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Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword:
Psalms 17:13 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB Arise, Yahweh, confront him. Cast him down. Deliver my soul from the wicked by your sword;
  • BSB Arise, O LORD, confront them! Bring them to their knees; deliver me from the wicked by Your sword,
  • NKJV Arise, O Lord, Confront him, cast him down; Deliver my life from the wicked with Your sword,
  • NASB ¶Arise, Lord, confront him, make him bow down; Save my soul from the wicked with Your sword,
  • NLT Arise, O Lord! Stand against them, and bring them to their knees! Rescue me from the wicked with your sword!

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 cries for God to arise, confront the wicked, and deliver his soul. It matters because deliverance from evil ultimately depends on God's active intervention.

Overview

David urges Yahweh to rise up, face down his enemy, and rescue him by his sword. He casts the burden of judgment and deliverance entirely on God. This plea for God to act against evil is answered decisively at the cross and in Christ's final triumph over all wickedness.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 14

  • Ps 7:6Arise, O LORD, in thine anger, lift up thyself because of the rage of mine enemies: and awake for me to the judgment that thou hast commanded.
  • Ps 3:7Arise, O LORD; save me, O my God: for thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheek bone; thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly.
  • Ps 44:26Arise for our help, and redeem us for thy mercies’ sake.
  • Ps 44:23Awake, why sleepest thou, O Lord? arise, cast us not off for ever.
  • Acts 4:28For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.
  • Ps 22:20Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog.
  • Ps 7:11–13God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.
  • Isa 51:9Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon?
  • Isa 10:15Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? as if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself, as if it were no wood.
  • Isa 10:5O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.
  • Ps 119:126It is time for thee, LORD, to work: for they have made void thy law.
  • Hab 1:12Art thou not from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine Holy One? we shall not die. O LORD, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction.
  • Isa 37:26Hast thou not heard long ago, how I have done it; and of ancient times, that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste defenced cities into ruinous heaps.
  • Isa 13:5They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the LORD, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.

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 17:13YouTube · 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 17:13 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.