Bible Strands
Psalms 119:87
They almost wiped me from the earth, but I have not forsaken Your precepts.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist speaks as a persecuted individual addressing God, positioned between a plea for help in Psalms 119:86 and a request for revival to obey in Psalms 119:88.
The words — The Hebrew כִּלּוּנִי (kiluni) literally means "they have made an end of me," paired with לֹא עָזַבְתִּי (lo azavti), "I have not forsaken," to frame the tension between near-total destruction and steadfast adherence.
The thread — This pattern of surviving near-destruction while holding to divine instruction appears in Psalms 119:61, where binding ropes do not cause the psalmist to forget the law, and in Matthew 10:28, which commands fear of the One who can destroy soul and body rather than those who only kill the body.
Why it lands — The text requires a reader to recognize that external threats cannot nullify obedience to God’s commands, demanding a choice to maintain fidelity regardless of imminent danger.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
They had almost consumed me upon earth; but I forsook not thy precepts.
Cross-references
- Matthew 10:28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
- Psalms 119:61 Though the ropes of the wicked bind me, I do not forget Your law.
- Isaiah 58:2 For day after day they seek Me and delight to know My ways, like a nation that does what is right and does not forsake the justice of their God. They ask Me for righteous judgments; they delight in the nearness of God.”
- 1 Samuel 26:24 As surely as I valued your life today, so may the LORD value my life and rescue me from all trouble.”
- Psalms 119:51 The arrogant utterly deride me, but I do not turn from Your law.
- 1 Samuel 20:3 But David again vowed, “Your father knows very well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he has said, ‘Jonathan must not know of this, or he will be grieved.’ As surely as the LORD lives and as you yourself live, there is but a step between me and death.”
- 1 Samuel 23:26 Saul was proceeding along one side of the mountain, and David and his men along the other side. Even though David was hurrying to get away, Saul and his men were closing in on David and his men to capture them.
- 1 Samuel 24:6 So he said to his men, “The LORD forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the LORD’s anointed. May I never lift my hand against him, since he is the LORD’s anointed.”
- 1 Samuel 26:9 But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him, for who can extend a hand against the LORD’s anointed and be guiltless?”
- 2 Samuel 17:16 Now send quickly and tell David, ‘Do not spend the night at the fords of the wilderness, but be sure to cross over. Otherwise the king and all the people with him will be swallowed up.’”