Psalms 7:10
in Psalms 7My shield is with God, who saves the upright in heart.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
My shield is with God, Who saveth the upright in heart.
KJV
My defence is of God, which saveth the upright in heart.
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This verse in Psalms 7
Commentary
11 notes on this verseMy help is not from wealth or from corporal resources or from my own power and strength nor from human ties of kinship, but "my help is from God." What assistance the Lord sends to those who fear him, we have learned elsewhere in a psalm that says, "The angel of the Lord shall encamp round about them that fear him and shall deliver them." And in another place: "The angel who has delivered me."
This site's exposition
who searches hearts and minds
on Psalms 7:9-11
The prayer widens past David's own case, to end the evil of the wicked and establish the righteous. Hearts and minds renders two Hebrew words for the inward man, the heart and the kidneys, where desire sits. God shields the upright and feels indignation each day.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
"My righteous help is from the Lord, who maketh whole the upright in heart" (ver. 10). The offices of medicine are twofold, on the curing infirmity, the other the preserving health. According to the first it was said in the preceding Psalm, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak;" according to the second it is said in this Psalm, "If there be iniquity in my hands, if I have repaid them that recompense me evil, may I therefore fall by my enemies empty." For there the weak prays that he may be delivered, here one already whole that he may not change for the worse. According to the one it is there said, "Make me whole for Thy mercy's sake;" according to this other it is here said, "Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness." For there he asks for a remedy to escape from disease; but here for protection from falling into disease. According to the former it is said, "Make me whole, O Lord, according to Thy mercy:" according to the latter it is said, "My righteous help is from the Lord, who maketh whole the upright in heart." Both the one and the other maketh men whole; but the former removes them from sickness into health, the latter preserves them in this health. Therefore there the help is merciful, because the sinner hath no desert, who as yet longeth to be justified, "believing on Him who justifieth the ungodly;" but here the help is righteous, because it is given to one already righteous. Let the sinner then who said, "I am weak," say in the first place, "Make me whole, O Lord, for Thy mercy's sake;" and here let the righteous man, who said, "If I have repaid them that recompense me evil," say, "My righteous help is from the Lord, who maketh whole the upright in heart." For if he sets forth the medicine, by which we may be healed when weak, how much more that by which we may be kept in health. […]
That same adversary, Absalom, as if he has been born again from ourselves, prepares the war against us. Our sound judgment concerning the matter, or rather our alliance with God, turns him who is bloodthirsty against us back. For because he attributes the cause of the good things that have been accomplished for him through "the words of Cush" to God, he composes this thanksgiving.… It would be worthwhile to apply the figures of the story to the virtuous life, how the advice that saves us becomes the strangling of the adversary; and this saving advice has been recorded, on the one hand, in the history, and on the other, in the psalm.
The Medieval Church1 voice
Then he infers, "My just help is from the Lord," etc. Here the confidence conceived from the judge is set forth, from whom help is to be hoped for. For there is a twofold help of God: namely, of mercy, and another of justice. The …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
My defence is of God,....
God is a righteous Judge (so some read it), who not only doeth righteousness himself, but will take care that righteousness be done by the children of men and will avenge and punish all unrighteousness. He is no less confident of the destruction of all his persecutors, even as many of them as would not repent, to give glory to God.
4 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
The judge has heard the cause, has cleared the guiltless, and uttered his voice against the persecutors. Let us draw near, and learn the results of the great assize. Yonder is the slandered one with his harp in hand, hymning the justice of his Lord, and rejoicing aloud in his own deliverance. "My defense is of God, which saveth the upright in heart." Oh, how good to have a true and upright heart. Crooked sinners, with all their craftiness, are foiled by the upright in heart. God defends the right.
The judge has heard the cause, has cleared the guiltless, and uttered his voice against the persecutors. Let us draw near, and learn the results of the great assize. Yonder is the slandered one with his harp in hand, hymning the justice of his Lord, and rejoicing aloud in his own deliverance. "My defense is of God, which saveth the upright in heart." Oh, how good to have a true and upright heart. Crooked sinners, with all their craftiness, are foiled by the upright in heart. God defends the right. Filth will not long abide on the pure white garments of the saints, but shall be brushed off by divine providence, to the vexation of the men by whose base hands it was thrown upon the godly. When God shall try our cause, our sun has risen, and the sun of the wicked is set for ever. Truth, like oil, is ever above, no power of our enemies can drown it; we shall refute their slanders in the day when the trumpet wakes the dead, and we shall shine in honour when lying lips are put to silence. O believer, fear not all that thy foes can do or say against thee, for the tree which God plants no winds can hurt.
My defense is of God - I now leave my cause in the hands of my Judge. I have no uneasy or fearful apprehensions, because I know God will save the upright in heart.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
My defense is of God - The meaning here is, that God was his protector, and that in his troubles he confided in him. The original word here, as in Psa 3:3, note; Psa 5:12, note; is “shield.” See the notes at thoses verses. Which saveth the upright in heart - whom he that searches the heart Psa 7:9 sees to be upright; or to be sincere, truthful, just. The writer says that it is a characteristic of God that he saves or protects all such; and, conscious of his innocence of the charges against himself, he here appeals to him on that ground, and confides in his protection because he sees that in this respect he was blameless.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
My shield is upon God: – He might have said, My shield is God. What, then, is the significance of על, upon? Only that my reliance and stay is God, who will be my shield, for He is A deliverer of the upright of heart.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
6 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מָֽגִנִּ֥י | magini | shield my | H4043 → | 63 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | [is] on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| אֱלֹהִ֑ים | ʾelohim | God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| מ֝וֹשִׁ֗יעַ | moshia' | a deliverer | H3467 → | 206 times |
| יִשְׁרֵי־ | yishrei- | of [people] upright of | H3477 → | 119 times |
| לֵֽב׃ | lev | heart | H3820 → | 595 times |
מָֽגִנִּ֥יshield my
maginiH4043 →63 times
עַל־[is] on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
אֱלֹהִ֑יםGod
ʾelohimH430 →2601 times
מ֝וֹשִׁ֗יעַa deliverer
moshia'H3467 →206 times
יִשְׁרֵי־of [people] upright of
yishrei-H3477 →119 times
לֵֽב׃heart
levH3820 →595 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 84:11For the LORD God is a sun and a shield; the LORD gives grace and glory; He withholds no good thing from those who walk with integrity.
it leads to
- Psalms 34:9–10
Fear the LORD, you His saints, for those who fear Him lack nothing.
- Proverbs 2:7
He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk with integrity,
- Matthew 6:33
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.
- Philippians 4:19
And my God will supply all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
- Psalms 85:12
The LORD will indeed provide what is good, and our land will yield its increase.
- Psalms 34:9–10
Through
Genesis 15:1After these events, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”
it leads to
- Isaiah 41:10
Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will surely help you; I will uphold you with My right hand…
- Psalms 119:114
You are my hiding place and my shield; I put my hope in Your word.
- Psalms 84:11
For the LORD God is a sun and a shield; the LORD gives grace and glory; He withholds no good thing from those who walk with integrity.
- Isaiah 41:10
About Psalms

This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, On the Psalms, Psalm 7; Basil of Caesarea, HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 11:7 (PS 7); Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 1; Gregory of Nyssa, INSCRIPTIONS OF THE PSALMS 2:11.148-49; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Exposition on the Psalms of David.
