Accept, I beseech thee, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O LORD, and teach me thy judgments.

PSALMS 119:108KJV
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Psalms 119:108 (KJV)

What does Psalms 119:108 mean?

Psalms 119:108 is a prayer asking the LORD to accept the speaker’s spoken offerings and to continue teaching him about God’s ways. The verse shows a desire for God to receive words of praise or commitment as genuine offerings, and for ongoing guidance in understanding what is right.

The speaker is the psalmist, addressing the LORD directly in a moment of devotion. Instead of bringing physical sacrifices, the psalmist offers words—likely prayers, praises, or promises—as “freewill offerings.” He also asks God to teach him about God’s “judgments,” meaning God’s decisions or standards for living. This verse highlights a personal relationship with God, where heartfelt words and learning from God’s instructions are central.

The Hebrew behind Psalms 119:108

  • “Accept” (רָצָה, ratsah): This word means to take pleasure in or to be pleased with. The psalmist is not just asking God to receive his words, but to find them pleasing, as one would hope for with a gift.
  • “Offerings” (נְדָבָה, nedavah): This refers to a freewill offering, something given voluntarily rather than out of obligation. The psalmist’s words are given freely, not because he must, but because he wants to.
  • “Mouth” (פֶּה, peh): The offering is not a physical object, but what comes from the psalmist’s mouth—his prayers, praises, or commitments.
  • “Teach” (לָמַד, lamad): The psalmist asks God to instruct him, showing that learning from God is ongoing and needed.
  • “Judgments” (מִשְׁפָּט, mishpat): This word means God’s decisions, laws, or standards. The psalmist wants to understand how God sees right and wrong.

Why Psalms 119:108 matters

  • Psalms 119:108 shows that words spoken to God—prayers, praises, or promises—can be meaningful offerings, not just rituals or sacrifices.
  • The verse emphasizes that learning from God is a continual process, and even those devoted to God seek further understanding.
  • This verse connects to the larger theme of Psalm 119, which is a deep love for God’s teachings and a desire to live by them, highlighting both devotion and humility.

Where else these words appear

“offerings” Hebrew H5071 · used in 25 verses

  • Exodus 35:29 The children of Israel brought a willing offering unto the LORD, every man and woman, whose heart made them willing to bring for all manner of work, which the LORD had commanded to be made by the hand of Moses.
  • Numbers 29:39 These things ye shall do unto the LORD in your set feasts, beside your vows, and your freewill offerings, for your burnt offerings, and for your meat offerings, and for your drink offerings, and for your peace offerings.
  • Ezra 3:5 And afterward offered the continual burnt offering, both of the new moons, and of all the set feasts of the LORD that were consecrated, and of every one that willingly offered a freewill offering unto the LORD.

“Accept” Hebrew H7521 · used in 55 verses

  • Genesis 33:10 And Jacob said, Nay, I pray thee, if now I have found grace in thy sight, then receive my present at my hand: for therefore I have seen thy face, as though I had seen the face of God, and thou wast pleased with me.
  • 2 Chronicles 36:21 To fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.
  • Proverbs 3:12 For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.

“teach” Hebrew H3925 · used in 80 verses

  • Deuteronomy 4:1 Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers giveth you.
  • Psalms 25:4 Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths.
  • Proverbs 30:3 I neither learned wisdom, nor have the knowledge of the holy.