Do good, O Lord, to those who are good, And to those who are upright in their hearts.
Parallel translations
- WEB Do good, Yahweh, to those who are good, to those who are upright in their hearts.
- KJV Do good, O LORD, unto those that be good, and to them that are upright in their hearts.
- BSB Do good, O LORD, to those who are good, and to the upright in heart.
- NASB ¶Do good, Lord, to those who are good And to those who are upright in their hearts.
- NLT O Lord, do good to those who are good, whose hearts are in tune with you.
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 asks God to do good to the upright in heart. It reminds us that genuine inward integrity, not mere outward conformity, marks the people God blesses.
Overview
Here the prayer turns to petition, asking Yahweh to deal kindly with those who are good and upright in heart. Scripture consistently locates true goodness in the heart, which God alone sees and renews. Only in Christ are sinners given clean hearts, making this prayer answerable for all who trust Him.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Ps 7:10My shield is with God, who saves the upright in heart.
- Ps 84:11For Yahweh God is a sun and a shield. Yahweh will give grace and glory. He withholds no good thing from those who walk blamelessly.
- Ps 94:15For judgment will return to righteousness. All the upright in heart shall follow it.
- Ps 119:68You are good, and do good. Teach me your statutes.
- Ps 51:18Do well in your good pleasure to Zion. Build the walls of Jerusalem.
- Ps 36:10Oh continue your loving kindness to those who know you, your righteousness to the upright in heart.
- Ps 119:80Let my heart be blameless toward your decrees, that I may not be disappointed. KAF
- 1 Jn 3:17–24But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and closes his heart of compassion against him, how does God’s love remain in him?
- Rev 14:5In their mouth was found no lie, for they are blameless.
- Lam 3:25Yahweh is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.
- Ps 32:2Blessed is the man to whom Yahweh doesn’t impute iniquity, in whose spirit there is no deceit.
- Heb 6:10For God is not unrighteous, so as to forget your work and the labor of love which you showed toward his name, in that you served the saints, and still do serve them.
- John 1:47Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and said about him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!”
- Ps 73:1A Psalm by Asaph. Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.
- Isa 58:10–11and if you pour out your soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul: then your light will rise in darkness, and your obscurity will be as the noonday;
- Ps 41:1–3For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. Blessed is he who considers the poor. Yahweh will deliver him in the day of evil.
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 125:4 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.