Limitless Word
By You I have been upheld from birth; You are He who took me out of my mother’s womb. My praise shall be continually of You.
Psalms 71:6 · New King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB I have relied on you from the womb. You are he who took me out of my mother’s womb. I will always praise you.
  • KJV By thee have I been holden up from the womb: thou art he that took me out of my mother’s bowels: my praise shall be continually of thee.
  • BSB I have leaned on You since birth; You pulled me from my mother’s womb. My praise is always for You.
  • NASB I have leaned on You since my birth; You are He who took me from my mother’s womb; My praise is continually of You.
  • NLT Yes, you have been with me from birth; from my mother’s womb you have cared for me. No wonder I am always praising 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

The psalmist has relied on God since birth, even from the womb, and resolves to praise him always. It grounds lifelong praise in God's lifelong care.

Overview

The psalmist recalls that God has upheld him from his very birth, even bringing him from his mother's womb, and so he vows continual praise. God's faithful care begins before we are aware of it and continues to the end. This recognition of God's sustaining hand from the womb echoes his sovereign care over each life, set apart by him for his purposes.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 14

  • Jer 1:5“Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I sanctified you. I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
  • Ps 22:9–10But you brought me out of the womb. You made me trust while at my mother’s breasts.
  • Ps 139:15–16My frame wasn’t hidden from you, when I was made in secret, woven together in the depths of the earth.
  • Gal 1:15But when it was the good pleasure of God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me through his grace,
  • Isa 49:1Listen, islands, to me. Listen, you peoples, from afar: Yahweh has called me from the womb; from the inside of my mother he has mentioned my name.
  • Isa 49:5Now Yahweh says, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, and to gather Israel to him, for I am honorable in Yahweh’s eyes, and my God has become my strength.
  • Isa 46:3–4“Listen to me, house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, that have been carried from their birth, that have been carried from the womb.
  • Ps 34:1By David; when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed. I will bless Yahweh at all times. His praise will always be in my mouth.
  • Ps 145:1–2A praise psalm by David. I will exalt you, my God, the King. I will praise your name forever and ever.
  • Prov 8:17I love those who love me. Those who seek me diligently will find me.
  • Jer 3:4Will you not from this time cry to me, ‘My Father, you are the guide of my youth?’
  • Luke 1:31–32Behold, you will conceive in your womb, and give birth to a son, and will call his name ‘Jesus.’
  • Ps 71:14But I will always hope, and will add to all of your praise.
  • Eph 5:20giving thanks always concerning all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to God, even the Father;

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 71:6YouTube · 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 71:6 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.