Read
Psalm 119:141
I am small and despised. I don’t forget your precepts.
139My zeal wears me out, because my enemies ignore your words.
140Your promises have been thoroughly tested, and your servant loves them.
141I am small and despised. I don’t forget your precepts.
142Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness. Your law is truth.
143Trouble and anguish have taken hold of me. Your commandments are my delight.
Notice
Being “small and despised” does not erase the speaker’s resolve to remember God’s precepts, even while the contempt remains part of life.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What might remembering God’s precepts look like in a place where you have little standing?
Write on thisWhat do you notice about the speaker’s resolve while being “small and despised” remains unresolved?
Write on thisConnect
Where else Scripture says this
12 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 22:6But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised by the people.Both speakers describe themselves as despised, naming the weight of other people’s contempt without softening it.
2 Corinthians 8:9For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich.The shared thread is lowliness, though Paul describes Christ becoming poor for others, while the psalm describes being small and despised.
Deuteronomy 26:13You shall say before the LORD your God, “I have put away the holy things out of my house, and also have given them to the Levite, to the foreigner, to the …Both speakers affirm faithfulness to God’s commands; Deuteronomy names concrete obedience through provision for people in need.
James 2:5Listen, my beloved brothers. Didn’t God choose those who are poor in this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom which he promised to those who …Both passages connect low standing with faith toward God, though James speaks of poverty and the psalm of being despised.
Psalm 119:16I will delight myself in your statutes. I will not forget your word. GIMELBoth verses express a resolve to remember God’s instruction, using the language of refusing to forget.
Luke 9:58Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”The connection is limited to hardship: the psalm’s speaker is despised, while Jesus describes having no place to lay his head.
Luke 6:20He lifted up his eyes to his disciples, and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for God’s Kingdom is yours.Both passages speak of people with little standing, though Jesus names poverty and the psalm names smallness and contempt.
Psalm 119:109My soul is continually in my hand, yet I won’t forget your law.Both speakers refuse to forget God’s instruction amid hardship, whether being despised or living with life at risk.
Proverbs 16:8Better is a little with righteousness, than great revenues with injustice.Both connect having little with faithfulness, though Proverbs speaks of limited wealth and the psalm of small standing.
Proverbs 15:16Better is little, with the fear of the LORD, than great treasure with trouble.Both connect low circumstances with devotion to God, though Proverbs addresses possessions and the psalm describes being despised.
Psalm 40:17But I am poor and needy. May the Lord think about me. You are my help and my deliverer. Don’t delay, my God.Both speakers name their low circumstances before God; one asks for help, while the other affirms remembering his precepts.
Proverbs 3:1My son, don’t forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments,Both passages join remembering instruction with faithfulness to commands, making forgetfulness a concern of the heart.
Where this verse fits
Loneliness. work conflict. church hurt.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
Being despised is left unresolved here. The speaker still remembers God’s precepts; another person’s contempt does not change the authority of God’s word over your life.
Now put it in your words.
Start an entry on Psalm 119:141. 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 119 · 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).