The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect.
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh brings the counsel of the nations to nothing. He makes the thoughts of the peoples to be of no effect.
- BSB The LORD frustrates the plans of the nations; He thwarts the devices of the peoples.
- NKJV The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect.
- NASB The Lord nullifies the plan of nations; He frustrates the plans of peoples.
- NLT The Lord frustrates the plans of the nations and thwarts all their schemes.
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
God overrules the plans of the nations, bringing their counsel to nothing.
Overview
The psalmist declares that the Lord frustrates the schemes of nations and renders their plans ineffective. No human counsel can stand against his sovereign purpose. This assures believers that God's redemptive plan in Christ cannot be thwarted by any earthly power.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Ps 21:11For they intended evil against thee: they imagined a mischievous device, which they are not able to perform.
- Job 5:12–13He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise.
- Isa 44:25That frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish;
- Prov 21:30There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the LORD.
- 2 Sam 15:31And one told David, saying, Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom. And David said, O LORD, I pray thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.
- Ps 140:8Grant not, O LORD, the desires of the wicked: further not his wicked device; lest they exalt themselves. Selah.
- Isa 8:9–10Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces.
- Ps 2:1–4Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
- Ps 9:15The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made: in the net which they hid is their own foot taken.
- Isa 7:5–7Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have taken evil counsel against thee, saying,
- 2 Sam 17:23And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his ass, and arose, and gat him home to his house, to his city, and put his household in order, and hanged himself, and died, and was buried in the sepulchre of his father.
- Isa 19:3And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards.
- Isa 44:23Sing, O ye heavens; for the LORD hath done it: shout, ye lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein: for the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel.
- 2 Sam 17:14And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel. For the LORD had appointed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that the LORD might bring evil upon Absalom.
- Exod 1:10–12Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land.
- Isa 19:11–14Surely the princes of Zoan are fools, the counsel of the wise counsellors of Pharaoh is become brutish: how say ye unto Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings?
- 2 Sam 15:34But if thou return to the city, and say unto Absalom, I will be thy servant, O king; as I have been thy father’s servant hitherto, so will I now also be thy servant: then mayest thou for me defeat the counsel of Ahithophel.
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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 33:10 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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