Psalms 119:42
in Psalms 119Then I can answer him who taunts, for I trust in Your word.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
So shall I have an answer for him that reproacheth me; For I trust in thy word.
KJV
So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproacheth me: for I trust in thy word.
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This verse in Psalms 119
Commentary
9 notes on this verse"And so shall I make answer," he says, "to them that reproach me with the word" [Psalm 119:42]. It is doubtful whether it be "reproach me with a word;" or, "I will answer with a word;" but either signifies Christ. They to whom Christ crucified is a stumbling-block or foolishness, [1 Corinthians 1:23] reproach us with Him; ignorant that "the Word was made flesh, and dwelt in us;" [John 1:14] the Word which "was in the beginning," and "was with God, and was God." [John 1:1] But although they may not reproach us with the Word which is unknown unto them, because His Divinity is not known unto those by whom His weakness on the Cross is despised; let us nevertheless make answer of the Word, and let us not be terrified or confounded by their reproaches. For "if they had known" the Word, "they would never have crucified the Lord of glory." [1 Corinthians 2:8] ...Therefore, when the Psalmist had said, "I will make answer unto them that reproach me with the word:" he at once adds, "For my trust is in Your words," which means exactly, in Your promises.
This site's exposition
May Your loving devotion come to me
on Psalms 119:41-48
Mercy comes first here, the loving devotion and the salvation asked for before any promise to obey. Then the word is for speaking: an answer to the man who taunts, and testimonies spoken before kings without shame. Verse 48 lifts the hands to the commandments.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproacheth me,.... Saying there is no help and salvation for him in God; asking where is his God, in whom he trusted? and where is the promise of salvation, on which he depended?
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The possession of God's gift of "salvation" (Ps 119:41) will be the Psalmist's answer to the foe's "reproach," that his hope was a fallacious one.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The sentiment more fully carried out. God's mercies and salvation, as revealed in His Word, provide hope of forgiveness for the past and security in a righteous course for the future.
"So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproacheth me." This is an unanswerable answer. When God, by granting us salvation, gives to our prayers an answer of peace, we are ready at once to answer the objections of the infidel, the quibbles of the sceptical, and the sneers of the contemptuous. It is most desirable that revilers should be answered, and hence we may expect the Lord to save his people in order that a weapon may be put into their hands with which to rout his adversaries. When those who reproach us are also reproaching God, we may ask him to help us to silence them by sure proofs of his mercy and faithfulness. "For I trust in thy word." His faith was seen by his being trustful while under trial, and he pleads it as a reason why he should be helped to beat back reproaches by a happy experience. Faith is our argument when we seek mercies and salvation; faith in the Lord who has spoken to us in his word. "I trust in thy word" is a declaration more worth the making than any other; for he who can truly make it has received power to become a child of God, and so to be the heir of unnumbered mercies. God hath more respect to a man's trust than to all else that is in him; for the Lord hath chosen faith to be the hand into which he will place his mercies and his salvation. If any reproach us for trusting in God, we reply to them with arguments the most conclusive when we show that God has kept his promises, heard our prayers, and supplied our needs. Even the most sceptical are forced to bow before the logic of facts. In this second verse of this eight the Psalmist makes a confession of faith, and a declaration of his belief and experience. Note that he does the same in the corresponding verses of the sections which follow.
"So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproacheth me." This is an unanswerable answer. When God, by granting us salvation, gives to our prayers an answer of peace, we are ready at once to answer the objections of the infidel, the quibbles of the sceptical, and the sneers of the contemptuous. It is most desirable that revilers should be answered, and hence we may expect the Lord to save his people in order that a weapon may be put into their hands with which to rout his adversaries.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
So shall I have wherewith to answer - Many say, “My hope in thy mercy is vain;” but when thou fulfillest thy promises to me, then shall I answer to the confusion of their infidelity.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproacheth me - I shall have something by which I may reply to those who calumniate me. So the Saviour replied to the suggestions of the tempter almost wholly by passages of Scripture Mat 4:4, Mat 4:7,Mat 4:10; and so, in many cases, the best answer that can be given to reproaches on the subject of religion will be found in the very words of Scripture. A man of little learning, except that which he has derived from the Bible, may often thus silence the cavils and reproaches of the learned sceptic; a man of simplehearted, pure piety, with no weapon but the word of God, may often thus be better armed than if he had all the arguments of the schools at his command. Compare Eph 6:17. For I trust in thy word - I believe it; I rely on it; I confide in that, as my only comfort and protection.
The words behind it
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאֶֽעֱנֶ֣ה | veeeneh | so I may answer | H6030 → | 331 times |
| חֹרְפִ֣י | chorefi | [the] [one who] taunts me | H2778 → | 41 times |
| דָבָ֑ר | davar | a word | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| בָ֝טַחְתִּי | vatachti | I trust | H982 → | 120 times |
| בִּדְבָרֶֽךָ׃ | bidvarekha | in word your | H1697 → | 1440 times |
וְאֶֽעֱנֶ֣הso I may answer
veeenehH6030 →331 times
חֹרְפִ֣י[the] [one who] taunts me
chorefiH2778 →41 times
דָבָ֑רa word
davarH1697 →1440 times
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
בָ֝טַחְתִּיI trust
vatachtiH982 →120 times
בִּדְבָרֶֽךָ׃in word your
bidvarekhaH1697 →1440 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
Acts 27:25So take courage, men, for I believe God that it will happen just as He told me.
it leads to
- Romans 4:20–21
Yet he did not waver through disbelief in the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God,
- Luke 1:45
Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord’s word to her will be fulfilled.”
- 2 Timothy 1:12
For this reason, even though I suffer as I do, I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have…
- Numbers 23:19
God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?
- Romans 4:20–21
Through
Proverbs 27:11Be wise, my son, and bring joy to my heart, so that I can answer him who taunts me.
it leads to
- Proverbs 10:1
The proverbs of Solomon: A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son grief to his mother.
- Proverbs 10:1
Through
Psalms 119:74May those who fear You see me and rejoice, for I have hoped in Your word.
it leads to
- Psalms 66:16
Come and listen, all you who fear God, and I will declare what He has done for me.
- Psalms 34:2–6
My soul boasts in the LORD; let the oppressed hear and rejoice.
- Psalms 66:16
Through
Matthew 27:63“Sir,” they said, “we remember that while He was alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’
it leads to
- Luke 9:22
“The Son of Man must suffer many things,” He said. “He must be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and He must be killed and on the third day be raised to…
- Luke 9:22
Where this verse is studied
About Psalms
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; 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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.