The LORD helps and delivers them; He rescues and saves them from the wicked, because they take refuge in Him.
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh helps them, and rescues them. He rescues them from the wicked, and saves them, Because they have taken refuge in him.
- KJV And the LORD shall help them, and deliver them: he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him.
- NKJV And the Lord shall help them and deliver them; He shall deliver them from the wicked, And save them, Because they trust in Him.
- NASB The Lord helps them and rescues them; He rescues them from the wicked and saves them, Because they take refuge in Him.
- NLT The Lord helps them, rescuing them from the wicked. He saves them, and they find shelter in him.
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
The Lord helps, rescues, and saves the righteous from the wicked because they take refuge in Him. Salvation rests on trustful dependence on God.
Overview
The psalm closes with a fourfold note of deliverance, the Lord helps, rescues, rescues again, and saves, all because His people 'have taken refuge in him.' Their security flows from faith that runs to God for shelter. This is the very posture of saving faith in the gospel, fleeing to Christ as our refuge, in whom God's saving help is fully and finally given.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Isa 31:5Like birds hovering overhead, so the LORD of Hosts will protect Jerusalem. He will shield it and deliver it; He will pass over it and preserve it.”
- 1 Chr 5:20And because they cried out to God in battle, they were helped against their enemies, and the Hagrites and all their allies were delivered into their hands. Because they put their trust in God, He answered their prayers.
- Dan 3:17If the God whom we serve exists, then He is able to deliver us from the blazing fiery furnace and from your hand, O king.
- Dan 6:23The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den, and when Daniel was lifted out of the den, no wounds whatsoever were found on him, because he had trusted in his God.
- Isa 46:4Even to your old age, I will be the same, and I will bear you up when you turn gray. I have made you, and I will carry you; I will sustain you and deliver you.
- Dan 3:28Nebuchadnezzar declared, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent His angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him. They violated the king’s command and risked their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.
- Ps 22:4–5In You our fathers trusted; they trusted and You delivered them.
- 1 Jn 5:18We know that anyone born of God does not keep on sinning; the One who was born of God protects him, and the evil one cannot touch him.
- 1 Jn 2:13–14I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I have written to you, children, because you know the Father.
- Ps 17:13Arise, O LORD, confront them! Bring them to their knees; deliver me from the wicked by Your sword,
- Ps 27:2When the wicked came upon me to devour my flesh, my enemies and foes stumbled and fell.
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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 37:40 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.