The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.
Parallel translations
- WEB A man’s goings are established by Yahweh. He delights in his way.
- BSB The steps of a man are ordered by the LORD who takes delight in his journey.
- NKJV The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, And He delights in his way.
- NASB ¶The steps of a man are established by the Lord, And He delights in his way.
- NLT The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.
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
A good man's steps are established by the Lord, who delights in his way. God directs and takes pleasure in the path of His people.
Overview
David affirms that God orders the steps of the righteous and delights in their way of life. This providential guidance gives stability and purpose to the believer's walk. The same truth comforts Christians, that God works in and directs those He has saved, fulfilling His good purpose in them (Philippians 2:13).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Prov 16:9A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.
- Ps 119:133Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.
- Prov 4:26Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.
- 1 Sam 2:9He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail.
- Ps 40:2He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.
- Ps 121:8The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.
- Ps 85:13Righteousness shall go before him; and shall set us in the way of his steps.
- Jer 10:23O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.
- Ps 121:3He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.
- Ps 147:10–11He delighteth not in the strength of the horse: he taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man.
- Job 23:11–12My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined.
- Ps 17:5Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not.
- Ps 119:5O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!
- Jer 9:24But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.
- Prov 11:1A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight.
- Prov 11:20They that are of a froward heart are abomination to the LORD: but such as are upright in their way are his delight.
- Heb 13:16But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
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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 37:23 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
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