Bible Strands
Psalms 89:42
You have exalted the right hand of his foes; You have made all his enemies rejoice.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses God regarding the fallen Davidic king, describing the immediate aftermath of national humiliation when the monarch is stripped of protection and left to plunder. The words — הֲ֭רִימוֹתָ (Ha.ri.mo.ta) = you have exalted; יְמִ֣ין (ye.Min) = right hand. These terms literally describe God lifting up the military strength and authority of the king’s adversaries. The thread — This pattern of divine reversal appears in Leviticus 26:17, where God sets His face against the people to bring defeat; Psalm 80:6, where God makes the people contend with neighbors; and Revelation 11:10, where those on earth gloat over God’s messengers. Why it lands — The text demands recognition that political collapse and military defeat are direct results of divine judgment, requiring the reader to abandon any assumption that covenant status guarantees temporal security.
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
Thou hast set up the right hand of his adversaries; thou hast made all his enemies to rejoice.
Cross-references
- Psalms 80:6 You make us contend with our neighbors; our enemies mock us.
- Revelation 11:10 And those who dwell on the earth will gloat over them and celebrate and send one another gifts, because these two prophets had tormented them.
- Leviticus 26:17 And I will set My face against you, so that you will be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee when no one pursues you.
- Leviticus 26:25 And I will bring a sword against you to execute the vengeance of the covenant. Though you withdraw into your cities, I will send a plague among you, and you will be delivered into the hand of the enemy.
- Deuteronomy 28:25 The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will march out against them in one direction but flee from them in seven. You will be an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.
- Deuteronomy 28:43 The foreigner living among you will rise higher and higher above you, while you sink down lower and lower.
- Psalms 13:2 How long must I wrestle in my soul, with sorrow in my heart each day? How long will my enemy dominate me?
- Lamentations 2:17 The LORD has done what He planned; He has accomplished His decree, which He ordained in days of old; He has overthrown you without pity. He has let the enemy gloat over you and exalted the horn of your foes.
- John 16:20 Truly, truly, I tell you, you will weep and wail while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.