And I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts.
Parallel translations
- WEB I will walk in liberty, for I have sought your precepts.
- BSB And I will walk in freedom, for I have sought Your precepts.
- NKJV And I will walk at liberty, For I seek Your precepts.
- NASB And I will walk at liberty, For I seek Your precepts.
- NLT I will walk in freedom, for I have devoted myself to your commandments.
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 walks in liberty because he seeks God's precepts. It matters because true freedom is found within, not apart from, obedience to God's word.
Overview
Far from feeling confined, the psalmist experiences a broad, free walk precisely because he pursues God's precepts. Obedience to God's word brings real liberty, not bondage. This reflects the gospel paradox that those who become servants of God in Christ are set genuinely free.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Ps 119:133Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.
- Prov 4:12When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened; and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble.
- Ps 119:94I am thine, save me; for I have sought thy precepts.
- Jas 1:25But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
- John 8:30–36As he spake these words, many believed on him.
- John 5:39Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
- 2 Pet 2:19While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.
- Eph 5:17Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.
- Jas 2:12So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.
- Luke 4:18The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
- Ps 119:162I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil.
- Prov 18:1Through desire a man, having separated himself, seeketh and intermeddleth with all wisdom.
- Ps 119:148Mine eyes prevent the night watches, that I might meditate in thy word.
- Eccl 1:13And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith.
- Ps 119:71It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.
- Ps 119:19I am a stranger in the earth: hide not thy commandments from me.
- Prov 2:4–5If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;
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 119:45 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.