Stablish thy word unto thy servant, who is devoted to thy fear.
Parallel translations
- WEB Fulfill your promise to your servant, that you may be feared.
- BSB Establish Your word to Your servant, to produce reverence for You.
- NKJV Establish Your word to Your servant, Who is devoted to fearing You.
- NASB Establish Your word to Your servant As that which produces reverence for You.
- NLT Reassure me of your promise, made to those who fear you.
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 God to confirm His promise to His servant, who is devoted to fearing Him. It matters because God's reliable word sustains those who reverence Him.
Overview
The psalmist appeals to God to establish His promise to him as one given to the fear of God. He rests his confidence on God's faithfulness to His word. All God's promises find their yes and amen in Christ, in whom the promises to those who fear God are confirmed and fulfilled.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Jer 32:39–41And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them:
- Ps 147:11The LORD taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.
- Ps 103:17But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children;
- 2 Cor 1:20For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.
- Ps 103:11For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.
- 2 Sam 7:25–29And now, O LORD God, the word that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant, and concerning his house, establish it for ever, and do as thou hast said.
- Ps 103:13Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.
- Ps 119:49Remember the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope.
- Ps 145:19He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them.
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 119:38 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.