a head person (of any rank or class) · noun, common masculine plural absolute
persecuted
רְדָפ֣וּנִיre.da.Fu.ni
H7291
to run after (usually with hostile intent · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural + pronominal suffix
cause
חִנָּ֑םchi.Nam
H2600
gratis · adverb
heart
לִבִּֽיli.Bi
H3820
the heart · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
awe
פָּחַ֥דpa.Chad
H6342
to be startled (by a sudden alarm) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
word
וּ֝מִדְּבָרְךָ֗u.mi.de.va.rei.kha
H1697
a word · conjunction + preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
1 Samuel 24:9-15 And David said to Saul, Wherefore hearest thou men’s words, saying, Behold, David seeketh thy hurt?
1 Samuel 26:18 And he said, Wherefore doth my lord thus pursue after his servant? for what have I done? or what evil is in mine hand?
Psalms 119:157 Many are my persecutors and mine enemies; yet do I not decline from thy testimonies.
Isaiah 66:2 For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is p…
Psalms 4:4 Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.
Psalms 119:23 Princes also did sit and speak against me: but thy servant did meditate in thy statutes.
John 15:25 But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.
Genesis 39:9 There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 119:161
David here lets us know, 1. How he was discouraged in his duty by the fear of man: Princes persecuted him. They looked upon him as a traitor and an enemy to the government, and under that notion sought his life, and bade him go serve other gods, Sa1 26:19. It has been the common lot of the best men to be persecuted; and the case is the worse if princes be the persecutors, for they have not only the sword in their hand, and therefore can do the more hurt, but they have the law on their side, and can do it with reputation and a colour of justice. It is sad that the power which magistrates have from God, and should use for him, should ever be employed against him. But marvel not at the matter,…
SCHIN.--The Twenty-first Part.
SCHIN. Princes have persecuted me without a cause,.... These were either the princes of the Philistines at the court of Achish; or the princes of Israel, who joined in the conspiracy with Absalom; or the princes in Saul's court, as Kimchi observes; who insinuated that David had evil designs against the king, drove him from abiding in the Lord's inheritance, and pursued him from place to place, as a partridge on the mountains, 1 Samuel 29:4; and all which was without any cause or reason on his part; and which, as it was an aggravation of the sin of his persecutors, so it was an alleviation of his affliction: in this he was, a type of Christ, against whom the ki…
Psalm 119:161-168
161. s Princes have persecuted me without a cause; yet my heart hath beer, afraid at thy word 162. s I have rejoiced at thy word as one who hath found great spoil. 163. s I have hated and abhorred deceit; but I have loved thy law. 164. s Seven times a day have I praised thee, because of thy righteous judgments. [32] 165. s Great peace have them that love thy law, and there will be no stumbling-block for them. [33] 166. s Jehovah I have waited for thy salvation and have done thy commandments. 167. s My soul hath kept thy testimonies, and I have loved them exceeding. 168. s I have kept thy commandments and thy testimonies; for all my ways are before thee.
161 Princes have p…
The Church Fathers
We know what persecutions the body of Christ, that is, the holy Church, suffered from the kings of the earth. Let us therefore here also recognise the words of the Church: "Princes have persecuted me without a cause: and my heart has stood in awe of You" [Psalm 119:161]. For how had the Christians injured the kingdoms of the earth, although their King promised them the kingdom of heaven? How, I ask, had they injured the kingdoms of earth? Did their King forbid His soldiers to pay and to render due service to the kings of the earth? Says He not to the Jews who were striving to calumniate Him, "Render unto Cæsar the things that are Cæsar's, and unto God the things that are God's"? [Matthew 22:21] Did He not even in His own Person pay tribute from the mouth of a fish? [Matthew 17:24-26] Did not His forerunner, when the soldiers of this kingdom were seeking what they ought to do for their everlasting salvation, instead of replying, Loose your belts, throw away your arms, desert your king, that you may wage war for the Lord, answer, "Do violence to no man: neither accuse any falsely: and be content with your wages"? [Luke 3:14] Did not one of His soldiers, His most beloved companion, say to his fellow soldiers, the provincials, so to speak, of Christ, "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers"? Does he not enjoin the Church to pray for even kings themselves? [1 Timothy 2:1-2] How then have the Christians offended against them? What due have they not rendered? In what have not Christians obeyed the monarchs of earth? The kings of the earth therefore have persecuted the Christians without a cause. They too had their threatening words: I banish, I proscribe, I slay, I torture with claws, I burn with fires, I expose to beasts, I tear the limbs piecemeal. But heed what he has subjoined: "And my heart has stood in awe of Your word." My heart has stood in awe of these words, [Matthew 10:28] "Fear not them that kill the body," etc. I have scorned man who persecutes me, and have overcome the devil that would seduce me.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Poetry — Has been well defined as “the measured language of emotion.” Hebrew poetry deals almost exclusively with the great question of man’s relation to God. “Guilt, condemnation, punishment, pardon,…
Heart · .Fear — .Fear
Heart, Character Of The Renewed · Awed by the word of God — Awed by the word of God
Persecution · OF THE RIGHTEOUS — OF THE RIGHTEOUS
Scriptures, The · Saints: Stand in awe of — Saints: Stand in awe of
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
The eightfold ש (both Shin and Sin)
(Note: Whilst even in the oldest alphabetical Pijutim the Sin perhaps represents the Samech as well, but never the Shin, it is the reverse in the Biblical alphabetical pieces. Here Sin and Shin coincide, and Samech is specially represented.)).
In the midst of persecution God's word was still his fear, his joy, and his love, the object of his thanksgiving, and the ground of his hope. Princes persecute him without adequate cause, but his heart does not fear before them, but before God's words (the Ker likes the singular, as in Psa 119:147), to deny which would be to him the greatest possible evil. It is, however, a fear that is associated with heartfelt joy…
Shin (ש): The psalmist looks beyond his adversaries to the peace of God. This perspective allows him to praise God throughout the day.
119:161-164 my heart trembles . . . I rejoice: Fear, trembling, and joy mark the psalmist’s devotion to God. • God’s word is a treasure. • In the Old Testament, seven signifies wholeness.
