Psalms 119:157 (WEB)

Passage

Many are my persecutors and my adversaries. I haven’t swerved from your testimonies.

Nearby Context

Psalms 119:155 Salvation is far from the wicked, for they don’t seek your statutes.

Psalms 119:156 Great are your tender mercies, Yahweh. Revive me according to your ordinances.

Psalms 119:157 Many are my persecutors and my adversaries. I haven’t swerved from your testimonies.

Psalms 119:158 I look at the faithless with loathing, because they don’t observe your word.

Psalms 119:159 Consider how I love your precepts. Revive me, Yahweh, according to your loving kindness.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "persecutors", "adversaries", "haven", "swerved", and "testimonies". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "persecutors" and "adversaries", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 156's "Great are your tender mercies Yahweh Revive..." into verse 158's "I look at the faithless with loathing...", so "persecutors" and "adversaries" belong inside that flow. In Psalms context, the local focus is worship, trust, the LORD's kingship, and covenant mercy.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "persecutors" and "adversaries" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.