Turn away my reproach which I fear: for thy judgments are good.
Parallel translations
- WEB Take away my disgrace that I dread, for your ordinances are good.
- BSB Turn away the disgrace I dread, for Your judgments are good.
- NKJV Turn away my reproach which I dread, For Your judgments are good.
- NASB Take away my disgrace which I dread, For Your judgments are good.
- NLT Help me abandon my shameful ways; for your regulations are good.
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
The psalmist asks God to remove the reproach he dreads, since God's judgments are good. It matters because trusting in the goodness of God's word brings deliverance from feared disgrace.
Overview
Fearing reproach, the psalmist appeals to the goodness of God's ordinances as the ground for being spared it. He trusts that God's good judgments will not leave him in shame. This confidence is secured in the gospel, where Christ bears our reproach so that those who trust Him are freed from condemnation.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 18
- Ps 119:22Remove from me reproach and contempt; for I have kept thy testimonies.
- Titus 2:8Sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you.
- 1 Tim 3:7Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.
- Rom 2:2But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things.
- Rev 19:2For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.
- Ps 57:3He shall send from heaven, and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth his mercy and his truth.
- Ps 39:8Deliver me from all my transgressions: make me not the reproach of the foolish.
- Ps 119:43And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth; for I have hoped in thy judgments.
- Ps 19:9The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.
- Deut 4:8And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?
- Isa 26:8Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.
- Ps 119:131I opened my mouth, and panted: for I longed for thy commandments.
- 2 Sam 12:14Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.
- Ps 119:75I know, O LORD, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me.
- 1 Tim 5:14I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.
- Ps 119:20My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times.
- Ps 119:31I have stuck unto thy testimonies: O LORD, put me not to shame.
- Ps 119:123Mine eyes fail for thy salvation, and for the word of thy righteousness.
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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 119:39 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.