May Yahweh therefore be judge, and give sentence between me and you, and see, and plead my cause, and deliver me out of your hand.”
Parallel translations
- KJV The LORD therefore be judge, and judge between me and thee, and see, and plead my cause, and deliver me out of thine hand.
- BSB May the LORD be our judge and decide between you and me. May He take notice and plead my case and deliver me from your hand.”
- ESV May the LORD therefore be judge and give sentence between me and you, and see to it and plead my cause and deliver me from your hand.”
- NKJV Therefore let the Lord be judge, and judge between you and me, and see and plead my case, and deliver me out of your hand.”
- NASB May the Lord therefore be judge and decide between you and me; and may He see and plead my cause and save me from your hand.”
- NLT May the Lord therefore judge which of us is right and punish the guilty one. He is my advocate, and he will rescue me from your power!”
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
David asks God to be judge and to deliver him from Saul's hand. He rests his case and his safety entirely in the Lord.
Overview
David closes his appeal by again calling on Yahweh to weigh the matter, plead his cause, and rescue him. He renounces self-defense by violence and places himself under divine protection. This repeated committal of his cause to God is the posture of faith that animates the psalms David wrote, and it points to Christ who entrusted His vindication to the Father.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Ps 43:1Vindicate me, God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation. Oh, deliver me from deceitful and wicked men.
- Ps 35:1By David. Contend, Yahweh, with those who contend with me. Fight against those who fight against me.
- Ps 119:154Plead my cause, and redeem me! Revive me according to your promise.
- 1 Sam 24:12May Yahweh judge between me and you, and may Yahweh avenge me of you; but my hand will not be on you.
- Mic 7:9I will bear the indignation of Yahweh, because I have sinned against him, until he pleads my case, and executes judgment for me. He will bring me out to the light. I will see his righteousness.
- Mic 1:2Hear, you peoples, all of you. Listen, O earth, and all that is therein: and let the Lord Yahweh be witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.
- 2 Chr 24:22Thus Joash the king didn’t remember the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but killed his son. When he died, he said, “May Yahweh look at it, and repay it.”
- 1 Sam 26:4David therefore sent out spies, and understood that Saul had certainly come.
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Christ at the center
The rise of the anointed king after Israel's failed first choice points to the true Anointed One (Messiah means 'anointed'), the shepherd-king after God's own heart from Bethlehem.
How 1 Samuel 24:15 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.