For the LORD will not forsake His people; He will never abandon His heritage.
Parallel translations
- WEB For Yahweh won’t reject his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance.
- KJV For the LORD will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance.
- NKJV For the Lord will not cast off His people, Nor will He forsake His inheritance.
- NASB For the Lord will not abandon His people, Nor will He abandon His inheritance.
- NLT The Lord will not reject his people; he will not abandon his special possession.
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
The LORD will not reject His people or forsake His inheritance. God's covenant commitment to His own is unbreakable.
Overview
This assurance is the heart of the psalmist's confidence amid oppression: God will never abandon those He has claimed. His faithfulness to His inheritance guarantees that present suffering is not the final word. Paul applies this same promise to God's enduring faithfulness to His people (Romans 11:1-2; 1 Samuel 12:22).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- 1 Sam 12:22Indeed, for the sake of His great name, the LORD will not abandon His people, because He was pleased to make you His own.
- Ps 37:28For the LORD loves justice and will not forsake His saints. They are preserved forever, but the offspring of the wicked will be cut off.
- Rom 11:1–2I ask then, did God reject His people? Certainly not! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.
- Rom 8:30And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified.
- Deut 32:9But the LORD’s portion is His people, Jacob His allotted inheritance.
- John 10:27–31My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me.
- Eph 1:18I ask that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know the hope of His calling, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints,
- Heb 13:5Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, for God has said: “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.”
- Isa 49:14–15But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me; the Lord has forgotten me!”
- Rom 8:38–39For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,
- Jer 32:39–40I will give them one heart and one way, so that they will always fear Me for their own good and for the good of their children after them.
- Ps 34:12Who is the man who delights in life, who desires to see good days?
- Jer 10:16The Portion of Jacob is not like these, for He is the Maker of all things, and Israel is the tribe of His inheritance—the LORD of Hosts is His name.
- Ps 94:5They crush Your people, O LORD; they oppress Your heritage.
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 94:14 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.