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Psalm 119:69

The proud have smeared a lie upon me. With my whole heart, I will keep your precepts.

67Before I was afflicted, I went astray; but now I observe your word.
68You are good, and do good. Teach me your statutes.
69The proud have smeared a lie upon me. With my whole heart, I will keep your precepts.
70Their heart is as callous as the fat, but I delight in your law.
71It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn your statutes.
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← Psalm 119:68Psalm 119:70 →
Notice

The smeared lie threatens a person's reputation, and the next sentence turns to a resolve that reaches the whole heart: keeping God's precepts.

Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.

What do you notice about the move from naming the lie to declaring obedience?

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Where might concern for your reputation compete with keeping God's precepts with your whole heart?

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What remains unresolved after the psalmist makes his commitment to God?

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Connect

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
Jeremiah 29:13You shall seek me and find me, when you search for me with all your heart.Both passages describe wholehearted devotion to God: seeking him in Jeremiah and keeping his precepts in the psalm.
Job 13:4But you are forgers of lies. You are all physicians of no value.Both speakers name the lies directed against them, refusing to treat those words as truthful accounts.
Matthew 5:11–12“Blessed are you when people reproach you, persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, for my sake.Both passages name false accusations; Matthew speaks of blessing when those accusations come for Jesus' sake.
Psalm 119:10With my whole heart I have sought you. Don’t let me wander from your commandments.Both verses join the whole heart with God's commands, one expressing resolve and the other asking for help against wandering.
Psalm 109:2–3for they have opened the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of deceit against me. They have spoken to me with a lying tongue.Both speakers describe lies spoken against them, naming deceit as part of the hostility they face.
Psalm 119:157Many are my persecutors and my adversaries. I haven’t swerved from your testimonies.Both verses describe opposition alongside continued allegiance to God's instruction, whether through keeping his precepts or refusing to swerve.
Matthew 26:59–68Now the chief priests, the elders, and the whole council sought false testimony against Jesus, that they might put him to death,Falsehood targets a person in both passages; Matthew describes leaders seeking false testimony against Jesus to put him to death.
Psalm 10:2In arrogance, the wicked hunt down the weak. They are caught in the schemes that they devise.Pride accompanies harm in both psalms: the proud smear a lie, and the arrogant wicked hunt down the weak.
Acts 24:13Nor can they prove to you the things of which they now accuse me.Both speakers face accusations, though Acts emphasizes the lack of proof and the psalm emphasizes commitment to God's precepts.
Acts 24:5For we have found this man to be a plague, an instigator of insurrections among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the …Both passages concern hostile accusations; Acts records specific charges, while the psalm identifies the accusation against its speaker as a lie.
James 1:8He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.The connection is a contrast: the psalm declares wholehearted commitment, while James describes a double-minded man's instability.
Hebrews 10:22let’s draw near with a true heart in fullness of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and having our body washed with pure water,Both passages concern the heart's devotion to God, expressed through wholehearted obedience in the psalm and sincere approach in Hebrews.
Where this verse fits

Work conflict. injustice and anger. church hurt.

What the Bible says about anger →
One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

Copy Psalm 119:69 and underline its commitment

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Encouragement

You do not have to call slander harmless. The psalmist names the lie and commits his whole heart to God's precepts, without reporting that his reputation has been restored.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 119:69. 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).