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God will hear and humiliate them—the One enthroned for the ages—Selah because they do not change and they have no fear of God.
Psalms 55:19 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB God, who is enthroned forever, will hear, and answer them. Selah. They never change, who don’t fear God.
  • KJV God shall hear, and afflict them, even he that abideth of old. Selah. Because they have no changes, therefore they fear not God.
  • NKJV God will hear, and afflict them, Even He who abides from of old. Selah Because they do not change, Therefore they do not fear God.
  • NASB God will hear and humiliate them— Even the One who sits enthroned from ancient times— Selah With whom there is no change, And who do not fear God.
  • NLT God, who has ruled forever, will hear me and humble them. Interlude For my enemies refuse to change their ways; they do not fear God.

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

God, enthroned forever, will hear and humble those who refuse to fear him. It contrasts God's eternal reign with the unrepentant wicked.

Overview

David appeals to God's everlasting kingship as the ground for confident expectation that he will answer and judge. The wicked 'never change' because they will not fear God, exposing the hardness of unrepentance. God's eternal throne assures believers that he will deal rightly with all who defy him.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 15

  • Deut 33:27The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms. He drives out the enemy before you, giving the command, ‘Destroy him!’
  • Zeph 1:12And at that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish the men settled in complacency, who say to themselves, ‘The LORD will do nothing, either good or bad.’
  • Eccl 8:11When the sentence for a crime is not speedily executed, the hearts of men become fully set on doing evil.
  • Mic 5:2But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come forth for Me One to be ruler over Israel—One whose origins are of old, from the days of eternity.
  • Col 1:17He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
  • Rev 6:10–11And they cried out in a loud voice, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You avenge our blood and judge those who dwell upon the earth?”
  • Jer 48:11Moab has been at ease from youth, settled like wine on its dregs; he has not been poured from vessel to vessel or gone into exile. So his flavor has remained the same, and his aroma is unchanged.
  • 1 Th 2:15–16who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and drove us out as well. They are displeasing to God and hostile to all men,
  • Ps 78:59On hearing it, God was furious and rejected Israel completely.
  • Prov 1:32For the waywardness of the simple will slay them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them.
  • Ps 143:12And in Your loving devotion, cut off my enemies. Destroy all who afflict me, for I am Your servant.
  • Isa 36:20Who among all the gods of these lands has delivered his land from my hand? How then can the LORD deliver Jerusalem from my hand?”
  • Ps 65:5With awesome deeds of righteousness You answer us, O God of our salvation, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas.
  • Ps 73:5–6They are free of the burdens others carry; they are not afflicted like other men.
  • Ps 90:1–2A prayer of Moses the man of God. Lord, You have been our dwelling place through all generations.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

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 55:19YouTube · 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 55:19 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.