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Arise, O LORD; let not man prevail: let the heathen be judged in thy sight.
Psalms 9:19 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB Arise, Yahweh! Don’t let man prevail. Let the nations be judged in your sight.
  • BSB Rise up, O LORD, do not let man prevail; let the nations be judged in Your presence.
  • NKJV Arise, O Lord, Do not let man prevail; Let the nations be judged in Your sight.
  • NASB Arise, Lord, do not let mankind prevail; Let the nations be judged before You.
  • NLT Arise, O Lord! Do not let mere mortals defy you! Judge the nations!

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

David prays that God arise so that mere men may not prevail and the nations be judged. He appeals for God to assert His rule over arrogant humanity.

Overview

The psalmist calls on God to act, lest weak mortals presume to overpower His purposes. 'Arise, Yahweh' echoes Israel's ancient cry for God to march out against His foes (Numbers 10:35). It expresses the longing for God to manifest His judgment and reign over a rebellious world.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 23

  • Ps 44:26Arise for our help, and redeem us for thy mercies’ sake.
  • Ps 44:23Awake, why sleepest thou, O Lord? arise, cast us not off for ever.
  • Ps 3:7Arise, O LORD; save me, O my God: for thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheek bone; thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly.
  • Rev 19:15And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
  • Ps 10:12Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up thine hand: forget not the humble.
  • Ps 7:6Arise, O LORD, in thine anger, lift up thyself because of the rage of mine enemies: and awake for me to the judgment that thou hast commanded.
  • Isa 51:9Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon?
  • Ps 74:22–23Arise, O God, plead thine own cause: remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee daily.
  • Ps 149:7To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people;
  • Jer 10:25Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name: for they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his habitation desolate.
  • Zeph 3:8Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the LORD, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.
  • Joel 3:12Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.
  • Gen 32:28And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.
  • 2 Chr 14:11And Asa cried unto the LORD his God, and said, LORD, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O LORD our God; for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude. O LORD, thou art our God; let not man prevail against thee.
  • Mic 5:15And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the heathen, such as they have not heard.
  • Zech 14:18And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.
  • Ps 79:6Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen that have not known thee, and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon thy name.
  • 1 Sam 2:9He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail.
  • Ps 68:1–2Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him.
  • Ps 76:8–9Thou didst cause judgment to be heard from heaven; the earth feared, and was still,
  • Isa 42:13–14The LORD shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war: he shall cry, yea, roar; he shall prevail against his enemies.
  • Ps 2:1–3Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
  • Ps 80:2Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh stir up thy strength, and come and save us.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

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 9:19YouTube · 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 9:19 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.