Bible Strands
Psalms 68:5
A father of the fatherless and a defender of widows is God in His holy habitation.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses the assembly of Israel, calling them to sing and rejoice before the LORD (v. 4), then grounds that praise in a specific claim about God's character toward the vulnerable.
The words — דַּיָּן (dayyān, H1781) is rendered "defender" here but literally means "judge"; the sense is not a neutral arbiter but an active advocate who takes the side of the powerless.
The thread — Deuteronomy 10:18 states the same principle as a description of God's justice; Psalm 10:14 echoes the "victim entrusts himself to You" posture; Jeremiah 49:11 reverses the image, commanding a nation to abandon its orphans because God will preserve them.
Why it lands — The verse ties God's identity to a concrete action—defending those with no other defender—so the reader is asked to measure their own concern for the fatherless and widow against what this claims about God.
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
A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation.
Cross-references
- 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.
- Jeremiah 49:11 Abandon your orphans; I will preserve their lives. Let your widows trust in Me.”
- Deuteronomy 10:18 He executes justice for the fatherless and widow, and He loves the foreigner, giving him food and clothing.
- Psalms 82:3 Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; uphold the rights of the afflicted and oppressed.
- Psalms 146:9 The LORD protects foreigners; He sustains the fatherless and the widow, but the ways of the wicked He frustrates.
- Psalms 72:4 May he vindicate the afflicted among the people; may he save the children of the needy and crush the oppressor.
- Jeremiah 5:28 They have grown fat and sleek, and have excelled in the deeds of the wicked. They have not taken up the cause of the fatherless, that they might prosper; nor have they defended the rights of the needy.
- Luke 18:2 “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected men.
- Isaiah 1:23 Your rulers are rebels, friends of thieves. They all love bribes and chasing after rewards. They do not defend the fatherless, and the plea of the widow never comes before them.
- Isaiah 57:15 For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and humble in spirit, to restore the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the contrite.