Bible Strands
Psalms 14:5
There they are, overwhelmed with dread, for God is in the company of the righteous.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses the community, contrasting the sudden terror of oppressors with God's protective presence among the righteous. This declaration immediately follows a description of wicked workers who devour God's people and refuse to call on the LORD.
The words — The Hebrew פָּחַד (pachad) denotes a sudden, overwhelming dread that strikes the wicked when they encounter divine presence. The phrase בְּדוֹר צַדִּיק (be-dor tsa-dik) literally positions God within the midst of a generation marked by righteousness.
The thread — The connection between God's presence and the righteous generation appears in Psalms 112:2, which links the upright to blessing, and Psalms 24:6, which defines a generation by its pursuit of God's face. The contrast between divine shelter for the oppressed and terror for the wicked recurs in Psalms 73:15.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that opposition to God's people inevitably triggers divine confrontation rather than human triumph. It requires the reader to align their trust with the generation that seeks God, rather than with those who exploit the vulnerable.
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
There were they in great fear: for God is in the generation of the righteous.
Cross-references
- Psalms 112:2 His descendants will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.
- Psalms 73:15 If I had said, “I will speak this way,” then I would have betrayed Your children.
- Psalms 24:6 Such is the generation of those who seek Him, who seek Your face, O God of Jacob. Selah
- Isaiah 43:1 But now, this is what the LORD says—He who created you, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine!
- Exodus 15:16 and terror and dread will fall on them. By the power of Your arm they will be as still as a stone until Your people pass by, O LORD, until the people You have bought pass by.
- Esther 8:7 So King Xerxes said to Esther the Queen and Mordecai the Jew, “Behold, I have given Haman’s estate to Esther, and he was hanged on the gallows because he attacked the Jews.
- Psalms 22:30 Posterity will serve Him; they will declare the Lord to a new generation.
- Psalms 46:5 God is within her; she will not be moved. God will help her when morning dawns.
- Psalms 46:7 The LORD of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
- Psalms 46:11 The LORD of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah