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Fearfulness and trembling have come upon me, And horror has overwhelmed me.
Psalms 55:5 · New King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB Fearfulness and trembling have come on me. Horror has overwhelmed me.
  • KJV Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me.
  • BSB Fear and trembling grip me, and horror has overwhelmed me.
  • NASB Fear and trembling come upon me, And horror has overwhelmed me.
  • NLT Fear and trembling overwhelm me, and I can’t stop shaking.

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

Fear, trembling, and horror overwhelm David. It portrays the crushing weight of dread he feels.

Overview

David piles up words for terror to convey how completely fear has seized him. He does not pretend to a composure he lacks but confesses his being overwhelmed. Scripture's honesty here assures the troubled that God welcomes those at the end of their strength.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 11

  • Job 21:6When I remember, I am troubled. Horror takes hold of my flesh.
  • Ps 119:120My flesh trembles for fear of you. I am afraid of your judgments. AYIN
  • Luke 22:44Being in agony he prayed more earnestly. His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground.
  • Job 6:4For the arrows of the Almighty are within me. My spirit drinks up their poison. The terrors of God set themselves in array against me.
  • Ezek 7:18They will also clothe themselves with sackcloth, and horror will cover them. Shame will be on all faces, and baldness on all their heads.
  • Ps 42:6My God, my soul is in despair within me. Therefore I remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon, from the hill Mizar.
  • Ps 61:2From the end of the earth, I will call to you, when my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
  • 2 Sam 15:14David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, “Arise, and let us flee; or else none of us will escape from Absalom. Hurry to depart, lest he overtake us quickly, and bring down evil on us, and strike the city with the edge of the sword.”
  • Ps 88:15–16I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up. While I suffer your terrors, I am distracted.
  • Isa 21:4My heart flutters. Horror has frightened me. The twilight that I desired has been turned into trembling for me.
  • Job 23:15–16Therefore I am terrified at his presence. When I consider, I am afraid of him.

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 55:5YouTube · 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 55:5 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.