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For the LORD takes pleasure in His people; He adorns the afflicted with salvation.
Psalms 149:4 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB For Yahweh takes pleasure in his people. He crowns the humble with salvation.
  • KJV For the LORD taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation.
  • NKJV For the Lord takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation.
  • NASB For the Lord takes pleasure in His people; He will glorify the lowly with salvation.
  • NLT For the Lord delights in his people; he crowns the humble with victory.

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

God takes pleasure in His people and crowns the humble with salvation. His delight in His people leads Him to save and honor the lowly.

Overview

The ground of all this praise is that God genuinely delights in His people and adorns the humble with the beauty of salvation. His favor rests on the meek, not the proud. This saving grace toward the humble is fully given in Christ, who exalts the lowly and saves all who trust Him (Matthew 5:3; James 4:6).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 16

  • Ps 147:11The LORD is pleased with those who fear Him, who hope in His loving devotion.
  • 1 Pet 3:4but from the inner disposition of your heart, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in God’s sight.
  • Ps 35:27May those who favor my vindication shout for joy and gladness; may they always say, “Exalted be the LORD who delights in His servant’s well-being.”
  • Ps 132:16I will clothe her priests with salvation, and her saints will sing out in joy.
  • Zeph 3:17The LORD your God is among you; He is mighty to save. He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you with His love; He will rejoice over you with singing.”
  • Ps 22:8“He trusts in the LORD, let the LORD deliver him; let the LORD rescue him, since He delights in him.”
  • Ps 117:2For great is His loving devotion toward us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever. Hallelujah!
  • Jer 32:41Yes, I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will faithfully plant them in this land with all My heart and with all My soul.
  • Prov 11:20The perverse in heart are an abomination to the LORD, but the blameless in their walk are His delight.
  • Isa 61:10I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, my soul will exult in my God; for He has clothed me with garments of salvation and wrapped me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom wears a priestly headdress, as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
  • Ps 90:17May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish for us the work of our hands—yes, establish the work of our hands!
  • Heb 12:10Our fathers disciplined us for a short time as they thought best, but God disciplines us for our good, so that we may share in His holiness.
  • 1 Pet 5:5Young men, in the same way, submit yourselves to your elders. And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
  • Isa 61:1–3The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners,
  • Rev 7:14“Sir,” I answered, “you know.” So he replied, “These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
  • Isa 62:4–5No longer will you be called Forsaken, nor your land named Desolate; but you will be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for the LORD will take delight in you, and your land will be His bride.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Psalms videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Psalms 149:4YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on PsalmsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 149:4 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.