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Psalm 109:25

I have also become a reproach to them. When they see me, they shake their head.

23I fade away like an evening shadow. I am shaken off like a locust.
24My knees are weak through fasting. My body is thin and lacks fat.
25I have also become a reproach to them. When they see me, they shake their head.
26Help me, LORD, my God. Save me according to your loving kindness;
27that they may know that this is your hand; that you, LORD, have done it.
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← Psalm 109:24Psalm 109:26 →
Notice

A shake of the head adds public contempt to the speaker’s weakness, exposing the pain of being seen and met with scorn.

Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.

What experience, if any, comes to mind when you read, “they shake their head”?

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What would you want to tell God about being seen as a reproach?

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Connect

Where else Scripture says this

11 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.

This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Psalm 22:6–7But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised by the people.Both speakers describe themselves as a reproach, bearing the contempt of people around them.
Matthew 27:39Those who passed by blasphemed him, wagging their headsPeople wag their heads while insulting Jesus, sharing the gesture of contempt directed at the speaker in Psalm 109.
Job 16:4I also could speak as you do. If your soul were in my soul’s place, I could join words together against you, and shake my head at you,Job imagines shaking his head at his companions if their places were reversed, the same gesture the psalm’s speaker receives.
Mark 15:29Those who passed by blasphemed him, wagging their heads and saying, “Ha! You who destroy the temple and build it in three days,Mark describes people wagging their heads as they mock Jesus, matching the scornful gesture in the psalm.
Psalm 22:7All those who see me mock me. They insult me with their lips. They shake their heads, saying,Both passages describe people seeing the speaker and shaking their heads in contempt.
Romans 15:3For even Christ didn’t please himself. But, as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.”Both texts speak of bearing reproach; Romans names Christ as one on whom reproaches fell.
Psalm 69:19–20You know my reproach, my shame, and my dishonor. My adversaries are all before you.Both speakers bring their reproach before God; Psalm 69 states that God knows the shame and sees the adversaries.
2 Kings 19:21This is the word that the LORD has spoken concerning him: ‘The virgin daughter of Zion has despised you and ridiculed you. The daughter of Jerusalem has shaken …Zion shakes her head in ridicule, sharing the gesture in Psalm 109, though the psalm’s speaker receives it.
Psalm 69:9–12For the zeal of your house consumes me. The reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.Both speakers bear reproach; Psalm 69 adds that reproaches against God have fallen on the speaker.
Luke 10:32In the same way a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.Both mention being seen by others; Luke describes someone passing by, while the psalm describes a contemptuous gesture.
Isaiah 37:22this is the word which the LORD has spoken concerning him: The virgin daughter of Zion has despised you and ridiculed you. The daughter of Jerusalem has shaken …Jerusalem expresses ridicule by shaking her head, the same gesture directed against the speaker in Psalm 109.
Where this verse fits

Loneliness. injustice and anger. church hurt.

What the Bible says about loneliness →What the Bible says about anger →
One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

Read Psalm 109:25–26 aloud before naming one hurt

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Encouragement

The pain of being mocked has a place in prayer. The speaker turns toward God’s loving kindness while the scorn around him remains unresolved.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 109:25. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.

Keep goingPsalm 109 · the whole chapter with its connection mapPsalms · every chapterBuild a reading plan through Psalms

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).