Save Me from the lion’s mouth And from the horns of the wild oxen! You have answered Me.
Parallel translations
- WEB Save me from the lion’s mouth! Yes, from the horns of the wild oxen, you have answered me.
- KJV Save me from the lion’s mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns.
- BSB Save me from the mouth of the lion; at the horns of the wild oxen You have answered me!
- NASB Save me from the lion’s mouth; From the horns of the wild oxen You answer me.
- NLT Snatch me from the lion’s jaws and from the horns of these wild oxen.
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 prayer for rescue from lion and wild oxen suddenly turns to confidence: 'you have answered me.' Faith breaks through into assurance of being heard.
Overview
David completes his catalog of fierce foes with the lion's mouth and the horns of wild oxen, images of overwhelming danger. Remarkably the verse ends with a note of answered prayer, marking the turning point of the psalm from lament to praise. This shift foreshadows the movement from the cross to the vindication and resurrection of Christ, who was heard by the Father and raised in triumph.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- 2 Tim 4:17But the Lord stood by me, and strengthened me, that through me the message might be fully proclaimed, and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.
- 1 Pet 5:8Be sober and self-controlled. Be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
- John 14:30I will no more speak much with you, for the prince of the world comes, and he has nothing in me.
- Acts 4:27“For truly, in this city against your holy servant, Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together
- Num 23:22God brings them out of Egypt. He has as it were the strength of the wild ox.
- John 8:59Therefore they took up stones to throw at him, but Jesus was hidden, and went out of the temple, having gone through the middle of them, and so passed by.
- Isa 34:7The wild oxen will come down with them, and the young bulls with the mighty bulls; and their land will be drunken with blood, and their dust made greasy with fat.
- Acts 5:30–32The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you killed, hanging him on a tree.
- Deut 33:17The firstborn of his herd, majesty is his. His horns are the horns of the wild ox. With them he will push all the peoples, to the ends of the earth. They are the ten thousands of Ephraim. They are the thousands of Manasseh.”
- Job 39:9–10“Will the wild ox be content to serve you? Or will he stay by your feeding trough?
- Luke 22:53When I was with you in the temple daily, you didn’t stretch out your hands against me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness.”
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 22:21 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.