How long, O Lord, will you look on and do nothing? Rescue me from their fierce attacks. Protect my 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.
- BSB How long, O Lord, will You look on? Rescue my soul from their ravages, my precious life from these 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.
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 1:13You who have purer eyes than to see evil, and who cannot look on perversity, why do you tolerate those who deal treacherously, and keep silent when the wicked swallows up the man who is more righteous than he,
- Ps 22:20–21Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog.
- Ps 57:4My soul is among lions. I lie among those who are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword.
- Ps 89:46How long, Yahweh? Will you hide yourself forever? Will your wrath burn like fire?
- Ps 74:9–10We see no miraculous signs. There is no longer any prophet, neither is there among us anyone who knows how long.
- Ps 94:3–4Yahweh, how long will the wicked, how long will the wicked triumph?
- Ps 13:1–2For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. How long, Yahweh? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?
- Ps 142:6–7Listen to my cry, for I am in desperate need. deliver me from my persecutors, For they are stronger than me.
- Ps 69:14–15Deliver me out of the mire, and don’t let me sink. Let me be delivered from those who hate me, and out of the deep waters.
- Ps 6:3My soul is also in great anguish. But you, Yahweh — how long?
- Ps 10:14But you do see trouble and grief. You consider it to take it into your hand. You help the victim and the fatherless.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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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.