Limitless Word
But know that Yahweh has set apart for himself him who is godly: Yahweh will hear when I call to him.
Psalms 4:3 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV But know that the LORD hath set apart him that is godly for himself: the LORD will hear when I call unto him.
  • BSB Know that the LORD has set apart the godly for Himself; the LORD hears when I call to Him.
  • NKJV But know that the Lord has set apart for Himself him who is godly; The Lord will hear when I call to Him.
  • NASB But know that the Lord has set apart the godly person for Himself; The Lord hears when I call to Him.
  • NLT You can be sure of this: The Lord set apart the godly for himself. The Lord will answer when I call to 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

David is confident that God sets apart the godly for Himself and hears their prayers. Belonging to God assures us He listens.

Overview

In contrast to the scoffers, David rests in the certainty that the Lord has set apart the faithful as His own. This setting apart is God's gracious choice, the ground of confident prayer. The same truth comforts believers, whom God has chosen and consecrated in Christ, assuring them that their prayers are heard.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 15

  • John 15:16You didn’t choose me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that whatever you will ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to you.
  • Ps 34:15Yahweh’s eyes are toward the righteous. His ears listen to their cry.
  • 2 Th 2:13–14But we are bound to always give thanks to God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because God chose you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief in the truth;
  • Ps 91:14–15“Because he has set his love on me, therefore I will deliver him. I will set him on high, because he has known my name.
  • 2 Tim 2:19However God’s firm foundation stands, having this seal, “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let every one who names the name of the Lord depart from unrighteousness.”
  • 2 Pet 2:9the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment;
  • Titus 2:14who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for good works.
  • Exod 33:16For how would people know that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Isn’t it that you go with us, so that we are separated, I and your people, from all the people who are on the surface of the earth?”
  • 1 Pet 2:9But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:
  • Eph 2:10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them.
  • Ps 6:8Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity, for Yahweh has heard the voice of my weeping.
  • Ps 31:23Oh love Yahweh, all you his saints! Yahweh preserves the faithful, and fully recompenses him who behaves arrogantly.
  • Ps 50:5“Gather my saints together to me, those who have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”
  • Ps 55:16–17As for me, I will call on God. Yahweh will save me.
  • Ps 56:9Then my enemies shall turn back in the day that I call. I know this, that God is for me.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Psalms videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Psalms 4:3YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on PsalmsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 4:3 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.