Daily Bible Nugget #278, Psalm 119:25

The Nugget:

Psalm 119:25 My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou me according to thy word.

My Comment:

Saints plead the promises of the Scriptures in prayer (The New Topical Textbook subtopic under main topic “The Scriptures,” page 240).

This verse is hard to make sense of in the King James Version, at least for me. To get some added insight into what the Psalmist is saying, looking at another English translation might be helpful. The first clause, “My soul cleaveth to the dust” is translated to read “I collapse in the dirt” by the NET Bible; “I am at the point of death” in the CEV (Common English Version); “I lie in the dust” in the NLT (New Living Translation); “I am completely discouraged–I lie in the dust (Taylor, The Living Bible paraphrase). I think that in this passage the paraphrase by Kenneth Taylor is most helpful as it explains the figure used here by the Psalmist.

The second and final clause, “quicken thou me according to thy word” (KJV) is translated to read “Revive me with your word!” by the NET Bible; “Let your teachings breathe new life into me” in the CEV; “revive me by your word” (NLT); “preserve my life according to your word” (NIV).

It appears, then, that the Psalmist seeks relief from discouragement by praying to God for relief in accordance with the promises God gives of new life or revival in His written Word.

For those who desire to DIG DEEPER into this subject:

(1) Consult the cross references given in Nelson’s Cross Reference Guide to the Bible on page 628 for Psalm 119:25.

(2) Consult the cross references given in The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge on page 673 or in Logos 5 Bible software for Psalm 119:25.

(3) Lacking access to those two resources, consult the cross references for this passage as I have developed them as given below:

Psalm 119:25. soul. Heb. nephesh, +Ge 34:3. Ps 22:15. 44:25. Ge 3:19. Is 47:1. 52:2. *Is 65:25. Mt 16:23. *Ro 7:22-24. Phil 3:19. Col 3:2. cleaveth. ver. +*Ps 119:28, 31n. Ps 44:25. 63:8. +**Ru 1:13. unto the dust. From the weight of his grief (Ps 44:25) [Kay]. FS121N1, Ge +31:54. Dust put by the Figure Metonymy (of Adjunct) for the dead, as in Ps 30:9; Ec 12:7. Ps 7:5. 44:25. Jb 16:15. 30:19. Ro 7:14. Ga 5:17. quicken. ver. Ps 119:37, 40, 50, 88, 93, 107, 149, 154, 156, 159. **Ps 71:20. 80:18. +*Ps 85:6. 143:11. *Is 40:31. Hab 3:2mg. *Jn 10:10. Ro 8:2, 3. according. T#1098. ver. Ps 119:9, 28, +Ps 119:41, 58, 65, 76, 107, 154, 156, 169, 170. Dt 30:6. 2 S 7:27-29. thy word. ver. +Ps 119:9, 169.