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Your enemies have mocked me, O Lord; they mock your anointed king wherever he goes.
Psalms 89:51 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB With which your enemies have mocked, Yahweh, with which they have mocked the footsteps of your anointed one.
  • KJV Wherewith thine enemies have reproached, O LORD; wherewith they have reproached the footsteps of thine anointed.
  • BSB how Your enemies have taunted, O LORD, and have mocked every step of Your anointed one!
  • NKJV With which Your enemies have reproached, O Lord, With which they have reproached the footsteps of Your anointed.
  • NASB With which Your enemies have taunted, Lord, With which they have taunted the footsteps of Your anointed.

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 enemies mock God's anointed king, taunting his every step.

Overview

The reproach centers on God's "anointed one," whose downfall the enemies ridicule at every turn. To mock the anointed is to mock the God who appointed him. This mockery of the anointed prefigures the scorn poured on Christ, the true Messiah, at His passion (Matt. 27:39-43).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 15

  • Ps 74:10How long, God, shall the adversary reproach? Shall the enemy blaspheme your name forever?
  • 1 Pet 4:14–16If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed; because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. On their part he is blasphemed, but on your part he is glorified.
  • Heb 11:36Others were tried by mocking and scourging, yes, moreover by bonds and imprisonment.
  • Ps 56:5–6All day long they twist my words. All their thoughts are against me for evil.
  • Matt 5:10–12Blessed are those who have been persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
  • Heb 10:33partly, being exposed to both reproaches and oppressions; and partly, becoming partakers with those who were treated so.
  • Matt 12:24But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “This man does not cast out demons, except by Beelzebul, the prince of the demons.”
  • 2 Sam 16:7–8Shimei said when he cursed, “Be gone, be gone, you man of blood, and base fellow!
  • Ps 57:3He will send from heaven, and save me, he rebukes the one who is pursuing me. Selah. God will send out his loving kindness and his truth.
  • Acts 5:41They therefore departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for Jesus’ name.
  • 1 Pet 3:16having a good conscience; that, while you are spoken against as evildoers, they may be disappointed who curse your good way of life in Christ.
  • 1 Pet 2:20–21For what glory is it if, when you sin, you patiently endure beating? But if, when you do well, you patiently endure suffering, this is commendable with God.
  • Matt 26:61and said, “This man said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days.’”
  • 1 Cor 4:12–13We toil, working with our own hands. When people curse us, we bless. Being persecuted, we endure.
  • John 8:48Then the Jews answered him, “Don’t we say well that you are a Samaritan, and have a demon?”

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Psalms videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Psalms 89:51YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on PsalmsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 89:51 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.