Do not kill them, or my people will forget. Scatter them by Your power, and bring them down, O Lord, our shield.
Parallel translations
- WEB Don’t kill them, or my people may forget. Scatter them by your power, and bring them down, Lord our shield.
- KJV Slay them not, lest my people forget: scatter them by thy power; and bring them down, O Lord our shield.
- NKJV Do not slay them, lest my people forget; Scatter them by Your power, And bring them down, O Lord our shield.
- NASB Do not kill them, or my people will forget; Scatter them by Your power and bring them down, Lord, our shield.
- NLT Don’t kill them, for my people soon forget such lessons; stagger them with your power, and bring them to their knees, O Lord our shield.
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 asks God to scatter rather than swiftly destroy his enemies, lest the lesson be forgotten. He wants God's just dealing to remain a visible warning.
Overview
David prays that the wicked be brought low gradually so that God's judgment serves as an enduring reminder to his people. He addresses God as their shield, the one who guards them. The request shows concern that God be remembered and feared, not merely that David be relieved.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 20
- Ps 3:3But You, O LORD, are a shield around me, my glory, and the One who lifts my head.
- Rev 9:6In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, but death will escape them.
- Deut 28:64Then the LORD will scatter you among all the nations, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known.
- Deut 4:27Then the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the LORD will drive you.
- Luke 1:51–52He has performed mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who are proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
- Gen 4:12–15When you till the ground, it will no longer yield its produce to you. You will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.”
- Job 40:12Look on every proud man and humble him; trample the wicked where they stand.
- Ps 52:5Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin; He will snatch you up and tear you away from your tent; He will uproot you from the land of the living. Selah
- Ezek 12:15–16And they will know that I am the LORD, when I disperse them among the nations and scatter them throughout the countries.
- Judg 1:6–7As Adoni-bezek fled, they pursued him, seized him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes.
- Lev 26:33But I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out a sword after you as your land becomes desolate and your cities are laid waste.
- Luke 21:21Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country stay out of the city.
- Ps 84:11For the LORD God is a sun and a shield; the LORD gives grace and glory; He withholds no good thing from those who walk with integrity.
- Ezek 14:22–23Yet, behold, some survivors will be left in it—sons and daughters who will be brought out. They will come out to you, and when you see their conduct and actions, you will be comforted regarding the disaster I have brought upon Jerusalem—all that I have brought upon it.
- Ps 106:27to disperse their offspring among the nations and scatter them throughout the lands.
- Deut 4:9Only be on your guard and diligently watch yourselves, so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen, and so that they do not slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and grandchildren.
- Ps 44:11You have given us up as sheep to be devoured; You have scattered us among the nations.
- Deut 30:3–4then He will restore you from captivity and have compassion on you and gather you from all the nations to which the LORD your God has scattered you.
- Ps 84:9Take notice of our shield, O God, and look with favor on the face of Your anointed.
- Eccl 9:5For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward, because the memory of them is forgotten.
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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 59:11 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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