Psalm 119:29 kjv
Remove from me the way of lying: and grant me thy law graciously.
Psalm 119:29 nkjv
Remove from me the way of lying, And grant me Your law graciously.
Psalm 119:29 niv
Keep me from deceitful ways; be gracious to me and teach me your law.
Psalm 119:29 esv
Put false ways far from me and graciously teach me your law!
Psalm 119:29 nlt
Keep me from lying to myself;
give me the privilege of knowing your instructions.
Psalm 119 29 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Prov 6:16-17 | There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue… | God hates falsehood. |
| Zech 8:16 | These are the things that you shall do: Speak the truth to one another... | Exhortation to truthfulness. |
| Eph 4:25 | Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor… | New Covenant command to discard lying. |
| Col 3:9 | Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices… | Rejecting deceit as part of putting off the old self. |
| Jn 8:44 | …he is a liar and the father of lies. | Satan as the source of lies, contrasting with God's truth. |
| Rev 21:8 | But as for the cowardly, the faithless… all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur… | Consequence for those who practice lying. |
| Ps 25:5 | Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long. | Plea for God's guidance in truth. |
| Ps 40:8 | I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart. | Delight in God's law. |
| Ps 1:2 | but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. | The blessed person's devotion to God's law. |
| Jer 31:33 | For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. | God inscribing His law upon the heart. |
| Heb 8:10 | For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts… | New Covenant fulfillment of Jer 31:33, law by grace. |
| Prov 23:23 | Buy truth, and do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding. | Emphasizing the value and acquisition of truth. |
| 1 Pet 1:22 | Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love… | Obedience to truth purifies the soul. |
| Jas 1:21 | Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. | Removing sin to receive God's word. |
| 2 Cor 3:17 | Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. | Freedom found in the Spirit's enabling for God's truth. |
| Phil 2:13 | for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. | God's enabling grace in pursuing His will. |
| Rom 7:22 | For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being… | Inner delight in God's law. |
| 1 Thess 5:23 | Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. | God's comprehensive sanctification, involving removing evil and granting good. |
| Matt 7:7-8 | Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. | The principle of asking God for what is needed. |
| Lk 11:13 | If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! | God's gracious giving to those who ask. |
| Tit 2:11-12 | For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age. | Grace as the power to renounce sin and live righteously. |
| Rom 6:1-2 | What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? | Rejection of continuing in sin once grace is received. |
Psalm 119 verses
Psalm 119 29 Meaning
Psalm 119:29 is a profound prayer from the psalmist to the Lord, articulating a fervent desire for moral and spiritual purity. It is a dual request: first, for God to remove any inclination towards a life characterized by deceit or falsehood, which is a departure from divine truth; and second, for God to graciously impart His law and instruction. This plea signifies a deep dependence on God for both deliverance from sin and for divine guidance, recognizing God’s law not as a burden but as a gift received through grace, essential for living righteously.
Psalm 119 29 Context
Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible, an acrostic psalm (though only partially acrostic by verse in most translations) praising the multifaceted glory of God's law. Each of its 22 eight-verse stanzas begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Verse 29 falls within the "Daleth" (ד) section (verses 25-32), which often focuses on the psalmist's deep affliction, their desire for revival, and their unwavering trust and devotion to God's Word in times of distress. Prior verses in this section describe the soul clinging to dust and a desperate prayer for God to revive them according to His Word (Ps 119:25). Verse 29 is a prayer stemming from this vulnerability and a recognition that the "way of lying" is a perilous path that stands in opposition to the life-giving truth of God's commands. It signifies a profound reliance on God for ethical and spiritual purity, seeing God's instruction as the antidote to spiritual declension. Historically, this aligns with the struggles of the faithful within Israel who faced internal temptations and external pressures to conform to false paths.
Psalm 119 29 Word analysis
- Remove (הָסֵר - hāsēr): An imperative verb meaning "take away," "turn aside," "put away." This is a direct command or earnest plea to God. It highlights the psalmist's helplessness to fully purge this influence on their own and recognizes that only divine intervention can eradicate a "way of lying" from one's life. It signifies active divine deliverance.
- from me (מִמֶּֽנִּי - mimmennî): Personalizes the plea. The psalmist acknowledges a potential vulnerability or present struggle with this "way" within themselves, emphasizing the inward cleansing needed.
- the way (דֶּרֶךְ - dereḵ): More than a single act, "dereḵ" refers to a path, a course of life, a habitual practice, or a prevailing characteristic. It suggests a patterned behavior, lifestyle, or philosophical orientation.
- of lying (שֶׁקֶר - šeqer): Refers to falsehood, deception, untruth, vanity, or fraud. It encompasses not just spoken lies, but also a lifestyle built on deceit, hypocrisy, or anything that contradicts God's reality and truth. This is deeply contrasted with God's Word, which is truth (Ps 119:160, Jn 17:17). The request is to be free from a fundamental orientation towards untruth.
- and grant me (וְתוֹרָתְךָ֥ חָנֵּֽנִי - wəṯōwrāṯəḵā ḥānnēnī): This phrase comprises two key parts: "and Your law" (wəṯōwrāṯəḵā) and "be gracious to me" (ḥānnēnī).
- Your law (תוֹרָתְךָ - tōwrāṯeḵā): Refers to God's instruction, teaching, direction, especially the divine law given through Moses, but broadly encompassing all of God's revealed will. It is life-giving truth. The possessive "Your" underscores its divine origin and authority.
- graciously (חָנֵּֽנִי - ḥānnēnī): An imperative verb, "be gracious to me," "show favor to me," "have mercy on me." This implies that the psalmist recognizes that receiving God's law as a guide for life is not something earned but is a pure act of divine favor and unmerited kindness. It highlights that God’s truth and revelation are a gift of grace, enabling one to walk in righteousness. It's a humble petition.
Words-group by words-group analysis:
- "Remove from me the way of lying": This is a powerful plea for moral sanctification and purification. It is not just about avoiding specific lies but being delivered from a life posture, a worldview, or a pattern of conduct that is fundamentally dishonest or deceitful. It implies recognizing sin's power and seeking God's intervention to be freed from it. It's a desire for radical truthfulness, starting from within.
- "and grant me Your law graciously": This reveals the spiritual alternative and remedy to the "way of lying." The psalmist recognizes God's law as the truth, the counter-force to falsehood. The word "graciously" is key, indicating that access to and comprehension of God's law, and the ability to walk in it, are divine gifts. It is an acknowledgment that spiritual understanding and obedience are not attained through human effort alone but by God's enablement. The law is not seen as an oppressive burden, but a merciful guide essential for right living.
Psalm 119 29 Bonus section
This verse highlights the psalmist’s profound awareness that while God’s law is inherently good and desirable, fallen humanity often gravitates towards deception. Therefore, simply knowing the law isn’t enough; divine intervention is needed to cleanse the heart's tendency toward šeqer (falsehood) and to graciously infuse the love and understanding of Torah. This points towards a theological truth understood later in the New Covenant, where God promises to write His law on hearts and minds (Jer 31:33, Heb 8:10), a work enabled by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit empowers believers to renounce the ways of falsehood and embrace God's truth as a new identity (Eph 4:25, Col 3:9). The prayer "Remove... and grant me" is a model for recognizing one's spiritual need and seeking God as the sole source of both deliverance and provision for righteous living.
Psalm 119 29 Commentary
Psalm 119:29 distills the essence of a dependent, sanctified walk with God. The psalmist deeply understands that living a life pleasing to God requires more than simply avoiding overt sins; it demands an inner transformation away from deceitfulness as a life principle. The "way of lying" is the opposite of walking in God's truth; it is a spiritual counterfeit, tempting humanity away from God’s reliable Word. The petition to "remove from me" signals an admission of human inability to eradicate this inclination independently and a fervent cry for divine intervention. Conversely, the request "grant me Your law graciously" is equally significant. It means the psalmist does not view God's commandments as a legalistic imposition, but as a freely given, unmerited gift—a beacon of truth essential for navigating a world prone to deception. This grace allows one not just to understand the law but to genuinely live by it. This verse illustrates the complete dependence on God for both negative (deliverance from sin) and positive (provision of truth and spiritual enablement) aspects of the Christian life. It reminds believers that transformation is a work of grace, equipping us to live with integrity in a fallen world.