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Psalm 119:173
Let your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen your precepts.
171Let my lips utter praise, for you teach me your statutes.
172Let my tongue sing of your word, for all your commandments are righteousness.
173Let your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen your precepts.
174I have longed for your salvation, LORD. Your law is my delight.
175Let my soul live, that I may praise you. Let your ordinances help me.
Notice
The plea for God's hand comes from someone who has chosen his precepts, showing how a firm commitment can still carry a need for help.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
Where have you chosen to follow God's precepts and found yourself needing his help?
Write on thisWhat does asking for God's hand to be ready express about your need today?
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Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
1 Chronicles 4:10Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that you would bless me indeed, and enlarge my border! May your hand be with me, and may you keep me from evil, …Both prayers ask for God's hand to be present in the speaker's need.
Psalm 119:5Oh that my ways were steadfast to obey your statutes!Both verses express commitment to God's commands through prayer, asking for help or steadfastness in obedience.
Deuteronomy 30:19I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Therefore choose life, that you may …Both passages speak of a deliberate choice before God: choosing his precepts here and choosing life in Deuteronomy.
Joshua 24:22Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the LORD yourselves, to serve him.” They said, “We are witnesses.”Both texts name a choice already made: the psalmist has chosen God's precepts, and the people have chosen to serve the LORD.
Psalm 119:30I have chosen the way of truth. I have set your ordinances before me.Both verses declare a settled choice directed toward God's instruction, naming his precepts or the way of truth.
Psalm 119:94I am yours. Save me, for I have sought your precepts.Both prayers appeal for God's aid while expressing the speaker's commitment to his precepts.
Isaiah 41:10–14Don’t you be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. Yes, I will uphold you with the …God's hand and help appear in both texts: the psalm asks for help, while Isaiah records God's promise to give it.
Romans 7:18For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwells no good thing. For desire is present with me, but I don’t find it doing that which is good.Both concern a desire for what is good; the psalm asks for help, while Romans names the failure to carry that desire out.
Psalm 119:35Direct me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in them.Both prayers seek God's active aid in a life committed to his commands.
Luke 10:42but one thing is needed. Mary has chosen the good part, which will not be taken away from her.”Both texts speak of choosing something good, though Luke names Mary's good part rather than God's precepts.
Proverbs 1:30They wanted none of my counsel. They despised all my reproof.Both concern a response to instruction, with chosen precepts in the psalm contrasting with rejected counsel in Proverbs.
Proverbs 1:29because they hated knowledge, and didn’t choose the fear of the LORD.Both texts use the language of choice concerning God, contrasting chosen precepts with refusal to choose the fear of the LORD.
Where this verse fits
Temptation. wanting a steady prayer habit. a big decision.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
Needing help does not cancel your choice to obey God. The speaker makes that choice part of the plea: even a willing heart depends on God's hand.
Now put it in your words.
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).