Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.
Parallel translations
- WEB Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who hope in Yahweh.
- BSB Be strong and courageous, all you who hope in the LORD.
- NKJV Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart, All you who hope in the Lord.
- NASB Be strong and let your heart take courage, All you who wait for the Lord.
- NLT So be strong and courageous, all you who put your hope in the Lord!
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 exhorts all who hope in the Lord to be strong and take courage. It closes the psalm with a charge to hopeful courage.
Overview
The final word turns lament into encouragement, calling the faithful to strengthen their hearts in hope. Courage is grounded in God's faithfulness, not favorable circumstances. This summons to hope in the Lord steadies all who wait on Him, ultimately in the hope of Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Ps 27:14Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.
- Ps 146:5Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God:
- Col 1:11Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;
- Isa 35:3–4Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.
- Ps 29:11The LORD will give strength unto his people; the LORD will bless his people with peace.
- Heb 12:12–13Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;
- Ps 138:3In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul.
- Jas 5:10–11Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.
- Luke 22:31–32And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:
- Rom 15:12–13And again, Esaias saith, There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles trust.
- 1 Pet 1:21Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in 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 31:24 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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