Your hands have made me and fashioned me; give me understanding to learn Your commandments.
Parallel translations
- WEB Your hands have made me and formed me. Give me understanding, that I may learn your commandments.
- KJV Thy hands have made me and fashioned me: give me understanding, that I may learn thy commandments.
- NKJV Your hands have made me and fashioned me; Give me understanding, that I may learn Your commandments.
- NASB ¶Your hands made me and fashioned me; Give me understanding, so that I may learn Your commandments.
- NLT You made me; you created me. Now give me the sense to follow your commands.
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
Because God made and formed him, the psalmist asks his Maker for the understanding to learn His commandments. The God who creates is also the one who must teach.
Overview
Opening the YODH stanza, the psalmist grounds his prayer for understanding in the doctrine of creation: the hands that fashioned him are competent to instruct him. He recognizes that learning God's law is not merely intellectual effort but a gift of insight from the Creator. This anticipates the New Testament truth that God who began a good work also opens the heart to understand His word (Phil. 1:6; Luke 24:45).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Ps 139:14–16I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are Your works, and I know this very well.
- Ps 138:8The LORD will fulfill His purpose for me. O LORD, Your loving devotion endures forever—do not abandon the works of Your hands.
- Job 31:15Did not He who made me in the womb also make them? Did not the same One form us in the womb?
- Ps 111:10The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow His precepts gain rich understanding. His praise endures forever!
- 2 Tim 2:7Consider what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all things.
- Job 32:8But there is a spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty, that gives him understanding.
- Ps 119:125I am Your servant; give me understanding, that I may know Your testimonies.
- 1 Jn 5:20And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true—in His Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
- Ps 119:34Give me understanding that I may obey Your law, and follow it with all my heart.
- Ps 100:3Know that the LORD is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.
- Jas 3:18Peacemakers who sow in peace reap the fruit of righteousness.
- 2 Chr 2:12And Hiram added: “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who made the heavens and the earth! He has given King David a wise son with insight and understanding, who will build a temple for the LORD and a royal palace for himself.
- Ps 119:169May my cry come before You, O LORD; give me understanding according to Your word.
- 1 Chr 22:12Above all, may the LORD give you insight and understanding when He puts you in command over Israel, so that you may keep the Law of the LORD your God.
- Ps 119:144Your testimonies are righteous forever. Give me understanding, that I may live.
- Job 10:8–11Your hands shaped me and altogether formed me. Would You now turn and destroy me?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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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 119:73 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.