# Psalms 119.90

<!-- type: passage | created: 2026-05-31 | updated: 2026-05-31 -->

**Book:** [Psalms](/codex/psalms/) · ASV

## Immediate context (±2 verses)

**ASV** ([ASV](/codex/asv/))
> 88. Quicken me after thy lovingkindness; So shall I observe the testimony of thy mouth. 89. LAMEDH. For ever, O Jehovah, Thy word is settled in heaven.
>
> **90. Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: Thou hast established the earth, and it abideth.**
>
> 91. They abide this day according to thine ordinances; For all things are thy servants. 92. Unless thy law had been my delight, I should then have perished in mine affliction. (Psalms 119:88-92, ASV)

**WEB** ([WEB](/codex/web/))
> 88. Preserve my life according to your loving kindness, so I will obey the statutes of your mouth. <b>LAMED </b> 89. Yahweh, your word is settled in heaven forever.
>
> **90. Your faithfulness is to all generations. You have established the earth, and it remains.**
>
> 91. Your laws remain to this day, for all things serve you. 92. Unless your law had been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction. (Psalms 119:88-92, WEB)

**KJV** ([KJV](/codex/kjv/))
> 88. Quicken me after thy lovingkindness; so shall I keep the testimony of thy mouth. 89. LAMED. For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.
>
> **90. Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast established the earth, and it abideth. <sup>unto: Heb. to generation and generation</sup> <sup>abideth: Heb. standeth</sup>**
>
> 91. They continue this day according to thine ordinances: for all are thy servants. 92. Unless thy law had been my delights, I should then have perished in mine affliction. (Psalms 119:88-92, KJV)

**YLT** ([YLT](/codex/ylt/))
> 88. According to Thy kindness quicken Thou me, And I keep the testimony of Thy mouth! 89. [Lamed.] To the age, O Jehovah, Thy word is set up in the heavens.
>
> **90. To all generations Thy faithfulness, Thou didst establish earth, and it standeth.**
>
> 91. According to Thine ordinances They have stood this day, for the whole [are] Thy servants. 92. Unless Thy law [were] my delights, Then had I perished in mine affliction. (Psalms 119:88-92, YLT)

## Setting

- **Speaker:** anonymous post-exilic psalmist (acrostic composition on Torah-piety)
- **Audience:** Israel in covenantal worship; reader as Torah-meditator
- **Location:** post-exilic Judah, likely Second Temple liturgical milieu
- **Time period:** post-exilic (c. 5th-4th c. BC)

## Theological reading

Psalm 119:90 occurs in the *LAMEDH* stanza (vv. 89-96), which celebrates the cosmic durability of YHWH's word. The verse pairs God's [*emunah*](/codex/h0530-emunah/) with the establishment of the earth, drawing a structural parallel: just as the created order *abides* by divine ordinance, so the *emunah* of God *abides unto all generations*. The verse anchors a creation-faithfulness link, the same God who established the earth establishes His covenant faithfulness with His people. The pastoral logic: the believer's confidence in God's reliability is as durable as the stable created order He has made and sustains. The verse is one of the Psalter's most-quoted *emunah* texts in the liturgical tradition.

## Key words

- [H0530 - emunah](/codex/h0530-emunah/), *emunah*
- [H1697 - dabar](/codex/h1697-dabar/), *dabar*, God's word (v. 89)

## See also

- [H0530 - emunah](/codex/h0530-emunah/), the lexical hub
- [Psalms](/codex/psalms/)

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## Quoted in

**Concepts:**

- [Conservation Laws](/codex/conservation-laws/), via [Psalms 119.89-91](/codex/psalms-119-89-91/)

**Lexicon:**

- [H0530 - emunah](/codex/h0530-emunah/)
- [H0539 - aman](/codex/h0539-aman/)

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## Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the **most literal English translations available** (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the **public domain in the United States**, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

- **[ASV](/codex/asv/)** (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
- **[WEB](/codex/web/)** (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
- **[KJV](/codex/kjv/)** (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
- **[YLT](/codex/ylt/)** (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See [Bibles](/codex/bibles/) for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.