Psalms 119:31
in Psalms 119I cling to Your testimonies, O LORD; let me not be put to shame.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I cleave unto thy testimonies: O Jehovah, put me not to shame.
KJV
I have stuck unto thy testimonies: O Lord, put me not to shame.
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This verse in Psalms 119
Commentary
8 notes on this verseI have stuck unto thy testimonies, —or I have cleaved, for the word is the same as in Psa 119:25. Though cleaving to the dust of sorrow and of death, yet he kept fast hold of the divine word. This was his comfort, and his faith stuck to it, his love and his obedience held on to it, his heart and his mind abode in meditation upon it. His choice was so heartily and deliberately made that he stuck to it for life, and could not be removed from it by the reproaches of those who despised the way of the Lord. What could he have gained by quitting the sacred testimony? Say rather, what would he not have lost if he had ceased to cleave to the divine word? It is pleasant to look back upon past perseverance and to expect grace to continue equally steadfast in the future. He who has enabled us to stick to him will surely stick to us. "O LORD, put me not to shame." This would happen if God's promises were unfulfilled, and if the heart of God's servant were suffered to fail. This we have no reason to fear, since the Lord is faithful to his word. But it might also happen though the believer's acting in an inconsistent manner, as David had himself once done, when he fell into the way of lying, and pretended to be a madman. If we are not true to our profession we may be left to reap the fruit of our folly, and that will be the bitter thing called "shame." It is evident from this that a believer ought never to be ashamed, but act the part of a grave man who has done nothing to be ashamed of in believing his God, and does not mean to adopt a craven tone in the presence of the Lord's enemies. If we beseech the Lord not to put us to shame, surely we ought not ourselves to be ashamed without cause. The prayer of this verse is found in the parallel verse of the next section (Psa 119:39): "Turn away my reproach which I fear."
This site's exposition
My soul cleaves to the dust
on Psalms 119:25-32
He begins on the floor, his soul clinging to the dust, and asks to be revived according to the word. By the end he is choosing and moving: the way of truth chosen, the path of the commandments run. Verse 32 has God enlarging the heart he runs with.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
But after he had said, "And pity me according to Thy law;" he mentioneth some of those blessings which he hath already obtained, that he may ask others that he hath not yet gained. For he saith, "I have chosen the way of truth: and Thy judgments I have not forgotten" (ver. 30). "I have stuck unto Thy testimonies: O Lord, confound me not" (ver. 31): may I persevere in striving toward the point whereunto I am running: may I arrive whither I am running! So then "it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy." He next saith, "I will run the way of Thy commandments, when Thou hast widened my heart" (ver. 32). I could not run hadst Thou not widened my heart. The sense of the words, "I have chosen the way of truth, and Thy judgments I have not forgotten: I have stuck unto Thy testimonies," is clearly explained in this verse. For this running is along the way of the commandments of God. And because he doth allege unto the Lord rather His blessings than his own deservings; as if it were said unto him, How hast thou run that way, by choosing, and by not forgetting the judgments of God, and by sticking to His testimonies? Couldest thou do these things by thyself? I could not, he replieth. It is not therefore through my own will, as though it needed no aid of Thine; but because "Thou has widened my heart." The widening of the heart is the delight we take in righteousness. This is the gift of God, the effect of which is, that we are not straitened in His commandments through the fear of punishment, but widened through love, and the delight we have in righteousness. ...
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
I have stuck unto thy testimonies,.... The word of God, the Scriptures of truth, and the doctrines contained in them.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
In order to adhere to His word, we must seek deliverance from temptations to sin as well as from despondency. enlarge--or, "expand" my heart--with gracious affections.
I have stuck unto thy testimonies, —or I have cleaved, for the word is the same as in Psa 119:25. Though cleaving to the dust of sorrow and of death, yet he kept fast hold of the divine word. This was his comfort, and his faith stuck to it, his love and his obedience held on to it, his heart and his mind abode in meditation upon it.
I have stuck - דבקתי dabakti, I have cleaved to, been glued to, them: the same word as in Psa 119:25. My soul cleaves as much to thy testimonies, as my life has cleaved to the dust. O Lord, put me not to shame - Let my sins and follies be blotted out by thy mercy; and so hide and cover them that they shall never appear, either in this or the coming world, to my shame and confusion! How many need to be importunate with God in this prayer!
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
I have stuck unto thy testimonies - The word here rendered “stuck” is the same which in Psa 119:25 is rendered “cleave:” - “My soul cleaveth unto the dust.” It means here that he had adhered to the testimonies of God as if he had been glued to them, or as if he and they were firmly united together. He had so adhered to them that he could not be detached from them. O Lord, put me not to shame - Let me not be disappointed or confounded; let all my anticipations of the good effects of obeying thy law be realized; let me find all that I have hoped for; let me partake of thy friendship and favor as I desire. See the notes at Psa 119:6.
The words behind it
5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| דָּבַ֥קְתִּי | davakti | I have clung | H1692 → | 54 times |
| בְעֵֽדְוֹתֶ֑יךָ | veedevoteikha | to testimonies your | H5715 → | 59 times |
| יְ֝הוָ֗ה | yahweh | O Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אַל־ | ʾal- | may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תְּבִישֵֽׁנִי׃ | tevisheni | you put to shame me | H954 → | 127 times |
דָּבַ֥קְתִּיI have clung
davaktiH1692 →54 times
בְעֵֽדְוֹתֶ֑יךָto testimonies your
veedevoteikhaH5715 →59 times
יְ֝הוָ֗הO Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אַל־may not
ʾal-H408 →724 times
תְּבִישֵֽׁנִי׃you put to shame me
tevisheniH954 →127 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 45:17But Israel will be saved by the LORD with an everlasting salvation; you will not be put to shame or humiliated, to ages everlasting.
it leads to
- Romans 10:11
It is just as the Scripture says: “Anyone who believes in Him will never be put to shame.”
- Psalms 25:3
Surely none who wait for You will be put to shame; but those who are faithless without cause will be disgraced.
- Isaiah 54:4
Do not be afraid, for you will not be put to shame; do not be intimidated, for you will not be humiliated. For you will forget the shame of your youth and will remember…
- 1 Peter 2:6
For it stands in Scripture: “See, I lay in Zion a stone, a chosen and precious cornerstone; and the one who believes in Him will never be put to shame.”
- Joel 2:26–27
You will have plenty to eat, until you are satisfied. You will praise the name of the LORD your God, who has worked wonders for you. My people will never again be put to…
- Romans 10:11
Through
John 8:31So He said to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, you are truly My disciples.
it leads to
- 2 John 1:9
Anyone who runs ahead without remaining in the teaching of Christ does not have God. Whoever remains in His teaching has both the Father and the Son.
- John 15:4–9
Remain in Me, and I will remain in you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself unless it remains in the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me.
- 2 John 1:9
Through
Romans 5:5And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.
it leads to
- Galatians 4:6
And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!”
- Galatians 4:6
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Psalms
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Psalms; 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, Vol. 6; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).