Psalms 140:12
in Psalms 140I know that the LORD upholds justice for the poor and defends the cause of the needy.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I know that Jehovah will maintain the cause of the afflicted, And justice for the needy.
KJV
I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and the right of the poor.
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This verse in Psalms 140
Commentary
10 notes on this verseI know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and, the right of the poor. All through the Psalm the writer is bravely confident, and speaks of things about which he had no doubt: in fact, no Psalm can be more grandly positive than this protest against slander. The slandered saint knew Jehovah's care for the afflicted, for he had received actual proofs of it himself. "I will maintain it" is the motto of the great Defender of the rights of the needy. What confidence this should create within the bosoms of the persecuted and poverty stricken!
This site's exposition
the LORD upholds justice for the poor
on Psalms 140:12-13
The last verses answer the prayer with what the psalmist knows, that justice for the poor is upheld by the LORD and the needy defended. The righteous will praise the name, and the upright will live in God's presence. That is where the psalm stops.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"I know that the Lord will maintain the right of the needy" [Psalm 140:12]. This "needy" one is not "full of words;" for he that is full of words, wisheth to abound, knoweth not to hunger. He is "needy" of whom it is said, "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled." They groan among the stumbling-blocks of the wicked, they pray to their Head, to be delivered from the wicked man. "And the cause of the poor." These then are they whose cause the Lord will not neglect; although now they suffer hardships, their glory shall appear, when their Head appeareth. For to such while placed here it is said, "Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God." So then we are poor, our life is hid; let us cry to Him that is our Bread. ...
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
In this, as in other things, David was a type of Christ, that he suffered before he reigned, was humbled before he was exalted, and that as there were many who loved and valued him, and sought to do him honour, so there were many who hated and envied him, and sought to do him mischief, as appears by these verses, where, I.
I know,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and, the right of the poor. All through the Psalm the writer is bravely confident, and speaks of things about which he had no doubt: in fact, no Psalm can be more grandly positive than this protest against slander. The slandered saint knew Jehovah's care for the afflicted, for he had received actual proofs of it himself. "I will maintain it" is the motto of the great Defender of the rights of the needy. What confidence this should create within the bosoms of the persecuted and poverty stricken! The prosperous and wealthy can maintain their own cause, but those who are otherwise shall find that God helps those who cannot help themselves. Many talk as if the poor had no rights worth noticing, but they will sooner or later find out their mistake when the Judge of all the earth begins to plead with them.
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2527: “David's Five-stringed Harp” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
This Psalm was written by David when he was sorely vexed by many adversaries. These adversaries were bent upon his destruction—they could not bear that the son of Jesse should be favored of God and that he should come to the throne—so they set their wits to work to invent all manner of slanders against him. They misconstrued his actions, they misrepresented his motives. They spat the very venom of asps from their mouths against him and, at the same time, they said to one another, "If we can lead him to do wrong.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2527: “David's Five-stringed Harp” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
This Psalm was written by David when he was sorely vexed by many adversaries. These adversaries were bent upon his destruction—they could not bear that the son of Jesse should be favored of God and that he should come to the throne—so they set their wits to work to invent all manner of slanders against him. They misconstrued his actions, they misrepresented his motives. They spat the very venom of asps from their mouths against him and, at the same time, they said to one another, "If we can lead him to do wrong. If we can, somehow or other, entrap him, either in his speech, or in his private character, or in his public actions, then we shall have a weapon wherewith we can smite him." The ungodly are fully aware that slander is, after all, a very dangerous weapon to handle and, like the Australian boomerang, it is very apt to come back to the man who throws it. Stones, hurled into the air, often fall upon the head of the thrower, and slander often recoils upon those who utter it. So, if they can but get a trthflaccusation against a man of God, then they are exceedingly glad. Slander is like shooting at a man with only powder, or with very small shot that can sting, but cannot kill. But, oh, if they can discover some questionable action of the man, or some decided wrongdoing, then they can load their rifles with bullets and have something deadly to fire at the righteous! David was exceedingly troubled by all this malice on the part of his enemies. He was a man who would have liked to go through the world at peace with everybody. Even when Saul tried to hunt him to the death, you remember that he would not lift his hand against his adversary even when he might have slain him.
The cause of the afflicted - Every person who is persecuted for righteousness’ sake has God for his peculiar help and refuge; and the persecutor has the same God for his especial enemy.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted - See the notes at Psa 9:4. The psalmist here doubtless refers primarily to himself, as having a confident belief that the Lord would maintain “his” cause, or would defend “him.” At the same time he makes the statement general, implying that what would be done to him would be done to all in similar circumstances. The idea is that God, in all his attributes, in all his providential arrangements, in all his interpositions on earth, would be found to be on the side of the oppressed, the afflicted, and the wronged. He has no attribute that can take part with an oppressor or a wrong doer. The wicked cannot come to him with the belief that he will be on their side: the righteous - the oppressed - the afflicted - can. And the right of the poor - He will defend the right of the poor. Literally, “The judgment of the poor.” That which will be just and right in their case.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
descend May the coals descend on them. Let them lie upon them until they sink and become extinguished by themselves. The body will thus disintegrate and disappear.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
I know that ultimately the Lord will perform the judgment of a poor man, and He will avenge the vengeance of His servants.
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. 4 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יָדַ֗עְתִּי | yada'ta | I know | H3045 → | 945 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| יַעֲשֶׂ֣ה | yaaseh | he will do | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| יְ֭הוָה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| דִּ֣ין | din | [the] cause of | H1779 → | 20 times |
| עָנִ֑י | ʾani | [the] poor | H6041 → | 73 times |
| מִ֝שְׁפַּ֗ט | mishpat | [the] justice of | H4941 → | 422 times |
| אֶבְיֹנִֽים׃ | ʾevyonim | needy [people] | H34 → | 61 times |
יָדַ֗עְתִּיI know
yada'taH3045 →945 times
כִּֽי־that
ki-H3588 →4482 times
יַעֲשֶׂ֣הhe will do
yaasehH6213 →2628 times
יְ֭הוָהYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
דִּ֣ין[the] cause of
dinH1779 →20 times
עָנִ֑י[the] poor
ʾaniH6041 →73 times
מִ֝שְׁפַּ֗ט[the] justice of
mishpatH4941 →422 times
אֶבְיֹנִֽים׃needy [people]
ʾevyonimH34 →61 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
Jeremiah 22:16He took up the cause of the poor and needy, and so it went well with him. Is this not what it means to know Me?” declares the LORD.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 9:24
But let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD, who exercises loving devotion, justice and righteousness on the earth—for I delight in these things,”…
- Isaiah 1:17
Learn to do right; seek justice and correct the oppressor. Defend the fatherless and plead the case of the widow.”
- 1 John 2:3–4
By this we can be sure that we have come to know Him: if we keep His commandments.
- Titus 1:16
They profess to know God, but by their actions they deny Him. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good deed.
- Jeremiah 9:24
Through
Psalms 9:4For You have upheld my just cause; You sit on Your throne judging righteously.
it leads to
- 1 Peter 2:23
When they heaped abuse on Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats, but entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly.
- Psalms 98:9
before the LORD, for He comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with equity.
- Isaiah 11:4
but with righteousness He will judge the poor, and with equity He will decide for the lowly of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth and slay the…
- Psalms 89:14
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; loving devotion and faithfulness go before You.
- 1 Peter 2:23
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, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 140; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 7; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2527: “David's Five-stringed Harp” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.