The proud have had me greatly in derision: yet have I not declined from thy law.
Parallel translations
- WEB The arrogant mock me excessively, but I don’t swerve from your law.
- BSB The arrogant utterly deride me, but I do not turn from Your law.
- NKJV The proud have me in great derision, Yet I do not turn aside from Your law.
- NASB The arrogant utterly deride me, Yet I do not turn aside from Your Law.
- NLT The proud hold me in utter contempt, but I do not turn away from your instructions.
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 the arrogant mock him relentlessly, the psalmist does not turn from God's law. It matters because steadfast obedience holds firm even under sustained ridicule.
Overview
The proud heap derision on the psalmist, yet he refuses to swerve from God's law. Mockery tests but does not move his loyalty to Scripture. Such faithfulness under scorn mirrors Christ, who endured the contempt of sinners while remaining wholly devoted to His Father's word.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Job 23:11My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined.
- Jer 20:7O LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived: thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me.
- Ps 119:157Many are my persecutors and mine enemies; yet do I not decline from thy testimonies.
- Ps 44:18Our heart is not turned back, neither have our steps declined from thy way;
- Isa 42:4He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.
- Heb 12:1–3Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
- Isa 38:3And said, Remember now, O LORD, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.
- Luke 16:14–15And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him.
- Ps 119:69The proud have forged a lie against me: but I will keep thy precepts with my whole heart.
- Ps 123:3–4Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us: for we are exceedingly filled with contempt.
- Acts 20:23–24Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me.
- Luke 23:35And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God.
- Ps 119:31I have stuck unto thy testimonies: O LORD, put me not to shame.
- Ps 119:21Thou hast rebuked the proud that are cursed, which do err from thy commandments.
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 119:51 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.