For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God.
Parallel translations
- WEB For I have kept the ways of Yahweh, and have not wickedly departed from my God.
- BSB For I have kept the ways of the LORD and have not wickedly departed from my God.
- NKJV For I have kept the ways of the Lord, And have not wickedly departed from my God.
- NASB For I have kept the ways of the Lord, And have not acted wickedly against my God.
- NLT For I have kept the ways of the Lord; I have not turned from my God to follow evil.
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 affirms he has kept the ways of the Lord and not turned away in wickedness. It matters because faithful obedience marks the life of one God blesses.
Overview
David explains his vindication by his having kept God's ways and not departed wickedly from him. His covenant loyalty, though imperfect, was real and sincere. The verse upholds the value of faithful obedience, perfectly fulfilled in Christ, whose flawless faithfulness becomes the believer's righteousness.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Ps 119:102I have not departed from thy judgments: for thou hast taught me.
- Acts 24:16And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men.
- Prov 8:32Now therefore hearken unto me, O ye children: for blessed are they that keep my ways.
- Ps 17:4Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer.
- 1 Jn 2:19They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
- Ps 26:1Judge me, O LORD; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the LORD; therefore I shall not slide.
- 2 Chr 34:33And Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the countries that pertained to the children of Israel, and made all that were present in Israel to serve, even to serve the LORD their God. And all his days they departed not from following the LORD, the God of their fathers.
- 1 Th 2:10Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily and justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe:
- Ps 119:10–11With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.
- 1 Sam 15:11It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the LORD all night.
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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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 18:21 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.