The law of his God is in his heart. None of his steps shall slide.
Parallel translations
- KJV The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide.
- BSB The law of his God is in his heart; his steps do not falter.
- NKJV The law of his God is in his heart; None of his steps shall slide.
- NASB The Law of his God is in his heart; His steps do not slip.
- NLT They have made God’s law their own, so they will never slip from his path.
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 law is in the heart of the righteous, so his steps do not slide. Internalized truth gives stability of life.
Overview
David identifies the source of the righteous person's steadfastness: 'The law of his God is in his heart.' When God's word is internalized, not merely external, it keeps one's steps secure. This points forward to the new covenant promise that God writes His law on the hearts of His people (Jeremiah 31:33), fulfilled in those indwelt by His Spirit through Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 19
- Ps 40:8I delight to do your will, my God. Yes, your law is within my heart.”
- Deut 6:6These words, which I command you today, shall be on your heart;
- Isa 51:7“Listen to me, you who know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law: Don’t fear the reproach of men, and don’t be dismayed at their insults.
- Ps 119:11I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
- Jer 31:33“But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” says Yahweh: I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people:
- Ps 37:23A man’s goings are established by Yahweh. He delights in his way.
- Ps 121:3He will not allow your foot to be moved. He who keeps you will not slumber.
- Heb 8:10“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel. After those days,” says the Lord; “I will put my laws into their mind, I will also write them on their heart. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
- Prov 4:4He taught me, and said to me: “Let your heart retain my words. Keep my commandments, and live.
- Ps 40:2–3He 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.
- Deut 11:18–20Therefore you shall lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul. You shall bind them for a sign on your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes.
- Ps 44:18Our heart has not turned back, neither have our steps strayed from your path,
- Job 23:11My foot has held fast to his steps. I have kept his way, and not turned aside.
- Ps 119:98Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, for your commandments are always with me.
- Ps 1:2but his delight is in Yahweh’s law. On his law he meditates day and night.
- Ps 17:5My steps have held fast to your paths. My feet have not slipped.
- Prov 14:15A simple man believes everything, but the prudent man carefully considers his ways.
- Ps 73:2But as for me, my feet were almost gone. My steps had nearly slipped.
- Ezek 27:6Of the oaks of Bashan have they made your oars; they have made your benches of ivory inlaid in boxwood, from the islands of Kittim.
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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 37:31 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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