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Psalm 125 · a question people ask

"Do good, LORD, to those who are good" (125:4). Is the psalm saying the LORD is good only to good people?

In the text

The psalm asks it as a prayer, and it says whom it means: "those who are upright in their hearts" (125:4). The next verse speaks of "those who turn away to their crooked ways" (125:5). The psalm doesn't say the LORD does good to no one else, and it doesn't say how anyone comes to be upright. Other psalms speak of his goodness in their own words: "You are good, and do good" (Psalm 119:68), with the same Hebrew verb for do good (tap good), and "The LORD is good to all" (Psalm 145:9). Each psalm says what it says, and these notes don't set one against another or add to them.

The verses

“Do good, LORD, to those who are good, to those who are upright in their hearts. But as for those who turn away to their crooked ways, the LORD will lead them away with the workers of iniquity. Peace be on Israel.”
Psalm 125:4-5 · World English Bible
“You are good, and do good. Teach me your statutes.”
Psalm 119:68 · World English Bible
“The LORD is good to all. His tender mercies are over all his works.”
Psalm 145:9 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Psalm 125

Psalm 125: Like Mount Zion

Psalm 125 gives two pictures: those who trust in the LORD are as Mount Zion, which can't be moved, and the LORD is around his people as the mountains are around Jerusalem. The WEB's two remains are two Hebrew verbs: Zion stays; the scepter of wickedness won't settle over the allotment of the righteous, so that they won't use their hands to do evil.

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions