“The proud have had me greatly in derision: yet have I not declined from thy law.”
My Notes
What Does Psalms 119:51 Mean?
"The proud have had me greatly in derision: yet have I not declined from thy law." The proud mock aggressively — 'greatly' (ad me'od — to the extreme, exceedingly) intensifies the derision beyond casual teasing into sustained, targeted humiliation. Despite the extreme mockery, the psalmist hasn't deviated from God's law. The derision didn't produce the defection.
The word "derision" (helitsuni — they scorned me, they mocked me) describes the social weapon of the proud: ridicule. The proud don't argue with the law-keeper. They laugh at them. The mockery is designed to make obedience feel foolish, outdated, and socially costly. The weapon isn't violence. It's contempt.
The "yet have I not declined" (lo natiti — I have not turned aside, I have not bent) is resistance through steadfastness: the law-keeper didn't fire back. They didn't argue. They didn't decline. The word 'declined' suggests a gentle turning — like a path bending away from its direction. The psalmist's path stayed straight. The mockery didn't bend the trajectory.
Reflection Questions
- 1.What mockery are you enduring for your faithfulness — and is it bending your path?
- 2.Why do the PROUD specifically mock obedience to God's law?
- 3.How does 'not declining' — quiet steadfastness — defeat mockery more effectively than argument?
- 4.What social cost of obedience feels 'great' right now — and is it changing your direction?
Devotional
They mocked me. Greatly. Extremely. The proud had me in GREAT derision — not mild teasing but sustained, targeted, humiliating ridicule. And I didn't decline from Your law. The mockery didn't bend me. The derision didn't redirect me. The contempt of the proud didn't alter my course.
The 'proud' are specifically identified as the source: it's the PROUD who mock obedience. Humility doesn't ridicule faithfulness. Pride does. The people who laugh at your devotion to God's law are revealing their own condition — pride, not insight. The mockery comes from arrogance, not from wisdom. The proud mock what they can't understand.
The 'greatly in derision' means the mockery was extreme: not a passing comment or a single joke. The derision was sustained, intense, and humiliating. The social pressure to abandon the law was enormous. The cost of faithfulness was daily ridicule. The price of obedience was public contempt from the people society considers important.
The 'yet have I not declined' is the quiet triumph: no dramatic confrontation, no public defense, no counter-attack. Just steadfastness. The path didn't bend. The commitment didn't waver. The law wasn't abandoned. The most powerful response to mockery isn't retaliation. It's unchanged faithfulness. The mocker wants you to react. The law-keeper simply continues.
What mockery are you enduring for your faithfulness — and is the derision bending your path?
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Horror hath taken hold upon me,.... Trembling, sorrow, and distress, to a great degree, like a storm, or a blustering,…
The proud have had me greatly in derision - Those of rank; those in high life: perhaps, as we should say, the frivolous…
David here tells us, and it will be of use to us to know it, 1. That he had been jeered for his religion. Though he was…
Cross References
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