What Does Psalm 30:7 Mean in the King James?
LORD, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong: thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The mountain is made strong, yet a hidden face still brings alarm: outward stability cannot replace felt presence.
THE MEANING
Your felt security can stand beside the fear of losing sight of the face that steadies you. The verse speaks now of how strength and inner alarm can coexist when that face feels hidden. Its distress remains real even while the mountain stands firm.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that visible strength means you cannot be shaken: the mountain can stand firm while the speaker is alarmed by a hidden face.
THE ROOT
הִסְתַּרְתָּ
histarta
GROWS FROM
סתר
Satar: to hide, conceal, or keep out of sight.
“hide” in this verse is histarta. The consonants ס־ת־ר appear both in the verb of concealment and in סֵתֶר (seter, “secret place”). The hidden face therefore belongs to a word family that can also name a sheltered hidden place, holding relational pain and refuge within one root.
ALSO GROWS
satar: To hide or conceal.
סָתַר
This verb shares the root consonants and names the action in the verse.
seter: A secret place, hiding place, or shelter.
סֵתֶר
The same root can name a place of concealment, giving “hide” a range that includes shelter as well as absence.
נִבְהָל
nivhal
GROWS FROM
בהל
Bahal: to alarm, dismay, or agitate; also to hurry.
“troubled” in this verse is nivhal. This word carries the quick shock of alarm, alongside meanings of being hurried or thrown into dismay. The mountain is set firm while the speaker’s inner composure is startled by the hidden face.
ALSO GROWS
bahal: To be alarmed, dismayed, or hurried.
בָּהַל
This verb shares the root consonants and gives the speaker’s distress its jolt of sudden alarm.
behalah: Terror, alarm, or sudden dismay.
בְּהָלָה
This noun from the same root brings out the intensity carried by “troubled.”
הֶעֱמַדְתָּה
he'emadta
GROWS FROM
עמד
Amad: to stand, remain in place, or take one’s stand.
“made to stand” in this verse is he'emadta. The verse uses a causative form of עמד (amad, “stand”): the mountain’s steadiness is established for it. That firm stance sits beside the speaker’s alarm, showing that outward stability and felt security are not identical.
ALSO GROWS
amad: To stand or remain in place.
עָמַד
This is the root verb behind the verse’s causative “made to stand.”
ma'amad: A standing place, position, or status.
מַעֲמָד
This noun shares the root consonants and extends standing into the position one occupies.
THE PATTERN
A hidden divine face is voiced as relational absence that unsettles the one who still addresses God.
To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?Wherefore hidest thou thy face, and holdest me for thine enemy?And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?THE THREAD
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.The Hebrew word סֵתֶר (seter, “secret place”) belongs to סתר (satar, “hide or conceal”), the root behind “hide” here. The shared root can name concealment as shelter as well as the painful obscuring of a face, revealing the range held inside this verse’s word.
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