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Psalm 119:157
Many are my persecutors and my adversaries. I haven’t swerved from your testimonies.
155Salvation is far from the wicked, for they don’t seek your statutes.
156Great are your tender mercies, LORD. Revive me according to your ordinances.
157Many are my persecutors and my adversaries. I haven’t swerved from your testimonies.
158I look at the faithless with loathing, because they don’t observe your word.
159Consider how I love your precepts. Revive me, LORD, according to your loving kindness.
Notice
Many persecutors surround the speaker, yet his words stay firm, exposing the cost of keeping God's testimonies when opposition has strength in numbers.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What stands out to you about the speaker naming many adversaries before declaring he has not swerved?
Write on thisWhere does pressure from others make keeping God's testimonies feel costly to you?
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 119:69The proud have smeared a lie upon me. With my whole heart, I will keep your precepts.Both verses describe hostility from others alongside the speaker's commitment to keep God's instruction.
1 Corinthians 15:58Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.Both passages concern steadfastness toward God: the psalm describes keeping his testimonies, and Corinthians urges persistence in the Lord's work.
Psalm 44:18Our heart has not turned back, neither have our steps strayed from your path,Both speakers describe remaining on God's path through the language of steps that have not strayed.
Proverbs 4:5Get wisdom. Get understanding. Don’t forget, and don’t deviate from the words of my mouth.Both passages use the language of refusing to deviate from instruction, with Proverbs urging what the psalm's speaker describes.
Psalm 119:161Princes have persecuted me without a cause, but my heart stands in awe of your words.Both verses name persecution while describing a heart or conduct that remains governed by God's words.
Psalm 119:51The arrogant mock me excessively, but I don’t swerve from your law.Both verses pair hostility with the speaker's declaration that he does not swerve from God's instruction.
Acts 20:23–24except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions wait for me.Both passages name hardship facing the speaker, though Acts specifies coming bonds and afflictions rather than describing adherence to God's testimonies.
Isaiah 42:4He will not fail nor be discouraged, until he has set justice on the earth, and the islands wait for his law.”Both portray resolve that does not give way, though Isaiah concerns establishing justice and the psalm concerns keeping God's testimonies.
Job 17:9Yet the righteous will hold to his way. He who has clean hands will grow stronger and stronger.Both describe steadfast conduct through the language of holding to a way without turning aside.
Job 23:11My foot has held fast to his steps. I have kept his way, and not turned away.Both speakers declare that they have kept God's way without turning away from it.
Matthew 24:9“Then they will deliver you up to oppression and will kill you. You will be hated by all of the nations for my name’s sake.Both passages describe persecution from many opponents, with Matthew naming hatred and death for the sake of Jesus' name.
Acts 4:27“For truly, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you …Many adversaries oppose the psalm's speaker; Acts names several groups gathered against God's holy servant Jesus.
Where this verse fits
Injustice and anger. fear for the future.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
The speaker's resolve stands between pleas for God to revive him. Holding to God's testimonies leaves room to ask for mercy while the opposition remains.
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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).