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I have stuck unto thy testimonies: O LORD, put me not to shame.
Psalms 119:31 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB I cling to your statutes, Yahweh. Don’t let me be disappointed.
  • BSB I cling to Your testimonies, O LORD; let me not be put 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 maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
  • John 8:31Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
  • Prov 23:23Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
  • Acts 11:23Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord.
  • Isa 45:17But Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end.
  • 1 Jn 2:28And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
  • Ps 25:20O keep my soul, and deliver me: let me not be ashamed; for I put my trust in thee.
  • Ps 25:2O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me.
  • Deut 4:4But ye that did cleave unto the LORD your God are alive every one of you this day.
  • Ps 119:6Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments.
  • Ps 119:115Depart from me, ye evildoers: for I will keep the commandments of my God.
  • Ps 119:80Let my heart be sound in thy statutes; that I be not ashamed.
  • Ps 119:48My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments, which I have loved; and I will meditate in thy statutes.
  • Jer 17:18Let them be confounded that persecute me, but let not me be confounded: let them be dismayed, but let not me be dismayed: bring upon them the day of evil, and destroy them with double destruction.
  • Deut 11:22For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him;
  • Isa 49:23And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.
  • Deut 10:20Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

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 119:31YouTube · 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 119:31 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.