For the king trusteth in the LORD, and through the mercy of the most High he shall not be moved.
Parallel translations
- WEB For the king trusts in Yahweh. Through the loving kindness of the Most High, he shall not be moved.
- BSB For the king trusts in the LORD; through the loving devotion of the Most High, he will not be shaken.
- NKJV For the king trusts in the Lord, And through the mercy of the Most High he shall not be moved.
- NASB ¶For the king trusts in the Lord, And through the faithfulness of the Most High he will not be shaken.
- NLT For the king trusts in the Lord. The unfailing love of the Most High will keep him from stumbling.
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
Because the king trusts in the Lord and rests in the Most High's steadfast love, he will not be moved. Faith, not strength, secures him.
Overview
At the psalm's center stands the reason for the king's blessing: his trust in Yahweh and reliance on God's covenant love ('loving kindness'). This faith, anchored in God's faithfulness, makes him immovable. The unshakable security of the trusting king is fully realized in the Messiah and offered to all who likewise trust the Lord.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Ps 16:8I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
- Ps 91:2I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.
- Ps 18:2The 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.
- Ps 20:7–8Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.
- Ps 9:2I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High.
- Dan 7:14And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.
- Ps 26:1Judge me, O LORD; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the LORD; therefore I shall not slide.
- Heb 2:13And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me.
- 1 Sam 30:6And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.
- Ps 61:6–7Thou wilt prolong the king’s life: and his years as many generations.
- Ps 13:5But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation.
- Ps 91:9–10Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;
- Ps 61:4I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah.
- Deut 32:8–9When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel.
- Matt 27:43He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 21:7 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.