What Does Psalm 119:65 Mean in the King James?
Thou hast dealt well with thy servant, O LORD, according unto thy word.
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
The line joins good done with the servant to what the LORD has spoken, making goodness an enacted reality aligned with the LORD’s own word.
THE MEANING
The LORD’s goodness is active toward you: what is done with you accords with what has been spoken. The verse holds care and word together, so this goodness is neither vague nor detached from the LORD’s declaration.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that what is happening to you lies beyond the reach of the LORD’s declared goodness.
THE ROOT
טוֹב עָשִׂיתָ
ṭôḇ ʿāśîtā
GROWS FROM
עשׂה
do, make, act
“dealt well” in this verse is ṭôḇ ʿāśîtā. The Hebrew phrase is literally “good you did” with the servant. The verb makes goodness something enacted, not merely an abstract quality.
ALSO GROWS
ʿāśāh: to do, make
עָשָׂה
The verb in the verse presents the LORD’s goodness as an action.
maʿăśeh: deed, work
מַעֲשֶׂה
This related noun shows how the root names both doing and the deed that results.
דְּבָרֶךָ
devarəkha
GROWS FROM
דבר
speak; word, matter
The word translated “word” also carries the sense of a matter or thing. Hebrew holds the spoken declaration and the matter it addresses within the same word family, joining what the LORD says to what is done.
ALSO GROWS
dāḇār: word, matter, thing
דָּבָר
This noun shows that “word” can name both speech and a matter.
dibbēr: to speak, utter
דִּבֵּר
This verb makes the speech within “according to thy word” audible.
עַבְדֶּךָ
ʿavdekha
GROWS FROM
עבד
serve, work
“Servant” shares its root with the verb “serve” and the noun “service.” The verse names the person and the work through one seed, placing the LORD’s good action in relation to a servant.
ALSO GROWS
ʿāḇad: to serve, work
עָבַד
The verb shares the servant’s root and makes the connection between person and service explicit.
ʿăḇōḏāh: service, work
עֲבוֹדָה
This noun carries the same root into the work or service itself.
THE PATTERN
The LORD’s goodness is active, taking shape within a person’s real circumstances.
Thou art good, and doest good; teach me thy statutes.But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.THE THREAD
Thou art good, and doest good; teach me thy statutes.Psalm 119:65 calls the LORD’s action טוֹב (ṭôḇ, good), and this verse uses the same word to name the LORD. The shared word joins who the LORD is with the goodness the servant experiences.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us