How long, O Lord, will You look on? Rescue my soul from their ravages, my precious life from these lions.
Parallel translations
- WEB Lord, how long will you look on? Rescue my soul from their destruction, my precious life from the lions.
- KJV Lord, how long wilt thou look on? rescue my soul from their destructions, my darling from the lions.
- NKJV Lord, how long will You look on? Rescue me from their destructions, My precious life from the lions.
- NASB ¶Lord, how long will You look on? Rescue my soul from their ravages, My only life from the lions.
- NLT How long, O Lord, will you look on and do nothing? Rescue me from their fierce attacks. Protect my life from these lions!
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 cries out, asking how long the Lord will look on, and pleads for rescue from his attackers.
Overview
In anguish David appeals to God to act, longing for deliverance of his precious life from lion-like foes. His 'how long' expresses the tension of waiting on God amid suffering. This honest lament models faith that cries to God in distress, as Christ himself did.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Hab 1:13Your eyes are too pure to look upon evil, and You cannot tolerate wrongdoing. So why do You tolerate the faithless? Why are You silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?
- Ps 22:20–21Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of wild dogs.
- Ps 57:4My soul is among the lions; I lie down with ravenous beasts—with men whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords.
- Ps 89:46How long, O LORD? Will You hide Yourself forever? Will Your wrath keep burning like fire?
- Ps 74:9–10There are no signs for us to see. There is no longer any prophet. And none of us knows how long this will last.
- Ps 94:3–4How long will the wicked, O LORD, how long will the wicked exult?
- Ps 13:1–2For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me?
- Ps 142:6–7Listen to my cry, for I am brought quite low. Rescue me from my pursuers, for they are too strong for me.
- Ps 69:14–15Rescue me from the mire and do not let me sink; deliver me from my foes and out of the deep waters.
- Ps 6:3My soul is deeply distressed. How long, O LORD, how long?
- Ps 10:14But You have regarded trouble and grief; You see to repay it by Your hand. The victim entrusts himself to You; You are the helper of the fatherless.
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 35:17 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.