Psalms 123:4
in Psalms 123We have endured much scorn from the arrogant, much contempt from the proud.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Our soul is exceedingly filled With the scoffing of those that are at ease, And with the contempt of the proud.
KJV
Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease, and with the contempt of the proud.
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This verse in Psalms 123
Commentary
11 notes on this verseOur soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease. Knowing no troubles of their own, the easy ones grow cruel and deride the people of the Lord. Having the godly already in secret contempt, they show it by openly scorning them. Note those who do this: they are not the poor, the humble, the troubled, but those who have a merry life of it, and are self content.
This site's exposition
Have mercy on us
on Psalms 123:3-4
The asking is doubled inside one verse, mercy and mercy again from the LORD. What the psalm has endured much of is contempt and scorn. The word behind arrogant at verse 4 is sha'anan, secure and, in a bad sense, haughty, so the contempt comes from the proud at ease.
This site's exposition
much scorn from the arrogant
The word for scorn is la'ag, and its verb stands at Psalm 2:4, where the One enthroned in heaven taunts the kings of the earth. This psalm lifted its eyes to the One enthroned in heaven at verse 1. The scorn of the arrogant has an answer there.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
"Our soul is filled exceedingly; a reproach to the wealthy, and a contempt to the proud" (ver. 4). We were asking who were "the wealthy:" he hath expounded to thee, in that he hath said, "the proud." "Reproach" and "contempt" are the same: and "wealthy" is the same with "proud." It is a repetition of the sentence, "a reproach to the wealthy, and a contempt to the proud." Why are the proud wealthy? Because they wish to be happy here. Why? since they themselves too are miserable, are they wealthy? But perhaps when they are miserable, they do not mock us. Listen, my beloved. Then perchance they mock when they are happy, when they boast themselves in the pomp of their riches! when they boast themselves in the inflated state of false honours: then they mock us, and seem to say, Behold, it is well with me: I enjoy the good things before me: let those who promise what they cannot show depart from me: what I see, I hold; what I see, I enjoy; may I fare well in this life. Be thou more secure; for Christ hath risen again, and hath taught thee what He will give in another life: be assured that He giveth it. But that man mocketh thee, because he holdeth what he hath. Bear with his mockeries, and thou wilt laugh at his groans: for afterwards there will come a season when these very persons will say, "This was he whom we had sometimes in derision."...
But concerning true patience, worthy of the name of this virtue, whence it is to be had, must now be inquired. For there are some who attribute it to the strength of the human will, not which it hath by Divine assistance, but which it hath of free-will. Now this error is a proud one: for it is the error of them which abound, of whom it is said in the Psalm, "A scornful reproof to them which abound, and a despising to the proud." It is not therefore that "patience of the poor" which "perisheth not forever." For these poor receive it from that Rich One, to Whom is said, "My God art Thou, because my goods Thou needest not:" of Whom is "every good gift, and every perfect gift;" to Whom crieth the needy and the poor, and in asking, seeking, knocking, saith, "My God, deliver me from the hand of the sinner, and from the hand of the lawless and unjust: because Thou art my patience, O Lord, my hope from my youth up." But these which abound, and disdain to be in want before God, lest they receive of Him true patience, they which glory in their own false patience, seek to "confound the counsel of the poor, because the Lord is his hope." Nor do they regard, seeing they are men, and attribute so much to their own, that is, to the human will, that they run into that which is written, "Cursed is every one who putteth his hope in man." Whence even if it chance them that they do bear up under any hardships or difficulties, either that they may not displease men, or that they may not suffer worse, or in self-pleasing and love of their own presumption, do with most proud will bear up under these same, it is meet that concerning patience this be said unto them, which concerning wisdom the blessed Apostle James saith, "This wisdom cometh not from above, but is earthly, animal, devilish." For why may there not be a false patience of the proud, as there is a false wisdom of the proud? […]
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
We find little mercy with men; their tender mercies are cruel; there are cruel mockings. But this is our comfort, that with the Lord there is mercy and we need desire no more to relieve us, and make us easy, than the mercy of God. Whatever the troubles of the church are, God's mercy is a sovereign remedy.
3 Have mercy upon us, O L ORD , have mercy upon us: for we are exceedingly filled with contempt. 4 Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease, and with the contempt of the proud. The solemn profession which God's people make of faith and hope in God,
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-run:32w-of-53
Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease,....
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease. Knowing no troubles of their own, the easy ones grow cruel and deride the people of the Lord. Having the godly already in secret contempt, they show it by openly scorning them. Note those who do this: they are not the poor, the humble, the troubled, but those who have a merry life of it, and are self content. They are in easy circumstances; they are easy in heart through a deadened conscience, and so they easily come to mock at holiness; they are easy from needing nothing, and from having no severe toil exacted from them; they are easy as to any anxiety to improve, for their conceit of themselves is boundless. Such men take things easily, and therefore they scorn the holy carefulness of those who watch the hand of the Lord. They say, Who is the Lord that we should obey his voice? and then they turn round with a contemptuous look and sneer at those who fear the Lord. Woe unto them that are at case in Zion; their contempt of the godly shall hasten and increase their misery. The injurious effect of freedom from affliction is singularly evident here. Place a man perfectly at case and he derides the suffering godly, and becomes himself proud in heart and conduct. "And with the contempt of the proud". The proud think so much of themselves that they must needs think all the less of those who are better than themselves. Pride is both contemptible and contemptuous. The contempt of the great ones of the earth is often peculiarly acrid: some of them, like a well known statesman, are "masters of gibes and flouts and sneers", and never do they seem so much at home in their acrimony as when a servant of the Lord is the victim of their venom. It is easy enough to write upon this subject, but to be selected as the target of contempt is quite another matter.
Those that are at ease - The Babylonians, who, having subdued all the people of the neighboring nations, lived at ease, had none to contend with them, and now became luxurious, indolent, and insolent: they were contemptuous and proud.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Our soul is exceedingly filled - Thoroughly sated. This verse states the nature and the source of the contempt which they were called to bear. With the scorning of those that are at ease - According to one view of these “Psalms of Degrees” (see the Introduction to Psa 120:1-7) this would be an instance of an “ascent” in the sense, or of the going up of the thought, where in Psa 123:3 there was mention made in general of “contempt,” and in this verse the thought is carried onward and upward, or there is an additional idea which gives intensity to it. It is the scorn proceeding from those who are at ease; that is, the frivolous, the affluent, the proud. The word scorning means derision, mockery. The idea in the Hebrew is derived from stammering, which the word properly means; and then, mockery, as repeating over the words of another, or imitating the voice of one in derision. Compare Psa 2:4; Job 22:19. The phrase “those that are at ease” properly refers to those who are tranquil or quiet, Job 12:5; Isa 32:18; Isa 33:20; and then it is used of those who are living at ease; those who are living in self-indulgence and luxury, Amo 6:1; Isa 32:9, Isa 32:11. Here it would seem to refer to those who, in our language, are “in easy circumstances;” the affluent; those who are not compelled to toil: then, the frivolous, the fashionable, those in the upper walks of life. The contempt was aggravated by the fact that it came from that quarter; not from the low, the ignorant, the common, but from those who claimed to be refined, and who were distinguished in the world of gaiety, of rank, and of fashion. This, even for good people (such is human nature), is much more hard to bear than contempt is when it comes from those who are in the lower walks of life. In the latter case, perhaps, we feel that we can meet contempt with contempt; in the former we cannot. […]
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
the ridicule of the complacent [With] the ridicule of the complacent heathens we are sated.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| רַבַּת֮ | rabat | much | H7227 → | 454 times |
| שָֽׂבְעָה־ | saveah- | it has been surfeited | H7646 → | 97 times |
| לָּ֪הּ | lah | <for> itself | ||
| נַ֫פְשֵׁ֥נוּ | nafshenu | self our | H5315 → | 754 times |
| הַלַּ֥עַג | halaag | the mockery of | H3933 → | 7 times |
| הַשַּׁאֲנַנִּ֑ים | hashaananim | <the> self-confident [people] | H7600 → | |
| הַ֝בּ֗וּז | habuz | the contempt | H937 → | 11 times |
| לִגְאֵי יוֹנִים׃ | lige yonim | of arrogant opressors | H1343 →H3238 → | 9 times |
רַבַּת֮much
rabatH7227 →454 times
שָֽׂבְעָה־it has been surfeited
saveah-H7646 →97 times
לָּ֪הּ<for> itself
lah
נַ֫פְשֵׁ֥נוּself our
nafshenuH5315 →754 times
הַלַּ֥עַגthe mockery of
halaagH3933 →7 times
הַשַּׁאֲנַנִּ֑ים<the> self-confident [people]
hashaananimH7600 →
הַ֝בּ֗וּזthe contempt
habuzH937 →11 times
לִגְאֵי יוֹנִים׃of arrogant opressors
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
1 Corinthians 4:13when we are slandered, we answer gently. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.
it leads to
- Lamentations 3:45
You have made us scum and refuse among the nations.
- Acts 22:22
The crowd listened to Paul until he made this statement. Then they lifted up their voices and shouted, “Rid the earth of him! He is not fit to live!”
- Lamentations 3:45
Through
Acts 17:32When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some began to mock him, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this topic.”
it leads to
- Acts 17:18
Some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others said, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this…
- Acts 26:8
Why would any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?
- 2 Corinthians 6:2
For He says: “In the time of favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” Behold, now is the time of favor; now is the day of salvation!
- Acts 25:19
They only had some contentions with him regarding their own religion and a certain Jesus who had died, but whom Paul affirmed to be alive.
- Acts 17:18
Through
Psalms 119:51The arrogant utterly deride me, but I do not turn from Your law.
it leads to
- Job 23:11
My feet have followed in His tracks; I have kept His way without turning aside.
- Jeremiah 20:7
You have deceived me, O LORD, and I was deceived. You have overcome me and prevailed. I am a laughingstock all day long; everyone mocks me.
- Job 23:11
About Psalms
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
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 123; Augustine of Hippo, On Patience, Section 12; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 6; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.