The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer. My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower.
- KJV The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.
- NKJV The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
- NASB The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my savior, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
- NLT The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety.
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 piles up images of God as rock, fortress, deliverer, shield, and stronghold. It matters because it portrays the many-sided security found in God alone.
Overview
David heaps together metaphors, rock, fortress, deliverer, shield, horn of salvation, and high tower, to capture how completely God protects and saves him. Each image emphasizes strength, refuge, and rescue. These titles point to the Lord as the believer's sure defense, fully embodied in Christ, the rock and salvation of his people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Ps 144:2He is my steadfast love and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer. He is my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me.
- Ps 62:7My salvation and my honor rest on God, my strong rock; my refuge is in God.
- Ps 19:14May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.
- Prov 18:10The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.
- Ps 91:2I will say to the LORD, “You are my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
- Ps 62:2He alone is my rock and my salvation. He is my fortress; I will never be shaken.
- 2 Sam 22:3My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation. My stronghold, my refuge, and my Savior, You save me from violence.
- Jer 16:19O LORD, my strength and my fortress, my refuge in the day of distress, the nations will come to You from the ends of the earth, and they will say, “Our fathers inherited nothing but lies, worthless idols of no benefit at all.
- Isa 32:2Each will be like a shelter from the wind, a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in a dry land, like the shadow of a great rock in an arid land.
- Ps 91:4He will cover you with His feathers; under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and rampart.
- Prov 2:7He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk with integrity,
- Heb 2:13And again: “I will put My trust in Him.” And once again: “Here am I, and the children God has given Me.”
- Ps 28:1Of David. To You, O LORD, I call; be not deaf to me, O my Rock. For if You remain silent, I will be like those descending to the Pit.
- Ps 59:11Do not kill them, or my people will forget. Scatter them by Your power, and bring them down, O Lord, our shield.
- Ps 75:10“All the horns of the wicked I will cut off, but the horns of the righteous will be exalted.”
- Ps 132:17There I will make a horn grow for David; I have prepared a lamp for My anointed one.
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 18:2 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.