How precious is Your loving devotion, O God, that the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings!
Parallel translations
- WEB How precious is your loving kindness, God! The children of men take refuge under the shadow of your wings.
- KJV How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.
- NKJV How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings.
- NASB How precious is Your mercy, God! And the sons of mankind take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.
- NLT How precious is your unfailing love, O God! All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of your wings.
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 marvels at how precious God's loving kindness is, under whose protective wings people find refuge. God's love invites trustful shelter.
Overview
The 'shadow of your wings' pictures God as a protective parent bird, a tender image of refuge for 'the children of men.' David treasures this covenant love as supremely precious. Jesus took up the same image over Jerusalem (Matthew 23:37), and the gospel offers all who come to Him secure shelter in the love of God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Ps 86:5For You, O Lord, are kind and forgiving, rich in loving devotion to all who call on You.
- 1 Jn 3:1Behold what manner of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God. And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him.
- Ruth 2:12May the LORD repay your work, and may you receive a rich reward from the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have taken refuge.”
- Ps 91:4He will cover you with His feathers; under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and rampart.
- 1 Jn 4:9–10This is how God’s love was revealed among us: God sent His one and only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him.
- Ps 139:17How precious to me are Your thoughts, O God, how vast is their sum!
- Ps 17:8Keep me as the apple of Your eye; hide me in the shadow of Your wings
- Ps 31:19How great is Your goodness which You have laid up for those who fear You, which You have bestowed before the sons of men on those who take refuge in You!
- Exod 34:6Then the LORD passed in front of Moses and called out: “The LORD, the LORD God, is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness,
- Ps 86:15But You, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness.
- John 3:16For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
- Ps 63:7For You are my help; I will sing for joy in the shadow of Your wings.
- Ps 145:7–8They will extol the fame of Your abundant goodness and sing joyfully of Your righteousness.
- 2 Pet 1:4Through these He has given us His precious and magnificent promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, now that you have escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
- Ps 57:1For the choirmaster. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A Miktam of David, when he fled from Saul into the cave. Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy, for in You my soul takes refuge. In the shadow of Your wings I will take shelter until the danger has passed.
- 1 Pet 2:6–7For it stands in Scripture: “See, I lay in Zion a stone, a chosen and precious cornerstone; and the one who believes in Him will never be put to shame.”
- Luke 13:34O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling!
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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 36:7 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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