Then I can answer him who taunts, for I trust in Your word.
Parallel translations
- WEB So I will have an answer for him who reproaches me, for I trust in your word.
- KJV So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproacheth me: for I trust in thy word.
- NKJV So shall I have an answer for him who reproaches me, For I trust in Your word.
- NASB So that I will have an answer for one who taunts me, For I trust in Your word.
- NLT Then I can answer those who taunt me, for I trust in 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
Trusting God's word gives the psalmist an answer for those who taunt him. It matters because confidence in Scripture equips believers to respond to mockery and reproach.
Overview
Because he trusts in God's word, the psalmist will have a ready reply to those who reproach him. His assurance silences scorn not by his cleverness but by God's reliability. This anticipates the gospel hope that grounds believers' answer to a watching world in the trustworthy word of God concerning Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 18
- Acts 27:25So take courage, men, for I believe God that it will happen just as He told me.
- Matt 27:63“Sir,” they said, “we remember that while He was alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’
- Prov 27:11Be wise, my son, and bring joy to my heart, so that I can answer him who taunts me.
- 2 Sam 16:7–8And as he yelled curses, Shimei said, “Get out, get out, you worthless man of bloodshed!
- Ps 56:10–11In God, whose word I praise, in the LORD, whose word I praise,
- Ps 119:74May those who fear You see me and rejoice, for I have hoped in Your word.
- Ps 119:49Remember Your word to Your servant, upon which You have given me hope.
- Ps 119:81My soul faints for Your salvation; I wait for Your word.
- Matt 27:40–43and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross!”
- Ps 89:19–37You once spoke in a vision; to Your godly ones You said, “I have bestowed help on a warrior; I have exalted one chosen from the people.
- 2 Sam 7:12–16And when your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom.
- Ps 42:10Like the crushing of my bones, my enemies taunt me, while they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
- Ps 71:10–11For my enemies speak against me, and those who lie in wait for my life conspire,
- 2 Sam 19:18–20and crossed at the ford to carry over the king’s household and to do what was good in his sight. When Shimei son of Gera crossed the Jordan, he fell down before the king
- Ps 3:2Many say of me, “God will not deliver him.” Selah
- 1 Chr 28:3–6but God said to me, ‘You are not to build a house for My Name, because you are a man of war who has spilled blood.’
- Ps 56:4In God, whose word I praise—in God I trust. I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
- Ps 109:25I am an object of scorn to my accusers; when they see me, they shake their heads.
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 119:42 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.