exult over me.
- Deut 4:4But you who held fast to the LORD your God are alive to this day, every one of you.
- Ps 119:6Then I would not be ashamed when I consider all Your commandments.
- Ps 119:115Depart from me, you evildoers, that I may obey the commandments of my God.
- Ps 119:80May my heart be blameless in Your statutes, that I may not be put to shame.
- Ps 119:48I lift up my hands to Your commandments, which I love, and I meditate on Your statutes.
- Jer 17:18Let my persecutors be put to shame, but do not let me be put to shame. Let them be terrified, but do not let me be terrified. Bring upon them the day of disaster and shatter them with double destruction.
- Deut 11:22For if you carefully keep all these commandments I am giving you to follow—to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, and to hold fast to Him—
- Isa 49:23Kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. They will bow to you facedown and lick the dust at your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD; those who hope in Me will never be put to shame.”
- Deut 10:20You are to fear the LORD your God and serve Him. Hold fast to Him and take your oaths in His name.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 119:31 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.