saying, “God has forsaken him; pursue him and seize him, for there is no one to rescue him.”
Parallel translations
- WEB saying, “God has forsaken him. Pursue and take him, for no one will rescue him.”
- KJV Saying, God hath forsaken him: persecute and take him; for there is none to deliver him.
- NKJV Saying, “God has forsaken him; Pursue and take him, for there is none to deliver him.”
- NASB Saying, “God has abandoned him; Pursue and seize him, for there is no one to save him.”
- NLT They say, “God has abandoned him. Let’s go and get him, for no one will help him now.”
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
His enemies claim God has forsaken him and urge one another to seize him since no one will rescue. It shows foes exploiting his apparent abandonment.
Overview
The psalmist's enemies interpret his distress as proof that God has abandoned him, emboldening them to pursue him as defenseless. They presume no deliverer will come. Strikingly, this taunt was hurled at Christ on the cross, that God should rescue him if he delighted in him (Matthew 27:43), yet God's seeming silence was not abandonment but the path to victory.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Ps 7:2or they will shred my soul like a lion and tear me to pieces with no one to rescue me.
- Ps 3:2Many say of me, “God will not deliver him.” Selah
- Ps 50:22Now consider this, you who forget God, lest I tear you to pieces, with no one to rescue you:
- Matt 27:46About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
- 2 Chr 32:13–14Do you not know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of the lands? Have the gods of these nations ever been able to deliver their land from my hand?
- Dan 3:15Now, if you are ready, as soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship the statue I have made. But if you refuse to worship, you will be thrown at once into the blazing fiery furnace. Then what god will be able to deliver you from my hands?”
- Matt 27:42–43“He saved others, but He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel! Let Him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in Him.
- Ps 37:28For the LORD loves justice and will not forsake His saints. They are preserved forever, but the offspring of the wicked will be cut off.
- Ps 42:10Like the crushing of my bones, my enemies taunt me, while they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
- Ps 37:25I once was young and now am old, yet never have I seen the righteous abandoned or their children begging for bread.
- Ps 41:7–8All who hate me whisper against me; they imagine the worst for me:
- Matt 27:49But the others said, “Leave Him alone. Let us see if Elijah comes to save 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 71:11 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.