English Standard Version
Psalms 11:1
1In the Lord I take refuge; how can you say to my soul, "Flee like a bird to your mountain,
Psalms 11:1 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)In the Lord put I my trust: how say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain?
- New International Version (NIV)In the Lord I take refuge. How then can you say to me: “Flee like a bird to your mountain.
- New King James Version (NKJV)In the Lord I put my trust; How can you say to my soul, “Flee as a bird to your mountain”?
- New Living Translation (NLT)I trust in the Lord for protection. So why do you say to me, “Fly like a bird to the mountains for safety!
Context of Psalms 11:1
In the Lord I take refuge; how can you say to my soul, "Flee like a bird to your mountain, 2for behold, the wicked bend the bow; they have fitted their arrow to the string to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart; 3if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?"
Read all of Psalms 11Psalms 11:1 word by word
בַּֽיהוָ֨ה׀ חָסִ֗יתִי אֵ֭יךְ תֹּאמְר֣וּ לְנַפְשִׁ֑י נ֝֗וּדִי הַרְכֶ֥ם צִפּֽוֹר׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Psalms 11:1
- Psalms 7:1O Lord my God, in you do I take refuge; save me from all my pursuers and deliver me,
- Psalms 9:10And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.
- Psalms 16:1Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.
- Psalms 25:2O my God, in you I trust; let me not be put to shame; let not my enemies exult over me.
- Psalms 31:14But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, "You are my God."
- Psalms 56:11in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?
- 2 Chronicles 14:11And Asa cried to the Lord his God, "O Lord, there is none like you to help, between the mighty and the weak. Help us, O Lord our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this multitude. O Lord, you are our God; let not man prevail against you."
- 2 Chronicles 16:8Were not the Ethiopians and the Libyans a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet because you relied on the Lord, he gave them into your hand.
- Isaiah 26:3You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.
- 1 Samuel 19:11Saul sent messengers to David's house to watch him, that he might kill him in the morning. But Michal, David's wife, told him, "If you do not escape with your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed."
- 1 Samuel 20:38And Jonathan called after the boy, "Hurry! Be quick! Do not stay!" So Jonathan's boy gathered up the arrows and came to his master.
- 1 Samuel 21:10And David rose and fled that day from Saul and went to Achish the king of Gath.
- 1 Samuel 22:3And David went from there to Mizpeh of Moab. And he said to the king of Moab, "Please let my father and my mother stay with you, till I know what God will do for me."
- 1 Samuel 23:14And David remained in the strongholds in the wilderness, in the hill country of the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God did not give him into his hand.
- 1 Samuel 27:1Then David said in his heart, "Now I shall perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will despair of seeking me any longer within the borders of Israel, and I shall escape out of his hand."
- Psalms 55:6And I say, "Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest;
Commentaries on Psalms 11:1
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 1In the Lord put I my trust: how say ye - Some of David's friends seem to have given him this advice when they saw Saul bent on his destruction: "Flee as a bird to your mountain;" you have not a moment to lose; your ruin is determined; escape for your life; get off as swiftly as possible to the hill-country, to some of those inaccessible fortresses best known to yourself; and hide yourself there from the cruelty of Saul. To which advice he answers, "In the…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1In the Lord put I my trust - This, in general, expresses the state of mind of the author - a state of feeling which runs through the entire psalm. It is designed to be an answer to the counsel which others had been giving him to escape, and it implies that he was determined at that time, and always, to put his trust in God. They advised him to flee. In the existing circumstances he felt that that would have implied a want of confidence in God. He…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 1David's struggle with, and triumph over a strong temptation to distrust God, and betake himself to indirect means for his own safety, in a time of danger. --Those that truly fear God and serve him, are welcome to put their trust in him. The psalmist, before he gives an account of his temptation to distrust God, records his resolution to trust in Him, as that by which he was resolved to live and die. The believer, though not terrified by his enemies, may…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1God offers protection (refuge; see Psalms 5:11; 9:9; 25:20) when justice fails. The mountains offer another place of refuge (see Psalm 121:1).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-71. my soul--me (Psa 3:2). Flee--literally, "flee ye"; that is, he and his companion. as a bird to your mountain--having as such no safety but in flight (compare 1Sa 26:20; La 3:52).Read the comment
Topics related to Psalms 11:1
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Psalms 11
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- The Treasury of David
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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Commentaries