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.
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.
- BSB O LORD God of Hosts, the God of Israel, rouse Yourself to punish all the nations; show no mercy to the wicked traitors. 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 upon them, and let them go down quick into hell: for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them.
- Ps 84:8O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer: give ear, O God of Jacob. Selah.
- Ps 9:15The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made: in the net which they hid is their own foot taken.
- Isa 27:11When the boughs thereof are withered, they shall be broken off: the women come, and set them on fire: for it is a people of no understanding: therefore he that made them will not have mercy on them, and he that formed them will shew them no favour.
- Isa 1:10Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.
- Amos 9:7Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel? saith the LORD. Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt? and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?
- Ezek 18:27–28Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive.
- Jas 2:13For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.
- Gen 33:20And he erected there an altar, and called it EleloheIsrael.
- Ps 54:3For strangers are risen up against me, and oppressors seek after my soul: they have not set God before them. Selah.
- Ps 7:12–13If he turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready.
- Ps 80:4O LORD God of hosts, how long wilt thou be angry against the prayer of thy people?
- Rom 2:28–29For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
- Exod 3:15And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.
- Rom 9:6Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:
- Exod 20:5Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
- Jer 18:23Yet, LORD, thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay me: forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight, but let them be overthrown before thee; deal thus with them in the time of thine 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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