Psalms 119:101
in Psalms 119I have kept my feet from every evil path, that I may keep Your word.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I have refrained my feet from every evil way, That I might observe thy word.
KJV
I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep thy word.
⋯
This verse in Psalms 119
Commentary
8 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
Oh, how I love Your law
on Psalms 119:97-104
Three comparisons stand together: wiser than his enemies, more insight than his teachers, more discernment than the elders. The reason given each time is the word kept and meditated on. Verse 103 moves to taste, the words sweeter than honey.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
But what comes next, does not seem to apply to the Head, but to the Body: "I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I may keep Your words" [Psalm 119:101]. For that Head of ours, the Saviour of the Body Himself, could not be borne by carnal lust into any evil way, so that it should be needful for Him to refrain His feet, as though they would go there of their own accord; which we do, when we refrain our evil desires, which He had not, that they may not follow evil ways. For thus we are able to keep the word of God, if we "go not after our evil lusts," [Sirach 18:30] so that they attain unto the evils desired; but rather curb them with the spirit which lusts against the flesh, [Galatians 5:17] that they may not drag us away, seduced and overthrown, through evil ways.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
I have refrained my feet from every evil way,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Avoidance of sinful courses is both the effect and means of increasing in divine knowledge (compare Ps 19:10).
"I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep thy word." There is no treasuring up the holy word unless there is a casting out of all unholiness: if we keep the good word we must let go the evil. David had zealously watched his steps and put a check upon his conduct, —he had refrained his feet. No one evil way could entice him, for he knew that if he went astray but in one road he had practically left the way of righteousness, therefore he avoided every false way. The bypaths were smooth and flowery, but he knew right well that they were evil, and so he turned his feet away, and held on along the strait and thorny pathway which leads to God. It is a pleasure to look back upon self conquests,— "I have refrained," and a greater delight still to know that we did this out of no mere desire to stand well with our fellows, but with the one motive of keeping the law of the Lord. Sin avoided that obedience may be perfected is the essence of this verse; or it may be that the Psalmist would teach us that there is no real reverence for the book where there is not carefulness to avoid every transgression of its precepts. How can we keep God's word if we do not keep our own works from becoming vile?
"I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep thy word." There is no treasuring up the holy word unless there is a casting out of all unholiness: if we keep the good word we must let go the evil. David had zealously watched his steps and put a check upon his conduct, —he had refrained his feet. No one evil way could entice him, for he knew that if he went astray but in one road he had practically left the way of righteousness, therefore he avoided every false way.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
I have refrained my feet - By avoiding all sin, the spirit of wisdom still continues to rest upon me.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
I have refrained my feet from every evil way - I have walked in the path which thy law marks out. I have avoided the way of wickedness, and have not yielded to the seductions of a sinful life. That I might keep thy word - I have avoided all those allurements which would turn me from obedience, and which would prevent a right observance of thy commands. This indicates a purpose and a desire to keep the law of God, and shows the method which he adopted in order to do this. That method was to guard against everything which would turn him from obedience; it was, to make obedience to the law of God the great aim of the life.
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מִכָּל־ | mikol | from every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| אֹ֣רַח | ʾorach | path | H734 → | 58 times |
| רָ֭ע | ra' | evil | H7451 → | 662 times |
| כָּלִ֣אתִי | kaliti | I have restrained | H3607 → | 17 times |
| רַגְלָ֑י | raglai | feet my | H7272 → | 247 times |
| לְ֝מַ֗עַן | lemaan | so that | H4616 → | 272 times |
| אֶשְׁמֹ֥ר | ʾeshmor | I may keep | H8104 → | 468 times |
| דְּבָרֶֽךָ׃ | devarekha | word your | H1697 → | 1440 times |
מִכָּל־from every
mikolH3605 →5413 times
אֹ֣רַחpath
ʾorachH734 →58 times
רָ֭עevil
ra'H7451 →662 times
כָּלִ֣אתִיI have restrained
kalitiH3607 →17 times
רַגְלָ֑יfeet my
raglaiH7272 →247 times
לְ֝מַ֗עַןso that
lemaanH4616 →272 times
אֶשְׁמֹ֥רI may keep
ʾeshmorH8104 →468 times
דְּבָרֶֽךָ׃word your
devarekhaH1697 →1440 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 55:7Let the wicked man forsake his own way and the unrighteous man his own thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that He may have compassion, and to our God, for He will freely…
it leads to
- Proverbs 28:13
He who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.
- James 4:8–10
Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
- Ezekiel 18:21–23
But if the wicked man turns from all the sins he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die.
- Luke 15:10
In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents.”
- Isaiah 44:22
I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like a mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.
- Proverbs 28:13
Through
Isaiah 53:6We all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.
it leads to
- 1 Peter 2:25
For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
- 1 Peter 3:18
For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit,
- Psalms 119:176
I have strayed like a lost sheep; seek Your servant, for I have not forgotten Your commandments.
- 1 Peter 2:25
Where this verse is studied
About Psalms
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 119; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 6; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).