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I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his children begging for bread.
Psalms 37:25 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.
  • BSB I once was young and now am old, yet never have I seen the righteous abandoned or their children begging for bread.
  • NKJV I have been young, and now am old; Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, Nor his descendants begging bread.
  • NASB I have been young and now I am old, Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken Or his descendants begging for bread.
  • NLT Once I was young, and now I am old. Yet I have never seen the godly abandoned or their children begging for bread.

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

From long experience David testifies he has never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. God faithfully provides for His own across a lifetime.

Overview

David offers the witness of age: across his life he has seen God's care for the righteous, not abandonment. This is a general testimony to God's faithfulness, not a denial that the godly ever suffer want, for Scripture and experience show believers may face hardship. Still it assures that God never truly forsakes His people, a promise sealed in Christ, who said He will never leave us (Hebrews 13:5).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 21

  • Heb 13:5Be free from the love of money, content with such things as you have, for he has said, “I will in no way leave you, neither will I in any way forsake you.”
  • Ps 37:28For Yahweh loves justice, and doesn’t forsake his saints. They are preserved forever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.
  • Ps 25:13His soul shall dwell at ease. His offspring shall inherit the land.
  • 1 Sam 12:22For Yahweh will not forsake his people for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased Yahweh to make you a people for himself.
  • Ps 112:2His offspring will be mighty in the land. The generation of the upright will be blessed.
  • 2 Cor 4:9pursued, yet not forsaken; struck down, yet not destroyed;
  • Ps 94:14For Yahweh won’t reject his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance.
  • Ps 71:18Yes, even when I am old and gray-haired, God, don’t forsake me, until I have declared your strength to the next generation, your might to everyone who is to come.
  • Josh 1:5No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not fail you nor forsake you.
  • Gen 17:7I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God to you and to your offspring after you.
  • Luke 1:53–55He has filled the hungry with good things. He has sent the rich away empty.
  • Prov 13:22A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, but the wealth of the sinner is stored for the righteous.
  • Heb 12:5–6and you have forgotten the exhortation which reasons with you as with children, “My son, don’t take lightly the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved by him;
  • Ps 71:9Don’t reject me in my old age. Don’t forsake me when my strength fails.
  • Job 32:6–7Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite answered, “I am young, and you are very old; Therefore I held back, and didn’t dare show you my opinion.
  • Job 15:23He wanders abroad for bread, saying, ‘Where is it?’ He knows that the day of darkness is ready at his hand.
  • Acts 21:16Some of the disciples from Caesarea also went with us, bringing one Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we would stay.
  • Phlm 1:8–9Therefore though I have all boldness in Christ to command you that which is appropriate,
  • Ps 59:15They shall wander up and down for food, and wait all night if they aren’t satisfied.
  • Isa 13:16Their infants also will be dashed in pieces before their eyes. Their houses will be ransacked, and their wives raped.
  • Ps 109:10Let his children be wandering beggars. Let them be sought from their ruins.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

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 37:25YouTube · 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 37:25 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.