Rulers persecute me without cause, but my heart fears only Your word.
Parallel translations
- WEB Princes have persecuted me without a cause, but my heart stands in awe of your words.
- KJV Princes have persecuted me without a cause: but my heart standeth in awe of thy word.
- NKJV Princes persecute me without a cause, But my heart stands in awe of Your word.
- NASB ¶Rulers persecute me without cause, But my heart stands in awe of Your words.
- NLT Powerful people harass me without cause, but my heart trembles only at your word.
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
Powerful rulers persecute him without cause, yet his heart stands in awe of God's words. Reverence for God outweighs fear of the powerful.
Overview
Opening the 'Sin and Shin' stanza, the psalmist suffers groundless persecution from 'princes,' those with power to harm. Yet what truly grips his heart is not fear of them but awe of God's words. Suffering without cause and steadfast reverence both point to Christ, who was persecuted without cause yet honored the Father's Word.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Isa 66:2Has not My hand made all these things? And so they came into being,” declares the LORD. “This is the one I will esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, who trembles at My word.
- 1 Sam 26:18And he continued, “Why is my lord pursuing his servant? What have I done? What evil is in my hand?
- 1 Sam 24:9–15and said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of men who say, ‘Look, David intends to harm you’?
- Ps 119:157Though my persecutors and foes are many, I have not turned from Your testimonies.
- Ps 4:4Be angry, yet do not sin; on your bed, search your heart and be still. Selah
- Ps 119:23Though rulers sit and slander me, Your servant meditates on Your statutes.
- John 15:25But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated Me without reason.’
- Job 31:23For calamity from God terrifies me, and His splendor I cannot overpower.
- Jer 36:23–25And as soon as Jehudi had read three or four columns, Jehoiakim would cut them off with a scribe’s knife and throw them into the firepot, until the entire scroll had been consumed by the fire.
- Gen 39:9No one in this house is greater than I am. He has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. So how could I do such a great evil and sin against God?”
- Neh 5:15The governors before me had heavily burdened the people, taking from them bread and wine plus forty shekels of silver. Their servants also oppressed the people, but I did not do this because of my fear of God.
- 1 Sam 21:15Am I in need of madmen, that you have brought this man to rave in my presence? Must this man come into my house?”
- 2 Kgs 22:19because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before the LORD when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its people, that they would become a desolation and a curse, and because you have torn your clothes and wept before Me, I have heard you,’ declares the LORD.
- Gen 42:18and on the third day he said to them, “I fear God. So do this and you will live:
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 119:161 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.