Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their God?
Parallel translations
- WEB Why should the nations say, “Where is their God, now?”
- BSB Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?”
- NKJV Why should the Gentiles say, “So where is their God?”
- NASB Why should the nations say, “Where, then, is their God?”
- NLT Why let the nations say, “Where is their God?”
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
The nations mock Israel by asking where their God is. It matters because God's people often face taunts that seem to question his presence and power.
Overview
Surrounding peoples scoff that Israel's invisible God is absent or impotent, especially in times of trouble. The psalm will answer this taunt not by displaying Israel's strength but by proclaiming God's sovereign reality. Such mockery echoes through Scripture and even to the cross, where Christ was challenged to prove himself, yet God's hidden purposes were being accomplished.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Ps 42:3My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?
- Ps 79:10Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is their God? let him be known among the heathen in our sight by the revenging of the blood of thy servants which is shed.
- Ps 42:10As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me; while they say daily unto me, Where is thy God?
- Exod 32:12Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people.
- Joel 2:17Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?
- Deut 32:26–27I said, I would scatter them into corners, I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men:
- Num 14:15–16Now if thou shalt kill all this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak, saying,
- 2 Kgs 19:10–19Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God in whom thou trustest deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 115:2 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.