What Does Psalm 37:31 Mean in the King James?
The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide.
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 steady step begins with instruction already carried within the heart.
THE MEANING
God’s instruction is held within the heart, where it becomes an inner direction. The verse describes steps that remain steady because that direction is already within.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that guidance exists only as an external rule; here it has entered the heart and shapes each step.
THE ROOT
תּוֹרָה
torah
GROWS FROM
ירה
y-r-h
To direct, point out, or teach.
“law” in this verse is torah. Torah carries the sense of instruction that points a way forward. What steadies the steps is not merely a rule imposed from outside, but direction taken into the heart.
ALSO GROWS
yarah: To teach or direct
יָרָה
This is the root’s guiding sense, linking instruction with a path to follow.
moreh: Teacher or instructor
מוֹרֶה
The teacher’s role is to direct; Torah is instruction that gives the heart its course.
אֲשֻׁרָיו
ashurav
GROWS FROM
אשר
ʾ-sh-r
To go straight, advance, or move forward; the same root also carries the sense of flourishing.
The word for his steps, אֲשֻׁרָיו (ashurav, his steps), shares its root with אַשְׁרֵי (ashrei, flourishing). The verse links a steady walk with flourishing: inner instruction gives the life its forward course.
ALSO GROWS
ashur: A step or stride
אָשׁוּר
This is the word’s concrete image of movement through life.
ashrei: Flourishing
אַשְׁרֵי
The shared root connects steady movement with a life advancing toward flourishing.
THE PATTERN
Instruction carried within shapes the direction of a life outward.
And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.THE THREAD
Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.Both verses place God’s word in the heart, and both turn on the Hebrew word לֵב (lev, heart). Psalm 119 makes the inner placement vivid: the word is kept within the heart, where it can shape what comes next.
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