For no one on earth—from east or west, or even from the wilderness— should raise a defiant fist.
Parallel translations
- WEB For neither from the east, nor from the west, nor yet from the south, comes exaltation.
- KJV For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south.
- BSB For exaltation comes neither from east nor west, nor out of the desert,
- NKJV For exaltation comes neither from the east Nor from the west nor from the south.
- NASB ¶For not from the east, nor from the west, Nor from the desert comes exaltation;
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
True exaltation comes from none of the directions of the earth, for it is not won by human effort.
Overview
The psalmist denies that lasting promotion comes from any earthly source or human striving. Whether east, west, or south, no direction yields the honor that only God can grant. This sets up the central truth that God alone exalts and humbles, freeing believers from anxious self-promotion to trust His sovereign hand.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 1
- Ps 3:3But you, Yahweh, are a shield around me, my glory, and the one who lifts up my head.
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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 75:6 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
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