ALEPH
119
📚Blessed are the undefiledin the way,
who walk in the law of the Lord.
119:1 This sublime psalm is a hymn of praise for the Word of God. In nearly every verse the writer uses one word or another to indicate God’s revelation – law, word, testimonies, judgments, etc. It is divided into 22 sections according to the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. In Hebrew each line of a particular section begins with the same letter of the alphabet. It is the believer’s alphabet of the praise, love, and use of God’s Word.
God’s Word applied as the writer does in this psalm is the only way to a truly spiritual life. In this connection remember that Jesus Christ is the living Word of God, the alpha and omega of all God has to say to man. We cannot separate the Lord Jesus from the written Word of God. When we apply it by God’s Spirit, we are drawing power, strength, and grace from the Lord Jesus. As love for the Word of God grows in us so does our love for the Lord Jesus grow and so does every flower of grace in our lives.
Ps 1:1-3 gives us the theme of the book of Psalms. Here the way of blessedness, briefly described there, is fully revealed. Here in v 1 (and throughout this psalm) the Hebrew word translated “law” also means “instruction”, “teaching”. God wants people to be blessed, so He gave us His Word. Blessing comes, not from merely having His Word, or listening to it, or teaching and preaching it, but from obeying it. Happiness results from holiness and eternal joy will come when believers are completely conformed to God’s Word. See other notes on blessing at Gen 12:3; Num 6:22-27; Deut 28:3-14; Matt 5:3-14; Luke 11:28; Acts 3:26; Gal 3:9, 14; Eph 1:3.⚜
2 📚Blessed are those
who keep his
testimonies 📖,
and who seek 📖 him with
their whole heart.
3 📚They also do no evil; they walk
in
his ways.
119:3 Those who do not live according to verses 1 and 2 will not walk in God’s ways. They will inevitably do wrong, and will fail to learn what true blessedness is.⚜
4 📚You have commanded us
to keep your
precepts 📖 diligently.
119:4 God’s commands are not given merely to instruct the mind but to change the life. Our religion is vain if we do not try to do what God tells us – Matt 7:21-23; Luke 11:27-28; John 14:15, 21; 15:10; 1 John 5:3.⚜
5 📚Oh, that my ways were directed
to keep
your statutes 📖!
119:5 He implies that he is not yet fully experiencing the blessed life he has described. But though He knows his own weakness, sinfulness, and failure, he longs with all his heart to experience that blessed life. It is very important what our aims are. If we are content with poor spiritual standards and experience we will make little progress in the spiritual life.⚜
6 📚Then I would not be ashamed 📖,
when I pay attention to all your
commandments.
7 📚I will praise you with uprightness
of heart,
when I learn your righteous judgments 📖.
119:7 The more a believer understands God’s Word the more he should be filled with thanksgiving for it. The Bible is one of God’s exceedingly wonderful gifts to men.⚜
8 📚I will keep your statutes.
Oh, do not utterly forsake me.
119:8 See Ps 27:9; 38:21; 71:9, 18. He is resolved to live according to God’s Word. Then why does he plead with God not to forsake him? He is aware that in spite of his good resolutions and sincere determination he has failed before and may well fail again (see v 176). He realizes that if God in His holiness and justice would treat him according to his sins, God would forsake him completely. Believers should value very highly indeed the promises of God not to forsake them (Ps 37:28; 94:14; 118:6; Deut 4:31; 31:6; Isa 41:17; Heb 13:5). If God seems to forsake them, it is only partial and temporary.⚜
BETH
9 📚How can a young man make
his way clean?
By keeping watch on it
according to your word.
119:9 Surely this is one of the most important questions a young man can ask, and one of the highest ambitions he can have. The answer is clearly given in this and the following verses. Purity of life comes from using the Word of God (v 9), seeking God for His grace and power to do so (v 10), keeping His Word at the center of our thoughts and desires (v 11), learning from God Himself the meaning of His Word (v 12), speaking of God’s Word when one has learned it (v 13), and rejoicing, meditating, and delighting in it (vs 14-16).⚜
10 📚I have sought you with
my whole heart.
Oh, do not let me wander from
your commandments.
119:10 Verse 2. It is easy to stray from God’s commandments. To do so is the natural tendency of our fallen natures. Hence the necessity of seeking God with the whole heart.⚜
11 📚Your word I have hidden
in my heart,
that I might not sin against you.
119:11 Deut 6:6-8. In the believer’s fight against sin hardly anything is so important as the Word of God (John 15:3, 7; Eph 6:17; Col 3:16-17). It must occupy a central place in our thoughts, hopes, ambitions, desires, and meditations. It must be at the very spring of our actions. Observe that sin is against God – see Ps 51:4.⚜
12 📚Blessed are you,
O LORD.
Teach me your statutes.
119:12 If we are kept from sin this should not make us congratulate ourselves, but praise God who has done it. Nine times in this psalm the writer asks God to teach him – vs 12,26,33,64,66,68,108,124,135. See also Ps 25:4-5; 143:8, 10. This indicates the value he put on it and the earnestness with which he sought it.⚜
13 📚With my lips I have declared
all the judgments of your mouth.
14 📚I have rejoiced in the way
of your testimonies,
as much as in all riches.
119:14 The greatest possible joy comes from putting the Word of God into practice. Then it becomes more to us than silver and gold could ever be (v 72; Ps 19:10; Prov 2:1-5).⚜
15 📚I will meditate on your precepts,
and pay attention to your ways.
119:15 Verses 97,148; Ps 1:2.⚜
16 📚I will delight myself
in your statutes.
I will not forget your word.
GIMEL
17 📚Do good to your servant
that I may live
and keep your word.
119:17 Judging from this verse and vs 22,23 the writer is in a time of trial and trouble. He knows what to do and is an example to all of us who are experiencing such things. He meditated on God’s instructions (v 23), delighted in them (v 24), and resolved to put them into practice (v 17).⚜
18 📚Open my eyes that I may see
wonderful things from your law.
119:18 There are wonderful things in the Word of God which we will never see until God opens the eyes of our understanding. Well might we pray as the writer did here. See Luke 24:45; Eph 1:17-18.⚜
19 📚I am a stranger 📖
on earth.
Do not hide your commandments
from me.
20 📚My soul breaks with the longing
that it has for
your judgments at all times.
21 📚You rebuke the proud,
who are accursed,
who go astray from your
commandments.
22 📚Remove reproach and contempt
from me,
for I have kept your testimonies.
23 📚Princes also sit and speak
against me;
but your servant meditates
on your statutes.
24 📚Your testimonies also are
my delight and
my counsellors.
119:24 The Word of God will infallibly teach us how to behave in a godless and hostile world.⚜
DALETH
25 📚My soul clings to the dust.
Revive 📖 me in accordance
with your word.
119:25 See Ps 44:25. Nine times in this psalm he asks God to revive him (vs 25,37,40,88,107,149,154,156,159) – indicating the importance of it in his eyes and the earnestness with which he sought it. A prayer for reviving means that he felt himself in a condition where his spiritual life seemed threatened. Whether this meant physical danger of death, or spiritual depression and need of revival he does not say. The Hebrew word could be used for either condition. One thing is sure – often when believers desire to rise to the heights of spiritual experience with God they feel bound to the dust, in a condition that seems to them more like spiritual death than life. When God renews them it will always be in accordance with His Word.⚜
26 📚I declared my ways,
and you answered me.
Teach 📖 me your statutes.
119:26 He told God just what he had been doing. God wants us to be completely open and honest with Him and speak to Him as a child with a loving father (Ps 62:8; 142:1-2; Job 10:1-2).⚜
27 📚Make me understand the way
of your precepts;
so I will meditate on your wonderful
works.
28 📚My soul melts from heaviness.
Strengthen me according
to your word.
29 📚Remove from me the way
of lying,
and graciously grant me your law.
30 📚I have chosen the way
of truth;
I have placed your judgments before me.
119:30 See Ps 26:3. No greater choice can be made (John 14:6). The way of truth is revealed only in God’s Word. There we have the way laid out, the signposts erected, the goal clearly defined. If we do not walk in the way of truth we are still in the way of deceit, the broad way that leads to destruction. Observe that the way of truth must be chosen.⚜
31 📚I cling to your testimonies.
O LORD, do not put me to shame.
119:31 If we do not want to be put to shame we too must make a firm, unyielding choice for truth and obedience.⚜
32 📚I will run in the path
of your commandments,
when you enlarge my heart.
119:32 We need a heart made broad enough for all of God’s commandments and to take in every word God gives. And our obedience must not be a slow, hesitant, crawling thing but swift, zealous, and full. The writer does not imagine that he has it within himself to do this. He knows that God must be at work in him if he is to run and not faint in the way of truth (Isa 40:31; Phil 2:13; Col 1:29).⚜
HE
33 📚Teach me, O LORD, the way
of your statutes,
and I will keep it to the end.
34 📚Give me understanding,
and I will keep your law;
yes, I will observe it with my
whole heart.
119:33-34 See Ps 25:4-5; 1 Kings 3:9-10; Luke 24:45; 1 John 5:20. He realizes the great importance of understanding spiritual truth and knows that his own intellect is not sufficient for it. So he cries to God. Observe that he means to be fully, eternally obedient. Spiritual understanding is to result in a life lived in accordance with God’s Word and will. Otherwise it is all in vain.⚜
35 📚Cause me to go in the path
of your commandments,
for I delight in it.
119:35 He delights in God’s way and knows he should walk in it. But he knows also that by nature he is unable to do so (see Rom 7:18-25). God’s power alone can cause us to live a life pleasing to God. So this prayer.⚜
36 📚Turn my heart to your testimonies,
and not to covetousness.
119:36 Though he delights in God’s way he knows that in him is an evil tendency to go after worldly things. He prays that his inner life might be right, that the motives, desires, and inclinations of his heart may all be toward God. God Himself must do this in us, but we must cooperate with Him.⚜
37 📚Turn away my eyes from seeing
worthless things,
and revive me in your way.
119:37 Could not the author turn his own eyes away? Evidently he knew the power of the lust of the eyes and that only God could break this power (1 John 2:16-17). He is indicating his own helplessness and confesses his need of new life and strength.⚜
38 📚Establish your word
to your servant,
who is devoted to your fear.
119:38 Notes on this fear at Ps 34:11-14; 111:10; Gen 20:11; Job 28:28; Prov 1:7; 1 Pet 1:17; 2:17.⚜
39 📚Turn away my reproach,
which I fear;
for your judgments are good.
40 📚See, I have longed for
your precepts.
Revive me in your righteousness.
VAV
41 📚Also let your mercies
come to me,
O LORD, your salvation,
according to
your word.
119:41 Verses 76,116,154,170. All that God does is in accordance with His Word. The more we understand His Word the more we will understand what He plans and does.⚜
42 📚So I will have an answer
for him who taunts me;
for I trust in your word.
43 📚And do not take the word of truth
completely from my mouth;
for I have put hope
in your judgments.
119:43 This prayer is that God will not let him get into a situation or spiritual condition that would make him unable to speak for God. This had happened to David as recorded in Psalm 51 (see Ps 51:12-15). Paul requested prayer that he might always be able to speak as he ought (Eph 6:19-20).⚜
44 📚So I will keep your law continually
forever and ever.
119:44 A resolution made not in fleshly self confidence but in hope of the fulfillment of the prayer in v 41.⚜
45 📚And I will walk in liberty;
for I seek your precepts.
46 📚I will speak of your testimonies
also before kings,
and will not be ashamed.
47 📚And I will delight myself
in your commandments,
which I love.
119:47 Verses 77,143; Ps 112:1.⚜
48 📚I will also lift my hands to your
commandments, which I love,
and I will meditate on your statutes.
119:48 See Ps 28:2. The movement of the hands here is an outward expression of the love he had for God’s commands. Even a small child holds out his hands to that which he wants.⚜
ZAYIN
49 📚Remember the word
to your servant,
on which you have caused me
to hope.
119:49 We could entitle this section “comfort in remembering”. He was suffering because of the scorn of ungodly men. But he encourages himself in the Word of God and in remembering God’s gracious attributes and ways. In all this he is an example to all God’s people who are unjustly suffering. He is speaking of some specific promises God had given him. In asking God to “remember” he is not suggesting God may forget. He is a man using man’s ways of speaking. God does not forget anything about His people except their sins (Isa 49:15; Heb 6:10; 8:12; 10:17).⚜
50 📚This is my comfort
in my affliction;
for your word has revived me.
119:50 Some have comfort without suffering, others have suffering without comfort. Believers as a whole have both. The comfort of believers in times of suffering is this – the promises of God. They give a living hope that no trouble can destroy.⚜
51 📚The proud have derided me
greatly;
yet I have not turned
away from your law.
119:51 Verses 61,83,87. The object of the proud when they mock God’s people is to turn them from the right path. In this case their attempts were in vain.⚜
52 📚I remembered your judgments
of old,
O LORD, and have comforted
myself.
119:52 For every trial and trouble there is comfort and encouragement in God’s Word if we will but seek it out (Rom 15:4).⚜
53 📚Indignation has taken hold
of me because of the wicked
who forsake your law.
119:53 The behavior of evil men will often make believers angry at the violation of justice and the dishonor done to God. Also they may often feel grief at the thought of the terrible fate awaiting godless men (v 136; Ex 32:19; Jer 8:18-22; Luke 19:41-44; Acts 17:16; 2 Cor 5:11).⚜
54 📚Your statutes have been
my songs in the house
of my pilgrimage.
55 📚I remember your name,
O LORD, in the night,
and keep your law.
56 📚This has been my way,
because I keep your precepts.
119:56 To be enabled to live according to the Word of God is the greatest of all blessings on earth.⚜
KHETH
57 📚You are my portion 📖,
O LORD;
I have said that I would keep 📖
your words.
119:57 In the section which follows, he finds in himself certain marks that all believers have or should have – they have God as their portion, and they want to obey God’s Word (v 57); they seek God in prayer (v 58); and they think about their actions and try to correct them (v 59). They should show eagerness to obey (v 60), should not be crushed by persecution (v 61), should be thankful (v 62), should seek fellowship with other believers (v 63), and should long for God to teach them (v 64).⚜
58 📚I entreated your favour
with my whole heart.
Be merciful to me according
to your word.
59 📚I thought on my ways,
and turned my feet
to your testimonies.
60 📚I made haste, and did not delay
to keep your commandments.
119:60 Delay to obey is the same as disobedience. Many hasten to commit sin. Let us hasten to conquer sin by obeying God’s Word.⚜
61 📚The cords of the wicked
have bound me,
but I have not forgotten
your law.
119:61 Verses 51,83,87. Mocking could not turn him from God’s Word, nor could persecution.⚜
62 📚At midnight I will rise
to give thanks 📖 to you,
because of your righteous judgments.
119:62 Verse 55. This is one of a great many things for which believers have to be thankful.⚜
63 📚I am a companion of all
those who fear you,
and of those who keep your
precepts.
64 📚The earth, O LORD, is full 📖
of your mercy.
Teach 📖 me your statutes.
TETH
65 📚You have dealt well
with your servant,
O LORD, according to your word.
119:65 This section could be entitled “Learning by suffering” (vs 67,71). If our troubles do not teach us any lessons or do not make us better people, they are useless to us. But if they do, they are a means of great gain. The writer was not made bitter by sufferings, but by them learned more of God’s Word and God’s goodness. See notes on suffering at Job 3:20. In this verse the writer speaks of God’s goodness, not merely in giving him many blessings, but in sending these troubles that would teach him the things which he needed to learn.⚜
66 📚Teach me good judgment
and knowledge,
for I have believed your
commandments.
119:66 Verse 12.⚜
67 📚Before I was afflicted
I went astray,
but now I have kept your word.
119:67 We walk about in good weather but head for home when the storm begins to roll in. Suffering taught him to return to his home in God (Ps 90:1), and to God’s Word and obedience. See Heb 2:10; 5:8. Since this principle is true we should not be so eager to avoid all trouble and suffering. Indeed we should welcome all experiences which make us more conformed to God’s Word and will.⚜
68 📚You are good,
and do good.
Teach me your statutes.
69 📚The proud have forged a lie
against me,
but I will keep your precepts
with my whole heart.
70 📚Their heart is as fat as grease;
but I delight in your law.
71 📚It is good for me that
I have been afflicted that
I might learn your statutes.
119:71 Verses 65,75; Deut 8:2-5; Heb 12:5-11. Affliction, he says, is good. Good, but not pleasant. Anything is good that opens our eyes to the truth and beauty of God’s Word and helps to make us obedient to it. His troubles came from men, but God turned it all to good (notes at Gen 50:20; Rom 8:28). God brings health out of sickness, riches out of poverty, strength out of weakness. It is the cross we have to bear that moves us closer to heaven.⚜
72 📚To me the law of your mouth
is better than thousands
of pieces of gold
and silver.
119:72 Verses 14,57,111,127,162; Ps 19:10; Job 28:17; Prov 2:4-5. If we wish to progress in the spiritual life we must value the Word of God as he did.⚜
YOD
73 📚Your hands have made me
and formed 📖 me.
Give me understanding 📖 that
I may learn your commandments.
74 📚Those who fear you will be glad
when they see me,
because I have hoped in your word.
119:74 See Ps 34:2. He wanted his life to be a source of joy and blessing to others.⚜
75 📚I know, O LORD,
that your judgments are
right,
and that you in faithfulness
have afflicted me.
119:75 Verses 7,138,172; Deut 4:8. He knew that even though God has permitted him to suffer at the hands of ungodly men this has been in accordance with God’s perfect righteousness and faithfulness. God will never violate His laws in dealing with His people and He afflicts them for a good purpose (Heb 12:10; Rev 3:19).⚜
76 📚Let, I pray, your merciful kindness
be my comfort,
according to your word to your
servant.
119:76 Verse 41.⚜
77 📚Let your tender mercies come
to me that I may live,
for your law is my delight.
119:77 His troubles were so severe he sometimes despaired of life, and felt only God’s compassion could keep him alive, but he had a joy through them all. If the Word of God is not a delight to us as it was to him we have no right to think that God should preserve us alive. Should God keep us alive only that we might violate His laws and sin against Him?⚜
78 📚Let the proud be ashamed,
for they treated me wrongly,
without a cause;
but I will meditate on your precepts.
119:78 Note on such prayers at Ps 35:8.⚜
79 📚Let those who fear you turn
to me,
and those who have known your
testimonies.
119:79 Perhaps some believers had been alienated from him because of his troubles. He wants perfect fellowship restored with all godly men.⚜
80 📚Let my heart be blameless 📖
in your statutes,
so that I may not be ashamed 📖.
KAPH
81 📚My soul faints 📖 for your salvation;
but I hope 📖 in your word.
119:81 In this section the writer, suffering great persecution, longs for God to act in his behalf. He knows he is trusting God’s Word and waits for God to fulfill it.⚜
82 📚My eyes fail for your word,
saying, “When will you
comfort me?”
83 📚For I have become like a bottle
in the smoke;
yet I do not forget 📖
your statutes.
119:83 He compares himself in his persecution to a wineskin in a tent, unused, blackened by smoke, and wrinkled by heat.⚜
84 📚How many are the days
of your servant?
When will you execute judgment
on those who persecute me?
85 📚The proud have dug pits for me,
which is not according
to your law.
119:85 See Ps 35:7; 57:6; Jer 18:20, 22; Mark 12:13; Luke 11:53-54. We need, then, to be wise as serpents, harmless as doves.⚜
86 📚All your commandments
are trustworthy 📖.
They persecute me wrongfully.
Help me!
87 📚They almost made an end of me
on earth,
but I did not forsake your precepts.
119:87 Verses 51,61,83. He had resolved to hold fast to God’s Word regardless of what men did to him. If persecution and trouble will cause us to renounce the Word of God is our faith at all genuine?⚜
88 📚Revive me according
to your loving kindness;
so I will keep the testimony
of your mouth.
119:88 The Word of God, though written down by men, comes from the mouth of God (Matt 4:4). Life to us should mean obedience to it.⚜
LAMED
89 📚Forever, O LORD,
your word stands firm in heaven.
119:89 See Ps 111:7-8; Matt 5:18; 1 Pet 1:25. Since God’s Word is eternally firm and sure in heaven, nothing that happens on earth can overthrow it.⚜
90 📚Your faithfulness is
to all generations.
You have established the earth,
and it remains.
91 📚They continue to this day in
accordance with your ordinances 📖.
For all things 📖 are
your servants.
92 📚If your law had not been
my delight,
then I would have perished
in my affliction.
119:92 How can people live without the joy of knowing God’s Word? Without hope and without God how can they keep from dying of despair? God’s Word is the remedy for despair, for meaninglessness in life.⚜
93 📚I will never forget your precepts,
for with them you have revived me.
119:93 Note at v 50.⚜
94 📚I am yours; save me,
for I have sought your precepts.
119:94 Believers belong to the Lord (1 Cor 6:19-20). He has created them, chosen them, redeemed them, given them new spiritual life, and claimed them as His own forever. They prove they belong to God by seeking to obey Him. The writer prays that God will deal with him according to this fact. So may we if we are believers.⚜
95 📚The wicked have waited for me
to destroy me;
but I will consider your
testimonies.
119:95 Verses 51,61,85.⚜
96 📚I have seen an end of all
perfection;
but your commandment is
exceedingly broad.
119:96 All that men think best on earth, all in which they most pride themselves, all things that seems most perfect, have defects. God’s teaching has a perfection that is boundless and without defect (Ps 19:7).⚜
MEM
97 📚O how I love your law!
It is my meditation 📖
all the day.
119:97 The subject of this section is wisdom and understanding that come from God’s Word.⚜
98 📚Through your commandments
you have made me wiser than
my enemies,
for they are always with me.
99 📚I have more understanding
than all my teachers,
for your testimonies are
my meditation.
100 📚I understand more than
the ancients,
because I keep your precepts.
119:98-100 Verse 130; Ps 19:7; Deut 4:6; Prov 2:1-5; 2 Tim 3:15. The Word of God is the wisdom of believers. But it is not enough to have it in the home – it must be in the heart, at the center of an obedient life.⚜
101 📚I have withheld my feet
from every evil way,
that I might keep your word.
119:101 Evil ways and the Word of God are mutually antagonistic and will not mix.⚜
102 📚I have not departed from
your judgments,
for you have taught me.
119:102 Very wonderful indeed to have God as our teacher! See also Isa 54:13; Jer 31:33-34; 1 Cor 2:13; 1 Thess 4:9; Heb 8:10-11; 10:16; 1 John 2:27. If we want God to teach us we must be believing and obedient.⚜
103 📚How sweet are your words to
my taste!
Yes, sweeter than honey
to my mouth!
119:103 See also Ps 19:10; Prov 24:13-14. Honey is sweet to the mouth, but God’s Word when believed and obeyed brings a sweet and holy joy to the spirit.⚜
104 📚Through your precepts
I get understanding;
therefore I hate every false way.
119:104 Verse 128; Prov 13:5. Understanding God’s Word enables us to discern wrong paths and to hate them as being dishonoring to God and destructive to men.⚜
NUN
105 📚Your word is a lamp 📖
to my feet,
and a light 📖 to my path.
119:105 The subject of this section is the great value of God’s Word and the writer’s determination to keep it at all costs.⚜
106 📚I have sworn that
I will keep your
righteous judgments,
and I will perform it.
107 📚I am greatly afflicted.
Revive me, O LORD, according
to your word.
119:107 Verse 25; Rom 7:24.⚜
108 📚Accept, I pray, the freewill
offerings of my mouth, O LORD,
and teach 📖 me your judgments.
109 📚My soul is continually
in my hand;
yet I do not forget your law.
110 📚The wicked have laid a snare
for me;
yet I have not gone astray from
your precepts.
119:110 Verses 51,61,83,87.⚜
111 📚I have taken your testimonies
as a heritage forever,
for they are the rejoicing
of my heart.
119:111 The land of Canaan was a heritage of the people of Israel (Ps 105:11; Josh 1:6). But a far greater possession than any land, any property on earth is the Word of God. It is an eternal inheritance (Matt 24:35), a joy forever.⚜
112 📚I have inclined my heart to
perform your statutes continually,
to the end.
119:112 Verse 106. To obey the Word of God requires great determination and self discipline. Without these, because of the weakness of our nature, it is all too easy to forget God’s Word and drift away from its teachings.⚜
SAMEKH
113 📚I hate divided thoughts,
but I love your law.
119:113 1 Kings 18:21; Jam 1:6-7; 4:8. Because he had such an intense love for God’s Word, everything opposed to it was disgusting to him. If there is hesitation in obeying God’s Word, if one has two minds about it, a love of sin is at the bottom of it.⚜
114 📚You are my hiding place
and my shield 📖.
I hope 📖 in your word.
115 📚Depart from me, you evildoers;
for I will keep the commandments
of my God.
116 📚Uphold me according
to your word,
that I may live;
and do not let me be ashamed
of my hope.
117 📚Hold me up, and I will be safe,
and I will observe your statutes
continually.
118 📚You reject all those who go astray
from your statutes,
for their deceit is falsehood.
119:118 Such people may think themselves very wise and great, but they cannot persuade God to have the same view of them (Gal 6:7).⚜
119 📚You put an end to all the wicked
of the earth like dross;
therefore I love your testimonies.
119:119 Mal 4:1; Matt 25:41; Rev 21:8. He loved God’s laws because they are opposed to all wickedness, and because according to them God will purify the earth of wicked men.⚜
120 📚My flesh trembles for fear
of you,
and I am in awe of your judgments.
119:120 Thinking of the destruction of the wicked made him tremble for himself. He was well aware that he had a sinful nature and that only the grace of God could keep him from evil. Note on the fear of God at Ps 34:11-14; 111:10; Gen 20:11; Job 28:28; 1 Pet 1:17; 2:17.⚜
AYIN
121 📚I have acted in justice and
righteousness;
do not leave me to my oppressors.
122 📚Give a pledge to your servant for good.
Do not let the proud oppress me.
119:121-122 He was not self righteous like the Pharisee in Luke 18:9-12. Throughout this psalm he appears as one conscious of his weakness and failure. A low opinion of themselves and a high quality of life should both be found in believers. But he knew that on the whole he had, by God’s grace, lived according to God’s righteous ways. He knew that he was truly a servant of God.⚜
123 📚My eyes fail for your salvation,
and for the word of your righteousness.
124 📚Deal 📖 with your servant according
to your mercy,
and teach 📖 me your statutes.
125 📚I am your servant.
Give me understanding so that I may
know your testimonies.
119:125 If we are God’s servants we will want to understand His instructions to us, and we can pray with confidence that He will give us wisdom (Jam 1:5; 1 John 5:14-15).⚜
126 📚It is time for you,
LORD, to work,
for they have violated
your law.
119:126 Man’s sin will have God’s judgment, and when the time is ripe God will arise to judge the world.⚜
127 📚Therefore I love your commandments
more than gold,
yes, more than fine gold.
119:127 Verses 14,57,111,162; Ps 19:10.⚜
128 📚Therefore I regard all your
precepts concerning everything
to be right 📖,
and I hate every false way 📖.
PEY
129 📚Your testimonies are
wonderful;
therefore my soul keeps them.
119:129 Verse 13. God’s Word is full of wonderful truth, promises, instructions, and revelations of God. But he did not imagine that it was enough to simply praise God’s Word – he wanted to obey it. It is not admiration of it that brings blessing but obedience to it.⚜
130 📚The entrance of your words
gives light;
it gives understanding
to the simple.
119:130 Verse 105; Ps 19:7-8.⚜
131 📚I opened my mouth
and panted,
for I longed for your commandments.
119:131 Verse 20. We live in a dark world. It is filled with religions and philosophical teachings, with false speculations about God and salvation, with dark and slippery paths that lead to hell. We, like the author, should pant for understanding of God’s Word, and use every available means to study it.⚜
132 📚Look at me, and be merciful
to me,
as you always do to those who love
your name.
133 📚Direct my steps in your word,
and do not let any sin get the
mastery over me.
119:133 It is a sad thing when our enemies rule over us. Far sadder it is, and more dangerous, when our greatest enemy – sin – rules us. Freedom from sin’s dominion results only from the power of the Word of God in the life (v 11; John 8:31-36; Rom 6:16).⚜
134 📚Deliver me from the oppression
of man;
so I will keep your precepts.
119:134 Verse 122. To fully carry out the commands of the Word of God freedom from man’s oppression is also important (1 Tim 2:1-2).⚜
135 📚Make your face shine 📖
on your servant,
and teach 📖 me your statutes.
136 📚Rivers of water run down
my eyes,
because they do not keep your law.
TSADE
137 📚You are righteous,
O LORD,
and your judgments are upright.
138 📚Your testimonies that
you have commanded are
righteous and very
trustworthy 📖.
139 📚My zeal has consumed me,
because my enemies have forgotten
your words.
140 📚Your word is very pure;
therefore your servant loves it.
119:140 See Ps 12:6. There is no dross, no impurity, nothing useless in God’s Word. It is altogether worthy of the hearty love the author had for it, and that we should have for it.⚜
141 📚I am small 📖 and despised;
yet I do not forget 📖 your
precepts.
142 📚Your righteousness is an
everlasting righteousness,
and your law is the truth.
119:142 Verses 151,160.⚜
143 📚Trouble and anguish have taken
hold of me;
yet your commandments are
my delight.
119:143 Only the believer can experience acute suffering, and joy in God’s Word at the same time (2 Cor 6:10; 7:4; Phil 2:17; Col 1:24).⚜
144 📚The righteousness of your testimonies
is everlasting;
give me understanding, and I will live.
119:144 Verses 34,73,125,169. The fourth of five prayers in this one psalm for understanding. Nine other times he asks God to teach him. Have we ever asked it even once?⚜
KOPH
145 📚I cried out with my
whole heart.
Hear me, O LORD.
I will keep your statutes.
119:145 See verse 10.⚜
146 📚I cried out to you. Save me,
and I will keep your testimonies.
119:146 See verse 77.⚜
147 📚I rise before dawn in the morning,
and cry out. I hope in your word.
148 📚My eyes remain awake through
the night watches,
that I might meditate on your word.
149 📚Hear my voice, according to your
loving kindness.
O LORD, revive me according to
your judgment.
119:149 The writer may be requesting either preservation in a time of danger, or spiritual quickening. See v 25.⚜
150 📚Those who follow evil draw near;
they are far from your law.
151 📚You are near, O LORD,
and all your commandments are truth.
119:151 If the Lord is near He will keep His servants, and deal with the wicked in His time and way.⚜
152 📚Concerning your testimonies,
I have known for a long time
that you have established them
forever.
RESH
153 📚Consider my affliction,
and rescue me;
for I do not forget your law.
119:153 In this section the writer in his great trouble asks God to look into his case and deal with him according to His wisdom and grace.⚜
154 📚Plead my cause,
and rescue me.
Revive me according to your word.
155 📚Salvation is far from the wicked,
for they do not seek your statutes.
119:155 The wicked are far from salvation because they willingly remain in ignorance of God’s Word. If they sought God and His Word they too could be saved (Isa 55:7; Jam 4:8-10).⚜
156 📚Great are your tender
mercies 📖, O LORD.
Revive 📖 me according
to your judgments.
157 📚Many are my persecutors
and my enemies;
yet I do not turn away
from your testimonies.
158 📚I saw the transgressors,
and was grieved
because they did not keep
your word.
159 📚Consider how I love your precepts.
Revive me, O LORD, according
to your loving kindness.
119:159 He calls God as witness that he truly loves God’s Word, and makes this the ground of his prayer.⚜
160 📚Your word is true
from the beginning,
119:160 Verse 89; Ps 111:8.⚜
and every one of your righteous
judgments remains
forever.
SHIN
161 📚Princes have persecuted 📖 me
without a cause,
but my heart stands in awe 📖
of your word.
162 📚I rejoice at your word,
like someone who
finds great plunder.
119:162 Verse 72; Ps 19:10.⚜
163 📚I hate and abhor lying,
but I love your law.
164 📚Seven times a day I praise you
because of your righteous
judgments.
119:164 Have we once in our whole life praised God for His just laws and judgments?⚜
165 📚Great peace have they
who love your law,
and nothing makes them stumble.
166 📚LORD, I hope for your salvation,
and do your commandments.
167 📚My soul has kept your testimonies,
and I love them exceedingly.
168 📚I have kept your precepts
and your testimonies,
for all my ways are
before you.
119:166-168 Verse 81. In time of persecution he did not wait in despair or idleness. While he waits for God to deliver him, he is active in obedience to God’s commands. He knew the truth expressed in Heb 4:13 before it was written.⚜
119:166-168 Verse 81. In time of persecution he did not wait in despair or idleness. While he waits for God to deliver him, he is active in obedience to God’s commands. He knew the truth expressed in Heb 4:13 before it was written.⚜
TAV
169 📚Let my cry come before you,
O LORD.
Give me understanding according
to your word.
119:169 See verse 144.⚜
170 📚Let my supplication come
before you.
Deliver me according to your word.
171 📚My lips will utter praise,
for you teach me your statutes.
119:171 Nine times in this psalm he asks God to teach him. Here he expresses his confidence that God is doing so. And he considers this a matter for great praise, which indeed it is (Ps 94:12). We must always remember that if we are taught of God, the reason is that we might praise Him and not ourselves for what we have learned.⚜
172 📚My tongue will speak
of your word,
for all your commandments
are righteous.
173 📚Let your hand help 📖 me,
for I have chosen 📖 your precepts.
174 📚I have longed for your salvation,
O LORD, and your law is
my delight.
119:174 Verse 166.⚜
175 📚Let my soul live, and it will
praise you;
and let your judgments help me.
119:175 Verses 77,116,159.⚜
176 📚I have gone astray like
a lost sheep.
Seek your servant, for I do not
forget your commandments.
119:176 The writer loved God’s Word. God’s commands were not grievous to him but a delight. He longed to know God’s Word better and live according to it more perfectly. But he has to confess his failure. Sin working in him had sometimes led him astray, and he needed God to seek him and restore him (see Isa 53:6; Luke 15:4). Though he has gone astray he knows he is still God’s servant and that he still keeps God’s commandments in mind. Those who most earnestly try to live according to God’s Word are often the most conscious of how far they fall short of fully doing so (Isa 64:5; Jer 3:25; Dan 9:4-5; Rom 7:18-21; Jam 3:2).⚜