Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty.
Parallel translations
- WEB Don’t deliver me over to the desire of my adversaries, for false witnesses have risen up against me, such as breathe out cruelty.
- BSB Do not hand me over to the will of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, breathing out violence.
- NKJV Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries; For false witnesses have risen against me, And such as breathe out violence.
- NASB Do not turn me over to the desire of my enemies, For false witnesses have risen against me, And the violent witness.
- NLT Do not let me fall into their hands. For they accuse me of things I’ve never done; with every breath they threaten me with violence.
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 prays not to be handed over to adversaries who bring false accusations and cruelty. It appeals to God's justice against slander and malice.
Overview
False witnesses 'breathing out cruelty' threaten David's life and reputation, and he entrusts his cause to God rather than retaliating. The scene anticipates the unjust accusations brought against Christ, who likewise committed Himself to the righteous Judge. Believers facing slander can take refuge in God's vindication.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Ps 31:8And hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy: thou hast set my feet in a large room.
- Matt 26:59–60Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death;
- Ps 41:11By this I know that thou favourest me, because mine enemy doth not triumph over me.
- Acts 6:11–13Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God.
- Ps 35:11False witnesses did rise up; they laid to my charge things that I knew not.
- Ps 35:25Let them not say in their hearts, Ah, so would we have it: let them not say, We have swallowed him up.
- Acts 9:1And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,
- 2 Sam 16:7–8And thus said Shimei when he cursed, Come out, come out, thou bloody man, and thou man of Belial:
- Exod 20:16Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
- Ps 38:16For I said, Hear me, lest otherwise they should rejoice over me: when my foot slippeth, they magnify themselves against me.
- 1 Sam 26:19Now therefore, I pray thee, let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If the LORD have stirred thee up against me, let him accept an offering: but if they be the children of men, cursed be they before the LORD; for they have driven me out this day from abiding in the inheritance of the LORD, saying, Go, serve other gods.
- Ps 140:8Grant not, O LORD, the desires of the wicked: further not his wicked device; lest they exalt themselves. Selah.
- Ps 41:2The LORD will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies.
- 1 Sam 22:9–10Then answered Doeg the Edomite, which was set over the servants of Saul, and said, I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub.
- Acts 26:11And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities.
- Ps 25:19Consider mine enemies; for they are many; and they hate me with cruel hatred.
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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 27:12 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
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