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Yahweh will fulfill that which concerns me; your loving kindness, Yahweh, endures forever. Don’t forsake the works of your own hands.
Psalms 138:8 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.
  • BSB The LORD will fulfill His purpose for me. O LORD, Your loving devotion endures forever—do not abandon the works of Your hands.
  • NKJV The Lord will perfect that which concerns me; Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever; Do not forsake the works of Your hands.
  • NASB The Lord will accomplish what concerns me; Your faithfulness, Lord, is everlasting; Do not abandon the works of Your hands.
  • NLT The Lord will work out his plans for my life— for your faithful love, O Lord, endures forever. Don’t abandon me, for you made me.

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

David trusts God to complete His purpose for him, resting in everlasting love and asking God not to abandon His work.

Overview

David is confident that the Lord will fulfill what He has begun, grounding his hope in God's enduring loving kindness. He prays that God will not forsake the works of His own hands. This assurance that God finishes what He starts is echoed in the New Testament promise that He who began a good work in us will complete it in Christ.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 22

  • Phil 1:6being confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.
  • Ps 57:2I cry out to God Most High, to God who accomplishes my requests for me.
  • 1 Th 5:24He who calls you is faithful, who will also do it.
  • Isa 26:12Yahweh, you will ordain peace for us, for you have also done all our work for us.
  • Ps 136:1Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good; for his loving kindness endures forever.
  • Ps 103:17But Yahweh’s loving kindness is from everlasting to everlasting with those who fear him, his righteousness to children’s children;
  • Jer 32:39–40and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their good, and of their children after them:
  • 1 Pet 4:19Therefore let them also who suffer according to the will of God in doing good entrust their souls to him, as to a faithful Creator.
  • Ps 71:17–18God, you have taught me from my youth. Until now, I have declared your wondrous works.
  • Isa 43:21the people which I formed for myself, that they might declare my praise.
  • Ps 100:5For Yahweh is good. His loving kindness endures forever, his faithfulness to all generations.
  • Rom 8:28–30We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose.
  • Ps 71:6–9I have relied on you from the womb. You are he who took me out of my mother’s womb. I will always praise you.
  • 1 Pet 1:3–5Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
  • Isa 42:16I will bring the blind by a way that they don’t know. I will lead them in paths that they don’t know. I will make darkness light before them, and crooked places straight. I will do these things, and I will not forsake them.
  • Ps 100:3Know that Yahweh, he is God. It is he who has made us, and we are his. We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
  • John 15:2Every branch in me that doesn’t bear fruit, he takes away. Every branch that bears fruit, he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
  • Rom 5:10For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we will be saved by his life.
  • Job 14:15You would call, and I would answer you. You would have a desire to the work of your hands.
  • Job 10:3Is it good to you that you should oppress, that you should despise the work of your hands, and smile on the counsel of the wicked?
  • Job 10:8“‘Your hands have framed me and fashioned me altogether, yet you destroy me.
  • Jude 1:1Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ:

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Psalms videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Psalms 138:8YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on PsalmsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 138:8 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.