When he maketh inquisition for blood, he remembereth them: he forgetteth not the cry of the humble.
Parallel translations
- WEB For he who avenges blood remembers them. He doesn’t forget the cry of the afflicted.
- BSB For the Avenger of bloodshed remembers; He does not ignore the cry of the afflicted.
- NKJV When He avenges blood, He remembers them; He does not forget the cry of the humble.
- NASB For He who requires blood remembers them; He does not forget the cry of the needy.
- NLT For he who avenges murder cares for the helpless. He does not ignore the cries of those who suffer.
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 remembers and avenges the shedding of blood and never forgets the cry of the afflicted. The oppressed are seen and not forgotten by God.
Overview
David assures that God holds violence to account and attends to the suffering of the helpless. The God who 'requires' shed blood (Genesis 9:5) is the same who hears the cry of the lowly. This care for the afflicted reflects God's justice and foreshadows Christ's compassion for the broken.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Ps 34:6This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.
- Exod 3:7And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;
- Rev 16:6For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.
- Rev 6:9–10And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
- Gen 9:5And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man’s brother will I require the life of man.
- Ps 22:24For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.
- Isa 26:21For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.
- Luke 18:7–8And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?
- Luke 11:50–51That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;
- 2 Kgs 24:4And also for the innocent blood that he shed: for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; which the LORD would not pardon.
- Judg 10:16And they put away the strange gods from among them, and served the LORD: and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.
- Exod 3:9Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them.
- Ps 102:17He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer.
- Matt 23:35That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.
- Ps 10:14Thou hast seen it; for thou beholdest mischief and spite, to requite it with thy hand: the poor committeth himself unto thee; thou art the helper of the fatherless.
- Ps 10:17LORD, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear:
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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 9:12 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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