Even before a word is on my tongue, You know all about it, O LORD.
Parallel translations
- WEB For there is not a word on my tongue, but, behold, Yahweh, you know it altogether.
- KJV For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.
- NKJV For there is not a word on my tongue, But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.
- NASB Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, Lord, You know it all.
- NLT You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord.
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
Before David even speaks, God already knows his words completely.
Overview
God's knowledge anticipates David's speech, knowing each word before it is uttered. Nothing he says is unforeseen by the Lord. This profound omniscience calls believers to honest, reverent speech, knowing that the God who hears every word is the same God who speaks to us savingly through Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Heb 4:12–13For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it pierces even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
- Ps 19:14May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.
- Ps 50:19–21You unleash your mouth for evil and unharness your tongue for deceit.
- Matt 12:35–37The good man brings good things out of his good store of treasure, and the evil man brings evil things out of his evil store of treasure.
- Job 42:3You asked, ‘Who is this who conceals My counsel without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.
- Jas 1:26If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not bridle his tongue, he deceives his heart and his religion is worthless.
- Mal 3:13–16“Your words against Me have been harsh,” says the LORD. “Yet you ask, ‘What have we spoken against You?’
- Jer 29:23For they have committed an outrage in Israel by committing adultery with the wives of their neighbors and speaking lies in My name, which I did not command them to do. I am He who knows, and I am a witness, declares the LORD.”
- Job 42:6–8Therefore I retract my words, and I repent in dust and ashes.”
- Jas 3:2–10We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to control his whole body.
- Job 8:2“How long will you go on saying such things? The words of your mouth are a blustering wind.
- Job 38:2“Who is this who obscures My counsel by words without knowledge?
- Zeph 1:12And at that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish the men settled in complacency, who say to themselves, ‘The LORD will do nothing, either good or bad.’
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 139:4 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.