When they hear me, they obey me; foreigners cower before me.
Parallel translations
- WEB As soon as they hear of me they shall obey me. The foreigners shall submit themselves to me.
- KJV As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me: the strangers shall submit themselves unto me.
- NKJV As soon as they hear of me they obey me; The foreigners submit to me.
- NASB As soon as they hear, they obey me; Foreigners pretend to obey me.
- NLT As soon as they hear of me, they submit; foreign nations cringe before me.
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
Foreigners submit to David at the mere report of him. His God-given authority commands obedience even from distant peoples.
Overview
The swift, almost reluctant submission of foreigners shows the reach of David's God-granted dominion. This is the language of an empire established by the Lord. It prefigures the gospel's advance, as nations who had not sought the Messiah come to obey him at the hearing of the word (cf. Isa 55:5).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Ps 81:15Those who hate the LORD would feign obedience, and their doom would last forever.
- Ps 66:3Say to God, “How awesome are Your deeds! So great is Your power that Your enemies cower before You.
- 2 Sam 22:44–46You have delivered me from the strife of my people; You have preserved me as the head of nations; a people I had not known shall serve me.
- Deut 33:29Blessed are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD? He is the shield that protects you, the sword in which you boast. Your enemies will cower before you, and you shall trample their high places.”
- Ps 68:30Rebuke the beast in the reeds, the herd of bulls among the calves of the nations, until it submits, bringing bars of silver. Scatter the nations who delight in war.
- Rom 10:16–17But not all of them welcomed the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?”
- 2 Sam 1:13And David inquired of the young man who had brought him the report, “Where are you from?” “I am the son of a foreigner,” he answered. “I am an Amalekite.”
- Isa 62:8The LORD has sworn by His right hand and by His mighty arm: “Never again will I give your grain to your enemies for food, nor will foreigners drink the new wine for which you have toiled.
- Ezek 44:7In addition to all your other abominations, you brought in foreigners uncircumcised in both heart and flesh to occupy My sanctuary; you defiled My temple when you offered My food—the fat and the blood; you broke My covenant.
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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 18:44 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.