He is the God who pays back those who harm me; he subdues the nations under me
Parallel translations
- WEB even the God who executes vengeance for me, and subdues peoples under me.
- KJV It is God that avengeth me, and subdueth the people under me.
- BSB the God who avenges me and subdues nations beneath me,
- NKJV It is God who avenges me, And subdues the peoples under me;
- NASB The God who executes vengeance for me, And subdues peoples under 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
David praises God as the one who avenges him and subdues nations under him. Justice and dominion alike come from the Lord.
Overview
David recognizes that vengeance belongs to God, who righteously repays David's enemies and grants him rule over peoples. This guards against personal vindictiveness by leaving judgment to God (cf. Rom 12:19). The God who executes justice for his anointed will finally vindicate his Messiah and all who are his.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Ps 47:3He subdues nations under us, and peoples under our feet.
- Rom 12:19Don’t seek revenge yourselves, beloved, but give place to God’s wrath. For it is written, “Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord.”
- 2 Sam 22:48even the God who executes vengeance for me, who brings down peoples under me,
- Ps 144:2my loving kindness, my fortress, my high tower, my deliverer, my shield, and he in whom I take refuge; who subdues my people under me.
- Nah 1:2Yahweh is a jealous God and avenges. Yahweh avenges and is full of wrath. Yahweh takes vengeance on his adversaries, and he maintains wrath against his enemies.
- Deut 32:35Vengeance is mine, and recompense, at the time when their foot slides; for the day of their calamity is at hand. Their doom rushes at them.”
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 18:47 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.