New International Version
Psalms 18:28
28You, Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.
Psalms 18:28 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)For thou wilt light my candle: the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness.
- English Standard Version (ESV)For it is you who light my lamp; the Lord my God lightens my darkness.
- New King James Version (NKJV)For You will light my lamp; The Lord my God will enlighten my darkness.
- New Living Translation (NLT)You light a lamp for me. The Lord, my God, lights up my darkness.
Context of Psalms 18:28
26to the pure you show yourself pure, but to the devious you show yourself shrewd. 27You save the humble but bring low those whose eyes are haughty. You, Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light. 29With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall. 30As for God, his way is perfect: The Lord’s word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him.
Read all of Psalms 18Psalms 18:28 word by word
כִּֽי־אַ֭תָּה תָּאִ֣יר נֵרִ֑י יְהוָ֥ה אֱ֝לֹהַ֗י יַגִּ֥יהַּ חָשְׁכִּֽי׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Psalms 18:28
- Psalms 112:4Even in darkness light dawns for the upright, for those who are gracious and compassionate and righteous.
- Job 18:6The light in his tent becomes dark; the lamp beside him goes out.
- Job 29:3when his lamp shone on my head and by his light I walked through darkness!
- Psalms 132:17“Here I will make a horn grow for David and set up a lamp for my anointed one.
- 2 Samuel 22:29You, Lord, are my lamp; the Lord turns my darkness into light.
- 1 Kings 11:36I will give one tribe to his son so that David my servant may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city where I chose to put my Name.
- Proverbs 20:27The human spirit is the lamp of the Lord that sheds light on one’s inmost being.
- Isaiah 62:1For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet, till her vindication shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch.
- Isaiah 42:16I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.
- Matthew 4:16the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.”
- Luke 1:79to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”
- 1 Peter 2:9But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
Commentaries on Psalms 18:28
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 28For thou wilt light my candle - Thou wilt restore me to prosperity, and give me a happy issue out of all my afflictions. By the lamp of David the Messiah may be meant: thou wilt not suffer my family to become extinct, nor the kingdom which thou hast promised me utterly to fail.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 28For thou wilt light my candle - Margin, lamp. The word lamp best expresses the idea. In the Scriptures light is an image of prosperity, success, happiness, holiness, as darkness is the image of the opposite. See the notes at Job 29:2-3; compare also Job 18:6; Job 21:17; Proverbs 20:27; Proverbs 24:20; Psalm 119:105; Psalm 132:17; Isaiah 62:1. The meaning here is, that the psalmist felt assured that God would give him prosperity, as if his lamp were kept…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 20-28Verses 20-28 Those that forsake the ways of the Lord, depart from their God. But though conscious to ourselves of many a false step, let there not be a wicked departure from our God. David kept his eye upon the rule of God's commands. Constant care to keep from that sin, whatever it be, which most easily besets us, proves that we are upright before God. Those who show mercy to others, even they need mercy. Those who are faithful to God, shall find him all…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 28light my lamp: The Lord renews the psalmist's life, helping him overcome the darkness of difficult times (see Psalms 112:4; 119:105).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2828. To give one light is to make prosperous (Job 18:5, 6; 21:17). thou--is emphatic, as if to say, I can fully confide in Thee for help.Read the comment
Topics related to Psalms 18:28
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Psalms 18
- 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
New International Version — © NIV® 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 Biblica
Commentaries