Psalms 119:158
in Psalms 119I look on the faithless with loathing because they do not keep Your word.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I beheld the treacherous, and was grieved, Because they observe not thy word.
KJV
I beheld the transgressors, and was grieved; because they kept not thy word.
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This verse in Psalms 119
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
(Compare Ps 119:136). transgressors--or, literally, "traitors," who are faithless to a righteous sovereign and side with His enemies (compare Ps 25:3, 8).
This site's exposition
Look upon my affliction and rescue me
on Psalms 119:153-160
He asks God to look at the affliction and to defend his cause. Salvation stays far from the wicked, and the reason given is their own refusal to seek the statutes. Verse 160 states it whole: the entirety of the word is truth.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"I have seen," he says, "the foolish, and I pined" [Psalm 119:158]: or, as other copies read, "I have seen them that keep not covenant:" this is the reading of most. But who are they who have not kept covenant, save they who have swerved from the testimonies of God, not bearing the tribulation of their many persecutors? Now this is the covenant, that he who shall have conquered shall be crowned. They who, not bearing persecution, have by denial swerved from the testimonies of God, have not kept the covenant. These then the Psalmist saw, and pined, for he loved them. For that jealousy is good, springing from love, not from envy. He adds in what respect they had failed to keep the covenant, "Because they kept not Your word." For this they denied in their tribulations.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
I beheld the transgressors, and was grieved,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
"I beheld the transgressors." I saw the traitors; I understood their character, their object, their way, and their end. I could not help seeing them, for they pushed themselves into my way. As I was obliged to see them I fixed my eyes on them, to learn what I could from them. "And was grieved." I was sorry to see such sinners. I was sick of them, disgusted with them, I could not endure them. I found no pleasure in them, they were a sad sight to me, however fine their clothing or witty their chattering. Even when they were most mirthful a sight of them made my heart heavy; I could not tolerate either them or their doings. "Because they kept not thy word." My grief was occasioned more by their sin against God than by their enmity against myself. I could bear their evil treatment of my words, but not their neglect of thy word. Thy word is so precious to me that those who will not keep it move me to indignation; I cannot keep the company of those who keep not God's word. That they should have no love for me is a trifle; but to despise the teaching of the Lord is abominable.
"I beheld the transgressors." I saw the traitors; I understood their character, their object, their way, and their end. I could not help seeing them, for they pushed themselves into my way. As I was obliged to see them I fixed my eyes on them, to learn what I could from them. "And was grieved." I was sorry to see such sinners. I was sick of them, disgusted with them, I could not endure them. I found no pleasure in them, they were a sad sight to me, however fine their clothing or witty their chattering.
I beheld the transgressors, and was grieved - Literally, I was affected with anguish.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
I beheld the transgressors - Those who wronged me; those who violated the law of God. And was grieved - Or, “sickened.” The word used here means commonly to loathe, to nauseate, to sicken. Eze 16:47; Psa 95:10. I was made sad, sorry, sick at heart. I did not look on them with anger; I did not desire to take revenge upon them; I did not return evil for evil. My heart was sad that people would do wrong; that they would expose themselves to such danger. See the notes at Psa 119:136. Because they kept not thy word - Because they violated thy law; because they were sinners.
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| רָאִ֣יתִי | raiti | I see | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| בֹ֭גְדִים | vogedim | [those who] act treacherously | H898 → | 49 times |
| וָֽאֶתְקוֹטָ֑טָה | vaetkotatah | and I felt disgust ! | H6962 → | 6 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | that | H834 → | 5497 times |
| אִ֝מְרָתְךָ֗ | ʾimratekha | word your | H565 → | 37 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| שָׁמָֽרוּ׃ | shamaru | they have kept | H8104 → | 468 times |
רָאִ֣יתִיI see
raitiH7200 →1300 times
בֹ֭גְדִים[those who] act treacherously
vogedimH898 →49 times
וָֽאֶתְקוֹטָ֑טָהand I felt disgust !
vaetkotatahH6962 →6 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רthat
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
אִ֝מְרָתְךָ֗word your
ʾimratekhaH565 →37 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
שָׁמָֽרוּ׃they have kept
shamaruH8104 →468 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Ezekiel 9:4“Go throughout the city of Jerusalem,” said the LORD, “and put a mark on the foreheads of the men sighing and groaning over all the abominations committed there.”
it leads to
- Revelation 9:4
They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads.
- 2 Corinthians 1:22
placed His seal on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a pledge of what is to come.
- Revelation 14:1
Then I looked and saw the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him 144,000 who had His name and His Father’s name written on their foreheads.
- Revelation 7:2–3
And I saw another angel ascending from the east, with the seal of the living God. And he called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to…
- Revelation 20:4
Then I saw the thrones, and those seated on them had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony of Jesus and for…
- Revelation 9:4
Through
Psalms 139:21Do I not hate those who hate You, O LORD, and detest those who rise against You?
it leads to
- Psalms 31:6
I hate those who cling to worthless idols, but in the LORD I trust.
- Revelation 2:2
I know your deeds, your labor, and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate those who are evil, and you have tested and exposed as liars those who falsely claim to be apostles.
- Psalms 31:6
Through
Psalms 119:136My eyes shed streams of tears because Your law is not obeyed.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 9:1
Oh, that my head were a spring of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night over the slain daughter of my people.
- Jeremiah 9:1
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Psalms
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Psalms; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 119; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 6; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.