The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.
Parallel translations
- WEB A man’s goings are established by Yahweh. He delights in his way.
- KJV The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth 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.
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 plans his course, but Yahweh directs his steps.
- Ps 119:133Establish my footsteps in your word. Don’t let any iniquity have dominion over me.
- Prov 4:26Make the path of your feet level. Let all of your ways be established.
- 1 Sam 2:9He will keep the feet of his holy ones, but the wicked shall be put to silence in darkness; for no man shall prevail by strength.
- Ps 40:2He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay. He set my feet on a rock, and gave me a firm place to stand.
- Ps 121:8Yahweh will keep your going out and your coming in, from this time forward, and forever more.
- Ps 85:13Righteousness goes before him, And prepares the way for his steps.
- Jer 10:23Yahweh, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.
- Ps 121:3He will not allow your foot to be moved. He who keeps you will not slumber.
- Ps 147:10–11He doesn’t delight in the strength of the horse. He takes no pleasure in the legs of a man.
- Job 23:11–12My foot has held fast to his steps. I have kept his way, and not turned aside.
- Ps 17:5My steps have held fast to your paths. My feet have not slipped.
- Ps 119:5Oh that my ways were steadfast to obey your statutes!
- Jer 9:24But let him who glories glory in this, that he has understanding, and knows me, that I am Yahweh who exercises loving kindness, justice, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight,” says Yahweh.
- Prov 11:1A false balance is an abomination to Yahweh, but accurate weights are his delight.
- Prov 11:20Those who are perverse in heart are an abomination to Yahweh, but those whose ways are blameless are his delight.
- Heb 13:16But don’t forget to be doing good and sharing, 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
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.