I cried out to You, O Lord: I said, “You are my refuge, My portion in the land of the living.
Parallel translations
- WEB I cried to you, Yahweh. I said, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.”
- KJV I cried unto thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living.
- BSB I cry to You, O LORD: “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.”
- NASB ¶I cried out to You, Lord; I said, “You are my refuge, My portion in the land of the living.
- NLT Then I pray to you, O Lord. I say, “You are my place of refuge. You are all I really want in life.
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 cries to Yahweh, calling Him his refuge and his portion in the land of the living. It moves from loneliness to confident faith in God alone.
Overview
When no one else cares, David finds in God both his refuge and his 'portion,' the all-sufficient inheritance that satisfies. To call God one's portion is to treasure Him above all earthly help. This anticipates the believer's inheritance in Christ, in whom God Himself is our reward (Psalm 73:26; Lamentations 3:24).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- 2 Tim 4:17But the Lord stood by me, and strengthened me, that through me the message might be fully proclaimed, and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.
- Ps 16:5Yahweh assigned my portion and my cup. You made my lot secure.
- Ps 27:13I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of Yahweh in the land of the living.
- John 16:32Behold, the time is coming, yes, and has now come, that you will be scattered, everyone to his own place, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.
- Ps 91:9–10Because you have made Yahweh your refuge, and the Most High your dwelling place,
- Lam 3:24“Yahweh is my portion,” says my soul. “Therefore I will hope in him.”
- Ps 73:26My flesh and my heart fails, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
- Ps 91:2I will say of Yahweh, “He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust.”
- Ps 56:13For you have delivered my soul from death, and prevented my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living.
- Ps 119:57Yahweh is my portion. I promised to obey your words.
- 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 62:6–7He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress. I will not be shaken.
- Ps 46:11Yahweh of Armies is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
- Ps 46:7Yahweh of Armies is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
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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 142:5 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.