Psalms 89:18
in Psalms 89Surely our shield belongs to the LORD, and our king to the Holy One of Israel.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For our shield belongeth unto Jehovah; And our king to the Holy One of Israel.
KJV
For the Lord is our defence; and the Holy One of Israel is our king.
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This verse in Psalms 89
Commentary
9 notes on this verseFor the Lord is our defence. Whoever else may defend us, he is our ultimate Defender and Shield. And the Holy one of Israel is our king. He who protects should govern, our defender should be acknowledged as our king. Kings are called the shields of nations, and the God of Israel is both our Ruler and our Defence. Another sense may be that Israel's defender and king was of the Lord, belonging to him and sent by him; even the protectors of the land being themselves protected by the Lord.
This site's exposition
the foundation of Your throne
on Psalms 89:14-18
Righteousness and justice hold up the throne, and the loving devotion and faithfulness of verse 1 walk in front of it. The joyful sound in verse 15 is teruah, a shout that served both a festival and a battle. Verse 18 gives the king to the Holy One of Israel.
This site's exposition
our shield belongs to the LORD
Shield and king stand side by side, and both belong to God. Albert Barnes read the verse as a statement of ownership: the shield of Israel belongs to the LORD, so its protectors are under His protection. Charles Spurgeon noted that kings are called the shields of nations.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"For of the Lord is our taking up" [Psalm 89:18]. For I was moved like a heap of sand, that I might fall; and I should have fallen, had not the Lord taken me up. "For of the Lord is (our ) taking up: and of the Holy One of Israel our King." Himself is your taking up, Himself your illumination: in His light you are safe, in His light you walk, in His righteousness you are exalted. He took you up, He guards your weakness: He gives you strength of Himself, not of yourself.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Christ is the Holy One of Israel, that holy thing; and in nothing was that peculiar people more blessed than in this, that he was born King of the Jews. Now this account of the blessedness of God's Israel comes in here as that to which it was hard to reconcile their present calamitous state. God's Covenant with David.
), he appointed David to be his viceroy. But to all the prophets, those holy ones, he spoke in vision concerning Christ, and to him himself especially, who had lain in his bosom from eternity, and was made perfectly acquainted with the whole design of redemption, Matt. xi. How it was sworn to and ratified (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
For the Lord is our defence,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
For the Lord is our defence. Whoever else may defend us, he is our ultimate Defender and Shield. And the Holy one of Israel is our king. He who protects should govern, our defender should be acknowledged as our king. Kings are called the shields of nations, and the God of Israel is both our Ruler and our Defence. Another sense may be that Israel's defender and king was of the Lord, belonging to him and sent by him; even the protectors of the land being themselves protected by the Lord. The title "the Holy One of Israel" is peculiarly delightful to the renewed heart. God is one, we worship none beside. He is holiness itself, the only being who can be called "the Holy One", and in his perfection of character we see the most excellent reason for our faith. He who is holy cannot break his promises, or act unjustly concerning his oath and covenant. Moreover, he is the Holy One of Israel, being specially the God of his own elect, ours by peculiar ties, ours for ever and ever. Who among the saints will not rejoice in the God of election? Are they not indeed a people greatly blessed who can call this God their God for ever and ever?
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
For the Lord is our defense - Margin, “Our shield is of the Lord.” The original word rendered “defense,” is shield. Compare Psa 5:12, note; Psa 33:20, note; Psa 59:11, note. The meaning is, that protection was to be found in God alone. The true construction of this verse is, “For to Yahweh (belongs) our shield, and to the Holy One of Israel our king.” That is, All that they had, and all that they relied on as a defense, belonged to God, or was of God; in other words, their very protectors were themselves protected by Yahweh. They had no other defense; nothing else on which they could depend.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֣י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| לַֽ֭יהוָה | layahweh | [belongs] to Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| מָֽגִנֵּ֑נוּ | maginenu | shield our | H4043 → | 63 times |
| וְלִקְד֖וֹשׁ | velikdoosh | and [belongs] to [the] holy [one] of | H6918 → | 116 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֣ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| מַלְכֵּֽנוּ׃ | malkenu | king our | H4428 → | 2525 times |
כִּ֣יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
לַֽ֭יהוָה[belongs] to Yahweh
layahwehH3068 →6520 times
מָֽגִנֵּ֑נוּshield our
maginenuH4043 →63 times
וְלִקְד֖וֹשׁand [belongs] to [the] holy [one] of
velikdooshH6918 →116 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֣לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
מַלְכֵּֽנוּ׃king our
malkenuH4428 →2525 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
Isaiah 43:3For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your place.
it leads to
- Isaiah 60:16
You will drink the milk of nations and nurse at the breasts of royalty; you will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.
- Isaiah 45:15
Truly You are a God who hides Himself, O God of Israel, the Savior.
- 2 Chronicles 14:9–14
Then Zerah the Cushite came against them with an army of 1,000,000 men and 300 chariots, and they advanced as far as Mareshah.
- Isaiah 60:16
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies12
On this verse
About Psalms
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Psalms; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 89; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 4; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.