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Teach me Your way, O LORD, and lead me on a level path, because of my oppressors.
Psalms 27:11 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB Teach me your way, Yahweh. Lead me in a straight path, because of my enemies.
  • KJV Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.
  • NKJV Teach me Your way, O Lord, And lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies.
  • NASB ¶Teach me Your way, Lord, And lead me on a level path Because of my enemies.
  • NLT Teach me how to live, O Lord. Lead me along the right path, for my enemies are waiting for 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

David asks God to teach him His way and lead him on a level path because of his enemies. It links right living with reliance on God's guidance under pressure.

Overview

Surrounded by adversaries, David seeks not merely rescue but instruction in righteousness, knowing a straight path keeps him from stumbling into sin or his enemies' traps. Holiness and safety are bound together. Christ, the Way, both teaches and leads His people in the path of life.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 20

  • Ps 25:4–5Show me Your ways, O LORD; teach me Your paths.
  • Ps 5:8Lead me, O LORD, in Your righteousness because of my enemies; make straight Your way before me.
  • Ps 86:11Teach me Your way, O LORD, that I may walk in Your truth. Give me an undivided heart, that I may fear Your name.
  • Ps 26:12My feet stand on level ground; in the congregations I will bless the LORD.
  • Ps 143:8–10Let me hear Your loving devotion in the morning, for I have put my trust in You. Teach me the way I should walk, for to You I lift up my soul.
  • Ps 119:10With all my heart I have sought You; do not let me stray from Your commandments.
  • Prov 2:6–9For the LORD gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.
  • Ps 64:6They devise injustice and say, “We have perfected a secret plan.” For the inner man and the heart are mysterious.
  • Isa 30:20–21The Lord will give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, but your Teacher will no longer hide Himself—with your own eyes you will see Him.
  • Isa 35:8And there will be a highway called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not travel it—only those who walk in the Way—and fools will not stray onto it.
  • Luke 3:4–6as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him.
  • Prov 8:9They are all plain to the discerning, and upright to those who find knowledge.
  • Ps 56:5–6All day long they twist my words; all their thoughts are on my demise.
  • Ps 25:12Who is the man who fears the LORD? He will instruct him in the path chosen for him.
  • Jer 20:10For I have heard the whispering of many: “Terror is on every side! Report him; let us report him!” All my trusted friends watch for my fall: “Perhaps he will be deceived so that we may prevail against him and take our vengeance upon him.”
  • Ps 25:9He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them His way.
  • Dan 6:4–5Thus the administrators and satraps sought a charge against Daniel concerning the kingdom, but they could find no charge or corruption, because he was trustworthy, and no negligence or corruption was found in him.
  • Luke 20:20So they watched Him closely and sent spies who pretended to be sincere. They were hoping to catch Him in His words in order to hand Him over to the rule and authority of the governor.
  • Ps 54:5He will reward my enemies with evil. In Your faithfulness, destroy them.
  • Prov 15:19The way of the slacker is like a hedge of thorns, but the path of the upright is a highway.

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 27:11YouTube · 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 27:11 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.