My current Bible is the King James Version. (I do read other versions. I am not a KJV only zealot. But honestly it doesn't get better for me than to read the Psalms in the King James Version.)
The KJV reads, "While I live will I praise the Lord: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being."
It reads as a call and response. The call: While I live....will I praise the LORD? The response: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.
I also love the KJV's ANY being. If you've lived with pain, with intense pain, with the uncertainty of how long the pain will last, you'll treasure the any too. We're not called to praise God only when we feel good, only when we feel energized and put together and ready to live life at its fullest. We're called to praise God in any and every circumstance. Even when we don't feel like getting out of bed, out of the house, out of our pajamas. If I've got a pulse...any breath at all...I will praise the LORD. Because no matter how I feel--at any given time--the LORD is worthy of praise. And finding joy in the Lord, delighting in the LORD, instead of weakening me will strengthen me.
How does this verse read in other translations:
- I will praise him as long as I live, yes, even with my dying breath. ~ Living Bible
- I will praise the LORD as long as I live. I will sing praises to my God with my dying breath. ~ New Living
- I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. ~ ESV
- I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. ~ NIV
- I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have being. ~ RSV
- I will spend my life praising you and singing high praises to you, my God, every day of my life! ~ Passion Translation
- While I live I will praise the Lord; I will sing praises unto my God while I have my life. ~ MEV
- While I live I will praise the Lord; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. ~ NKJV
- I will praise the Lord while I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. ~ NASB
- I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing to my God as long as I live. ~ HCSB
- While I live will I praise Jehovah: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being. ~ ASV
- I will praise the Lord with all my life; I will sing praises to my God as long as I live. ~ CEB
- I will praise Adonai as long as I live. I will sing praise to my God all my life. ~ CJB
- All my life long I’ll praise God, singing songs to my God as long as I live. Message
- In my life I will praise the LORD; I will sing praises unto my God while I live. ~ Jubilee Bible
- I will praise him as long as I live; I will sing to my God all my life. ~ GNT
- I want to praise the Lord throughout my life. I want to make music to praise my God as long as I live. ~ GW
- I will praise the Lord during my life; as long as I have any being, I will sing unto my God. ~ 1599 Geneva Bible
- I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God all my life long. ~ NRSV
- I want to praise Yahweh throughout my life. I want to make music to praise my Elohim as long as I live. ~Names of God
There isn't a lot of variation in how the verse translates. One thing I've noticed--besides the "I will" affirmation or declaration is the MY GOD. In the first half of the verse God is God is God. There is something majestic and glorious and HOLY about the LORD. In the second half of the verse, it gets personal. One doesn't sing and praise a distant God, an unknowable God. It is MY God. God is known. God is loved.
All my life. Another thing I noted is that God is for always; that praising God is for always. In life. In death. There is no time from birth to death where it's not appropriate--not good and right--to praise God. You're never too young, never too old, never too strong, never too weak. God is for always and forever worthy of praise. And what a privilege it is that we can praise Him. God is good, and once God is known, once God is "MY" God...how can anyone keep from singing.
How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said,
You, who unto Jesus for refuge have fled?
In every condition, in sickness, in health;
In poverty’s vale, or abounding in wealth;
At home and abroad, on the land, on the sea,
As thy days may demand, shall thy strength ever be.
Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid;
I’ll strengthen and help thee, and cause thee to stand
Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.
When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of woe shall not thee overflow;
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.
When through fiery trials thy pathways shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.
Even down to old age all My people shall prove
My sovereign, eternal, unchangeable love;
And when hoary hairs shall their temples adorn,
Like lambs they shall still in My bosom be borne.
The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose,
I will not, I will not desert to its foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake. ~ Traditional Hymn
© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible
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