Don’t deliver the soul of your dove to wild beasts. Don’t forget the life of your poor forever.
Parallel translations
- KJV O deliver not the soul of thy turtledove unto the multitude of the wicked: forget not the congregation of thy poor for ever.
- BSB Do not deliver the soul of Your dove to beasts; do not forget the lives of Your afflicted forever.
- NKJV Oh, do not deliver the life of Your turtledove to the wild beast! Do not forget the life of Your poor forever.
- NASB Do not give the soul of Your turtledove to the wild animal; Do not forget the life of Your afflicted forever.
- NLT Don’t let these wild beasts destroy your turtledoves. Don’t forget your suffering people forever.
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
Asaph begs God not to hand over the soul of His helpless dove to wild beasts nor forget His afflicted people.
Overview
Israel is pictured as a vulnerable dove and as the poor and needy, utterly dependent on God's protection. The psalmist pleads that God would not abandon them to predatory enemies. This tender appeal reflects the covenant compassion God shows His own, fully revealed in Christ who gathers His people as a shepherd protects the flock.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Song 2:14My dove in the clefts of the rock, In the hiding places of the mountainside, Let me see your face. Let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.
- Jas 2:5–6Listen, my beloved brothers. Didn’t God choose those who are poor in this world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the Kingdom which he promised to those who love him?
- Ps 9:18For the needy shall not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the poor perish forever.
- Matt 10:16“Behold, I send you out as sheep among wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
- Isa 60:8“Who are these who fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows?
- Zeph 3:12But I will leave among you an afflicted and poor people, and they will take refuge in Yahweh’s name.
- Ps 68:13while you sleep among the camp fires, the wings of a dove sheathed with silver, her feathers with shining gold.
- Ps 68:10Your congregation lived therein. You, God, prepared your goodness for the poor.
- Song 4:1Behold, you are beautiful, my love. Behold, you are beautiful. Your eyes are doves behind your veil. Your hair is as a flock of goats, that descend from Mount Gilead.
- Ps 72:2He will judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice.
- Song 6:9My dove, my perfect one, is unique. She is her mother’s only daughter. She is the favorite one of her who bore her. The daughters saw her, and called her blessed; the queens and the concubines, and they praised her.
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 74:19 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.