Limitless Word
Then You spoke in a vision to Your holy one, And said: “I have given help to one who is mighty; I have exalted one chosen from the people.
Psalms 89:19 · New King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB Then you spoke in vision to your saints, and said, “I have given strength to the warrior. I have exalted a young man from the people.
  • KJV Then thou spakest in vision to thy holy one, and saidst, I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I have exalted one chosen out of the people.
  • BSB You once spoke in a vision; to Your godly ones You said, “I have bestowed help on a warrior; I have exalted one chosen from the people.
  • NASB ¶Once You spoke in vision to Your godly ones, And said, “I have given help to one who is mighty; I have exalted one chosen from the people.
  • NLT Long ago you spoke in a vision to your faithful people. You said, “I have raised up a warrior. I have selected him from the common people to be king.

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

God recalls how He revealed in a vision His choice to raise up a mighty deliverer from among the people.

Overview

The psalm now rehearses God's covenant with David (cf. 2 Sam. 7). "Your saints" likely refers to prophets like Samuel and Nathan through whom God spoke. God sovereignly exalts a chosen "young man" rather than a self-made hero, foreshadowing the greater Son of David whom God would exalt.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 16

  • 1 Sam 16:18Then one of the young men answered, and said, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who is skillful in playing, a mighty man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a handsome person; and Yahweh is with him.”
  • 1 Kgs 11:34“‘However I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand; but I will make him prince all the days of his life, for David my servant’s sake whom I chose, who kept my commandments and my statutes;
  • Heb 2:9–17But we see him who has been made a little lower than the angels, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God he should taste of death for everyone.
  • Isa 9:6For to us a child is born. To us a son is given; and the government will be on his shoulders. His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
  • Ps 89:3“I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David, my servant,
  • Phil 2:6–11who, existing in the form of God, didn’t consider equality with God a thing to be grasped,
  • Ps 42:3My tears have been my food day and night, while they continually ask me, “Where is your God?”
  • 2 Pet 1:21For no prophecy ever came by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke, being moved by the Holy Spirit.
  • 2 Pet 3:2that you should remember the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior:
  • Jer 30:21Their prince shall be of themselves, and their ruler shall proceed from among them. I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach to me; for who is he who has had boldness to approach to me?” says Yahweh.
  • Rev 3:7“To the angel of the assembly in Philadelphia write: “He who is holy, he who is true, he who has the key of David, he who opens and no one can shut, and who shuts and no one opens, says these things:
  • 1 Sam 16:1Yahweh said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite; for I have provided a king for myself among his sons.”
  • 2 Sam 17:10Even he who is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, will utterly melt; for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man, and those who are with him are valiant men.
  • 2 Sam 7:8–17Now therefore tell my servant David this, ‘Yahweh of Armies says, “I took you from the sheep pen, from following the sheep, to be prince over my people, over Israel.
  • Mark 1:24saying, “Ha! What do we have to do with you, Jesus, you Nazarene? Have you come to destroy us? I know you who you are: the Holy One of God!”
  • Luke 1:70(as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets who have been from of old),

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

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 89:19YouTube · 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 89:19 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.