Psalms 13:4

4 and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,” and my foes will rejoice when I fall.

Psalms 13:4 in Other Translations

KJV
4 Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him; and those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved.
ESV
4 lest my enemy say, "I have prevailed over him," lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.
NLT
4 Don’t let my enemies gloat, saying, “We have defeated him!” Don’t let them rejoice at my downfall.
MSG
4 So no enemy can get the best of me or laugh when I fall on my face.
CSB
4 my enemy will say, "I have triumphed over him," and my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.

Psalms 13:4 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 13:4

Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him
Which is an argument God takes notice of; and for which reason he does not give up his people into the hands of their enemies; see ( Deuteronomy 32:27 ) . The Chaldee paraphrase interprets this of the evil imagination or corruption of nature, and represents it as a person, as the Apostle Paul does in ( Romans 7:15-21 ) ; and which may be said to prevail, when it pushes on to sin, and hinders doing good, and carries captive; and it may be applied to Satan, the great enemy of God's people, who triumphs over them, when he succeeds in his temptations;

[and] those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved;
meaning from his house and family, from his country and kingdom, from a prosperous state and condition to a distressed one; at which the troublers of David's peace would rejoice. They that trouble the saints are sin, Satan, and the world; and the two last rejoice when they are in an uncomfortable and afflicted condition; and especially Satan rejoices when he gains his point, if it is but to move them from any degree of steadfastness, of faith and hope, or from the ways of God in any respect: the Targum adds, "from thy ways"; for to be moved so as to perish eternally they cannot, being built upon the Rock of ages, and surrounded by the power and grace of God.

Psalms 13:4 In-Context

2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?
3 Look on me and answer, LORD my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,
4 and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,” and my foes will rejoice when I fall.
5 But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.
6 I will sing the LORD’s praise, for he has been good to me.

Cross References 2

  • 1. S 1 Kings 19:2; Psalms 25:2
  • 2. Psalms 38:16; Psalms 118:13
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