What Does Psalm 119:38 Mean in the King James?
Stablish thy word unto thy servant, who is devoted to thy fear.
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
“Stablish” means “cause to stand”: the prayer asks for God’s spoken word to become firm within the servant.
THE MEANING
The prayer is alive wherever a promise feels unsteady: the servant asks God to make the spoken word stand firm. Its closing phrase binds that request to awe of God, joining reverence and steadiness in the same life.
THE ROOT
הָקֵם
haqem
GROWS FROM
קום
q-w-m
Rise, stand; in a causative form, make something stand.
“Stablish” in this verse is haqem. The prayer asks for more than a saying to be repeated: it asks for the utterance to take its stand in the servant’s life. Psalm 119:106 uses this same root for “perform,” connecting God’s word made firm with a vow carried through.
ALSO GROWS
maqom: Place, position
מָקוֹם
A place is where one stands; this branch echoes the root’s sense of standing and gives the prayer’s request a sense of firm ground.
va’aqayyemah: And I will perform or fulfill
וָאֲקַיֵּמָה
In Psalm 119:106, the KJV’s “perform” comes from this same root, revealing a link between making the word stand and carrying an oath through.
אִמְרָתֶךָ
imratekha
GROWS FROM
אמר
ʾ-m-r
Say, speak.
The Hebrew word here is a saying or utterance, keeping the prayer close to speech. The servant asks for what God has spoken to stand firm.
ALSO GROWS
ʾāmar: To say, speak
אָמַר
This verb is the root of the verse’s word for “word,” showing that the request concerns a spoken utterance.
ʾimrah: Utterance, saying
אִמְרָה
This is the noun at the heart of “thy word”; its spoken quality remains visible beneath the English rendering.
יִרְאָתֶךָ
yirʾatekha
GROWS FROM
ירא
y-r-ʾ
Fear, revere; when God is the one feared, awe.
“Fear” in this verse is yirʾatekha. The closing phrase joins the servant to awe of God. The word made firm and the life of reverence appear together in the verse.
ALSO GROWS
yare: To fear or revere; toward God, to stand in awe
יָרֵא
The verb clarifies the reverent sense carried by the verse’s closing phrase.
yirʾah: Fear, awe, reverence
יִרְאָה
This noun names the orientation that the KJV renders as being devoted to God’s fear.
THE PATTERN
God’s word stands firm, and that same steadiness establishes those who receive it.
So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil.THE THREAD
I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments.Both Hebrew verbs use קום (qum), meaning “rise” or “stand”: here God is asked to make the utterance stand; there the speaker says, “I will perform it.” English obscures the shared root, joining divine establishment with a vow carried through.
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