You shame the counsel of the poor, But the Lord is his refuge.
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.
- BSB You sinners frustrate the plans of the oppressed, yet the LORD is their shelter.
- 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 9:9Yahweh will also be a high tower for the oppressed; a high tower in times of trouble.
- Ps 4:2You sons of men, how long shall my glory be turned into dishonor? Will you love vanity, and seek after falsehood? Selah.
- Ps 42:10As with a sword in my bones, my adversaries reproach me, while they continually ask me, “Where is your God?”
- Neh 4:2–4He spoke before his brothers and the army of Samaria, and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, since they are burned?”
- Matt 27:40–43and saying, “You who destroy the temple, and build 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 whenever you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music to fall down and worship the image which I have made, good: but if you don’t worship, you shall be cast the same hour into the middle of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that god that shall deliver you out of my hands?
- Ps 40:17But I am poor and needy. May the Lord think about me. You are my help and my deliverer. Don’t delay, my God.
- Ps 3:2Many there are who say of my soul, “There is no help for him in God.” Selah.
- Isa 37:10–11“Thus you shall speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, ‘Don’t let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, “Jerusalem won’t be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.”
- Ezek 35:10Because you have said, These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it; whereas Yahweh was there:
- Ps 46:1For the Chief Musician. By the sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
- Ps 22:7–8All those who see me mock me. They insult me with their lips. They shake their heads, saying,
- Ps 142:5I cried to you, Yahweh. I said, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.”
- Heb 6:18that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have a strong encouragement, who have fled for refuge to take hold of the hope set before us.
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.