Limitless Word
I call on You, O God, for You will answer me. Incline Your ear to me; hear my words.
Psalms 17:6 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB I have called on you, for you will answer me, God. Turn your ear to me. Hear my speech.
  • KJV I have called upon thee, for thou wilt hear me, O God: incline thine ear unto me, and hear my speech.
  • NKJV I have called upon You, for You will hear me, O God; Incline Your ear to me, and hear my speech.
  • NASB ¶I have called upon You, for You will answer me, God; Incline Your ear to me, hear my speech.
  • NLT I am praying to you because I know you will answer, O God. Bend down and listen as I pray.

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 calls on God in confidence that he will answer, asking him to listen. It matters because believers can pray with assurance that God hears them.

Overview

David prays boldly, certain that God will answer, and asks him to incline his ear and hear his words. His confidence rests on God's faithful character, not his own worthiness. In Christ, believers have even greater assurance that the Father hears their prayers.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 9

  • Ps 116:2Because He has inclined His ear to me, I will call on Him as long as I live.
  • Ps 86:7In the day of my distress I call on You, because You answer me.
  • Ps 88:2May my prayer come before You; incline Your ear to my cry.
  • Ps 66:19–20But God has surely heard; He has attended to the sound of my prayer.
  • Ps 55:16But I call to God, and the LORD saves me.
  • Isa 37:17Incline Your ear, O LORD, and hear; open Your eyes, O LORD, and see. Listen to all the words that Sennacherib has sent to defy the living God.
  • Dan 9:17–19So now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of Your servant. For Your sake, O Lord, cause Your face to shine upon Your desolate sanctuary.
  • Isa 37:20And now, O LORD our God, save us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, O LORD, are God.”
  • Ps 13:3–4Consider me and respond, O LORD my God. Give light to my eyes, lest I sleep in death,

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

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 17:6YouTube · 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 17:6 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.