so that men shall say, “Most certainly there is a reward for the righteous. Most certainly there is a God who judges the earth.”
Parallel translations
- KJV So that a man shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous: verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth.
- BSB Then men will say, “There is surely a reward for the righteous! There is surely a God who judges the earth!”
- NKJV So that men will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous; Surely He is God who judges in the earth.”
- NASB And people will say, “There certainly is a reward for the righteous; There certainly is a God who judges on the earth!”
- NLT Then at last everyone will say, “There truly is a reward for those who live for God; surely there is a God who judges justly here on earth.”
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
The psalm closes confessing that there truly is reward for the righteous and a God who judges the earth. It is the settled conclusion that God's justice is real.
Overview
After confronting injustice, the psalm ends with renewed confidence that God does reward righteousness and does judge the world. This answers the wicked's earlier scoffing and assures the faithful that moral order is not an illusion. The promise finds its surest ground in Christ, through whom God will judge the earth in righteousness.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Isa 3:10Tell the righteous “Good!” For they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.
- Ps 67:4Oh let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you will judge the peoples with equity, and govern the nations on earth. Selah.
- Ps 64:9All mankind shall be afraid. They shall declare the work of God, and shall wisely ponder what he has done.
- Ps 33:18Behold, Yahweh’s eye is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his loving kindness;
- Mal 2:17You have wearied Yahweh with your words. Yet you say, ‘How have we wearied him?’ In that you say, ‘Everyone who does evil is good in Yahweh’s sight, and he delights in them;’ or ‘Where is the God of justice?’
- Mal 3:14You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God;’ and ‘What profit is it that we have followed his instructions, and that we have walked mournfully before Yahweh of Armies?
- Rom 2:5But according to your hardness and unrepentant heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath, revelation, and of the righteous judgment of God;
- Rom 6:21–22What fruit then did you have at that time in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.
- Ps 98:9Let them sing before Yahweh, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.
- Ps 73:13–15Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocence,
- 2 Pet 3:4–10and saying, “Where is the promise of his coming? For, from the day that the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.”
- Ps 92:15to show that Yahweh is upright. He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.
- Ps 94:2Rise up, you judge of the earth. Pay back the proud what they deserve.
- Ps 96:13before Yahweh; for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, the peoples with his truth.
- Ps 18:20Yahweh has rewarded me according to my righteousness. According to the cleanness of my hands has he recompensed me.
- Ps 9:8He will judge the world in righteousness. He will administer judgment to the peoples in uprightness.
- Ps 9:16Yahweh has made himself known. He has executed judgment. The wicked is snared by the work of his own hands. Meditation. Selah.
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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 58:11 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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