Bible Strands
Psalms 89:51
how Your enemies have taunted, O LORD, and have mocked every step of Your anointed one!
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses Yahweh directly, pleading for divine remembrance of the reproach borne by God’s servants. The prayer occurs within a lament where the speaker contrasts past covenant promises with present mockery of the king.
The words — The Hebrew חֵרְפ֖וּ (cherefu) translates literally to “they have reproached” or “taunted.” It appears twice in the verse, emphasizing the persistent verbal assault against the anointed one’s movements (עִקְּב֥וֹת, ikkot).
The thread — The pattern of enemies mocking God’s chosen appears in Psalm 74:10 and resurfaces in 2 Samuel 16:7 when Shimei curses David. The New Testament applies the dynamic to believers in 1 Peter 4:14.
Why it lands — The verse demands honest accounting of suffering without spiritualizing the pain. It requires the reader to bring public humiliation directly to God rather than retreating into private piety.
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
Wherewith thine enemies have reproached, O Lord; wherewith they have reproached the footsteps of thine anointed.
Cross-references
- Psalms 74:10 How long, O God, will the enemy taunt You? Will the foe revile Your name forever?
- 1 Peter 4:14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.
- 2 Samuel 16:7 And as he yelled curses, Shimei said, “Get out, get out, you worthless man of bloodshed!
- Psalms 56:5 All day long they twist my words; all their thoughts are on my demise.
- Psalms 57:3 He reaches down from heaven and saves me; He rebukes those who trample me. Selah God sends forth His loving devotion and His truth.
- Matthew 5:10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
- Matthew 12:24 But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “Only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, does this man drive out demons.”
- Matthew 26:61 and declared, “This man said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’”
- John 8:48 The Jews answered Him, “Are we not right to say that You are a Samaritan and You have a demon?”
- Acts 5:41 The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.