This also shall please the Lord better than an ox or bull, Which has horns and hooves.
Parallel translations
- WEB It will please Yahweh better than an ox, or a bull that has horns and hoofs.
- KJV This also shall please the LORD better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs.
- BSB And this will please the LORD more than an ox, more than a bull with horns and hooves.
- NASB And it will please the Lord better than an ox Or bull with horns and hoofs.
- NLT For this will please the Lord more than sacrificing cattle, more than presenting a bull with its horns and hooves.
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
Heartfelt praise pleases God more than animal sacrifices. It teaches that God desires sincere worship above mere ritual.
Overview
David declares that his thankful praise delights the Lord more than the costliest sacrificial ox or bull. God has always sought the worship of the heart, not empty ceremony (Psalm 51:16-17). This points toward the new covenant, where the sacrifices God desires are the praise of redeemed hearts, made acceptable through the once-for-all sacrifice of Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Heb 13:15Through him, then, let us offer up a sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of lips which proclaim allegiance to his name.
- Ps 50:13–14Will I eat the meat of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?
- Eph 5:19–20speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs; singing, and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
- Ps 50:23Whoever offers the sacrifice of thanksgiving glorifies me, and prepares his way so that I will show God’s salvation to him.”
- 1 Pet 2:5You also, as living stones, are built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
- Hos 14:2Take words with you, and return to Yahweh. Tell him, “Forgive all our sins, and accept that which is good: so we offer our lips like bulls.
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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 69:31 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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