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Psalm 89:43

Yes, you turn back the edge of his sword, and haven’t supported him in battle.

41All who pass by the way rob him. He has become a reproach to his neighbors.
42You have exalted the right hand of his adversaries. You have made all of his enemies rejoice.
43Yes, you turn back the edge of his sword, and haven’t supported him in battle.
44You have ended his splendor, and thrown his throne down to the ground.
45You have shortened the days of his youth. You have covered him with shame. Selah.
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← Psalm 89:42Psalm 89:44 →
Notice

The turned-back sword makes this defeat more than a military loss: the speaker tells God that he has withheld support from the king.

Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.

What stands out in the speaker’s claim that God turned back the king’s sword?

Write on this

What, if anything, feels hard to say to God about help you have sought?

Write on this
Connect

Where else Scripture says this

8 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.

This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
2 Chronicles 25:8But if you will go, take action, and be strong for the battle. God will overthrow you before the enemy; for God has power to help, and to overthrow.”Both texts place the outcome of battle under God’s power, including his power to bring defeat.
Joshua 7:8–12Oh, Lord, what shall I say, after Israel has turned their backs before their enemies?Both speakers address God about defeat in battle, bringing the failure before him in prayer.
Numbers 14:45Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites who lived in that mountain, and struck them and beat them down even to Hormah.Both passages describe military defeat; Numbers names the attackers and the place, while the psalm names God’s withheld support.
Numbers 14:42Don’t go up, for the LORD isn’t among you; that way you won’t be struck down before your enemies.Both texts connect defeat before enemies with the lack of God’s help in battle.
Joshua 7:4–5So about three thousand men of the people went up there, and they fled before the men of Ai.Both passages describe failure in battle, though Joshua’s account here reports flight without naming God’s action.
Leviticus 26:36–37“‘As for those of you who are left, I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies. The sound of a driven leaf will put them to …Both texts depict God undoing military strength, through faintness and flight in Leviticus and a turned-back sword in the psalm.
Ezekiel 30:21–25“Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Behold, it has not been bound up, to apply medicines, to put a bandage to bind it, that it may …Both passages connect God’s action against a king with the loss of his ability to wield a sword.
Psalm 44:10You make us turn back from the adversary. Those who hate us take plunder for themselves.Both prayers tell God that he has caused retreat before enemies, naming him as active in the defeat.
Where this verse fits

Feeling distant from God. doubt. leadership weight.

What the Bible says about doubt →What the Bible says about doubt →
One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

Pray Psalm 89:43 aloud, then name one unanswered plea

prayeroncelight
Encouragement

The king’s defeat remains unresolved in this line, yet the complaint is addressed to God. Scripture makes room for prayer that names missing help.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 89:43. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.

Keep goingPsalm 89 · the whole chapter with its connection mapPsalms · every chapterBuild a reading plan through Psalms

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).