Bible Strands
Psalms 44:18
Our hearts have not turned back; our steps have not strayed from Your path.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses God in a moment of national distress, positioned between an assertion of covenant faithfulness (Psalms 44:17) and a description of severe divine judgment (Psalms 44:19).
The words — The Hebrew לֹא נָסוֹג אָחוֹר (lo- nasog achor) literally means "not turned back," while אֲשׁוּרֵינוּ מִנִּי אָרְחֶךָ (ashureinu minni archecha) translates to "our steps from your path."
The thread — This claim of unswerving loyalty runs through Psalms 119:51 and Psalms 119:157, where the speaker explicitly refuses to abandon God's commands despite opposition. Job 23:11 mirrors the language by stating that the speaker kept God's way without turning aside.
Why it lands — The text states that physical suffering and national ruin do not equate to spiritual defection. It requires the reader to distinguish between God's permissive judgment and the community's actual covenant fidelity.
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
Our heart is not turned back, neither have our steps declined from thy way;
Cross-references
- Psalms 119:51 The arrogant utterly deride me, but I do not turn from Your law.
- Psalms 119:157 Though my persecutors and foes are many, I have not turned from Your testimonies.
- Job 23:11 My feet have followed in His tracks; I have kept His way without turning aside.
- Psalms 78:57 They turned back and were faithless like their fathers, twisted like a faulty bow.
- Zephaniah 1:6 and those who turn back from following the LORD, neither seeking the LORD nor inquiring of Him.”
- 1 Kings 15:5 For David had done what was right in the eyes of the LORD and had not turned aside from anything the LORD commanded all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.
- Job 34:27 because they turned aside from Him and had no regard for any of His ways.
- Psalms 125:5 But those who turn to crooked ways the LORD will banish with the evildoers. Peace be upon Israel.
- Jeremiah 11:10 They have returned to the sins of their forefathers who refused to obey My words. They have followed other gods to serve them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken the covenant I made with their fathers.
- Luke 17:32 Remember Lot’s wife!