O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.
Parallel translations
- WEB Lord, open my lips. My mouth shall declare your praise.
- BSB O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare Your praise.
- NKJV O Lord, open my lips, And my mouth shall show forth Your praise.
- NASB Lord, open my lips, So that my mouth may declare Your praise.
- NLT Unseal my lips, O Lord, that my mouth may praise you.
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
David asks God to open his lips so his mouth may declare God's praise. Even the ability to praise is a gift of grace.
Overview
Sin and guilt had silenced David's praise, so he asks God Himself to open his lips for worship. Renewed fellowship results in renewed praise. The verse acknowledges that genuine worship is enabled by God's grace, the same grace that frees the redeemed to glorify Him through Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Heb 13:15By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.
- Ps 63:3–5Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.
- Ps 9:14That I may shew forth all thy praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion: I will rejoice in thy salvation.
- Ezek 29:21In that day will I cause the horn of the house of Israel to bud forth, and I will give thee the opening of the mouth in the midst of them; and they shall know that I am the LORD.
- Ps 119:13With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth.
- Ezek 3:27But when I speak with thee, I will open thy mouth, and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; He that heareth, let him hear; and he that forbeareth, let him forbear: for they are a rebellious house.
- Exod 4:11And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man’s mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD?
- 1 Sam 2:9He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail.
- Mark 7:34And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened.
- Ezek 16:63That thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord GOD.
- Matt 22:12And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.
- Gen 44:16And Judah said, What shall we say unto my lord? what shall we speak? or how shall we clear ourselves? God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants: behold, we are my lord’s servants, both we, and he also with whom the cup is found.
- Rom 3:19Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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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 51:15 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.