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Psalm 34:20

He protects all of his bones. Not one of them is broken.

18The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves those who have a crushed spirit.
19Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.
20He protects all of his bones. Not one of them is broken.
21Evil shall kill the wicked. Those who hate the righteous shall be condemned.
22The LORD redeems the soul of his servants. None of those who take refuge in him shall be condemned.
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← Psalm 34:19Psalm 34:21 →
Notice

Unbroken bones make God's protection concrete, while the preceding line about many afflictions leaves room for hard questions about what that protection means.

Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.

What do you notice when you read about unbroken bones just after the righteous person's many afflictions?

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What questions about bodily harm would you bring to God after reading these words?

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Connect

Where else Scripture says this

6 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
John 19:36For these things happened that the Scripture might be fulfilled, “A bone of him will not be broken.”John identifies unbroken bones as Scripture fulfilled; Psalm 34 speaks of God's protection with that same specific detail.
Matthew 4:6and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and, ‘On their hands they …Both texts speak of bodily protection, though Matthew's quotation appears within a challenge to throw oneself down.
Psalm 35:10All my bones shall say, “LORD, who is like you, who delivers the poor from him who is too strong for him; yes, the poor and the needy from him who robs him?”Bones appear in both psalms: protected by God in Psalm 34, praising his rescue of the poor in Psalm 35.
Psalm 91:12They will bear you up in their hands, so that you won’t dash your foot against a stone.Both passages describe protection from bodily harm, naming bones in Psalm 34 and a foot kept from striking stone in Psalm 91.
Daniel 6:22–24My God has sent his angel, and has shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not hurt me, because innocence was found in me before him; and also before you, O …Daniel credits God with keeping the lions from hurting him, sharing Psalm 34's emphasis on God's protection from bodily harm.
Exodus 12:46It must be eaten in one house. You shall not carry any of the meat outside of the house. Do not break any of its bones.Both passages specify unbroken bones: Exodus commands people to leave them intact, while Psalm 34 describes God protecting them.
Where this verse fits

Illness or diagnosis. fear for the future. sermon or Bible study notes.

What the Bible says about fear →
One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

Read Psalm 34:19–20 aloud as one thought

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Encouragement

The promise of guarded bones belongs to a psalm that names many afflictions. Your suffering does not, by itself, show that God has ceased to care for you.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 34:20. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.

Keep goingPsalm 34 · the whole chapter with its connection mapPsalms · every chapterBuild a reading plan through Psalms

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).