my loving kindness, my fortress, my high tower, my deliverer, my shield, and he in whom I take refuge; who subdues my people under me.
Parallel translations
- KJV My goodness, and my fortress; my high tower, and my deliverer; my shield, and he in whom I trust; who subdueth my people under me.
- BSB He is my steadfast love and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer. He is my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me.
- NKJV My lovingkindness and my fortress, My high tower and my deliverer, My shield and the One in whom I take refuge, Who subdues my people under me.
- NASB My faithfulness and my fortress, My stronghold and my savior, My shield and He in whom I take refuge, Who subdues my people under me.
- NLT He is my loving ally and my fortress, my tower of safety, my rescuer. He is my shield, and I take refuge in him. He makes the nations submit to 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 piles up titles for God, his lovingkindness, fortress, tower, deliverer, shield, and refuge, who subdues the people under him. It celebrates God as his all-sufficient protector and king-maker.
Overview
In a cascade of images, David confesses that God is everything to him for defense and rescue, and the one who establishes his rule. Such trust rests entirely on God rather than on military might. These titles ultimately point to God in Christ, the believer's refuge and the King who subdues all enemies under His feet (1 Corinthians 15:25).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- 2 Sam 22:2–3and he said: “Yahweh is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, even mine;
- Ps 91:2I will say of Yahweh, “He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust.”
- Ps 18:2Yahweh is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower.
- Ps 59:9Oh, my Strength, I watch for you, for God is my high tower.
- Ps 84:9Behold, God our shield, look at the face of your anointed.
- Jer 16:19Yahweh, my strength, and my stronghold, and my refuge in the day of affliction, to you shall the nations come from the ends of the earth, and shall say, “Our fathers have inherited nothing but lies, vanity and things in which there is no profit.
- Ps 18:47even the God who executes vengeance for me, and subdues peoples under me.
- Ps 110:3Your people offer themselves willingly in the day of your power, in holy array. Out of the womb of the morning, you have the dew of your youth.
- 2 Sam 22:40–48For you have armed me with strength for the battle. You have subdued under me those who rose up against me.
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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 144:2 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.