He ransoms me and keeps me safe from the battle waged against me, though many still oppose me.
Parallel translations
- WEB He has redeemed my soul in peace from the battle that was against me, although there are many who oppose me.
- KJV He hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle that was against me: for there were many with me.
- BSB He redeems my soul in peace from the battle waged against me, even though many oppose me.
- NKJV He has redeemed my soul in peace from the battle that was against me, For there were many against me.
- NASB He will redeem my soul in peace from the battle which is against me, For they are many who are aggressive toward me.
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 testifies that God redeems his soul into peace despite many opponents. It affirms God's deliverance amid ongoing conflict.
Overview
Even with many arrayed against him, David trusts that God ransoms his life and grants peace from the battle. The assurance is not of an easy life but of God's keeping power within trouble. This peace points to the deeper peace Christ secures for his people through his own conflict and victory.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Matt 26:53Or do you think that I couldn’t ask my Father, and he would even now send me more than twelve legions of angels?
- Ps 3:6–7I will not be afraid of tens of thousands of people who have set themselves against me on every side.
- 1 Jn 4:4You are of God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world.
- 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.
- 2 Chr 32:7–8“Be strong and courageous. Don’t be afraid or dismayed because of the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude who is with him; for there is a greater one with us than with him.
- 2 Sam 22:1David spoke to Yahweh the words of this song in the day that Yahweh delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul,
- Ps 27:1–3By 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 118:10–12All the nations surrounded me, but in Yahweh’s name, I cut them off.
- Acts 2:33–36Being therefore exalted by the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this, which you now see and hear.
- 2 Sam 18:28Ahimaaz called, and said to the king, “All is well.” He bowed himself before the king with his face to the earth, and said, “Blessed is Yahweh your God, who has delivered up the men who lifted up their hand against my lord the king!”
- 2 Kgs 6:16He answered, “Don’t be afraid; for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”
- Ps 56:2My enemies want to swallow me up all day long, for they are many who fight proudly against me.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
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 55:18 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.