With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright;
Parallel translations
- WEB With the merciful you will show yourself merciful. With the perfect man, you will show yourself perfect.
- BSB To the faithful You show Yourself faithful, to the blameless You show Yourself blameless;
- NKJV With the merciful You will show Yourself merciful; With a blameless man You will show Yourself blameless;
- NASB ¶With the faithful You show Yourself faithful; With the blameless You prove Yourself blameless;
- NLT To the faithful you show yourself faithful; to those with integrity you show integrity.
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
God shows himself merciful to the merciful and blameless to the blameless. It matters because God deals with people in ways that correspond to their character.
Overview
David observes a principle of God's dealings: to the merciful he shows mercy, and to the blameless he shows himself blameless. God's responses fittingly answer the moral character of those before him. This does not earn salvation but reflects God's just and faithful nature, fully revealed in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Matt 5:7Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
- Ps 62:12Also unto thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy: for thou renderest to every man according to his work.
- Matt 18:33–35Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?
- Neh 9:17And refused to obey, neither were mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among them; but hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage: but thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsookest them not.
- Ezek 18:25–30Yet ye say, The way of the LORD is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel; Is not my way equal? are not your ways unequal?
- 1 Kgs 8:32Then hear thou in heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his head; and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.
- Ps 41:1–4Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the LORD will deliver him in time of trouble.
- Ps 112:4–6Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: he is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.
- Rom 9:14What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.
- Luke 6:35–38But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.
- Isa 58:7–8Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
- Isa 57:1–2The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.
- Isa 26:7The way of the just is uprightness: thou, most upright, dost weigh the path of the just.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 18:25 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.