Limitless Word
The day is Yours, and also the night; You established the moon and the sun.
Psalms 74:16 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB The day is yours, the night is also yours. You have prepared the light and the sun.
  • KJV The day is thine, the night also is thine: thou hast prepared the light and the sun.
  • NKJV The day is Yours, the night also is Yours; You have prepared the light and the sun.
  • NASB Yours is the day, Yours also is the night; You have prepared the light and the sun.
  • NLT Both day and night belong to you; you made the starlight and the sun.

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

Day and night both belong to God, who established the light and the sun, underscoring His mastery over all creation.

Overview

Turning from redemption to creation, Asaph affirms that the cycles of day and night are God's own ordering. By appointing the heavenly lights, God shows He governs all time and order. This Creator-claim reinforces the argument that the One who made all things can surely defend His covenant people.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 7

  • Gen 1:3–5And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
  • Ps 136:7–9He made the great lights—His loving devotion endures forever.
  • Matt 5:45that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
  • Ps 104:19He made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows when to set.
  • Gen 1:14–18And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to distinguish between the day and the night, and let them be signs to mark the seasons and days and years.
  • Ps 19:1–6For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.
  • Ps 8:3When I behold Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place—

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

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 74:16YouTube · 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 74:16 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.