The wicked wait to destroy me, but I will ponder Your testimonies.
Parallel translations
- WEB The wicked have waited for me, to destroy me. I will consider your statutes.
- KJV The wicked have waited for me to destroy me: but I will consider thy testimonies.
- NKJV The wicked wait for me to destroy me, But I will consider Your testimonies.
- NASB The wicked wait for me to destroy me; I will diligently consider Your testimonies.
- NLT Though the wicked hide along the way to kill me, I will quietly keep my mind on your laws.
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
While the wicked lie in wait to destroy him, the psalmist fixes his attention on God's statutes. He meets mortal danger by meditating on the word.
Overview
Even as enemies plot his death, the psalmist's mind is occupied not with fear but with God's testimonies. His chosen response to threat is contemplation of the word, which steadies him under pressure. This composure amid hostility models the peace that guards those whose minds are fixed on God (Isa. 26:3; Phil. 4:6-7).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 19
- Ps 119:167I obey Your testimonies and love them greatly.
- Ps 119:31I cling to Your testimonies, O LORD; let me not be put to shame.
- Ps 119:69Though the arrogant have smeared me with lies, I keep Your precepts with all my heart.
- Ps 119:85–87The arrogant have dug pits for me in violation of Your law.
- Ps 10:8–10He lies in wait near the villages; in ambush he slays the innocent; his eyes watch in stealth for the helpless.
- Acts 25:3to grant them a concession against Paul by summoning him to Jerusalem, because they were preparing an ambush to kill him along the way.
- Acts 23:21Do not let them persuade you, because more than forty men are waiting to ambush him. They have bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they have killed him; they are ready now, awaiting your consent.”
- Ps 119:61Though the ropes of the wicked bind me, I do not forget Your law.
- 1 Sam 23:20–23Now, O king, come down whenever your soul desires, and we will be responsible for delivering him into your hand.”
- Ps 37:32Though the wicked lie in wait for the righteous, and seek to slay them,
- Ps 27:2When the wicked came upon me to devour my flesh, my enemies and foes stumbled and fell.
- Acts 12:11Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know for sure that the Lord has sent His angel and rescued me from Herod’s grasp and from everything the Jewish people were anticipating.”
- Ps 38:12Those who seek my life lay snares; those who wish me harm speak destruction, plotting deceit all day long.
- Ps 119:24Your testimonies are indeed my delight; they are my counselors.
- Ps 119:129Wonderful are Your testimonies; therefore I obey them.
- Ps 119:125I am Your servant; give me understanding, that I may know Your testimonies.
- Matt 26:3–5At that time the chief priests and elders of the people assembled in the courtyard of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas,
- Ps 119:111Your testimonies are my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart.
- 2 Sam 17:1–4Furthermore, Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me choose twelve thousand men and set out tonight in pursuit of David.
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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 119:95 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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