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Yahweh preserves the simple. I was brought low, and he saved me.
Psalms 116:6 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV The LORD preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me.
  • BSB The LORD preserves the simplehearted; I was helpless, and He saved me.
  • NKJV The Lord preserves the simple; I was brought low, and He saved me.
  • NASB The Lord watches over the simple; I was brought low, and He saved me.
  • NLT The Lord protects those of childlike faith; I was facing death, and he saved me.

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 Lord preserves the simple and saved the psalmist when brought low. It matters because God especially helps the helpless and humble.

Overview

God watches over the 'simple,' the unguarded and lowly who have nowhere else to turn. The psalmist counts himself among them, brought low yet saved. This tender care for the weak anticipates Christ, who came to save not the self-sufficient but those who know their need (Matt. 9:12-13).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 11

  • Matt 11:25At that time, Jesus answered, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you hid these things from the wise and understanding, and revealed them to infants.
  • Ps 19:7Yahweh’s law is perfect, restoring the soul. Yahweh’s testimony is sure, making wise the simple.
  • Ps 142:6Listen to my cry, for I am in desperate need. deliver me from my persecutors, For they are stronger than me.
  • Ps 79:8Don’t hold the iniquities of our forefathers against us. Let your tender mercies speedily meet us, for we are in desperate need.
  • Ps 25:21Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you.
  • Ps 106:43He rescued them many times, but they were rebellious in their counsel, and were brought low in their iniquity.
  • Isa 35:8A highway will be there, a road, and it will be called The Holy Way. The unclean shall not pass over it, but it will be for those who walk in the Way. Wicked fools will not go there.
  • Col 3:22Servants, obey in all things those who are your masters according to the flesh, not just when they are looking, as men pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing God.
  • 2 Cor 1:12For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and sincerity of God, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God we behaved ourselves in the world, and more abundantly toward you.
  • Rom 16:19For your obedience has become known to all. I rejoice therefore over you. But I desire to have you wise in that which is good, but innocent in that which is evil.
  • 2 Cor 11:3But I am afraid that somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve in his craftiness, so your minds might be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Psalms videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Psalms 116:6YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on PsalmsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 116:6 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.