O Israel, trust thou in the LORD: he is their help and their shield.
Parallel translations
- WEB Israel, trust in Yahweh! He is their help and their shield.
- BSB O Israel, trust in the LORD! He is their help and shield.
- NKJV O Israel, trust in the Lord; He is their help and their shield.
- NASB ¶Israel, trust in the Lord; He is their help and their shield.
- NLT O Israel, trust the Lord! He is your helper and your shield.
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
Israel is summoned to trust in Yahweh, who is their help and shield. It matters because the living God is the only secure refuge.
Overview
Having exposed idols, the psalm calls the covenant people to active trust in the Lord who protects and defends. 'Help and shield' pictures God as both rescuer and guardian. This invitation grounds faith not in feelings but in God's proven character, anticipating the gospel call to rest wholly in the God who shields his people in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Ps 62:8Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.
- Ps 37:3Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.
- Prov 30:5Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.
- Ps 118:2–4Let Israel now say, that his mercy endureth for ever.
- Ps 135:19–20Bless the LORD, O house of Israel: bless the LORD, O house of Aaron:
- Ps 33:20–21Our soul waiteth for the LORD: he is our help and our shield.
- Deut 33:29Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the LORD, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency! and thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places.
- Ps 146:5–6Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God:
- Eph 1:12That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
- Ps 84:11For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
- Exod 19:5Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
- Ps 130:7Let Israel hope in the LORD: for with the LORD there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption.
- Jer 17:17–18Be not a terror unto me: thou art my hope in the day of evil.
- Ps 125:1They that trust in the LORD shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever.
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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 115:9 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.