Bible Strands
Psalms 35:17
How long, O Lord, will You look on? Rescue my soul from their ravages, my precious life from these lions.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses God directly, pleading for intervention while surrounded by hostile adversaries who mock and threaten him (Psalms 35:16). He speaks at a moment of acute distress, anticipating public praise once God acts (Psalms 35:18).
The words — The phrase כַּ/מָּ֪ה (ka/Mah) asks "how long?" regarding God's delayed response, while הָשִׁ֣יבָ/ה (ha.Shi.va/h) commands God to "bring back" or rescue the speaker's נַ֭פְשִׁ/י (Naf.sh/i, soul/life) from מִ/שֹּאֵי/הֶ֑ם (mi./sho.'ei./Hem, their ravages) and מִ֝/כְּפִירִ֗ים (mi./ke.fi.Rim, young lions).
The thread — The plea to rescue a precious life from predatory threats echoes Psalms 22:20, which asks for deliverance from the sword and wild dogs, while the tension between God's purity and delayed judgment parallels the question in Habakkuk 1:13. The imagery of being among ravenous beasts appears in Psalms 57:4, though that verse describes the threat rather than issuing a plea for rescue.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition of God's sovereignty over timing while pressing for immediate protection from destructive forces. It requires the reader to align their urgency with divine action and anticipate worship as the inevitable response to deliverance.
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
Lord, how long wilt thou look on? rescue my soul from their destructions, my darling from the lions.
Cross-references
- Habakkuk 1:13 Your eyes are too pure to look upon evil, and You cannot tolerate wrongdoing. So why do You tolerate the faithless? Why are You silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?
- Psalms 22:20 Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of wild dogs.
- Psalms 57:4 My soul is among the lions; I lie down with ravenous beasts—with men whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords.
- Psalms 74:9 There are no signs for us to see. There is no longer any prophet. And none of us knows how long this will last.
- Psalms 89:46 How long, O LORD? Will You hide Yourself forever? Will Your wrath keep burning like fire?
- Psalms 94:3 How long will the wicked, O LORD, how long will the wicked exult?
- Psalms 6:3 My soul is deeply distressed. How long, O LORD, how long?
- Psalms 10:14 But You have regarded trouble and grief; You see to repay it by Your hand. The victim entrusts himself to You; You are the helper of the fatherless.
- Psalms 13:1 For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me?
- Psalms 69:14 Rescue me from the mire and do not let me sink; deliver me from my foes and out of the deep waters.