Psalms 27:10
in Psalms 27Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
When my father and my mother forsake me, Then Jehovah will take me up.
KJV
When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up.
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This verse in Psalms 27
Commentary
11 notes on this verseWhen my father and my mother forsake me. These dear relations will be the last to desert me, but if the milk of human kindness should dry up even from their breasts, there is a Father who never forgets. Some of the greatest of the saints have been cast out by their families, and persecuted for righteousness' sake. Then the Lord will take me up. Will espouse my cause, will uplift me from my woes, will carry me in his arms, will elevate me above my enemies, will at last receive me to his eternal dwelling place.
This site's exposition
Hear, O LORD, my voice
on Psalms 27:7-10
David asks the LORD to hear him and answer. In verse 8 his own heart tells him to seek God's face, and he answers that he will. Verse 10 takes the hardest case, and the LORD receives the son his father and mother forsake.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
"My helper." Here he asks for divine help in things to be done before he comes to the face, lest he be impeded from the vision of the face. And first he presents the petition. Second, the reason for what has been said, at "For …
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
This promise has often been fulfilled in the letter of it. Forsaken orphans have been taken under the special care of the divine Providence, which has raised up relief and friends for them in a way that one would not have expected. God is a surer and better friend than our earthly parents are or can be.
When my father and my mother forsake me,....
This promise has often been fulfilled in the letter of it. Forsaken orphans have been taken under the special care of the divine Providence, which has raised up relief and friends for them in a way that one would not have expected. God is a surer and better friend than our earthly parents are or can be.
And let our hearts be thus affected in singing this psalm. Encouragement in Prayers. 1 The L ORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the L ORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
4 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
When my father and my mother forsake me. These dear relations will be the last to desert me, but if the milk of human kindness should dry up even from their breasts, there is a Father who never forgets. Some of the greatest of the saints have been cast out by their families, and persecuted for righteousness' sake. Then the Lord will take me up. Will espouse my cause, will uplift me from my woes, will carry me in his arms, will elevate me above my enemies, will at last receive me to his eternal dwelling place.
When my father and my mother forsake me - Or, more literally, “For my father and my mother have forsaken me; but the Lord hath gathered me up.” My parents were my protectors for a time; but the Lord has been my Protector always. There is no time in which I do not fall under his merciful regards.
When my father and my mother forsake me - Or, more literally, “For my father and my mother have forsaken me; but the Lord hath gathered me up.” My parents were my protectors for a time; but the Lord has been my Protector always. There is no time in which I do not fall under his merciful regards.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
When my father and my mother forsake me - If they should do it. The psalmist supposes it possible that this might occur. It does occur, though very rarely; but the psalmist means to say that the love of God is stronger and more certain than even that of a father or mother, since he will never forsake his people. Though every other tie that binds heart to heart should dissolve, this will remain; though a case might occur in which we could not be sure of the love that naturally springs out of the most tender earthly relationships, yet we can always confide in His love. See the notes at Isa 49:15. Then the Lord will take me up - Margin, “will gather me.” The margin expresses the usual meaning of the word. It is sometimes used as referring to the hospitable reception of strangers or wanderers into one’s house: Jdg 19:15, Jdg 19:18; Jos 20:4. The meaning here is, that if he should be forsaken by his nearest earthly friends, and be an outcast and a wanderer, so that no one on earth would take him in, the Lord would then receive him.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
For my father and my mother have forsaken me At the time of coitus, they intended their own pleasure. As soon as their pleasure is over, this one turns his face this way and that one turns her face the other way.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אָבִ֣י | ʾavi | father my | H1 → | 1212 times |
| וְאִמִּ֣י | veimi | and mother my | H517 → | 220 times |
| עֲזָב֑וּנִי | ʾazavuni | they have forsaken me | H5800 → | 215 times |
| וַֽיהוָ֣ה | vayahweh | and Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| יַֽאַסְפֵֽנִי׃ | yaasfeni | he will receive me | H622 → | 200 times |
כִּי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
אָבִ֣יfather my
ʾaviH1 →1212 times
וְאִמִּ֣יand mother my
veimiH517 →220 times
עֲזָב֑וּנִיthey have forsaken me
ʾazavuniH5800 →215 times
וַֽיהוָ֣הand Yahweh
vayahwehH3068 →6520 times
יַֽאַסְפֵֽנִי׃he will receive me
yaasfeniH622 →200 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
Isaiah 49:15“Can a woman forget her nursing child, or lack compassion for the son of her womb? Even if she could forget, I will not forget you!
it leads to
- Isaiah 44:21
Remember these things, O Jacob, for you are My servant, O Israel. I have made you, and you are My servant; O Israel, I will never forget you.
- Psalms 103:13
As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.
- Matthew 7:11
So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!
- Isaiah 44:21
Through
Isaiah 40:11He tends His flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart. He gently leads the nursing ewes.
it leads to
- Revelation 7:17
For the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd. ‘He will lead them to springs of living water,’ and ‘God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’”
- Psalms 23:1–6
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
- Micah 5:4
He will stand and shepherd His flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majestic name of the LORD His God. And they will dwell securely, for then His greatness will extend to…
- Revelation 7:17
Through
John 16:32“Look, an hour is coming and has already come when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and you will leave Me all alone. Yet I am not alone, because the Father…
it leads to
- Zechariah 13:7
Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, against the man who is My Companion, declares the LORD of Hosts. Strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn My hand against…
- Zechariah 13:7
Through
Matthew 10:36A man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’
it leads to
- Micah 7:6
For a son dishonors his father, a daughter rises against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man’s enemies are the members of his own household.
- Micah 7:6
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Psalms
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 2; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; John Calvin, Commentary on the Book of Psalms; 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.