For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.
Parallel translations
- WEB For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. May Yahweh answer you in the day of trouble. May the name of the God of Jacob set you up on high,
- KJV The LORD hear thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob defend thee;
- NKJV May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble; May the name of the God of Jacob defend you;
- NASB May the Lord answer you on a day of trouble! May the name of the God of Jacob protect you!
- NLT In times of trouble, may the Lord answer your cry. May the name of the God of Jacob keep you safe from all harm.
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
The people pray that the Lord will answer the king in his day of trouble and protect him. It is an intercession for the anointed king before battle.
Overview
This royal psalm voices the congregation's prayer for their king as he faces conflict. They invoke 'the God of Jacob,' recalling God's covenant faithfulness to the patriarchs, asking him to answer and defend his anointed. The prayers for God's king ultimately point to the Messiah, the King through whom God secures his people's salvation.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 21
- Prov 18:10The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.
- Ps 138:7If I walk in the midst of trouble, You preserve me from the anger of my foes; You extend Your hand, and Your right hand saves me.
- Ps 91:14–15“Because he loves Me, I will deliver him; because he knows My name, I will protect him.
- Ps 46:11The LORD of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
- Ps 46:1For the choirmaster. Of the sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. A song. God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in times of trouble.
- Isa 50:10Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the voice of His Servant? Who among you walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the LORD; let him lean on his God.
- Matt 26:38–39Then He said to them, “My soul is consumed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with Me.”
- Heb 5:7During the days of Jesus’ earthly life, He offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the One who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverence.
- Ps 83:18May they know that You alone, whose name is the LORD, are Most High over all the earth.
- Jer 30:7How awful that day will be! None will be like it! It is the time of Jacob’s distress, but he will be saved out of it.
- Ps 60:11Give us aid against the enemy, for the help of man is worthless.
- Ps 114:2Judah became God’s sanctuary, and Israel His dominion.
- Ps 9:10Those who know Your name trust in You, for You, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.
- Exod 34:5–7And the LORD descended in a cloud, stood with him there, and proclaimed His name, the LORD.
- Ps 46:7The LORD of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
- Ps 50:5“Gather to Me My saints, who made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.”
- Ps 18:2The 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.
- Exod 3:13–15Then Moses asked God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is His name?’ What should I tell them?”
- Gen 32:27–29“What is your name?” the man asked. “Jacob,” he replied.
- Gen 48:15–16Then he blessed Joseph and said: “May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day,
- Ps 41:1For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. Blessed is the one who cares for the poor; the LORD will deliver him in the day of trouble.
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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 20:1 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.