As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him.
Parallel translations
- WEB As for God, his way is perfect. Yahweh’s word is tried. He is a shield to all those who take refuge in him.
- BSB As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless. He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.
- NKJV As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.
- NASB ¶As for God, His way is blameless; The word of the Lord is refined; He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.
- NLT God’s way is perfect. All the Lord’s promises prove true. He is a shield for all who look to him for protection.
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's way is perfect and his word proven, and he shields all who take refuge in him. It matters because God's character and word are wholly trustworthy.
Overview
David affirms that God's way is perfect, his word is flawless and tested true, and he is a shield to all who take refuge in him. God's reliability is the foundation of trust. This perfect, proven word and shelter are fully embodied in Christ, the living Word and refuge of his people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Deut 32:4He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.
- Prov 30:5Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.
- 2 Sam 22:31As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all them that trust in him.
- Ps 84:11–12For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
- Ps 12:6The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.
- Rev 15:3And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.
- Ps 19:7–10The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.
- Ps 119:140Thy word is very pure: therefore thy servant loveth it.
- Ps 25:10All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.
- Ps 18:2The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.
- Dan 4:37Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.
- Rom 12:2And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
- Ps 17:7Shew thy marvellous lovingkindness, O thou that savest by thy right hand them which put their trust in thee from those that rise up against them.
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 18:30 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.