Psalms 89:51
in Psalms 89how Your enemies have taunted, O LORD, and have mocked every step of Your anointed one!
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Wherewith thine enemies have reproached, O Jehovah, Wherewith they have reproached the footsteps of thine anointed.
KJV
Wherewith thine enemies have reproached, O Lord; wherewith they have reproached the footsteps of thine anointed.
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This verse in Psalms 89
Commentary
8 notes on this verseWherewith thine enemies have reproached, O Lord. Here is another forcible point; the scoffers are the Lord's enemies as well as ours, and their reproach falls upon him as well as upon us; therefore we cry for the Lord's interposition. When Jehovah's own name is in the quarrel, surely he will arise. Wherewith they have reproached the footsteps of thine anointed. Tracking him and finding occasion to blaspheme at every turn; not only watching his words and actions, but even his harmless steps. Neither Christ nor his church can please the world, whichever way we turn scoffers will rail.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"Wherewith Thine enemies have blasphemed Thee, O Lord" [Psalm 89:51], both Jews and Pagans. "Wherewith they have blasphemed." Wherewith have they blasphemed Thee? "With the change of Thine Anointed." They objected that Christ died, and was crucified. Madmen, what is your reproach? Although there is now no one to use it: yet supposing some still remaining that so speak, what is your reproach? that Christ died? He was not destroyed, but changed. He is styled "dead" on account of the three days. Wherewith then have thine enemies blasphemed Thee? Not with the loss, not with the perdition of Thine Anointed, but with His "change." He was changed from temporal to eternal life: He was changed from the Jews to the Gentiles; He was changed from earth to heaven. Let then Thy vain enemies blaspheme Thee still for the change of Thine Anointed. Would that they may be changed: they will not in that case blaspheme the change of Christ, which displeases them since they themselves will not be changed. "For there is no change with them, and they fear not God."
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
In singing this psalm we must have high thoughts of God, a lively faith in his covenant with the Redeemer, and a sympathy with the afflicted parts of the church.
Wherewith thine enemies have reproached, O Lord,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The terms of expostulation are used in view of the actual appearance that God had forsaken His people and forgotten His promise, and the plea for aid is urged in view of the reproaches of His and His people's enemies (compare Isa 37:17-35).
Wherewith thine enemies have reproached, O Lord. Here is another forcible point; the scoffers are the Lord's enemies as well as ours, and their reproach falls upon him as well as upon us; therefore we cry for the Lord's interposition. When Jehovah's own name is in the quarrel, surely he will arise. Wherewith they have reproached the footsteps of thine anointed. Tracking him and finding occasion to blaspheme at every turn; not only watching his words and actions, but even his harmless steps. Neither Christ nor his church can please the world, whichever way we turn scoffers will rail. Does this verse refer to the oft repeated sarcasm—"Where is the promise of his coming?" Is the reproach aimed at the delays of the Messiah, those long expected footfalls which as yet are unheard? O Lord, how long shall this threadbare taunt continue? How long? How long?
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
They have reproached the footsteps of thine anointed - They search into the whole history of thy people; they trace it up to the earliest times; and they find we have been disobedient and rebellious; and on this account we suffer much, alas, deserved reproach. The Chaldee gives this clause a singular turn: “Thy enemies have reproached the slowness of the footsteps of the feet of thy Messiah, O Lord. We have trusted in him as our great Deliverer, and have been daily in expectation of his coming: but there is no deliverer, and our enemies mock our confidence.” This expectation seems now wholly abandoned by the Jews: they have rejected the true Messiah, and the ground of their expectation of another is now cut off. When will they turn unto the Lord? When shall the veil be taken away from their hearts? “Bend by thy grace, O bend or break The iron sinew in their neck!”
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Wherewith thine enemies have reproached, O Lord - Have reproached thee and me. Wherewith they reproach thy character and cause, and reproach me for having trusted to promises which seem not to be fulfilled. As the representative of thy cause, I am compelled to bear all this, and it breaks my heart. Wherewith they have reproached the footsteps of thine anointed - Of myself, as the anointed king. They have reproached my footsteps; that is, they have followed me with reproaches - treading along behind me. Wherever I go, wherever I put my foot down in my wanderings, I meet this reproach.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֲשֶׁ֤ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| חֵרְפ֖וּ | cherefu | they have reproached | H2778 → | 41 times |
| אוֹיְבֶ֥יךָ׀ | ʾoyveikha | enemies your | H341 → | 282 times |
| יְהוָ֑ה | yahweh | O Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| חֵ֝רְפ֗וּ | cherefu | they have reproached | H2778 → | 41 times |
| עִקְּב֥וֹת | ikevot | [the] footprints of | H6119 → | 14 times |
| מְשִׁיחֶֽךָ׃ | meshichekha | anointed your | H4899 → | 39 times |
אֲשֶׁ֤רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
חֵרְפ֖וּthey have reproached
cherefuH2778 →41 times
אוֹיְבֶ֥יךָ׀enemies your
ʾoyveikhaH341 →282 times
יְהוָ֑הO Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
חֵ֝רְפ֗וּthey have reproached
cherefuH2778 →41 times
עִקְּב֥וֹת[the] footprints of
ikevotH6119 →14 times
מְשִׁיחֶֽךָ׃anointed your
meshichekhaH4899 →39 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 5:41The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.
it leads to
- James 1:2
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of many kinds,
- 1 Peter 4:13–16
But rejoice that you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed at the revelation of His glory.
- Luke 6:22
Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil because of the Son of Man.
- Philippians 1:29
For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for Him,
- John 15:21
But they will treat you like this because of My name, since they do not know the One who sent Me.
- James 1:2
Through
Psalms 74:10How long, O God, will the enemy taunt You? Will the foe revile Your name forever?
it leads to
- Psalms 89:50–51
Remember, O Lord, the reproach of Your servants, which I bear in my heart from so many people—
- Revelation 6:10
And they cried out in a loud voice, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You avenge our blood and judge those who dwell upon the earth?”
- Daniel 12:6
One of them said to the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, “How long until the fulfillment of these wonders?”
- Psalms 89:50–51
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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 89; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 4; 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.