Limitless Word
All day long they twist my words; all their thoughts are on my demise.
Psalms 56:5 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB All day long they twist my words. All their thoughts are against me for evil.
  • KJV Every day they wrest my words: all their thoughts are against me for evil.
  • NKJV All day they twist my words; All their thoughts are against me for evil.
  • NASB All day long they distort my words; All their thoughts are against me for evil.
  • NLT They are always twisting what I say; they spend their days plotting to harm 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's enemies twist his words and scheme evil against him constantly. It records the slander and malice he endures.

Overview

David laments that his foes distort everything he says and devote their thoughts to harming him. The misuse of his words shows the depth of their hostility. The verse legitimizes bringing to God the pain of being misrepresented and plotted against.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 14

  • Matt 22:15Then the Pharisees went out and conspired to trap Jesus in His words.
  • Luke 11:54waiting to catch Him in something He might say.
  • Isa 29:20–21For the ruthless will vanish, the mockers will disappear, and all who look for evil will be cut down—
  • Ps 41:7All who hate me whisper against me; they imagine the worst for me:
  • 2 Pet 3:16He writes this way in all his letters, speaking in them about such matters. Some parts of his letters are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.
  • 1 Sam 18:21“I will give her to David,” Saul thought, “so that she may be a snare to him, and the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” So Saul said to David, “For a second time now you can be my son-in-law.”
  • 1 Sam 18:17Then Saul said to David, “Here is my older daughter Merab. I will give her to you in marriage. Only be valiant for me and fight the LORD’s battles.” But Saul was thinking, “I need not raise my hand against him; let the hand of the Philistines be against him.”
  • John 2:19Jesus answered, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again.”
  • Luke 22:3–6Then Satan entered Judas Iscariot, who was one of the Twelve.
  • Jer 18:18Then some said, “Come, let us make plans against Jeremiah, for the law will never be lost to the priest, nor counsel to the wise, nor an oracle to the prophet. Come, let us denounce him and pay no heed to any of his words.”
  • 1 Sam 18:29he grew even more afraid of David. So from then on Saul was David’s enemy.
  • Matt 26:61and declared, “This man said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’”
  • 1 Sam 20:7If he says, ‘Good,’ then your servant is safe, but if he is enraged, you will know he has evil intentions.
  • 1 Sam 20:33Then Saul hurled his spear at Jonathan to kill him; so Jonathan knew that his father was determined to kill David.

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 56:5YouTube · 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 56:5 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.