Preserve me, O God: for in thee do I put my trust.
Parallel translations
- WEB A Poem by David. Preserve me, God, for in you do I take refuge.
- BSB A Miktam of David. Preserve me, O God, for in You I take refuge.
- NKJV Preserve me, O God, for in You I put my trust.
- NASB Protect me, God, for I take refuge in You.
- NLT Keep me safe, O God, for I have come to you for refuge.
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 prays for God to preserve him because he takes refuge in the Lord alone. It matters because safety is found in trusting God rather than ourselves.
Overview
This psalm opens with a simple plea for preservation grounded in refuge taken in God. Trust, not personal merit, is the basis of David's appeal. The New Testament applies this whole psalm to Christ, whose perfect trust in the Father is the model and ground of the believer's confidence.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 20
- Isa 26:3–4Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
- Ps 31:23O love the LORD, all ye his saints: for the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer.
- Ps 17:8Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings,
- Ps 56:1Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up; he fighting daily oppresseth me.
- 2 Tim 1:12For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.
- Ps 7:1O LORD my God, in thee do I put my trust: save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me:
- Ps 116:6The LORD preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me.
- Jer 17:7–8Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.
- Ps 60:1O God, thou hast cast us off, thou hast scattered us, thou hast been displeased; O turn thyself to us again.
- Ps 84:12O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.
- Prov 2:8He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints.
- Ps 9:10And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.
- Ps 25:20O keep my soul, and deliver me: let me not be ashamed; for I put my trust in thee.
- Ps 146:5Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God:
- Ps 37:28For the LORD loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.
- Ps 17:5Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not.
- Ps 125:1They that trust in the LORD shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever.
- Ps 97:10Ye that love the LORD, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.
- Ps 22:8He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.
- 2 Cor 1:9But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead:
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 16:1 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.