O LORD God of Hosts, the God of Israel, rouse Yourself to punish all the nations; show no mercy to the wicked traitors. Selah
Parallel translations
- WEB You, Yahweh God of Armies, the God of Israel, rouse yourself to punish the nations. Show no mercy to the wicked traitors. Selah.
- KJV Thou therefore, O LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel, awake to visit all the heathen: be not merciful to any wicked transgressors. Selah.
- NKJV You therefore, O Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel, Awake to punish all the nations; Do not be merciful to any wicked transgressors. Selah
- NASB You, Lord God of armies, the God of Israel, Awake to punish all the nations; Do not be gracious to any who deal treacherously in wrongdoing. Selah
- NLT O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, wake up and punish those hostile nations. Show no mercy to wicked traitors. Interlude
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 appeals to the LORD of Armies, God of Israel, to deal justly with treacherous evildoers. It grounds his plea in God's covenant power and faithfulness.
Overview
Calling on God by his covenant name and as Lord of hosts, David asks him to act against the wicked who betray justice. The reference to the nations broadens the prayer beyond his immediate foes to all who oppose God's purposes. The Selah invites pause to reflect on God's sovereign authority over every enemy.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Ps 55:15Let death seize them by surprise; let them go down to Sheol alive, for evil is with them in their homes.
- Ps 84:8O LORD God of Hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob. Selah
- Ps 9:15The nations have fallen into a pit of their making; their feet are caught in the net they have hidden.
- Isa 27:11When its limbs are dry, they are broken off. Women come and use them for kindling; for this is a people without understanding. Therefore their Maker has no compassion on them, and their Creator shows them no favor.
- Isa 1:10Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom; listen to the instruction of our God, you people of Gomorrah!
- Amos 9:7“Are you not like the Cushites to Me, O children of Israel?” declares the LORD. “Did I not bring Israel up from the land of Egypt, the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Arameans from Kir?
- Ezek 18:27–28But if a wicked man turns from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he will save his life.
- Jas 2:13For judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
- Gen 33:20There he set up an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel.
- Ps 54:3For strangers rise up against me, and ruthless men seek my life—men with no regard for God. Selah
- Ps 7:12–13If one does not repent, God will sharpen His sword; He has bent and strung His bow.
- Ps 80:4O LORD God of Hosts, how long will Your anger smolder against the prayers of Your people?
- Rom 2:28–29A man is not a Jew because he is one outwardly, nor is circumcision only outward and physical.
- Exod 3:15God also told Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ This is My name forever, and this is how I am to be remembered in every generation.
- Rom 9:6It is not as though God’s word has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.
- Exod 20:5You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,
- Jer 18:23But You, O LORD, know all their deadly plots against me. Do not wipe out their guilt or blot out their sin from Your sight. Let them be overthrown before You; deal with them in the time of Your anger.
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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 59:5 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
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