Psalms 40:14
in Psalms 40May those who seek my life be ashamed and confounded; may those who wish me harm be repelled and humiliated.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Let them be put to shame and confounded together That seek after my soul to destroy it: Let them be turned backward and brought to dishonor That delight in my hurt.
KJV
Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it; let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me evil.
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This verse in Psalms 40
Commentary
9 notes on this verseLet them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it. Whether we read this as a prayer or a prophecy it matters not, for the powers of sin, and death, and hell, may well be ashamed as they see the result of their malice for ever turned against themselves.
This site's exposition
who seek my life
on Psalms 40:14-15
The prayer asks shame and confusion on those who seek his life and wish him harm. The mockers who say Aha, aha are to be appalled at their own shame. The man lifted out of the pit asks it.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it" [Psalm 40:14]. For in a certain passage he makes an accusation, and says, "I looked upon my right hand, and beheld; and there was no man who sought after my soul;" that is, there was no man to imitate Mine example. Christ in His Passion is the Speaker. "I looked on my right hand," that is, not on the ungodly Jews, but on Mine own right hand, the Apostles,-"and there was no man who sought after My soul." So thoroughly was there no man to "seek after My soul," that he who had presumed on his own strength, "denied My soul." But because a man's soul is sought after in two ways, either in order that you may enjoy his society; or that you may persecute him; therefore he here speaks of others, whom he would have "confounded and ashamed," who are "seeking after his soul." But lest you should understand it in the same way as when he complains of some who did not "seek after his soul," He adds, "to destroy it;" that is, they seek after my soul in order to my death. ..."Let them be turned backward and put to shame that wish me evil." "Turned backwards." Let us not take this in a bad sense. He wishes them well; and it is His voice, who said from the Cross, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." Wherefore then doth he say to them, that they should return "backwards"? Because they who before were proud, so that they fell, are now become humble, so that they may rise again. For when they are before, they are wishing to take precedence of their Lord; to be better than He; but if they go behind Him, they acknowledge Him to be better than they; they acknowledge that He ought to go before; that He should precede they follow. Thence He thus rebukes Peter giving Him evil counsel. […]
The Medieval Church1 voice
"Let them be confounded." Here he presents the confusion of adversaries, of whom some are capital enemies and seek to kill. Others do not seek to kill but to harm. Others seek to mock or deceive with words. And these three kinds of evils are …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
), the roaring lion that goes about continually seeking to devour. If Christ has triumphed over them, we through him, shall be more than conquerors. In the belief of this we may pray, with humble boldness, Let them be ashamed and confounded together, and driven backward,
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
Let them be ashamed and confounded together,....
If, in singing this psalm, we mix faith with the prophecy of Christ, and join in sincerity with the praises and prayers here offered up, we make melody wit our hearts to the Lord.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it. Whether we read this as a prayer or a prophecy it matters not, for the powers of sin, and death, and hell, may well be ashamed as they see the result of their malice for ever turned against themselves. It is to the infinite confusion of Satan that his attempts to destroy the Saviour destroyed himself; the diabolical conclave who plotted in council are now all alike put to shame, for the Lord Jesus has met them at all points, and turned all their wisdom into foolishness. Let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me evil. It is even so; the hosts of darkness are utterly put to the rout, and made a theme for holy derision for ever and ever. How did they gloat over the thought of crushing the seed of the woman! but the Crucified has conquered, the Nazarene has laughed them to scorn, the dying Son of Man has become the death of death and hell's destruction. For ever blessed be his name.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Let them be ashamed and confounded together - See at Psa 35:4, note; Psa 35:26, note. This may be understood here rather as a confident expectation than a wish or desire. It implies the certainty that they would thus be ashamed and confounded; that is, that they would not be successful, or would be foiled in their purposes. But understood as a wish or prayer, it could not be improper. There is no sin in the wish that the wicked may not be successful in their plans, and may not be suffered to injure us. As the language of the Messiah it was in every way an appropriate prayer that the purposes of those who would defeat his design in coming into the world might be foiled - for on the execution of that design depended the salvation of a lost race. That seek after my soul to destroy it - That seek after my life; that would destroy me. That is, they seek to kill me; they would take my life before the full time is come. As understood of the Messiah, this would refer to the times when his life was in danger, as it often was, before the full period had arrived for him to die: Joh 7:6; Mat 26:18. The purpose of his enemies was to take his life; to prevent the spread of his doctrines; to cheek him in his work. The taking of his life at any time before the full period had arrived, or in any other way than that in which he had purposed to lay it down, would have been a defeat of his work, since in the plan of salvation it was contemplated that he should die at a certain time, and in a certain manner - that he should die at the time which had been predicted by the prophets, and in such a mode as to make an atonement for sin. […]
The words behind it
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יֵ֘בֹ֤שׁוּ | yevoshu | may they be ashamed | H954 → | 127 times |
| וְיַחְפְּר֨וּ׀ | veyachperu | and they may be abashed | H2659 → | 17 times |
| יַחַד֮ | yachad | altogether | H3162 → | 141 times |
| מְבַקְשֵׁ֥י | mevakshei | [those who] seek | H1245 → | 225 times |
| נַפְשִׁ֗י | nafshi | <of> life my | H5315 → | 754 times |
| לִסְפּ֫וֹתָ֥הּ | lispotah | to snatch away it | H5595 → | |
| יִסֹּ֣גוּ | yisogu | may they be turned back | H5472 → | 14 times |
| אָ֭חוֹר | ʾachor | backwards | H268 → | 41 times |
| וְיִכָּלְמ֑וּ | veyikalmu | and may they be humiliated | H3637 → | 38 times |
| חֲ֝פֵצֵ֗י | chafetzei | [the] [people] desirous of | H2655 → | 12 times |
| רָעָתִֽי׃ | raati | harm my | H7451 → | 662 times |
יֵ֘בֹ֤שׁוּmay they be ashamed
yevoshuH954 →127 times
וְיַחְפְּר֨וּ׀and they may be abashed
veyachperuH2659 →17 times
יַחַד֮altogether
yachadH3162 →141 times
מְבַקְשֵׁ֥י[those who] seek
mevaksheiH1245 →225 times
נַפְשִׁ֗י<of> life my
nafshiH5315 →754 times
לִסְפּ֫וֹתָ֥הּto snatch away it
lispotahH5595 →
יִסֹּ֣גוּmay they be turned back
yisoguH5472 →14 times
אָ֭חוֹרbackwards
ʾachorH268 →41 times
וְיִכָּלְמ֑וּand may they be humiliated
veyikalmuH3637 →38 times
חֲ֝פֵצֵ֗י[the] [people] desirous of
chafetzeiH2655 →12 times
רָעָתִֽי׃harm my
raatiH7451 →662 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
Psalms 35:4May those who seek my life be disgraced and put to shame; may those who plan to harm me be driven back and confounded.
it leads to
- Psalms 70:2–3
May those who seek my life be ashamed and confounded; may those who wish me harm be repelled and humiliated.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 35:26
May those who gloat in my distress be ashamed and confounded; may those who exalt themselves over me be clothed in shame and reproach.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 46:5
Why am I seeing this? They are terrified, they are retreating; their warriors are defeated, they flee in haste without looking back; terror is on every side!” declares the LORD.
- Psalms 38:12
Those who seek my life lay snares; those who wish me harm speak destruction, plotting deceit all day long.
- Psalms 31:17–18
O LORD, let me not be ashamed, for I have called on You. Let the wicked be put to shame; let them lie silent in Sheol.
- Psalms 70:2–3
Through
Isaiah 45:24Surely they will say of Me, ‘In the LORD alone are righteousness and strength.’” All who rage against Him will come to Him and be put to shame.
it leads to
- Isaiah 41:11
Behold, all who rage against you will be ashamed and disgraced; those who contend with you will be reduced to nothing and will perish.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 41:11
Through
Psalms 71:13May the accusers of my soul be ashamed and consumed; may those who seek my harm be covered with scorn and disgrace.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 20:11
But the LORD is with me like a fearsome warrior. Therefore, my persecutors will stumble and will not prevail. Since they have not succeeded, they will be utterly put to shame, with an everlasting…
- Jeremiah 20:11
Through
John 18:6When Jesus said, “I am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground.
it leads to
- Psalms 27:2
When the wicked came upon me to devour my flesh, my enemies and foes stumbled and fell.
- Psalms 27:2
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Psalms
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 40; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 2; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; John Calvin, Commentary on the Book of Psalms; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Exposition on the Psalms of David.