You are my strength; I wait for you to rescue me, for you, O God, are my fortress.
Parallel translations
- WEB Oh, my Strength, I watch for you, for God is my high tower.
- KJV Because of his strength will I wait upon thee: for God is my defence.
- BSB I will keep watch for You, O my strength, because You, O God, are my fortress.
- NKJV I will wait for You, O You his Strength; For God is my defense.
- NASB ¶Because of his strength I will watch for You, For God is my refuge.
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 resolves to watch for God, his Strength, who is his secure high tower. It expresses patient trust amid danger.
Overview
Turning from his enemies to his God, David declares the Lord his strength and stronghold. Rather than relying on his own resources, he waits expectantly for divine help. This posture of watchful dependence is the believer's refuge when surrounded by threats.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Ps 9:9Yahweh will also be a high tower for the oppressed; a high tower in times of trouble.
- Isa 26:3–4You will keep whoever’s mind is steadfast in perfect peace, because he trusts in you.
- Ps 62:2He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress — I will never be greatly shaken.
- Ps 27:14Wait for Yahweh. Be strong, and let your heart take courage. Yes, wait for Yahweh.
- Ps 59:17To you, my strength, I will sing praises. For God is my high tower, the God of my mercy.
- Ps 27:1By David. Yahweh is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? Yahweh is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid?
- Hab 3:19Yahweh, the Lord, is my strength. He makes my feet like deer’s feet, and enables me to go in high places. For the music director, on my stringed instruments.
- Isa 12:2Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust, and will not be afraid; for Yah, Yahweh, is my strength and song; and he has become my salvation.”
- Isa 40:31But those who wait for Yahweh will renew their strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run, and not be weary. They will walk, and not faint.
- Matt 6:13Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen.’
- Isa 58:14then you shall delight yourself in Yahweh; and I will make you to ride on the high places of the earth; and I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father:” for Yahweh’s mouth has spoken it.
- Ps 46:7Yahweh of Armies is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
- Ps 18:1–2For the Chief Musician. By David the servant of Yahweh, who spoke to Yahweh the words of this song in the day that Yahweh delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. He said, I love you, Yahweh, my strength.
- Ps 20:1For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. May Yahweh answer you in the day of trouble. May the name of the God of Jacob set you up on high,
- Ps 62:11God has spoken once; twice I have heard this, that power belongs to God.
- Ps 62:5–6My soul, wait in silence for God alone, for my expectation is from him.
- Ps 46:1For the Chief Musician. By the sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
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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 59:9 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.