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Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound! They walk, O Lord, in the light of Your countenance.
Psalms 89:15 · New King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB Blessed are the people who learn to acclaim you. They walk in the light of your presence, Yahweh.
  • KJV Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of thy countenance.
  • BSB Blessed are those who know the joyful sound, who walk, O LORD, in the light of Your presence.
  • NASB Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound! Lord, they walk in the light of Your face.
  • NLT Happy are those who hear the joyful call to worship, for they will walk in the light of your presence, Lord.

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

Truly blessed are those who know how to praise God; they live in the light of His favorable presence.

Overview

The "joyful sound" (acclaim) likely echoes the festal trumpet blasts that summoned Israel to worship. To know God is to have learned to praise Him, and such worshipers enjoy His presence as light for their path. This anticipates the fuller light brought in Christ, in whose face the glory of God shines (2 Cor. 4:6).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 20

  • Ps 44:3For they didn’t get the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them; but your right hand, and your arm, and the light of your face, because you were favorable to them.
  • Ps 4:6Many say, “Who will show us any good?” Yahweh, let the light of your face shine on us.
  • Job 29:3when his lamp shone on my head, and by his light I walked through darkness,
  • Ps 100:1A Psalm of thanksgiving. Shout for joy to Yahweh, all you lands!
  • Acts 2:28You made known to me the ways of life. You will make me full of gladness with your presence.’
  • Isa 52:7–8How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”
  • Isa 2:5House of Jacob, come, and let us walk in the light of Yahweh.
  • Num 6:26Yahweh lift up his face toward you, and give you peace.’
  • Lev 25:9Then you shall sound the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month. On the Day of Atonement you shall sound the trumpet throughout all your land.
  • Num 10:10“Also in the day of your gladness, and in your set feasts, and in the beginnings of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; and they shall be to you for a memorial before your God. I am Yahweh your God.”
  • Num 23:21He has not seen iniquity in Jacob. Neither has he seen perverseness in Israel. Yahweh his God is with him. The shout of a king is among them.
  • John 14:21–23One who has my commandments, and keeps them, that person is one who loves me. One who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him, and will reveal myself to him.”
  • Rev 21:23The city has no need for the sun, neither of the moon, to shine, for the very glory of God illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb.
  • Prov 16:15In the light of the king’s face is life. His favor is like a cloud of the spring rain.
  • Ps 90:6In the morning it sprouts and springs up. By evening, it is withered and dry.
  • Ps 98:4–6Make a joyful noise to Yahweh, all the earth! Burst out and sing for joy, yes, sing praises!
  • Nah 1:15Behold, on the mountains the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace! Keep your feasts, Judah! Perform your vows, for the wicked one will no more pass through you. He is utterly cut off.
  • Rom 10:18But I say, didn’t they hear? Yes, most certainly, “Their sound went out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.”
  • Rom 10:15And how will they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the Good News of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!”
  • Luke 2:10–14The angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be to all the people.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

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 89:15YouTube · 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 89:15 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.