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Psalm 119:42
So I will have an answer for him who reproaches me, for I trust in your word.
40Behold, I long for your precepts! Revive me in your righteousness. VAV
41Let your loving kindness also come to me, LORD, your salvation, according to your word.
42So I will have an answer for him who reproaches me, for I trust in your word.
43Don’t snatch the word of truth out of my mouth, for I put my hope in your ordinances.
44So I will obey your law continually, forever and ever.
Notice
An answer to reproach grows out of trust in God's word, following a plea for the loving kindness and salvation God has promised.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What reproach makes it hard for you to trust God's word?
Write on thisHow does the plea for loving kindness in verse 41 shape the answer anticipated here?
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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 130:5I wait for the LORD. My soul waits. I hope in his word.Both speakers depend on God's word, one while waiting for the LORD and the other while facing reproach.
Acts 27:25Therefore, sirs, cheer up! For I believe God, that it will be just as it has been spoken to me.Both speakers ground their confidence in what God has said.
Proverbs 27:11Be wise, my son, and bring joy to my heart, then I can answer my tormentor.Both anticipate an answer to someone hostile, with Proverbs linking that answer to a son's wisdom and the psalm to trust.
Matthew 27:63saying, “Sir, we remember what that deceiver said while he was still alive: ‘After three days I will rise again.’Reproach connects these texts: the psalm's speaker faces it, and Jesus is called a deceiver by those recalling his words.
Psalm 119:74Those who fear you will see me and be glad, because I have put my hope in your word.Both verses express dependence on God's word in the presence of others, whether those others reproach or rejoice.
2 Samuel 16:7–8Shimei said when he cursed, “Be gone, be gone, you man of blood, and wicked fellow!Shimei's curse is a concrete example of the hostile speech the psalm describes as reproach.
Psalm 56:10–11In God, I will praise his word. In the LORD, I will praise his word.God's word is central to both declarations, receiving praise in Psalm 56 and trust here.
Psalm 119:49Remember your word to your servant, because you gave me hope.Both speakers depend on God's word as the ground of hope or trust.
1 Chronicles 28:3–6But God said to me, ‘You shall not build a house for my name, because you are a man of war and have shed blood.’Both concern God's word, though Chronicles records a restriction on building, while the psalm expresses trust amid reproach.
2 Samuel 7:12–16When your days are fulfilled and you sleep with your fathers, I will set up your offspring after you, who will proceed out of your body, and I will establish …Samuel records God's promise to establish an offspring's kingdom; the psalm expresses trust in God's word without naming that promise.
2 Samuel 19:18–20A ferry boat went to bring over the king’s household, and to do what he thought good. Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king when he had come over …The connection is slight: the psalm anticipates answering reproach, while this excerpt shows Shimei falling before the king.
Matthew 27:40–43and saying, “You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!”Both texts contain reproach: the psalm anticipates an answer, while Matthew records taunts demanding that Jesus save himself.
Where this verse fits
Work conflict. family conflict. doubt.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
The reproach is still present when the speaker declares trust. Your confidence can rest in God's word even while another person's accusation remains unanswered.
Now put it in your words.
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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).