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The Bible · 499 of 1189
Psalms 21
1.The king shall joy in thy strength, O LORD; and in thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice!
2.Thou hast given him his heart’s desire, and hast not withholden the request of his lips. Selah.
3.For thou preventest him with the blessings of goodness: thou settest a crown of pure gold on his head.
4.He asked life of thee, and thou gavest it him, even length of days for ever and ever.
5.His glory is great in thy salvation: honour and majesty hast thou laid upon him.
6.For thou hast made him most blessed for ever: thou hast made him exceeding glad with thy countenance.
7.For the king trusteth in the LORD, and through the mercy of the most High he shall not be moved.
8.Thine hand shall find out all thine enemies: thy right hand shall find out those that hate thee.
9.Thou 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.
10.Their fruit shalt thou destroy from the earth, and their seed from among the children of men.
11.For they intended evil against thee: they imagined a mischievous device, which they are not able to perform.
12.Therefore shalt thou make them turn their back, when thou shalt make ready thine arrows upon thy strings against the face of them.
13.Be thou exalted, LORD, in thine own strength: so will we sing and praise thy power.
Asked of Guide
Why does the psalm move from royal praise to violent curses against the king’s enemies?
The chapter praises the king’s joy, salvation, and blessings—crowning him, giving “length of days,” and making him “exceeding glad.” It then asserts the king’s trust in the LORD and links divine protection to decisive judgment: God’s hand finds enemies and the fire devours them.
This shift frames royal success as grounded in God’s action; the enemies’ fate proves God’s vindication of the king. Read alongside Psalm 2, which also pairs a God‑ordained king with harsh judgment on opponents, and the pattern becomes a theological claim about divine sovereignty over kingship and justice.
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