Wisdom & Poetry · Old Testament
Psalms 21
Psalm 21: the king's joy in the Lord's strength and the fate of his enemies
General context
The psalm says the king will joy in the Lord's strength and rejoice greatly in his salvation. God has given him his heart's desire and not withheld the request of his lips, marked by Selah. God "preventest him with the blessings of goodness", in the source's wording, and sets a crown of pure gold on his head; he asked life, and God gave him length of days for ever and ever. His glory is great in God's salvation, and honour and majesty are laid on him; God has made him most blessed for ever and exceedingly glad with his countenance. The king trusts in the Lord and, through the mercy of the most High, will not be moved. The address then turns: your hand will find out all your enemies, your right hand those that hate you; you will make them as a fiery oven in the time of your anger, the Lord will swallow them in wrath and fire will devour them; their fruit and seed will be destroyed from the earth, for they intended evil and imagined a mischievous device they could not perform; you will make them turn their back when you make ready arrows against their face. The psalm closes by asking the Lord to be exalted in his own strength, so we will sing and praise his power.
Cited passages: Psalms 21:1, Psalms 21:2, Psalms 21:3, Psalms 21:4, Psalms 21:5, Psalms 21:6, Psalms 21:7, Psalms 21:8, Psalms 21:9, Psalms 21:10, Psalms 21:11, Psalms 21:12, Psalms 21:13
Psalms 21 (KJV)
1The king shall joy in thy strength, O Lord; and in thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice!
2Thou hast given him his heart’s desire, and hast not withholden the request of his lips. Selah.
3For thou preventest him with the blessings of goodness: thou settest a crown of pure gold on his head.
4He asked life of thee, and thou gavest it him, even length of days for ever and ever.
5His glory is great in thy salvation: honour and majesty hast thou laid upon him.
6For thou hast made him most blessed for ever: thou hast made him exceeding glad with thy countenance.
7For the king trusteth in the Lord, and through the mercy of the most High he shall not be moved.
8Thine hand shall find out all thine enemies: thy right hand shall find out those that hate thee.
9Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger: the Lord shall swallow them up in his wrath, and the fire shall devour them.
10Their fruit shalt thou destroy from the earth, and their seed from among the children of men.
11For they intended evil against thee: they imagined a mischievous device, which they are not able to perform.
12Therefore shalt thou make them turn their back, when thou shalt make ready thine arrows upon thy strings against the face of them.
13Be thou exalted, Lord, in thine own strength: so will we sing and praise thy power.
This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.
Historical context
The text as printed carries no heading, so no author or instrument is stated in this source. The king is not named; he is spoken of in the third person in verses 1-7 while the Lord is addressed as "thou". In verses 8-12 "thou" and "thine" continue, but verse 9 also speaks of "the Lord" in the third person, so the English does not settle whether verses 8-12 address the Lord or the king; the claims about a hand finding out enemies and arrows against their faces could belong to either. The enemies are described only by intent, "they intended evil against thee", and the device they imagined is not described. Verse 4's "length of days for ever and ever" is stated as a gift to the king without further explanation. "We" speaks in the last verse and is not identified. Selah stands after verse 2. Nothing states an occasion, a battle or a place.
Cited passages: Psalms 21:1, Psalms 21:9, Psalms 21:8, Psalms 21:11, Psalms 21:4, Psalms 21:13
Literary context
The psalm falls into two halves with a closing line. Verses 1-7 list what God has given the king: desire, request, blessings, crown, life, glory, honour, majesty, gladness; the verbs are past tense ("thou hast given", "thou gavest") and the list is framed by "joy" at the start and "glad" and "trusteth" at the end. Verses 8-12 turn to enemies in the future tense, "shall find out", "shalt make", "shalt thou destroy", and the images are of fire, a fiery oven, swallowing, devouring, and arrows on strings. "Strength" opens and closes the poem: the king joys in the Lord's strength and the Lord is asked to be exalted in his own strength. The king's "heart’s desire" granted stands against the enemies' "mischievous device" that fails. Read after Psalm 20, where the people wished the king his heart’s desire and fulfilled petitions, this psalm states that the desire was given and the request of his lips not withheld.
Cited passages: Psalms 21:3, Psalms 21:6, Psalms 21:9, Psalms 21:12, Psalms 21:13, Psalms 21:2, Psalms 20:4
Key moments
- Joy in the Lord's strength (Psalms 21:1). The king rejoices in the Lord's strength and salvation.
- Heart's desire given (Psalms 21:2). God has given the king his heart's desire and not withheld his request.
- Crown of pure gold (Psalms 21:3). God sets a crown of pure gold on the king's head.
- Life asked and given (Psalms 21:4). The king asked life and received length of days for ever.
- Enemies as a fiery oven (Psalms 21:9). The enemies will be made like a fiery oven and devoured by fire.
- A device they cannot perform (Psalms 21:11). The enemies intended evil but cannot carry out their device.
- Be exalted, Lord (Psalms 21:13). The psalm ends asking the Lord to be exalted, with a promise to sing.
For reflection
The king asked for life and is said to have received length of days for ever and ever; what is a reader to make of a gift stated in those terms for a king who is never named?
