They almost wiped me from the earth, but I have not forsaken Your precepts.
Parallel translations
- WEB They had almost wiped me from the earth, but I didn’t forsake your precepts.
- KJV They had almost consumed me upon earth; but I forsook not thy precepts.
- NKJV They almost made an end of me on earth, But I did not forsake Your precepts.
- NASB They almost destroyed me on earth, But as for me, I did not abandon Your precepts.
- NLT They almost finished me off, but I refused to abandon 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
His enemies nearly destroyed him, yet he did not abandon God's precepts. Faithfulness held firm even at the brink of ruin.
Overview
The psalmist testifies that he was brought to the very edge of destruction by his foes. Even so, he refused to forsake God's precepts, showing that his loyalty to the word outweighed his fear of death. This perseverance under deadly pressure prefigures the steadfastness Christ commends, that those who endure to the end are preserved (Matt. 10:22; Rom. 8:35-37).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Matt 10:28Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
- Ps 119:61Though the ropes of the wicked bind me, I do not forget Your law.
- Isa 58:2For day after day they seek Me and delight to know My ways, like a nation that does what is right and does not forsake the justice of their God. They ask Me for righteous judgments; they delight in the nearness of God.”
- Ps 119:51The arrogant utterly deride me, but I do not turn from Your law.
- 1 Sam 26:24As surely as I valued your life today, so may the LORD value my life and rescue me from all trouble.”
- 1 Sam 23:26–27Saul was proceeding along one side of the mountain, and David and his men along the other side. Even though David was hurrying to get away, Saul and his men were closing in on David and his men to capture them.
- 1 Sam 26:9But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him, for who can lift a hand against the LORD’s anointed and be guiltless?”
- 2 Sam 17:16Now send quickly and tell David, ‘Do not spend the night at the fords of the wilderness, but be sure to cross over. Otherwise the king and all the people with him will be swallowed up.’”
- 1 Sam 24:6–7So he said to his men, “The LORD forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the LORD’s anointed. May I never lift my hand against him, since he is the LORD’s anointed.”
- 1 Sam 20:3But David again vowed, “Your father knows very well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he has said, ‘Jonathan must not know of this, or he will be grieved.’ As surely as the LORD lives and as you yourself live, there is but a step between me and death.”
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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 119:87 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
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