Bible Strands
Psalms 16:7
I will bless the LORD who counsels me; even at night my conscience instructs me.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist speaks in the first person, addressing the assembly of Israel after describing his secure inheritance in the preceding verse.
The words — אֲבָרֵךְ ('a.va.rekh) means "I will bless," and יְעָצָ֑נִי (ye.'a.tza./ni) means "he has counseled me." The plural verb יִסְּרוּ (yi.sse./ru) "they have instructed" grammatically takes the speaker's inner faculties as its subject, not the noun for "nights."
The thread — The psalmist's experience of divine guidance during the night watches connects to Psalms 17:3, Psalms 63:6, and Isaiah 50:4, though the latter describes God awakening the speaker in the morning rather than during night watches.
Why it lands — The text records a commitment to praise God for His ongoing direction and an acknowledgment that the psalmist's own conscience actively disciplines him. It requires the reader to recognize that faithful living depends on both receiving divine counsel and submitting to the moral instruction of a trained conscience.
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
I will bless the Lord, who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night seasons.
Cross-references
- Psalms 17:3 You have tried my heart; You have visited me in the night. You have tested me and found no evil; I have resolved not to sin with my mouth.
- Psalms 63:6 When I remember You on my bed, I think of You through the watches of the night.
- Isaiah 50:4 The Lord GOD has given Me the tongue of discipleship, to sustain the weary with a word. He awakens Me morning by morning; He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple.
- Psalms 73:24 You guide me with Your counsel, and later receive me in glory.
- Psalms 77:6 At night I remembered my song; in my heart I mused, and my spirit pondered:
- Psalms 42:8 The LORD decrees His loving devotion by day, and at night His song is with me as a prayer to the God of my life.
- Psalms 119:55 In the night, O LORD, I remember Your name, that I may keep Your law.
- Isaiah 26:9 My soul longs for You in the night; indeed, my spirit seeks You at dawn. For when Your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness.
- Jeremiah 17:10 I, the LORD, search the heart; I examine the mind to reward a man according to his way, by what his deeds deserve.
- Isaiah 48:17 Thus says the LORD your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the LORD your God, who teaches you for your benefit, who directs you in the way you should go.