Our heart has not turned back, neither have our steps strayed from your path,
Parallel translations
- KJV Our heart is not turned back, neither have our steps declined from thy way;
- BSB Our hearts have not turned back; our steps have not strayed from Your path.
- NKJV Our heart has not turned back, Nor have our steps departed from Your way;
- NASB Our heart has not turned back, And our steps have not deviated from Your way,
- NLT Our hearts have not deserted you. We have not strayed from your 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
Their hearts have not turned back nor their steps strayed from God's path. It matters because it affirms steadfast loyalty in the midst of unexplained affliction.
Overview
The people declare that neither inwardly (heart) nor outwardly (steps) have they departed from God. This protestation of integrity sharpens the question of why they suffer. Such perseverance in faith despite hardship reflects the call of the gospel to remain faithful, sustained by the One who endured for us.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Ps 119:51The arrogant mock me excessively, but I don’t swerve from your law.
- Ps 119:157Many are my persecutors and my adversaries. I haven’t swerved from your testimonies.
- Zeph 1:6those who have turned back from following Yahweh, and those who haven’t sought Yahweh nor inquired after him.
- Ps 78:57but turned back, and dealt treacherously like their fathers. They were turned aside like a deceitful bow.
- Job 23:11–12My foot has held fast to his steps. I have kept his way, and not turned aside.
- Job 34:27because they turned aside from following him, and wouldn’t pay attention to any of his ways,
- 1 Cor 15:58Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
- Ps 125:5But as for those who turn aside to their crooked ways, Yahweh will lead them away with the workers of iniquity. Peace be on Israel.
- Jer 11:10They are turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear my words; and they are gone after other gods to serve them: the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant which I made with their fathers.
- 1 Kgs 15:5because David did that which was right in Yahweh’s eyes, and didn’t turn aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, except only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.
- Luke 17:32Remember Lot’s wife!
- 1 Th 2:10You are witnesses with God, how holy, righteously, and blamelessly we behaved ourselves toward you who believe.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 44:18 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.