How many are the days of thy servant? when wilt thou execute judgment on them that persecute me?
Parallel translations
- WEB How many are the days of your servant? When will you execute judgment on those who persecute me?
- BSB How many days must Your servant wait? When will You execute judgment on my persecutors?
- NKJV How many are the days of Your servant? When will You execute judgment on those who persecute me?
- NASB How many are the days of Your servant? When will You execute judgment on those who persecute me?
- NLT How long must I wait? When will you punish those who persecute 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
He asks how long he has to live and when God will judge his persecutors. He longs for justice within the brief span of his life.
Overview
Conscious of life's shortness, the psalmist pleads for God to act against those who oppress him before his days run out. His question presses God for timely justice, committing vengeance entirely to the Lord. The cry echoes through Scripture in the souls who ask 'how long?' and is answered in the assurance that God will vindicate His elect (Rev. 6:10; Luke 18:7-8).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Ps 90:12So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.
- Rev 6:10–11And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
- Ps 7:6Arise, O LORD, in thine anger, lift up thyself because of the rage of mine enemies: and awake for me to the judgment that thou hast commanded.
- Ps 89:47–48Remember how short my time is: wherefore hast thou made all men in vain?
- Ps 39:4–5LORD, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is: that I may know how frail I am.
- Job 7:6–8My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and are spent without hope.
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 119:84 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.