You sinners frustrate the plans of the oppressed, yet the LORD is their shelter.
Parallel translations
- WEB You frustrate the plan of the poor, because Yahweh is his refuge.
- KJV Ye have shamed the counsel of the poor, because the LORD is his refuge.
- NKJV You shame the counsel of the poor, But the Lord is his refuge.
- NASB You would put to shame the plan of the poor, But the Lord is his refuge.
- NLT The wicked frustrate the plans of the oppressed, but the Lord will protect his people.
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
Though the wicked try to thwart the plans of the poor, Yahweh is the poor man's refuge. It matters because God personally shelters the afflicted who trust him.
Overview
The wicked frustrate the hopes of the poor and lowly, but God himself is their refuge and cannot be overthrown. The verse contrasts human scheming with divine protection of the vulnerable. It reflects the Lord's consistent care for the humble, a care fulfilled in Christ who proclaimed good news to the poor.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Ps 9:9The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.
- Ps 4:2How long, O men, will my honor be maligned? How long will you love vanity and seek after lies? Selah
- Ps 42:10Like the crushing of my bones, my enemies taunt me, while they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
- Neh 4:2–4before his associates and the army of Samaria, saying, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Can they restore the wall by themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete it in a day? Can they bring these burnt stones back to life from the mounds of rubble?”
- Matt 27:40–43and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross!”
- Dan 3:15Now, if you are ready, as soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship the statue I have made. But if you refuse to worship, you will be thrown at once into the blazing fiery furnace. Then what god will be able to deliver you from my hands?”
- Ps 40:17But I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me. You are my helper and deliverer; O my God, do not delay.
- Ps 3:2Many say of me, “God will not deliver him.” Selah
- Isa 37:10–11“Give this message to Hezekiah king of Judah: ‘Do not let your God, in whom you trust, deceive you by saying that Jerusalem will not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.
- Ezek 35:10Because you have said, ‘These two nations and countries will be ours, and we will possess them,’ even though the LORD was there,
- Ps 46:1For the choirmaster. Of the sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. A song. God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in times of trouble.
- Ps 22:7–8All who see me mock me; they sneer and shake their heads:
- Ps 142:5I cry to You, O LORD: “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.”
- Heb 6:18Thus by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be strongly encouraged.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 14:6 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.