Help us, O God of our salvation! Help us for the glory of your name. Save us and forgive our sins for the honor of your name.
Parallel translations
- WEB Help us, God of our salvation, for the glory of your name. Deliver us, and forgive our sins, for your name’s sake.
- KJV Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name: and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for thy name’s sake.
- BSB Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of Your name; deliver us and atone for our sins, for the sake of Your name.
- NKJV Help us, O God of our salvation, For the glory of Your name; And deliver us, and provide atonement for our sins, For Your name’s sake!
- NASB Help us, God of our salvation, for the glory of Your name; And save us and forgive our sins for the sake of Your name.
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
They ask God to help, deliver, and forgive for the glory of His name. Salvation is sought on the basis of God's honor, not their worth.
Overview
The petition pleads 'for the glory of your name' and 'for your name's sake,' grounding forgiveness in God's character rather than human merit. This is the heart of grace: God saves to display His own glory. It anticipates the gospel, in which God forgives sins and delivers His people through Christ, to the praise of His glorious grace.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Jer 14:7Though our iniquities testify against us, work for your name’s sake, Yahweh; for our rebellions are many. We have sinned against you.
- Ps 25:11For your name’s sake, Yahweh, pardon my iniquity, for it is great.
- 2 Chr 14:11Asa cried to Yahweh his God, and said, “Yahweh, there is no one besides you to help, between the mighty and him who has no strength. Help us, Yahweh our God; for we rely on you, and in your name are we come against this multitude. Yahweh, you are our God. Don’t let man prevail against you.”
- Isa 48:9For my name’s sake, I will defer my anger, and for my praise I hold it back for you, so that I don’t cut you off.
- Jer 14:21Do not abhor us, for your name’s sake. Do not disgrace the throne of your glory. Remember, and don’t break your covenant with us.
- Ezek 20:14But I worked for my name’s sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I brought them out.
- Ps 65:3Sins overwhelmed me, but you atoned for our transgressions.
- Isa 43:25I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake; and I will not remember your sins.
- Dan 9:19Lord, hear; Lord, forgive; Lord, listen and do; don’t defer, for your own sake, my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.
- Ezek 20:9But I worked for my name’s sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, among which they were, in whose sight I made myself known to them, in bringing them out of the land of Egypt.
- Ps 31:3For you are my rock and my fortress, therefore for your name’s sake lead me and guide me.
- Ps 115:1Not to us, Yahweh, not to us, but to your name give glory, for your loving kindness, and for your truth’s sake.
- Josh 7:9For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it, and will surround us, and cut off our name from the earth. What will you do for your great name?”
- Mal 2:2If you will not listen, and if you will not lay it to heart, to give glory to my name,” says Yahweh of Armies, “then will I send the curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have cursed them already, because you do not lay it to heart.
- Eph 1:6to the praise of the glory of his grace, by which he freely gave us favor in the Beloved,
- Dan 9:9To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgiveness; for we have rebelled against him;
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 79:9 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.