Bible Strands
Psalms 69:26
For they persecute the one You struck and recount the pain of those You wounded.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The psalmist speaks in a lament, addressing God directly regarding the actions of his oppressors. This occurs within a petition for deliverance where the speaker contrasts his suffering with the judgment pronounced on his persecutors in the surrounding verses.
The words — The Hebrew root רָדָ֑פוּ (radafu) translates literally as "they have harassed," and מַכְא֖וֹב (makh'ov) means "the pain" or "grief." The text reports that the oppressors actively mock the speaker's affliction and the suffering of those God has wounded.
The thread — The pattern of compounding divine judgment appears in Zech 1:15, where God's measured anger is exceeded by the hostility of nations. The New Testament applies this persecution motif to the crucifixion narrative in Mark 15:27, where criminals are crucified alongside Jesus.
Why it lands — The text states that mocking those under divine judgment or bearing suffering will result in compounded judgment. It requires the reader to reject ridicule of the afflicted and align with God's assessment of justice.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten; and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 53:4 Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows; yet we considered Him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted.
- Zechariah 1:15 but I am fiercely angry with the nations that are at ease. For I was a little angry, but they have added to the calamity.’
- Mark 15:27 Along with Jesus, they crucified two robbers, one on His right and one on His left.
- Isaiah 53:10 Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush Him and to cause Him to suffer; and when His soul is made a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, and the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.
- 2 Chronicles 28:9 But a prophet of the LORD named Oded was there, and he went out to meet the army that returned to Samaria. “Look,” he said to them, “because of His wrath against Judah, the LORD, the God of your fathers, has delivered them into your hand. But you have slaughtered them in a rage that reaches up to heaven.
- Zechariah 13:7 Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, against the man who is My Companion, declares the LORD of Hosts. Strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn My hand against the little ones.
- 1 Thessalonians 2:15 who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets and drove us out as well. They are displeasing to God and hostile to all men,
- Job 19:21 Have pity on me, my friends, have pity, for the hand of God has struck me.
- Psalms 109:16 For he never thought to show kindness, but pursued the poor and needy and brokenhearted, even to their death.