Psalm 33:19
ESV
that he may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine.
NIV
to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine.
NASB
To rescue their soul from death And to keep them alive in famine.
CSB
to rescue them from death and to keep them alive in famine.
NLT
He rescues them from death and keeps them alive in times of famine.
KJV
To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.
NKJV
To deliver their soul from death, And to keep them alive in famine.
What does Psalm 33:19 mean?
This is one of many promises that God will protect His people. These are often misunderstood as absolute guarantees of worldly health, success, and prosperity. This is not the case; earthly suffering and hardship can happen to anyone, even the most faithful believers (John 16:33; Psalm 119:157). Yet God promises to keep His people through those experiences (Romans 8:37–39) and to use them for their eternal benefit (Romans 8:18, 28–30). Those who properly fear God (Psalm 33:18; Proverbs 1:7) enter a saving relationship with Christ (John 3:16–18) and are given eternal life for their soul (John 3:36).Of course, every person will die physically, but often the Lord intervenes to keep a believer alive. He did so in the case of Noah and his family. When everyone else drowned in the flood, Noah and his family survived aboard the ark (Genesis 8:13–19). When Daniel's three friends were tossed into a white-hot furnace, they did not die. The fire simply burned off their ropes (Daniel 3:20, 27). When Daniel was consigned to a den of hungry lions, he survived because the Lord shut the lions' mouths (Daniel 6:22). The Bible also reports that the Lord kept His people alive during disasters. He raised Joseph to prominence in Egypt to supply God's chosen people with food in a devastating worldwide famine (Genesis 45:6–11).
