He shall abide before God for ever: O prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him.
Parallel translations
- WEB He shall be enthroned in God’s presence forever. Appoint your loving kindness and truth, that they may preserve him.
- BSB May he sit enthroned in God’s presence forever; appoint Your loving devotion and Your faithfulness to guard him.
- NKJV He shall abide before God forever. Oh, prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him!
- NASB He will sit enthroned before God forever; Appoint faithfulness and truth that they may watch over him.
- NLT May he reign under God’s protection forever. May your unfailing love and faithfulness watch over him.
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 that the king be enthroned forever in God's presence, preserved by God's love and faithfulness. It seeks a kingship sustained by God's covenant character.
Overview
David prays for a reign established eternally before God, guarded by steadfast love and truth. No earthly king fully attains this, which points the promise forward. It is fulfilled in Christ, who is enthroned forever in God's presence and preserved by the Father's faithfulness.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Ps 40:11Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O LORD: let thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me.
- Gen 24:27And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of my master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master of his mercy and his truth: I being in the way, the LORD led me to the house of my master’s brethren.
- Isa 9:6–7For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
- Luke 1:33And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
- Ps 57:3He shall send from heaven, and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth his mercy and his truth.
- Ps 41:12And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity, and settest me before thy face for ever.
- Luke 1:54–55He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy;
- Heb 9:24For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:
- Mic 7:20Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.
- Ps 43:3O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles.
- Prov 20:28Mercy and truth preserve the king: and his throne is upholden by mercy.
- Gen 32:10I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands.
- Heb 7:21–25(For those priests were made without an oath; but this with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec:)
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 61:7 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.