And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee.
Parallel translations
- WEB Now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in you.
- BSB And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in You.
- NKJV “And now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in You.
- NASB ¶“And now, Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in You.
- NLT And so, Lord, where do I put my hope? My only hope is in you.
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
Turning from vanity, David asks what he can wait for and answers: his hope is in the Lord. God alone is worth hoping in.
Overview
Having seen life's emptiness, David fixes his expectation on God rather than on fleeting things. This is the pivot of the psalm from despair to faith. True hope is not in earthly gain but in the living God who endures.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Rom 15:13Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.
- Ps 38:15For in thee, O LORD, do I hope: thou wilt hear, O Lord my God.
- Ps 119:81My soul fainteth for thy salvation: but I hope in thy word.
- Gen 49:18I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD.
- Ps 119:166LORD, I have hoped for thy salvation, and done thy commandments.
- Job 13:15Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.
- Ps 130:5–6I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.
- Luke 2:25And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
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 39:7 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
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.