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I am a marvel to many, but you are my strong refuge.
Psalms 71:7 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV I am as a wonder unto many; but thou art my strong refuge.
  • BSB I have become a portent to many, but You are my strong refuge.
  • NKJV I have become as a wonder to many, But You are my strong refuge.
  • NASB ¶I have become a marvel to many, For You are my strong refuge.
  • NLT My life is an example to many, because you have been my strength and protection.

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

The psalmist seems a wonder or puzzle to many, yet God remains his strong refuge. It shows steadfast trust even when others misunderstand his suffering.

Overview

The psalmist has become a marvel or spectacle to many, perhaps because of his trials, yet he holds fast to God as his strong refuge. Faith remains firm even when one's afflictions perplex onlookers. The righteous sufferer who remains a wonder to many anticipates Christ, astonishing to many in his suffering, yet trusting wholly in God.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 11

  • Isa 8:18Behold, I and the children whom Yahweh has given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from Yahweh of Armies, who dwells in Mount Zion.
  • 1 Cor 4:9For, I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last of all, like men sentenced to death. For we are made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and men.
  • Acts 4:13Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and had perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled. They recognized that they had been with Jesus.
  • Ps 62:7With God is my salvation and my honor. The rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.
  • 2 Cor 6:8–10by glory and dishonor, by evil report and good report; as deceivers, and yet true;
  • Jer 16:19Yahweh, my strength, and my stronghold, and my refuge in the day of affliction, to you shall the nations come from the ends of the earth, and shall say, “Our fathers have inherited nothing but lies, vanity and things in which there is no profit.
  • Ps 61:3For you have been a refuge for me, a strong tower from the enemy.
  • 2 Cor 4:8–12We are pressed on every side, yet not crushed; perplexed, yet not to despair;
  • Zech 3:6Yahweh’s angel protested to Joshua, saying,
  • Luke 2:34and Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary, his mother, “Behold, this child is set for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which is spoken against.
  • Ps 142:4–5Look on my right, and see; for there is no one who is concerned for me. Refuge has fled from me. No one cares for my soul.

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Psalms videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Psalms 71:7YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on PsalmsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 71:7 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.