I know that Yahweh will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and justice for the needy.
Parallel translations
- KJV I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and the right of the poor.
- BSB I know that the LORD upholds justice for the poor and defends the cause of the needy.
- NKJV I know that the Lord will maintain The cause of the afflicted, And justice for the poor.
- NASB ¶I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted, And justice for the poor.
- NLT But I know the Lord will help those they persecute; he will give justice to the poor.
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
David knows that Yahweh upholds the cause of the afflicted and secures justice for the needy. It expresses confidence in God as defender of the oppressed.
Overview
Turning from lament to assurance, David declares his settled knowledge that God champions the poor and afflicted. This conviction sustains faith when human help fails. God's heart for the needy is fully revealed in Christ, who came to bring good news to the poor and justice to the oppressed (Luke 4:18).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Ps 9:4For you have maintained my just cause. You sit on the throne judging righteously.
- 1 Kgs 8:49then hear their prayer and their supplication in heaven, your dwelling place, and maintain their cause;
- 1 Kgs 8:45then hear in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.
- Prov 23:10–11Don’t move the ancient boundary stone. Don’t encroach on the fields of the fatherless:
- Jer 22:16He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Wasn’t this to know me?” says Yahweh.
- Ps 35:10All my bones shall say, “Yahweh, who is like you, who delivers the poor from him who is too strong for him; yes, the poor and the needy from him who robs him?”
- Matt 11:5the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.
- Ps 102:17He has responded to the prayer of the destitute, and has not despised their prayer.
- Isa 11:4but with righteousness he will judge the poor, and decide with equity for the humble of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; and with the breath of his lips he will kill the wicked.
- Prov 22:22Don’t exploit the poor, because he is poor; and don’t crush the needy in court;
- Ps 22:24For he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, Neither has he hidden his face from him; but when he cried to him, he heard.
- Ps 72:4He will judge the poor of the people. He will save the children of the needy, and will break the oppressor in pieces.
- Ps 72:12–14For he will deliver the needy when he cries; the poor, who has no helper.
- Ps 10:17–18Yahweh, you have heard the desire of the humble. You will prepare their heart. You will cause your ear to hear,
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 140:12 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.