The psalmist uses the familiar figure of walking down a road to refer to his complete submission to Yahweh’s commands. The word translated paths is literally “track (of a wagon), course”; see its use in 65.11, “the tracks of your chariot.” “In your way” or thy paths must indicate the way the LORD has directed people to go, and not merely indicate a path which belongs to the LORD. One may recast this as “I have always followed the way you have gone” or “I have always walked where you have shown me.”

For the verb translated slipped (literally “totter, stagger”) see its use in 10.6, “be moved.” The parallelism in this verse expresses the movement from the general steps in line a to the specific feet in line b. The meaning is to be understood as “Not only have my steps stayed on your paths, but my feet have never even slipped.” Good News Translation, which replaces steps and feet with “walked” and “strayed,” does not bring out the intensification.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Reyburn, William D. A Handbook on the Book of Psalms. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1991. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .