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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.
Psalms 42:8 · New Living Translation
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.
  • KJV 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.
  • 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.

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 Yahweh, who has given me counsel. Yes, my heart instructs me in the night seasons.
  • Ps 63:6when I remember you on my bed, and think about you in the night watches.
  • Ps 149:5Let the saints rejoice in honor. Let them sing for joy on their beds.
  • Job 35:10But no one says, ‘Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the night,
  • Deut 28:8Yahweh will command the blessing on you in your barns, and in all that you put your hand to. He will bless you in the land which Yahweh your God gives you.
  • Acts 16:25But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.
  • Col 3:3For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
  • Ps 133:3like the dew of Hermon, that comes down on the hills of Zion: for there Yahweh gives the blessing, even life forever more.
  • Matt 8:8The centurion answered, “Lord, I’m not worthy for you to come under my roof. Just say the word, and my servant will be healed.
  • Ps 44:4You are my King, God. Command victories for Jacob!
  • Ps 77:6I remember my song in the night. I consider in my own heart; my spirit diligently inquires:
  • Ps 27:1By David. Yahweh is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? Yahweh is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid?
  • Ps 57:3He will send from heaven, and save me, he rebukes the one who is pursuing me. Selah. God will send out his loving kindness and his truth.
  • Isa 30:29You will have a song, as in the night when a holy feast is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goes with a flute to come to Yahweh’s mountain, to Israel’s Rock.
  • Ps 32:7You are my hiding place. You will preserve me from trouble. You will surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah.
  • Lev 25:21then I will command my blessing on you in the sixth year, and it shall bear fruit for the three years.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

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 42:8YouTube · 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 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

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.