I will run the course of Your commandments, For You shall enlarge my heart. ה He
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.
- BSB I run in the path of Your commandments, for You will enlarge my heart.
- 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 4:29God gave Solomon abundant wisdom and understanding, and very great understanding, even as the sand that is on the seashore.
- 2 Cor 3:17Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
- Heb 12:1Therefore let us also, seeing we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us,
- John 8:36If therefore the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.
- Ps 18:36You have enlarged my steps under me, My feet have not slipped.
- John 8:32You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”
- Ps 119:45I will walk in liberty, for I have sought your precepts.
- Isa 61:1The Lord Yahweh’s Spirit is on me; because Yahweh has anointed me to preach good news to the humble. He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to those who are bound;
- 1 Pet 2:16as free, and not using your freedom for a cloak of wickedness, but as bondservants of God.
- Luke 1:74–75to grant to us that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, should serve him without fear,
- 2 Cor 6:11Our mouth is open to you, Corinthians. Our heart is enlarged.
- 1 Cor 9:24–26Don’t you know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run like that, that you may win.
- Job 36:15–16He delivers the afflicted by their affliction, and opens their ear in oppression.
- Isa 60:5Then you shall see and be radiant, and your heart will thrill and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea will be turned to you. The wealth of the nations will come to you.
- Song 1:4Take me away with you. Let us hurry. The king has brought me into his rooms. We will be glad and rejoice in you. We will praise your love more than wine! They are right to love you.
- Isa 40:31But those who wait for Yahweh will renew their strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run, and not be weary. They will walk, and not faint.
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 119:32 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.