I run in the path of Your commandments, for You will enlarge my heart.
Parallel translations
- WEB I run in the path of your commandments, for you have set my heart free. HEY
- KJV I will run the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart.
- NKJV I will run the course of Your commandments, For You shall enlarge my heart. ה He
- NASB I shall run the way of Your commandments, For You will enlarge my heart. He
- NLT I will pursue your commands, for you expand my understanding. He
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 runs eagerly in the way of God's commandments because God has enlarged his heart. It matters because joyful, willing obedience flows from God's inward work of grace.
Overview
Closing the He stanza, the psalmist pictures running freely in obedience because God has set his heart at liberty. Obedience becomes glad and unforced when God works within. This anticipates the new-covenant freedom found in Christ, whose Spirit liberates believers to delight in and run after God's will.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- 1 Kgs 4:29And God gave Solomon wisdom, exceedingly deep insight, and understanding beyond measure, like the sand on the seashore.
- 2 Cor 3:17Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
- Heb 12:1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with endurance the race set out for us.
- John 8:36So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
- Ps 18:36You broaden the path beneath me so that my ankles do not give way.
- John 8:32Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
- Ps 119:45And I will walk in freedom, for I have sought Your precepts.
- Isa 61:1The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners,
- 1 Pet 2:16Live in freedom, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God.
- Luke 1:74–75deliverance from hostile hands, that we may serve Him without fear,
- 2 Cor 6:11We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians. Our hearts are open wide.
- 1 Cor 9:24–26Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way as to take the prize.
- Job 36:15–16God rescues the afflicted by their affliction and opens their ears in oppression.
- Isa 60:5Then you will look and be radiant, and your heart will tremble and swell with joy, because the riches of the sea will be brought to you, and the wealth of the nations will come to you.
- Song 1:4Take me away with you—let us hurry! May the king bring me to his chambers. We will rejoice and delight in you; we will praise your love more than wine. It is only right that they adore you.
- Isa 40:31But those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 119:32 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.