Bible Strands
Psalms 66:9
He preserves our lives and keeps our feet from slipping.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses the gathered peoples in a corporate worship context, transitioning from the call to praise in verse 8 to a declaration of God’s immediate protection before introducing the theme of refining testing in verse 10.
The words — The Hebrew phrase בַּ/חַיִּ֑ים (ba./chai.Yim) literally means "in life," and the clause וְ/לֹֽא־ נָתַ֖ן (ve./lo'- na.Tan) explicitly pairs the negative particle with the verb to mean "he has not permitted" the foot to slip.
The thread — This motif of divine preservation from slipping appears in Psalms 121:3 and Psalms 94:18, while the broader theme of unshakable stability for the righteous is echoed in Psalms 112:6.
Why it lands — The text states that God actively sustains life and prevents physical or moral failure, requiring the reader to acknowledge dependence on divine preservation rather than personal stability.
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
Which holdeth our soul in life, and suffereth not our feet to be moved.
Cross-references
- Psalms 121:3 He will not allow your foot to slip; your Protector will not slumber.
- Psalms 94:18 If I say, “My foot is slipping,” Your loving devotion, O LORD, supports me.
- Psalms 112:6 Surely he will never be shaken; the righteous man will be remembered forever.
- 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.
- Psalms 37:23 The steps of a man are ordered by the LORD who takes delight in his journey.
- 1 Samuel 25:29 And should someone pursue you and seek your life, then the life of my lord will be bound securely by the LORD your God in the bundle of the living. But He shall fling away the lives of your enemies like stones from a sling.
- Psalms 22:29 All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before Him—even those unable to preserve their lives.
- Psalms 62:2 He alone is my rock and my salvation. He is my fortress; I will never be shaken.
- Psalms 125:3 For the scepter of the wicked will not rest upon the land allotted to the righteous, so that the righteous will not put forth their hands to injustice.
- Acts 17:28 ‘For in Him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are His offspring.’