Bible Strands
Psalms 31:23
Love the LORD, all His saints. The LORD preserves the faithful, but fully repays the arrogant.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist, having just been answered in his alarm (v. 22), turns from personal testimony to a communal command, addressing "all His faithful ones" (כָּל־חֲסִידָיו).
The words — נֹצֵר (nōṣēr), "preserving," is an active participle: not a one-time rescue but continuous guarding. חֲסִידָיו (ḥasîdāyw), "His faithful ones," marks the object as those bound to Him by covenant loyalty rather than mere ethnicity.
The thread — The same pairing of preservation for the faithful and judgment for the proud recurs in Psalms 97:10, 145:20, and 94:2.
Why it lands — The verse is an imperative, not a description: it asks the reader to choose which side of the divide they occupy. Love Yahweh, or be counted among the arrogant who are repaid.
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
O love the Lord, all ye his saints: for the Lord preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer.
Cross-references
- Psalms 97:10 Hate evil, O you who love the LORD! He preserves the souls of His saints; He delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
- Psalms 94:2 Rise up, O Judge of the earth; render a reward to the proud.
- Psalms 145:20 The LORD preserves all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy.
- John 10:27 My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me.
- Psalms 34:9 Fear the LORD, you His saints, for those who fear Him lack nothing.
- Psalms 30:4 Sing to the LORD, O you His saints, and praise His holy name.
- Deuteronomy 33:3 Surely You love the people; all the holy ones are in Your hand, and they sit down at Your feet; each receives Your words—
- 1 Samuel 2:9 He guards the steps of His faithful ones, but the wicked perish in darkness; for by his own strength shall no man prevail.
- 1 Thessalonians 4:1 Finally, brothers, we ask and encourage you in the Lord Jesus to live in a way that is pleasing to God, just as you have received from us. This is how you already live, so you should do so all the more.
- Deuteronomy 10:12 And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God by walking in all His ways, to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul,