What Does Psalm 118:4 Mean in the King James?
Let them now that fear the LORD say, that his mercy endureth for ever.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
Those who stand in awe of the LORD are given a voice that names his faithful love as what outlasts every age.
THE MEANING
When you stand in awe of the LORD, this verse gives your voice a sentence: his faithful love continues through every age. Its claim does not expire with the moment you are living in.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It dissolves the belief that the LORD’s love is only a passing reprieve: the verse names it as enduring through the ages.
THE ROOT
חַסְדּוֹ
chasdo
GROWS FROM
חסד
Faithful, committed kindness and love.
The word rendered “mercy” holds the sense of faithful love that remains. Its root also names the faithful person and the acts of that love, so what endures here is a relationship, not a single moment of pardon.
ALSO GROWS
chasid: A faithful or devoted person.
חָסִיד
The same root describes a person marked by the faithful love the verse says endures.
chasadim: Acts of faithful love; the plural form of chesed.
חֲסָדִים
The plural opens enduring love into many expressions, not one isolated act.
יִרְאֵי
yir'ei
GROWS FROM
ירא
To fear, revere, or stand in awe.
“Those who fear” describes people characterized by awe of the LORD. The verse places that awe beside spoken recognition of faithful love: their response is to say what endures.
ALSO GROWS
yir'ah: Fear or awe.
יִרְאָה
This noun gives the inward stance named by “those who fear the LORD.”
nora: Awe-inspiring; fearsome.
נוֹרָא
This related form describes the quality that evokes awe, keeping the focus on the LORD whom they revere.
THE PATTERN
The LORD’s faithful love remains when ages, circumstances, and even the created landscape change.
O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the LORD that hath mercy on thee.Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.THE THREAD
And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,The word the KJV renders “goodness” here is חֶסֶד (chesed), the same Hebrew word behind “mercy” in Psalm 118:4. Exodus names this faithful love as part of the LORD’s self-disclosure; Psalm 118 lets those who stand in awe speak it aloud as enduring.
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