Read
Psalm 119:61
The ropes of the wicked bind me, but I won’t forget your law.
59I considered my ways, and turned my steps to your statutes.
60I will hurry, and not delay, to obey your commandments.
61The ropes of the wicked bind me, but I won’t forget your law.
62At midnight I will rise to give thanks to you, because of your righteous ordinances.
63I am a friend of all those who fear you, of those who observe your precepts.
Notice
The ropes make the threat concrete, while the speaker’s refusal to forget God’s law shows a resolve that remains under restraint.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What does the word “ropes” suggest about the pressure the speaker faces?
Write on thisWhat would remembering God’s law look like in a situation where your choices feel constrained?
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
Hosea 4:6My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you, that you may be no priest to me. Because you have …God’s law is central in both passages: the psalmist refuses to forget it, while Hosea names the consequences of forgetting it.
Romans 12:17–21Repay no one evil for evil. Respect what is honorable in the sight of all men.Both concern responses to evil; the psalm names remembrance of God’s law, while Romans forbids repaying evil with evil.
Psalm 119:176I have gone astray like a lost sheep. Seek your servant, for I don’t forget your commandments.Both speakers affirm that they remember God’s commands, one while bound by the wicked and the other while confessing to having strayed.
Hosea 6:9As gangs of robbers wait to ambush a man, so the company of priests murder on the path toward Shechem, committing shameful crimes.Both describe harm inflicted by wrongdoers, though Hosea names murderous priests and the psalm speaks of ropes that bind.
Proverbs 24:29Don’t say, “I will do to him as he has done to me; I will repay the man according to his work.”Both concern conduct in the face of wrongdoing; the psalm affirms remembrance of God’s law, while Proverbs forbids revenge.
Job 1:17While he was still speaking, another also came and said, “The Chaldeans made three bands, and swept down on the camels, and have taken them away, yes, and …Both describe suffering caused by hostile people, with binding ropes in the psalm and theft and killing in Job’s report.
Psalm 119:95The wicked have waited for me, to destroy me. I will consider your statutes.Both verses name the wicked as a threat and answer that threat with sustained attention to God’s instruction.
Psalm 3:1A Psalm by David, when he fled from Absalom his son. LORD, how my adversaries have increased! Many are those who rise up against me.Both speakers address God amid human hostility, one describing binding ropes and the other a growing number of adversaries.
1 Samuel 26:9–11David said to Abishai, “Don’t destroy him, for who can stretch out his hand against the LORD’s anointed, and be guiltless?”Both texts make regard for God decisive: the psalmist remembers God’s law, and David refuses an act that would bring guilt.
Psalm 140:5The proud have hidden a snare for me, they have spread the cords of a net by the path. They have set traps for me. Selah.Ropes and cords appear in both passages as means by which hostile people seek to restrain or trap the speaker.
1 Samuel 24:9–11David said to Saul, “Why do you listen to men’s words, saying, ‘Behold, David seeks to harm you’?The shared thread is human hostility: the psalmist describes restraint, while David questions Saul about an accusation of harmful intent.
1 Samuel 30:3–5When David and his men came to the city, behold, it was burned with fire; and their wives, their sons, and their daughters were taken captive.Both passages describe people deprived of freedom through hostile acts: the psalmist is bound, and the families of David’s men are taken captive.
Where this verse fits
Injustice and anger. fear for the future.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
The speaker makes this commitment while the ropes still bind. You need no pretense that hardship has ended to remember God’s law; his authority remains even under threat.
Now put it in your words.
Start an entry on Psalm 119:61. 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).