But you, God, will bring them down into the pit of destruction. Bloodthirsty and deceitful men shall not live out half their days, but I will trust in you.
Parallel translations
- KJV But thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction: bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days; but I will trust in thee.
- BSB But You, O God, will bring them down to the Pit of destruction; men of bloodshed and deceit will not live out half their days. But I will trust in You.
- NKJV But You, O God, shall bring them down to the pit of destruction; Bloodthirsty and deceitful men shall not live out half their days; But I will trust in You.
- NASB But You, God, will bring them down to the pit of destruction; Men of bloodshed and deceit will not live out half their days. But I will trust in You.
- NLT But you, O God, will send the wicked down to the pit of destruction. Murderers and liars will die young, but I am trusting you to save 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 affirms God will bring the bloodthirsty and deceitful to ruin, while he himself trusts in God. It ends with confident contrast between the wicked's doom and the believer's trust.
Overview
The psalm closes by declaring God's judgment: violent and deceitful men will not live out half their days. Set against this, David's final word is personal trust in the Lord. This concluding confidence shows that, whatever betrayals and dangers come, the believer's security rests wholly in God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Prov 10:27The fear of Yahweh prolongs days, but the years of the wicked shall be shortened.
- Ps 5:6You will destroy those who speak lies. Yahweh abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.
- Job 15:32It shall be accomplished before his time. His branch shall not be green.
- Ps 73:18Surely you set them in slippery places. You throw them down to destruction.
- Isa 38:17Behold, for peace I had great anguish, but you have in love for my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption; for you have cast all my sins behind your back.
- Eccl 7:17Don’t be too wicked, neither be foolish. Why should you die before your time?
- Ps 7:15–16He has dug a hole, and has fallen into the pit which he made.
- Prov 15:11Sheol and Abaddon are before Yahweh — how much more then the hearts of the children of men!
- Ps 59:12–13For the sin of their mouth, and the words of their lips, let them be caught in their pride, for the curses and lies which they utter.
- Ps 25:2My God, I have trusted in you. Don’t let me be shamed. Don’t let my enemies triumph over me.
- Matt 27:4–5saying, “I have sinned in that I betrayed innocent blood.” But they said, “What is that to us? You see to it.”
- Prov 27:20Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied; and a man’s eyes are never satisfied.
- 2 Sam 20:9–10Joab said to Amasa, “Is it well with you, my brother?” Joab took Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him.
- 2 Sam 3:27When Abner was returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside into the middle of the gate to speak with him quietly, and struck him there in the body, so that he died, for the blood of Asahel his brother.
- 1 Kgs 2:5–6“Moreover you know also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, even what he did to the two captains of the armies of Israel, to Abner the son of Ner, and to Amasa the son of Jether, whom he killed, and shed the blood of war in peace, and put the blood of war on his sash that was around his waist, and in his shoes that were on his feet.
- Ps 58:9Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns, he will sweep away the green and the burning alike.
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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 55:23 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
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