Behold, God is my helper; The Lord is with those who uphold my life.
Parallel translations
- WEB Behold, God is my helper. The Lord is the one who sustains my soul.
- KJV Behold, God is mine helper: the Lord is with them that uphold my soul.
- BSB Surely God is my helper; the Lord is the sustainer of my soul.
- NASB ¶Behold, God is my helper; The Lord is the sustainer of my soul.
- NLT But God is my helper. The Lord keeps me alive!
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 affirms that God himself is his helper and sustainer. It is a confident turn from fear to faith in God's support.
Overview
Amid threat, David declares the steadying truth: God is his helper and the Lord upholds his life. This statement of faith marks the psalm's pivot from petition to trust. It anticipates the New Testament assurance that the Lord is our helper, so we need not fear (Hebrews 13:6).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Heb 13:6So that with good courage we say, “The Lord is my helper. I will not fear. What can man do to me?”
- Ps 118:6–7Yahweh is on my side. I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
- Isa 41:10Don’t you be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. Yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness.
- Rom 8:31What then shall we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
- Ps 118:13You pushed me back hard, to make me fall, but Yahweh helped me.
- Isa 50:7–9For the Lord Yahweh will help me. Therefore I have not been confounded. Therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be disappointed.
- Isa 42:1“Behold, my servant, whom I uphold; my chosen, in whom my soul delights — I have put my Spirit on him. He will bring justice to the nations.
- 1 Chr 12:18Then the Spirit came on Amasai, who was chief of the thirty, and he said, “We are yours, David, and on your side, you son of Jesse. Peace, peace be to you, and peace be to your helpers; for your God helps you.” Then David received them, and made them captains of the band.
- Ps 41:12As for me, you uphold me in my integrity, and set me in your presence forever.
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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 54:4 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.