Listen to my prayer, O God. Pay attention to my plea.
Parallel translations
- WEB Hear my prayer, God. Listen to the words of my mouth.
- KJV Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth.
- BSB Hear my prayer, O God; listen to the words of my mouth.
- NKJV Hear my prayer, O God; Give ear to the words of my mouth.
- NASB Hear my prayer, God; Listen to the words of my mouth.
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 asks God to hear the very words of his prayer. It expresses earnest, direct dependence on God in distress.
Overview
In simple, urgent terms David begs God to listen to his plea. The doubled request to hear and listen shows the intensity of his need. It reminds believers that God invites and attends to the honest cries of his people (Psalm 34:15).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Ps 130:2Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my petitions.
- Ps 13:3Behold, and answer me, Yahweh, my God. Give light to my eyes, lest I sleep in death;
- Ps 143:7Hurry to answer me, Yahweh. My spirit fails. Don’t hide your face from me, so that I don’t become like those who go down into the pit.
- Ps 5:1–3For the Chief Musician, with the flutes. A Psalm by David. Give ear to my words, Yahweh. Consider my meditation.
- Ps 55:1–2For the Chief Musician. On stringed instruments. A contemplation by David. Listen to my prayer, God. Don’t hide yourself from my supplication.
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 54:2 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.