I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah.
Parallel translations
- WEB I will dwell in your tent forever. I will take refuge in the shelter of your wings. Selah.
- BSB Let me dwell in Your tent forever and take refuge in the shelter of Your wings. Selah
- NKJV I will abide in Your tabernacle forever; I will trust in the shelter of Your wings. Selah
- NASB Let me dwell in Your tent forever; Let me take refuge in the shelter of Your wings. Selah
- NLT Let me live forever in your sanctuary, safe beneath the shelter of your wings! 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 longs to dwell forever in God's tent and take refuge under his wings. It expresses desire for enduring nearness to God.
Overview
David yearns for permanent fellowship in God's dwelling and the safety of his sheltering wings. The tent recalls the tabernacle, the place of God's presence among his people. This longing finds its fulfillment in Christ, through whom believers gain eternal access to dwell in God's presence forever. The Selah invites lingering on this hope.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Ps 23:6Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
- Ps 27:4One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.
- Ps 17:8Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings,
- Ps 91:4He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
- Ps 15:1Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill?
- Ps 57:1Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast.
- Ruth 2:12The LORD recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.
- Ps 63:7Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.
- Ps 91:1He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
- Matt 23:37O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
- Ps 62:7In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.
- Rev 3:12Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.
- Ps 142:4–5I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul.
- Ps 90:1Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations.
- Heb 6:18That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:
- Ps 92:13Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God.
- Ps 61:7He shall abide before God for ever: O prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 61:4 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.