But I am in pain and distress; let Your salvation protect me, O God.
Parallel translations
- WEB But I am in pain and distress. Let your salvation, God, protect me.
- KJV But I am poor and sorrowful: let thy salvation, O God, set me up on high.
- NKJV But I am poor and sorrowful; Let Your salvation, O God, set me up on high.
- NASB ¶But I am afflicted and in pain; May Your salvation, God, set me safely on high.
- NLT I am suffering and in pain. Rescue me, O God, by your saving power.
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
In contrast to his enemies, David, in pain and distress, asks God's salvation to lift him up. It returns from judgment to humble dependence on God.
Overview
After the imprecations, David turns back to his own need, confessing his affliction and pleading for God's salvation to set him on high. He casts himself wholly on God to rescue and exalt him. This humble reliance on divine salvation rather than self foreshadows the gospel pattern, where the lowly are lifted up by the saving power of God in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Ps 91:14–16“Because he loves Me, I will deliver him; because he knows My name, I will protect him.
- Ps 40:17But I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me. You are my helper and deliverer; O my God, do not delay.
- Ps 70:5But I am poor and needy; hurry to me, O God. You are my help and my deliverer; O LORD, do not delay.
- Ps 109:22For I am poor and needy; my heart is wounded within me.
- Ps 20:1For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.
- Ps 18:48who delivers me from my enemies. You exalt me above my foes; You rescue me from violent men.
- Phil 2:9–11Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name above all names,
- Eph 1:21–22far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.
- 2 Cor 8:9For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.
- Isa 53:2–3He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no stately form or majesty to attract us, no beauty that we should desire Him.
- Ps 109:31For He stands at the right hand of the needy one, to save him from the condemners of his soul.
- Ps 59:1For the choirmaster. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A Miktam of David, when Saul sent men to watch David’s house in order to kill him. Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; protect me from those who rise against me.
- Ps 22:27–31All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD. All the families of the nations will bow down before Him.
- Ps 89:26–27He will call to Me, ‘You are my Father, my God, the Rock of my salvation.’
- Matt 8:20Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.”
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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 69:29 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.