Let the enemy pursue me and overtake me; Yes, let him trample my life to the earth, And lay my honor in the dust. Selah
Parallel translations
- WEB let the enemy pursue my soul, and overtake it; yes, let him tread my life down to the earth, and lay my glory in the dust. Selah.
- KJV Let the enemy persecute my soul, and take it; yea, let him tread down my life upon the earth, and lay mine honour in the dust. Selah.
- BSB then may my enemy pursue me and overtake me; may he trample me to the ground and leave my honor in the dust. Selah
- NASB Let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it; And let him trample my life to the ground And lay my glory in the dust. Selah
- NLT then let my enemies capture me. Let them trample me into the ground and drag my honor in the dust. 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 is willing to suffer defeat and disgrace if he is in fact guilty. He stakes his very life on the truth of his innocence.
Overview
David completes his oath by accepting the worst consequences should he be lying: let the enemy overtake and humiliate him. Such an appeal shows how seriously he takes truth and how fully he trusts God's just verdict. 'Selah' marks a pause to weigh the gravity of placing one's life under God's righteous scrutiny.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Mal 4:3You shall tread down the wicked; for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I make,” says Yahweh of Armies.
- Ps 3:2Many there are who say of my soul, “There is no help for him in God.” Selah.
- Jer 17:13Yahweh, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you shall be disappointed. Those who depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken Yahweh, the spring of living waters.
- Ps 44:5Through you, will we push down our adversaries. Through your name, will we tread them under who rise up against us.
- Ps 49:12But man, despite his riches, doesn’t endure. He is like the animals that perish.
- Isa 10:6I will send him against a profane nation, and against the people who anger me will I give him a command to take the plunder and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
- Job 40:12–13Look at everyone who is proud, and humble him. Crush the wicked in their place.
- Hab 3:13You went out for the salvation of your people, for the salvation of your anointed. You crushed the head of the land of wickedness. You stripped them head to foot. Selah.
- Job 31:5–10“If I have walked with falsehood, and my foot has hurried to deceit
- Isa 63:3“I have trodden the wine press alone; and of the peoples, no one was with me: Yes, I trod them in my anger, and trampled them in my wrath. Their lifeblood is sprinkled on my garments, and I have stained all my clothing.
- Zech 10:5They shall be as mighty men, treading down muddy streets in the battle; and they shall fight, because Yahweh is with them; and the riders on horses will be confounded.
- Job 31:38–40If my land cries out against me, and its furrows weep together;
- Job 16:15I have sewed sackcloth on my skin, and have thrust my horn in the dust.
- Ps 60:12Through God we shall do valiantly, for it is he who will tread down our adversaries.
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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 7:5 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.