Their hearts are hard and callous, but I delight in Your law.
Parallel translations
- WEB Their heart is as callous as the fat, but I delight in your law.
- KJV Their heart is as fat as grease; but I delight in thy law.
- NKJV Their heart is as fat as grease, But I delight in Your law.
- NASB Their heart is insensitive, like fat, But I delight in Your Law.
- NLT Their hearts are dull and stupid, but I delight in your instructions.
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 hearts of the wicked are unfeeling like fat, but the psalmist delights in God's law. It matters because a heart hardened to God contrasts sharply with one that loves His word.
Overview
The psalmist contrasts the callous, insensible hearts of the wicked with his own delight in God's law. Sin dulls the heart, while love for the word keeps it tender and alive. This contrast underscores the gospel's promise of a new heart, given in Christ, that delights in God's ways.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Ps 17:10They have closed their callous hearts; their mouths speak with arrogance.
- Acts 28:27For this people’s heart has grown callous; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.’
- Ps 73:7From their prosperity proceeds iniquity; the imaginations of their hearts run wild.
- Isa 6:10Make the hearts of this people calloused; deafen their ears and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”
- Ps 119:16I will delight in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word.
- Ps 40:8I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your law is within my heart.”
- Rom 7:22For in my inner being I delight in God’s law.
- Ps 119:35Direct me in the path of Your commandments, for there I find delight.
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 119:70 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.