I am small and despised,.... Or, "I have been" (x). Some versions render it "young" (y); as if it had respect to the time of his anointing by Samuel, when he was overlooked and despised in his father's family, Sa1 16:11; but the word here used is not expressive of age, but of state, condition, and circumstances; and the meaning is, that he was little in his own esteem, and in the esteem of men, and was despised; and that on account of religion, in which he was a type of Christ, Psa 22:6; and which is the common lot of good men, who are treated by the world as the faith of it, and the offscouring of all things; yet do not I forget thy precepts; to observe and keep them: the ill treatment of men on account of religion did not cause him to forsake it, or to leave the ways, word, and worship of God; see Psa 119:83. (x) "ego fui, et adhuc sum", Michaelis. (y) Sept. "adolescentulus", V. L.