For the word of the LORD is upright, and all His work is trustworthy.
Parallel translations
- WEB For Yahweh’s word is right. All his work is done in faithfulness.
- KJV For the word of the LORD is right; and all his works are done in truth.
- NKJV For the word of the Lord is right, And all His work is done in truth.
- NASB For the word of the Lord is right, And all His work is done in faithfulness.
- NLT For the word of the Lord holds true, and we can trust everything he does.
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 word is upright and all his works are done in faithfulness, giving solid ground for praise.
Overview
The psalmist grounds worship in God's character: his word is reliable and his deeds are marked by faithfulness. Because God is true and trustworthy, his people can praise him with confidence. This faithfulness is supremely displayed in Christ, the Word made flesh, in whom all God's promises are yes and amen.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Ps 12:6The words of the LORD are flawless, like silver refined in a furnace, like gold purified sevenfold.
- Deut 32:4He is the Rock, His work is perfect; all His ways are just. A God of faithfulness without injustice, righteous and upright is He.
- Titus 1:2in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.
- Ps 119:75I know, O LORD, that Your judgments are righteous, and that in faithfulness You have afflicted me.
- Dan 4:37Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, for all His works are true and all His ways are just. And He is able to humble those who walk in pride.
- Prov 30:5Every word of God is flawless; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.
- Ps 19:8The precepts of the LORD are right, bringing joy to the heart; the commandments of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.
- Ps 36:5–6Your loving devotion, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, Your faithfulness to the clouds.
- John 14:6Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
- Rom 7:12So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous, and good.
- Ps 25:10All the LORD’s ways are loving and faithful to those who keep His covenant and His decrees.
- Gen 24:27saying, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not withheld His kindness and faithfulness from my master. As for me, the LORD has led me on the journey to the house of my master’s relatives.”
- Ps 119:128Therefore I admire all Your precepts and hate every false way.
- Ps 96:13before the LORD, for He is coming—He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in His faithfulness.
- Mic 2:7Should it be said, O house of Jacob, “Is the Spirit of the LORD impatient? Are these the things He does?” Do not My words bring good to him who walks uprightly?
- Ps 85:10–11Loving devotion and faithfulness have joined together; righteousness and peace have kissed.
- Rom 15:8–9For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of God’s truth, to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs,
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 33:4 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.