Reach down from on high; set me free and rescue me from the deep waters, from the grasp of foreigners,
Parallel translations
- WEB Stretch out your hand from above, rescue me, and deliver me out of great waters, out of the hands of foreigners;
- KJV Send thine hand from above; rid me, and deliver me out of great waters, from the hand of strange children;
- NKJV Stretch out Your hand from above; Rescue me and deliver me out of great waters, From the hand of foreigners,
- NASB Reach out with Your hand from on high; Rescue me and save me from great waters, From the hand of foreigners
- NLT Reach down from heaven and rescue me; rescue me from deep waters, from the power of my enemies.
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 reach down and rescue him from great waters and from foreigners' hands. It pleads for deliverance from overwhelming danger.
Overview
The 'great waters' symbolize chaos and deadly peril from which only God can rescue. David appeals to God's outstretched hand to draw him out, as God drew Israel through the sea. This rescuing hand foreshadows Christ, who reaches down to save the perishing from the depths (Matthew 14:30-31).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Ps 18:16He reached down from on high and took hold of me; He drew me out of deep waters.
- Ps 69:1–2For the choirmaster. To the tune of “Lilies.” Of David. Save me, O God, for the waters are up to my neck.
- Ps 54:3For strangers rise up against me, and ruthless men seek my life—men with no regard for God. Selah
- Rev 17:15Then the angel said to me, “The waters you saw, where the prostitute was seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues.
- 2 Sam 22:17He reached down from on high and took hold of me; He drew me out of deep waters.
- Ps 93:3–4The floodwaters have risen, O LORD; the rivers have raised their voice; the seas lift up their pounding waves.
- Matt 27:43He trusts in God. Let God deliver Him now if He wants Him. For He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”
- Ps 18:44When they hear me, they obey me; foreigners cower before me.
- Rev 12:15–16Then from the mouth of the serpent spewed water like a river to overtake the woman and sweep her away in the torrent.
- Neh 9:2Those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all the foreigners, and they stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.
- Ps 69:14–15Rescue me from the mire and do not let me sink; deliver me from my foes and out of the deep waters.
- Mal 2:11Judah has broken faith; an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the LORD’s beloved sanctuary by marrying the daughter of a foreign god.
- Ps 144:11Set me free and rescue me from the grasp of foreigners, whose mouths speak falsehood, whose right hands are deceitful.
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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 144:7 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.