I know that the LORD upholds justice for the poor and defends the cause of the needy.
Parallel translations
- WEB I know that Yahweh will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and justice for the needy.
- KJV I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and the right of the poor.
- 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 upheld my just cause; You sit on Your throne judging righteously.
- 1 Kgs 8:49then may You hear from heaven, Your dwelling place, their prayer and petition, and may You uphold their cause.
- 1 Kgs 8:45then may You hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and may You uphold their cause.
- Prov 23:10–11Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of the fatherless,
- Jer 22:16He took up the cause of the poor and needy, and so it went well with him. Is this not what it means to know Me?” declares the LORD.
- Ps 35:10All my bones will exclaim, “Who is like You, O LORD, who delivers the afflicted from the aggressor, the poor and needy from the robber?”
- Matt 11:5The blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.
- Ps 102:17He will turn toward the prayer of the destitute; He will not despise their prayer.
- Isa 11:4but with righteousness He will judge the poor, and with equity He will decide for the lowly of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth and slay the wicked with the breath of His lips.
- Prov 22:22Do not rob a poor man because he is poor, and do not crush the afflicted at the gate,
- Ps 22:24For He has not despised or detested the torment of the afflicted. He has not hidden His face from him, but has attended to his cry for help.
- Ps 72:4May he vindicate the afflicted among the people; may he save the children of the needy and crush the oppressor.
- Ps 72:12–14For he will deliver the needy who cry out and the afflicted who have no helper.
- Ps 10:17–18You have heard, O LORD, the desire of the humble; You will strengthen their hearts. You will incline Your ear,
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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 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
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