Righteousness shall go before him; and shall set us in the way of his steps.
Parallel translations
- WEB Righteousness goes before him, And prepares the way for his steps.
- BSB Righteousness will go before Him to prepare the way for His steps.
- NKJV Righteousness will go before Him, And shall make His footsteps our pathway.
- NASB Righteousness will go before Him And will make His footsteps into a way.
- NLT Righteousness goes as a herald before him, preparing the way for his steps.
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
Righteousness goes before God and prepares the way for His steps. Where God comes, His righteous character leads the way.
Overview
The psalm closes by personifying righteousness as a herald going before the LORD, marking out the path of His advance. It pictures God's coming as the coming of holiness and justice. This anticipates the gospel, where the way of the Lord is prepared and where Christ comes establishing righteousness for His people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Ps 89:14Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face.
- John 13:34A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
- 1 Jn 2:6He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
- 1 Pet 2:18–24Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward.
- Gal 2:20I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
- 1 Pet 4:1Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;
- 2 Cor 3:18But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the LORD.
- Heb 12:1–2Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
- Isa 58:8Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward.
- Phil 2:5–8Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
- Matt 20:27–28And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:
- Ps 119:35Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight.
- John 13:14–16If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet.
- Eph 5:1–2Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;
- Ps 72:2–3He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with judgment.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 85:13 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.