How I delight in your commands! How I love them!
Parallel translations
- WEB I will delight myself in your commandments, because I love them.
- KJV And I will delight myself in thy commandments, which I have loved.
- BSB I delight in Your commandments because I love them.
- NKJV And I will delight myself in Your commandments, Which I love.
- NASB I will delight in Your commandments, Which I love.
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 delights in God's commandments because he loves them. It matters because genuine obedience springs from love for God's word, not mere duty.
Overview
The psalmist takes delight in God's commandments, and that delight is rooted in love. Obedience that flows from affection is the heart of true godliness. Jesus likewise links love and obedience in the gospel, promising that those who love Him will keep His word.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Ps 119:48I reach out my hands for your commandments, which I love. I will meditate on your statutes. ZAYIN
- Ps 119:97How I love your law! It is my meditation all day.
- Ps 119:127Therefore I love your commandments more than gold, yes, more than pure gold.
- Ps 19:7–10Yahweh’s law is perfect, restoring the soul. Yahweh’s testimony is sure, making wise the simple.
- John 4:34Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work.
- Ps 119:16I will delight myself in your statutes. I will not forget your word. GIMEL
- Ps 119:174I have longed for your salvation, Yahweh. Your law is my delight.
- Ps 119:140Your promises have been thoroughly tested, and your servant loves them.
- Rom 7:22For I delight in God’s law after the inward man,
- Ps 119:167My soul has observed your testimonies. I love them exceedingly.
- Job 23:11–12My foot has held fast to his steps. I have kept his way, and not turned aside.
- Ps 112:1Praise Yah! Blessed is the man who fears Yahweh, who delights greatly in his commandments.
- 1 Pet 2:21For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving you an example, that you should follow his steps,
- Ps 119:24Indeed your statutes are my delight, and my counselors. DALED
- Rom 7:12Therefore the law indeed is holy, and the commandment holy, and righteous, and good.
- Phil 2:5Have this in your mind, which was also in Christ Jesus,
- Rom 7:16But if what I don’t desire, that I do, I consent to the law that it is good.
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 119:47 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.