I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.
Parallel translations
- WEB I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his children begging for 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 13:5Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
- Ps 37:28For the LORD loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.
- Ps 25:13His soul shall dwell at ease; and his seed shall inherit the earth.
- 1 Sam 12:22For the LORD will not forsake his people for his great name’s sake: because it hath pleased the LORD to make you his people.
- Ps 112:2His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed.
- 2 Cor 4:9Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
- Ps 94:14For the LORD will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance.
- Ps 71:18Now also when I am old and greyheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come.
- Josh 1:5There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
- Gen 17:7And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.
- Luke 1:53–55He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away.
- Prov 13:22A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just.
- Heb 12:5–6And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
- Ps 71:9Cast me not off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength faileth.
- Job 32:6–7And Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite answered and said, I am young, and ye are very old; wherefore I was afraid, and durst not shew you mine opinion.
- Job 15:23He wandereth abroad for bread, saying, Where is it? he knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand.
- Acts 21:16There went with us also certain of the disciples of Caesarea, and brought with them one Mnason of Cyprus, an old disciple, with whom we should lodge.
- Phlm 1:8–9Wherefore, though I might be much bold in Christ to enjoin thee that which is convenient,
- Ps 59:15Let them wander up and down for meat, and grudge if they be not satisfied.
- Isa 13:16Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished.
- Ps 109:10Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg: let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places.
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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 37:25 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
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