I will not be afraid of tens of thousands of people who have set themselves against me on every side.
Parallel translations
- KJV I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves against me round about.
- BSB I will not fear the myriads set against me on every side.
- NKJV I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people Who have set themselves against me all around.
- NASB I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people Who have set themselves against me all around.
- NLT I am not afraid of ten thousand enemies who surround me on every side.
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 God sustains him, David will not fear even tens of thousands of enemies. Faith in God overcomes the fear of overwhelming odds.
Overview
David's restored confidence enables him to face vast hostile numbers without terror. The point is not bravado but faith: the Lord's protection makes the size of the threat irrelevant. This courage flows from God's presence and prefigures the believer's boldness in Christ, who assures us that if God is for us, none can ultimately stand against us (Romans 8:31).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Rom 8:31What then shall we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
- Ps 118:10–12All the nations surrounded me, but in Yahweh’s name, I cut them off.
- Ps 27:1–3By David. Yahweh is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? Yahweh is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid?
- Ps 23:4Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
- 2 Kgs 6:15–17When the servant of the man of God had risen early, and gone out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was around the city. His servant said to him, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?”
- Ps 46:7Yahweh of Armies is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
- 2 Sam 18:7The people of Israel were struck there before David’s servants, and there was a great slaughter there that day of twenty thousand men.
- Ps 2:2The kings of the earth take a stand, and the rulers take counsel together, against Yahweh, and against his Anointed, saying,
- Ps 46:2Therefore we won’t be afraid, though the earth changes, though the mountains are shaken into the heart of the seas;
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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 3:6 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.