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¶God, You know my foolishness, And my guilt is not hidden from You.
Psalms 69:5 · New American Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB God, you know my foolishness. My sins aren’t hidden from you.
  • KJV O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee.
  • BSB You know my folly, O God, and my guilt is not hidden from You.
  • NKJV O God, You know my foolishness; And my sins are not hidden from You.
  • NLT O God, you know how foolish I am; my sins cannot be hidden from 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 openly admits his own folly and sin to God, who knows them fully. It shows humble honesty before the God from whom nothing is hidden.

Overview

Even while suffering unjust hatred, David confesses that he is not sinless before God, acknowledging his foolishness and sins. This honest admission distinguishes David from the sinless Christ whom this psalm foreshadows, yet it models the humility every believer needs. We come to God not claiming perfection but trusting his mercy that covers our real guilt in Christ.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 6

  • Ps 38:9Lord, all my desire is before you. My groaning is not hidden from you.
  • Jer 16:17For my eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from my face, neither is their iniquity concealed from my eyes.
  • Ps 17:3You have proved my heart. You have visited me in the night. You have tried me, and found nothing. I have resolved that my mouth shall not disobey.
  • Ps 19:12Who can discern his errors? Forgive me from hidden errors.
  • Ps 38:5My wounds are loathsome and corrupt, because of my foolishness.
  • Ps 44:20–21If we have forgotten the name of our God, or spread out our hands to a strange god;

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Psalms videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Psalms 69:5YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on PsalmsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 69:5 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.