My defence is of God, which saveth the upright in heart.
Parallel translations
- WEB My shield is with God, who saves the upright in heart.
- BSB My shield is with God, who saves the upright in heart.
- NKJV My defense is of God, Who saves the upright in heart.
- NASB My shield is with God, Who saves the upright in heart.
- NLT God is my shield, saving those whose hearts are true and right.
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 declares that God is his shield, the one who saves the upright in heart. God Himself defends those whose hearts are true toward Him.
Overview
David's confidence rests in God as his protector, the deliverer of those who are sincere before Him. Salvation belongs to the upright not because they are flawless but because their hearts are turned to the Lord. This shield is found supremely in Christ, in whom God preserves and saves all who trust Him.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Gen 15:1After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.
- Ps 84:11For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
- Prov 28:18Whoso walketh uprightly shall be saved: but he that is perverse in his ways shall fall at once.
- Ps 125:4Do good, O LORD, unto those that be good, and to them that are upright in their hearts.
- Prov 2:21For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it.
- Prov 11:20They that are of a froward heart are abomination to the LORD: but such as are upright in their way are his delight.
- Job 8:6If thou wert pure and upright; surely now he would awake for thee, and make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous.
- Ps 89:18For the LORD is our defence; and the Holy One of Israel is our king.
- Ps 112:2His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed.
- Ps 18:1–2I will love thee, O LORD, my strength.
- Ps 3:3But thou, O LORD, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine 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 7:10 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.