Yet the LORD will command his lovingkindness in the day time, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life.
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh will command his loving kindness in the daytime. In the night his song shall be with me: a prayer to the God of my life.
- BSB The LORD decrees His loving devotion by day, and at night His song is with me as a prayer to the God of my life.
- NKJV The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime, And in the night His song shall be with me— A prayer to the God of my life.
- NASB The Lord will send His goodness in the daytime; And His song will be with me in the night, A prayer to the God of my life.
- NLT But each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me, and through each night I sing his songs, praying to God who gives me life.
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 commands His steadfast love by day and gives a song by night. God's covenant love sustains him through darkness.
Overview
Amid the floods, the psalmist affirms God's lovingkindness present in daylight and His song in the night. Prayer to 'the God of my life' anchors his hope. This confidence in God's constant love foreshadows the assurance believers have in Christ (Romans 8:38-39).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Ps 16:7I will bless the LORD, who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night seasons.
- Ps 63:6When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.
- Ps 149:5Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds.
- Job 35:10But none saith, Where is God my maker, who giveth songs in the night;
- Deut 28:8The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
- Acts 16:25And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.
- Col 3:3For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
- Ps 133:3As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.
- Matt 8:8The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.
- Ps 44:4Thou art my King, O God: command deliverances for Jacob.
- Ps 77:6I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent search.
- Ps 27:1The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
- Ps 57:3He shall send from heaven, and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth his mercy and his truth.
- Isa 30:29Ye shall have a song, as in the night when a holy solemnity is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of the LORD, to the mighty One of Israel.
- Ps 32:7Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah.
- Lev 25:21Then I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years.
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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 42:8 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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