Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease, and with the contempt of the proud.
Parallel translations
- WEB Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scoffing of those who are at ease, with the contempt of the proud.
- BSB We have endured much scorn from the arrogant, much contempt from the proud.
- NKJV Our soul is exceedingly filled With the scorn of those who are at ease, With the contempt of the proud.
- NASB Our soul has had much more than enough Of the scoffing of those who are at ease, And of the contempt of the proud.
- NLT We have had more than our fill of the scoffing of the proud and the contempt of the arrogant.
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
Their soul is overwhelmed by the scoffing of the complacent and the contempt of the proud. The pride and mockery of others weighs heavily on God's people.
Overview
The psalmist names the source of their distress: the 'scoffing' of those 'at ease' and the 'contempt of the proud.' The arrogance of the comfortable adds to the suffering of the lowly. Yet the people bring this burden to God, trusting the One who opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Ps 119:51The proud have had me greatly in derision: yet have I not declined from thy law.
- Job 12:5He that is ready to slip with his feet is as a lamp despised in the thought of him that is at ease.
- Acts 17:32And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter.
- Isa 32:11Tremble, ye women that are at ease; be troubled, ye careless ones: strip you, and make you bare, and gird sackcloth upon your loins.
- 1 Cor 4:13Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day.
- Job 16:4I also could speak as ye do: if your soul were in my soul’s stead, I could heap up words against you, and shake mine head at you.
- Jer 48:11Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed.
- Isa 32:9Rise up, ye women that are at ease; hear my voice, ye careless daughters; give ear unto my speech.
- Acts 26:24And as he thus spake for himself, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, thou art beside thyself; much learning doth make thee mad.
- Neh 2:19But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What is this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king?
- Amos 6:1Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came!
- Jer 48:29We have heard the pride of Moab, (he is exceeding proud) his loftiness, and his arrogancy, and his pride, and the haughtiness of his heart.
- Ps 73:5–9They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men.
- Acts 17:21(For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing.)
- Jer 48:27For was not Israel a derision unto thee? was he found among thieves? for since thou spakest of him, thou skippedst for joy.
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
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 123:4 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.