Limitless Word
Only by your power can we push back our enemies; only in your name can we trample our foes.
Psalms 44:5 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB Through you, will we push down our adversaries. Through your name, will we tread them under who rise up against us.
  • KJV Through thee will we push down our enemies: through thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us.
  • BSB Through You we repel our foes; through Your name we trample our enemies.
  • NKJV Through You we will push down our enemies; Through Your name we will trample those who rise up against us.
  • NASB Through You we will push back our adversaries; Through Your name we will trample down those who rise up against us.

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

Through God and His name His people overcome their enemies. It matters because strength to prevail comes from trusting in God, not in oneself.

Overview

The imagery of pushing down and treading underfoot describes complete conquest, accomplished 'through' God and 'through' His name. The name of God stands for His revealed character and power. Believers in Christ likewise overcome not by their own might but by the authority of His name.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 12

  • Ps 108:13Through God, we will do valiantly. For it is he who will tread down our enemies.
  • Ps 60:12Through God we shall do valiantly, for it is he who will tread down our adversaries.
  • Ps 118:10–13All the nations surrounded me, but in Yahweh’s name, I cut them off.
  • Phil 4:13I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.
  • Deut 33:17The firstborn of his herd, majesty is his. His horns are the horns of the wild ox. With them he will push all the peoples, to the ends of the earth. They are the ten thousands of Ephraim. They are the thousands of Manasseh.”
  • Zech 10:5They shall be as mighty men, treading down muddy streets in the battle; and they shall fight, because Yahweh is with them; and the riders on horses will be confounded.
  • Dan 8:4I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; and no animals could stand before him, neither was there any who could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and magnified himself.
  • Ps 91:13You will tread on the lion and cobra. You will trample the young lion and the serpent underfoot.
  • Isa 41:14–16Don’t be afraid, you worm Jacob, and you men of Israel. I will help you,” says Yahweh, “and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
  • 1 Kgs 22:11Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made himself horns of iron, and said, “Yahweh says, ‘With these you will push the Syrians, until they are consumed.’”
  • Rom 16:20And the God of peace will quickly crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
  • Ps 18:39–42For you have armed me with strength to the battle. You have subdued under me those who rose up against me.

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 44:5YouTube · 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 44:5 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.