With the merciful you will show yourself merciful. With the perfect man, you will show yourself perfect.
Parallel translations
- KJV With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright;
- 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 to you, Lord, belongs loving kindness, for you reward every man according to his work.
- Matt 18:33–35Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your fellow servant, even as I had mercy on you?’
- Neh 9:17and refused to obey. They weren’t mindful of your wonders that you did among them, but hardened their neck, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage. But you are a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and didn’t forsake them.
- Ezek 18:25–30“Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not equal.’ Hear now, house of Israel: Is my way not equal? Aren’t your ways unequal?
- 1 Kgs 8:32then hear in heaven, and act, and judge your servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way on his own head, and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.
- Ps 41:1–4For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. Blessed is he who considers the poor. Yahweh will deliver him in the day of evil.
- Ps 112:4–6Light dawns in the darkness for the upright, gracious, merciful, and righteous.
- Rom 9:14What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? May it never be!
- Luke 6:35–38But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing back; and your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind toward the unthankful and evil.
- Isa 58:7–8Isn’t it to distribute your bread to the hungry, and that you bring the poor who are cast out to your house? When you see the naked, that you cover him; and that you not hide yourself from your own flesh?
- Isa 57:1–2The righteous perish, and no one lays it to heart. Merciful men are taken away, and no one considers that the righteous is taken away from the evil.
- Isa 26:7The way of the just is uprightness. You who are upright make the path of the righteous level.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 18:25 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.