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Psalm 119:53
Indignation has taken hold on me, because of the wicked who forsake your law.
51The arrogant mock me excessively, but I don’t swerve from your law.
52I remember your ordinances of old, LORD, and have comforted myself.
53Indignation has taken hold on me, because of the wicked who forsake your law.
54Your statutes have been my songs in the house where I live.
55I have remembered your name, LORD, in the night, and I obey your law.
Notice
Indignation takes hold of the speaker because people forsake God’s law, making their rejection of his commands a matter of personal anguish.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What difference does the stated cause, forsaking God’s law, make to how you understand this indignation?
Write on thisWhere does your own anger resemble the concern expressed here, and where might it differ?
Write on thisWhat do you notice about the speaker’s indignation in verse 53 and obedience in verse 55?
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
Ezekiel 9:4The LORD said to him, “Go through the middle of the city, through the middle of Jerusalem, and set a mark on the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry …The psalm’s indignation and the sighing and crying in Jerusalem express distress over wrongdoing.
Ezra 9:3When I heard this thing, I tore my garment and my robe, and pulled the hair out of my head and of my beard, and sat down confounded.Both speakers describe overwhelming distress; Ezra tears his clothes and pulls out hair, though the supplied verse leaves the cause unstated.
Psalm 119:136Streams of tears run down my eyes, because they don’t observe your law. TZADHEBoth verses name disregard for God’s law as the cause of intense emotion: indignation here and streams of tears there.
Psalm 119:158I look at the faithless with loathing, because they don’t observe your word.Both verses express revulsion toward people whose conduct rejects God’s instruction, described as his law and his word.
Jeremiah 13:17But if you will not hear it, my soul will weep in secret for your pride. My eye will weep bitterly, and run down with tears, because the LORD’s flock has been …Both passages express distress at refusal to heed God; Jeremiah describes tears over pride and the captivity of the LORD’s flock.
Philippians 3:18For many walk, of whom I told you often, and now tell you even weeping, as the enemies of the cross of Christ,The psalmist responds with indignation to those forsaking God’s law, while Paul weeps over people walking as enemies of Christ’s cross.
Ezra 10:6Then Ezra rose up from before God’s house, and went into the room of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib. When he came there, he didn’t eat bread or drink water, for …Forsaking God’s law provokes indignation in the psalm, while the exiles’ trespass leads Ezra to mourn without food or water.
Nehemiah 13:25I contended with them, cursed them, struck certain of them, plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God, “You shall not give your daughters to their …Both passages contain anger over disobedience; Nehemiah’s confrontation includes striking people and pulling out hair, actions absent from the psalm’s prayer.
Habakkuk 3:16I heard, and my body trembled. My lips quivered at the voice. Rottenness enters into my bones, and I tremble in my place because I must wait quietly for the …Both describe being overcome by distress, though Habakkuk trembles while awaiting invasion rather than expressing indignation over forsaking God’s law.
2 Corinthians 12:21that again when I come my God would humble me before you, and I would mourn for many of those who have sinned before now, and not repented of the uncleanness, …Both passages describe distress over others’ disobedience; Paul anticipates mourning for people who have sinned and have not repented.
Luke 19:41–42When he came near, he saw the city and wept over it,Both show an intense emotional response: the psalmist feels indignation, and Jesus weeps over the city, with no cause stated in this excerpt.
Romans 9:1–3I tell the truth in Christ. I am not lying, my conscience testifying with me in the Holy SpiritBoth speak in the first person about matters of faith; the supplied Romans line does not mention indignation or sorrow.
Where this verse fits
Injustice and anger. sermon or Bible study notes.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
Anger at the rejection of God’s law has a place in this prayer. In the surrounding lines, the speaker remains bound to obey the same law others forsake.
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).