Bible Strands
Psalms 109:31
For He stands at the right hand of the needy one, to save him from the condemners of his soul.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist, at the close of a long supplication against enemies, turns to praise (v. 30) and immediately grounds it here: the reason he can thank God is that God is already stationed at the right hand of the needy.
The words — יַעֲמֹד (Ya.'a.mod, "he stands") is a stative verb: God is not passing through but positioned, as a guard or advocate. אֶבְיֹון ('ev.Yon, "needy") names a specific class — the downtrodden, the one stripped of resources and standing.
The thread — The right-hand image recurs in Psalms 16:8 ("He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken"), 73:23 ("You hold my right hand"), and 121:5 ("the LORD is the shade on your right hand"), each tying God's presence to stability and protection.
Why it lands — It asserts that God's advocacy is already in place before the verdict falls; the reader's task is not to manufacture a defense but to recognize that one has been given.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
For he shall stand at the right hand of the poor, to save him from those that condemn his soul.
Cross-references
- Psalms 121:5 The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is the shade on your right hand.
- Psalms 16:8 I have set the LORD always before me. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
- Psalms 73:23 Yet I am always with You; You hold my right hand.
- Psalms 110:5 The Lord is at Your right hand; He will crush kings in the day of His wrath.
- Psalms 140:12 I know that the LORD upholds justice for the poor and defends the cause of the needy.
- Isaiah 54:17 No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their vindication is from Me,” declares the LORD.
- Proverbs 22:22 Do not rob a poor man because he is poor, and do not crush the afflicted at the gate,
- Psalms 68:5 A father of the fatherless and a defender of widows is God in His holy habitation.
- Psalms 72:4 May he vindicate the afflicted among the people; may he save the children of the needy and crush the oppressor.
- Ecclesiastes 5:8 If you see the oppression of the poor and the denial of justice and righteousness in the province, do not be astonished at the matter; for one official is watched by a superior, and others higher still are over them.