I am small and despised: yet do not I forget thy precepts.
Parallel translations
- WEB I am small and despised. I don’t forget your precepts.
- BSB I am lowly and despised, but I do not forget Your precepts.
- NKJV I am small and despised, Yet I do not forget Your precepts.
- NASB I am small and despised, Yet I do not forget Your precepts.
- NLT I am insignificant and despised, but I don’t forget your commandments.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Though small and despised, he does not forget God's precepts. Lowliness and contempt do not weaken his fidelity to the word.
Overview
The psalmist acknowledges his lowly and despised condition in the eyes of others, yet he holds fast to God's precepts. His outward insignificance does not diminish his inward devotion. This faithfulness in humble circumstances reflects Christ, who though despised and rejected kept the Father's word perfectly (Isa. 53:3; John 8:55).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Ps 22:6But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.
- 2 Cor 8:9For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.
- Jas 2:5Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?
- Luke 9:58And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.
- Luke 6:20And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God.
- Prov 16:8Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right.
- Ps 119:109My soul is continually in my hand: yet do I not forget thy law.
- Prov 3:1My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments:
- Prov 15:16Better is little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble therewith.
- Ps 40:17But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me: thou art my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God.
- Isa 53:3He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
- Prov 19:1Better is the poor that walketh in his integrity, than he that is perverse in his lips, and is a fool.
- Ps 119:176I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant; for I do not forget thy commandments.
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 119:141 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.