Save me, Lord, from my enemies; I take refuge in You.
Parallel translations
- WEB Deliver me, Yahweh, from my enemies. I flee to you to hide me.
- KJV Deliver me, O LORD, from mine enemies: I flee unto thee to hide me.
- BSB Deliver me from my enemies, O LORD; I flee to You for refuge.
- NKJV Deliver me, O Lord, from my enemies; In You I take shelter.
- NLT Rescue me from my enemies, Lord; I run to you to hide me.
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 asks God to deliver him from his enemies, fleeing to Him for shelter. It expresses reliance on God alone as his hiding place.
Overview
Pressed by foes, David flees not to human alliances but to God Himself for refuge and rescue. God is his hiding place and shield. This same refuge is offered to all who flee to Christ, in whom the believer's life is hidden and kept secure (Colossians 3:3).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Prov 18:10Yahweh’s name is a strong tower: the righteous run to him, and are safe.
- Ps 61:3–4For you have been a refuge for me, a strong tower from the enemy.
- Ps 59:1For the Chief Musician. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A poem by David, when Saul sent, and they watched the house to kill him. Deliver me from my enemies, my God. Set me on high from those who rise up against me.
- Ps 142:5I cried to you, Yahweh. I said, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.”
- Ps 31:15My times are in your hand. Deliver me from the hand of my enemies, and from those who persecute me.
- Ps 56:9Then my enemies shall turn back in the day that I call. I know this, that God is for me.
- Ps 34:2–4My soul shall boast in Yahweh. The humble shall hear of it, and be glad.
- 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.
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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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 143:9 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.