Then my enemies will retreat on the day I cry for help. By this I will know that God is on my side.
Parallel translations
- WEB Then my enemies shall turn back in the day that I call. I know this, that God is for me.
- KJV When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: this I know; for God is for me.
- NKJV When I cry out to You, Then my enemies will turn back; This I know, because God is for me.
- NASB Then my enemies will turn back on the day when I call; This I know, that God is for me.
- NLT My enemies will retreat when I call to you for help. This I know: God is on my side!
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 is sure his enemies will retreat when he calls, for God is for him. It expresses confident assurance of God's favor.
Overview
David trusts that the moment he prays, his foes will be turned back, because God is on his side. The settled conviction 'God is for me' is the heart of his courage. Paul echoes this very assurance, declaring that if God is for us, no one can stand against us (Romans 8:31).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Rom 8:31What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
- Ps 118:6The LORD is on my side; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
- Ps 102:2Do not hide Your face from me in my day of distress. Incline Your ear to me; answer me quickly when I call.
- Ps 46:11The LORD of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
- Isa 8:9–10Huddle together, O peoples, and be shattered; pay attention, all you distant lands; prepare for battle, and be shattered; prepare for battle, and be shattered!
- Ps 118:11–13They surrounded me on every side, but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
- Ps 9:3When my enemies retreat, they stumble and perish before You.
- Jer 33:3Call to Me, and I will answer and show you great and unsearchable things you do not know.
- Ps 46:7The LORD of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
- John 18:6When Jesus said, “I am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground.
- Ps 27:2When the wicked came upon me to devour my flesh, my enemies and foes stumbled and fell.
- Ps 18:38–42I crushed them so they could not rise; they have fallen under my feet.
- Exod 17:9–11So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on the hilltop with the staff of God in my hand.”
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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 56:9 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.