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I have set the Lord continually before me; Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
Psalms 16:8 · New American Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB I have set Yahweh always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
  • KJV I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
  • BSB I have set the LORD always before me. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
  • NKJV I have set the Lord always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.
  • NLT I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside 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

Because David keeps the Lord always before him and at his right hand, he will not be shaken. It matters because constant awareness of God's presence gives stability in life.

Overview

David sets the Lord always before him, confident that with God at his right hand he cannot be moved. A life oriented toward God's nearness is steady amid trouble. Peter quotes this verse in Acts 2 as spoken by Christ, whose unshaken trust in the Father grounds his resurrection hope.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 10

  • Ps 62:6He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress. I will not be shaken.
  • Acts 2:25–28For David says concerning him, ‘I saw the Lord always before my face, For he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved.
  • Ps 73:23Nevertheless, I am continually with you. You have held my right hand.
  • Ps 121:5Yahweh is your keeper. Yahweh is your shade on your right hand.
  • Ps 73:26My flesh and my heart fails, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
  • Ps 110:5The Lord is at your right hand. He will crush kings in the day of his wrath.
  • Ps 109:31For he will stand at the right hand of the needy, to save him from those who judge his soul.
  • Heb 11:27By faith, he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.
  • Ps 15:5he who doesn’t lend out his money for usury, nor take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be shaken.
  • Ps 139:18If I would count them, they are more in number than the sand. When I wake up, I am still with you.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (4)

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 16:8YouTube · 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 16:8 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.