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Psalm 119:22
Take reproach and contempt away from me, for I have kept your statutes.
20My soul is consumed with longing for your ordinances at all times.
21You have rebuked the proud who are cursed, who wander from your commandments.
22Take reproach and contempt away from me, for I have kept your statutes.
23Though princes sit and slander me, your servant will meditate on your statutes.
24Indeed your statutes are my delight, and my counselors. DALETH
Notice
Reproach and contempt remain painful even when you have sought to obey God; the speaker asks for their removal while affirming faithfulness to God's statutes.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
When has seeking to keep God's commands left you exposed to someone's contempt?
Write on thisWhat would you want to say to God about that contempt before asking him to take it away?
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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 119:2Blessed are those who keep his statutes, who seek him with their whole heart.Both speak of keeping God's statutes, with one declaring the keepers blessed and the other asking for contempt to be removed.
Psalm 39:8Deliver me from all my transgressions. Don’t make me the reproach of the foolish.Both ask God for relief from reproach, though Psalm 39 also asks for deliverance from transgressions.
Psalm 119:39Take away my disgrace that I dread, for your ordinances are good.Both ask God to take disgrace away and connect that request with regard for his commands.
1 Peter 2:20For what glory is it if, when you sin, you patiently endure beating? But if when you do well, you patiently endure suffering, this is commendable with God.Both describe suffering alongside obedience, while Peter speaks of enduring suffering for doing well as commendable with God.
Psalm 86:1A Prayer by David. Hear, LORD, and answer me, for I am poor and needy.Both address God with a direct plea for help and give a reason for the request.
1 Peter 3:16–17having a good conscience. Thus, while you are spoken against as evildoers, they may be disappointed who curse your good way of life in Christ.Both describe being spoken against despite good conduct, expressed as keeping God's statutes or living well in Christ.
1 Peter 4:14–16If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. On their part he is blasphemed, but on your …Both concern contempt faced by God's people; Peter specifies insults for Christ's name and declares those insulted blessed.
1 Samuel 25:10Nabal answered David’s servants and said, “Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants who break away from their masters these days.Nabal's dismissive words about David show the contempt that the psalm names in its plea to God.
1 Samuel 25:39When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed is the LORD, who has pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and has kept back his …The psalm asks God to remove reproach; David praises God for pleading his cause against Nabal's reproach.
Job 16:20My friends scoff at me. My eyes pour out tears to God,Both turn toward God under contempt, with Job describing scoffing friends and tears poured out to God.
Hebrews 13:13Let’s therefore go out to him outside of the camp, bearing his reproach.Reproach is shared language, though the psalm asks for its removal and Hebrews urges its readers to bear it.
2 Samuel 16:7–8Shimei said when he cursed, “Be gone, be gone, you man of blood, and wicked fellow!Shimei's curse supplies an instance of reproach, the kind of verbal contempt the psalm asks God to remove.
Where this verse fits
Injustice and anger. work conflict. church hurt.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
The request for relief belongs in a life of obedience. Keeping God's statutes has not spared this speaker contempt, and the speaker brings that hurt to God.
Now put it in your words.
Start an entry on Psalm 119:22. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.
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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).