CXIX. An acrostic must wear an artificial form, and one carried out on the elaborate plan set himself by this author could not fail to sacrifice logical sequence to the prescribed form. Why the number eight was selected for each group of verses, or why, when the author succeeded, in all but two of t... [ Continue Reading ]
ALEPH. (1) UNDEFILED. — Better, _blameless_ or _perfect._ WAY. — See the same use without a qualifying epithet in Psalms 2:12. There was only-one way of safety and peace for an Israelite, here by the parallelism defined as “the law of Jehovah.” But even heathen ethics bore witness to the same trut... [ Continue Reading ]
DIRECTED... — So LXX. and Vulg. The He brew is perhaps slightly different, _established,_ or settled. (See Proverbs 4:26.)... [ Continue Reading ]
HAVE RESPECT UNTO. — Literally, _look upon,_ or _into,_ as in a mirror. (Comp. James 1:23.) The Divine Law is as a mirror, which shows man his defects; the faithful, in looking in it, have no cause to blush. JUDGMENTS. — Not here in common sense of visitations for sin, but only one of the change of... [ Continue Reading ]
BETH. (9) WHEREWITHAL. — There can be little question that the right rendering of this verse is _By what means can a young man purify his way, so as to keep it according to Thy word?_ but from Joshua 6:18 we might render _keep himself._ The English rendering, which follows the LXX. and Vulg. is, of... [ Continue Reading ]
WITH MY WHOLE HEART... — The self-mistrust of the second clause is a proof of the reality of the first. “Lord, I believe; help thou my unbelief,” is another form of this.... [ Continue Reading ]
THY WORD. — A different term to that in Psalms 119:9. The two are interchanged throughout the psalm. HID... — As the Oriental hid treasures. (Comp Matthew 13:44.) IN MINE HEART, THAT I MIGHT NOT SIN AGAINST THEE. — The best comment on this is contained in our Lord’s words (Matthew 15:19).... [ Continue Reading ]
WITH MY LIPS. — He has not kept his hidden treasure to himself, but, like the good householder of the Gospels, has brought out things new and old.... [ Continue Reading ]
GIMEL. (17) DEAL BOUNTIFULLY... THAT I MAY LIVE. — Comp. Psalms 13:3; Psalms 13:6; Psalms 116:7, where we see, as here, the same connection between this Hebrew word and preservation from death. _Life_ is connected with obedience to the Divine law throughout the Bible (Leviticus 18:5; Deuteronomy 6:... [ Continue Reading ]
OPEN. — Literally, _uncover_ (see margin), as if without Divine grace the eyes were veiled to the wonder and beauty of the moral law. (Comp. 2 Corinthians 4:18.)... [ Continue Reading ]
I AM A STRANGER. — A comparison of Psalms 119:54 with Genesis 47:9 (comp. Psalms 39:12) shows that the general transitory condition of life, and not any particular circumstance of the psalmist’s history is in view. Human intelligence does not suffice to fathom the will of God. The mortal is a strang... [ Continue Reading ]
BREAKETH. — The Hebrew is peculiar to this place and Lamentations 3:16. The LXX., Vulg., and Aquila have “greatly desired;” Symmachus, “was perfect;” Theodotion, “had confidence;” Jerome, “longed,” all which point either to a different reading or to a different sense from that which is given in the... [ Continue Reading ]
LXX. and Vulg. divide the verse: “Thou hast rebuked the proud; cursed are they,” &c. This is preferable.... [ Continue Reading ]
REMOVE. — Some render “roll,” with allusion to Joshua 5:9. But it is more probably the same word as that rendered “open_”_ in Psalms 119:18 (see Note) which may have for object the covering taken off (Isaiah 22:8; Nahum 3:5), or of the thing from which the covering is taken, as in Psalms 119:18.... [ Continue Reading ]
SPEAK. — Comp. Psalms 50:20 for the same implied sense in this verb. This verse reads as if Israel, and not a mere individual, were the subject of the psalms.... [ Continue Reading ]
COUNSELLORS. — See margin. Instead of taking the princes of Psalms 119:23 into counsel. he takes God’s testimonies.... [ Continue Reading ]
DALETH. (25) CLEAVETH TO THE DUST. — The same figure is used in Psalms 22:29; Psalms 44:25, in the former of death, in the latter of deep degradation and dishonour. The prayer, “make me live,” suggests that the dust of death is here prominently in view, as in Tennyson’s “Thou wilt not leave us in... [ Continue Reading ]
I HAVE DECLARED. — Or, _recounted._ MY WAYS. — Or, as we should say, my _courses,_ my _past life,_ including, as the context shows, confession of sins and prayer for pardon.... [ Continue Reading ]
MAKE ME TO UNDERSTAND. — Only the Israelite truly loyal to the covenant was considered worthy to enquire into the marvels of the dealings of God. (See Psalms 106:2, Note.) Perhaps we might extend the thought so far as to say that a true historical insight is possible only to one whose moral sense is... [ Continue Reading ]
MELTETH — The Hebrew word is used in Ecclesiastes 10:18 of a dripping roof of a house; in Job 16:20 of weeping. The LXX. and Vulg. have “slumbered,” which suits far better with the next clause, which is literally, _make me rise up._ Symmachus has “distils.”... [ Continue Reading ]
WAY OF LYING. — Not of falsehood to men so much as insincerity and unfaithfulness towards God, the opposite of the truth and faithfulness of Psalms 119:30. GRANT ME. — Rather, _be gracious to me according to thy law._ This is the persistent cry of the psalm.... [ Continue Reading ]
RUN THE WAY. — Plainly the psalmist means that he will not only be able to walk in the Divine way, but even to run in it when certain restraints are removed which now confine and check him. Hence we may understand, by the _enlargement of the heart,_ not so much the expansion of the faculties as deli... [ Continue Reading ]
HE. (33) TO THE END. — See Psalms 119:112. This word, used adverbially, is peculiar to this psalm.... [ Continue Reading ]
PATH. — From root to _tread, the trodden way,_ plain with the track of all the pious pilgrims’ feet of past times.... [ Continue Reading ]
COVETOUSNESS. — Literally, _rapine, prey._ In Psalms 30:9 simply, “gain.”... [ Continue Reading ]
FROM BEHOLDING VANITY. — Perhaps _from looking on idols. _... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO IS DEVOTED TO THY FEAR. — This is an improbable explanation of this elliptical expression. There are two renderings, each in accordance with the general drift of the psalm: (1) _Stablish to Thy servant Thy word, which leads to fear of Thee;_ or, more likely, (2) _Stablish to Thy servant Thy prom... [ Continue Reading ]
MY REPROACH WHICH I FEAR. — The word for fear is an unusual one, used in Deuteronomy 9:19; Deuteronomy 28:60, for very strong dread. The reproach may be either the disgrace in God’s sight of violating His commands, or, as the context (Psalms 119:42) suggests, a reproach from men for keeping God’s la... [ Continue Reading ]
QUICKEN ME IN THY RIGHTEOUSNESS — _i.e._, Let the sense of thy eternal justice give me vigour and life. Or the thought may be of the invigorating influence of a complete surrender to a righteous law, as in Wordsworth’s _Ode to Duty;_ — “I myself commend Unto thy guidance from this hour. Oh let my w... [ Continue Reading ]
VAU. (42) SO SHALL I HAVE. — Better literally, as the LXX. and Vulg., _and I shall answer my reviler a word, for I trust in Thy word, i.e.,_ when reproached it will be enough to pronounce God’s promise. The repetition of _davar_ here and in Psalms 119:43 makes for this explanation in preference to... [ Continue Reading ]
AT LIBERTY. — See margin. Literally, in _a large place._ (See Psalms 119:32; comp. Proverbs 4:12.)... [ Continue Reading ]
The Vulgate (which in the tenses follows the LXX.) of this verse was the motto of the Augsburg Confession, _Et loquebar in testimoniis tuis in conspectu regum, et non confundebar.” _... [ Continue Reading ]
MY HANDS. — See Psalms 28:2. The expression here is elliptical: “I will lift my hands in prayer for power to observe Thy commands.”... [ Continue Reading ]
ZAIN. (50) COMFORT. — As in Job 6:10, where the same noun occurs, its only other use. We might render, “This is my comfort, that thy word quickeneth me.”... [ Continue Reading ]
HORROR. — Rather, _violent indignation,_ a storm of rage, hot and fierce as the simoon. For the word, see Psalms 11:6, Note.... [ Continue Reading ]
SONGS. — Or, _Thy statutes were my music in the house of my sojournings._ Possibly with reference to the exile (comp. Psalms 137:4), but with comparison with Psalms 119:9 (see Note), more probably the reference is to the transitoriness of human life. In connection with the next verse comp. Job 35:10... [ Continue Reading ]
THIS I HAD, BECAUSE... — Literally, _This was to me,_ &c, _i.e.,_ this consoling recollection of the mercies of God, of His covenant grace, was to him, happened, or came to him, in consequence of his habitual obedience. Virtue is indeed then most its own reward, in times of quiet reflection, like th... [ Continue Reading ]
CHETH. (57) THOU ART MY PORTION, O LORD. — This rendering is in accordance with Psalms 16:5; Psalms 73:26. But, even with these passages in view, a better rendering would be — “This is my portion, O Lord, I said (it), To keep Thy words.”... [ Continue Reading ]
I INTREATED. — See Psalms 45:12.... [ Continue Reading ]
I THOUGHT ON. — The Hebrew implies repeated and frequent meditation.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE BANDS... — Rather, _cords of the wicked surrounded me._ (See Psalms 18:5.) So all ancient versions except the Targum.... [ Continue Reading ]
MIDNIGHT. — See Psalms 119:55.... [ Continue Reading ]
TETH. (66) GOOD JUDGMENT. — More exactly, _good taste._ Here, however, in a moral, not æsthetic sense. Perhaps _tact_ or _delicate moral perception_ represents it. We may compare St. Paul’s use of the Greek words, ἐπιγνώσις and αἰσθήσις in Philippians 1:9.... [ Continue Reading ]
That there is allusion here to the Babylonian exile, and its moral and religious effect on the nation, there can be little doubt.... [ Continue Reading ]
It is characteristic of this psalm that the higher the conception of the Divine nature, the more earnest becomes the prayer for knowledge of His will in relation to conduct.... [ Continue Reading ]
HAVE FORGED. — Rather, _patched._ The verb occurs twice besides (Job 13:4; Job 14:17). Gesenius compares the Greek, δόλον ἐάπτειν_,_ and the Latin, _suere dolos._ Comp. also “You praise yourself by laying defects of judgment to me; but you patched up your excuses.” _Antony and Cleopatra:_ Acts 2,... [ Continue Reading ]
AS FAT AS GREASE. — For this emblem of pride and insensibility, see Psalms 17:10; Psalms 73:7; Isaiah 6:10.... [ Continue Reading ]
IT IS GOOD... — See Psalms 119:67. Probably the result of discipline on the nation is intended, though the “sweet uses of adversity” were long ago a truism of moralists. See Æsch., _Agam.,_ 172: “Who guideth mortals to wisdom, maketh them grasp lore Firmly through their pain.”... [ Continue Reading ]
BETTER UNTO ME — _i.e._, better for me. THOUSANDS OF. — We must supply _shekels_ or _pieces._... [ Continue Reading ]
JOD. (73) FASHIONED. — Literally, _fixed, established. _... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY... WILL BE GLAD. — The great truth of spiritual communion, and the mutual help and consolation derived from it, is latent here. In its primary sense, that the preservation and deliverance of the righteous, who are victims of persecution, afford comfort and joy to all truly good, the verse has b... [ Continue Reading ]
See Psalms 119:67.... [ Continue Reading ]
DEALT. — Better, _wronged me;_ literally, _bent me._... [ Continue Reading ]
CAPH. (81) FAINTETH. — The same Hebrew word as _fail_ in the next verse.... [ Continue Reading ]
MINE EYES FAIL. — The _failing_ of the eyes is here evidently to be understood of the effort of straining to catch or keep sight of a distant object, not, as so frequently in the Psalms (see Psalms 6:7, &c), from sickness or even grief. Comp. “I would have broke my eye-strings, cracked them, but To... [ Continue Reading ]
A BOTTLE IN THE SMOKE. — The insertion of _yet_ by our translators shows that they understood this as a figure of abject misery. The wine-skin would, of course, shrivel, if hung above a fire, and would afford an apt image of the effect of trouble on an individual or community. “As wine-skin in the s... [ Continue Reading ]
As in Psalms 89:47, the psalmist here utters what was the dread of each generation of Israel, a dread lest it should have passed away before the day of deliverance should arrive.... [ Continue Reading ]
WHICH. — Better, _who._ Its antecedent, of course, the _proud,_ not the _pits. _... [ Continue Reading ]
UPON EARTH. — Rather, _on the land._ (Comp. Psalms 58:2.)... [ Continue Reading ]
LAMED. (89, 90) See Psalms 89:2.... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY (the heavens and the earth) CONTINUE TO THIS DAY ACCORDING TO THINE ORDINANCES: FOR ALL (_i.e.,_ all creation) ARE THY SERVANTS. — In Hebrew _the all, i.e.,_ the universe. The parallelism is in this way preserved, while in the alternative, “as for Thy judgments, Thy,” &c., it is lost.... [ Continue Reading ]
I HAVE SEEN. — The exact thought of the psalmist here is doubtful, and it offers such a wide application, embracing so many truths of experience, that possibly he had more than one meaning in his mind. Keeping as close to the context as possible, the meaning will be: “To all perfection (or apparent... [ Continue Reading ]
MEM. (98) Better, _Thy commandments make me wiser than my enemies._ The same correspondence of wisdom with loyal obedience to the Law is found in the Book of Proverbs.... [ Continue Reading ]
MORE UNDERSTANDING... — The Rabbinical writers disliked the idea of a scholar professing wisdom above his teachers, and rendered, “from all my teachers I got wisdom,” which was certainly far more in keeping with the process by which the Talmud grew into existence.... [ Continue Reading ]
ANCIENTS. — Or, more probably, as the LXX. and Vulg., and the old versions generally took it, _old men._... [ Continue Reading ]
NUN. (105) See Proverbs 6:23. So Wordsworth calls Duty: “A light to guide.”... [ Continue Reading ]
PERFORM. — The same verb as in Psalms 119:28 — _strengthen_; often used in Esther for _confirm. _... [ Continue Reading ]
FREEWILL OFFERINGS OF MY MOUTH — _i.e.,_ thanks and praise.... [ Continue Reading ]
MY SOUL. — For this figure of peril see Judges 12:3; 1 Samuel 19:5, &c.... [ Continue Reading ]
SAMECH. (113) I HATE VAIN THOUGHTS. — Rather, _I hate men who halt between two opinions,_ following 1 Kings 18:21, where the cognate noun from the same root, _to divide,_ appears. Probably we are to think of those among the Jews who were for political reasons favourably inclined towards foreign cus... [ Continue Reading ]
MY SHIELD. — For this expression see Psalms 3:3; Psalms 7:10.... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR. — Better, _and._ The presence of the wicked was a hindrance to religion. It is Israel trying to purify itself from the leaven of evil influence that speaks. The first clause is from Psalms 6:8.... [ Continue Reading ]
TRODDEN DOWN. — Better, _thou despisest._ So LXX. and Vulg. Aquila, “Thou hast impaled.” Symmachus, “Thou hast convicted.” Literally the word seems to mean to _weigh_ or _value,_ but, from the habit of the buyer beating down the price by depreciating, comes to have a sense of this kind. Mr. Burgess... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU PUTTEST AWAY. — For this common Scriptural figure comp. Jeremiah 6:28; Ezekiel 22:18. This is indeed a process which is continually going on, and it is one test of the true religious character that it can discern it at work under the seeming contradictions of the world. Where apparently vice su... [ Continue Reading ]
TREMBLETH. — The original is far stronger. Better, as in Job 4:15, _the hair of my flesh stands up._ So Symmachus.... [ Continue Reading ]
AIN. (122) BE SURETY. — Just as Judah became surety for the safety of Benjamin (Genesis 43:9), so the psalmist asks God to be answerable for the servant who had been faithful to the covenant, and stand between him and the attacks of the proud. So Hezekiah (Isaiah 38:14) asks God to “undertake” for h... [ Continue Reading ]
See Psalms 119:82.... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY HAVE MADE VOID THY LAW. — Some treat the verse as parenthetical, but is it not that the irreligion of the wicked makes the Law even more dear to the psalmist? What they reject is to him priceless, “Faithful found; Among the faithless, faithful only he.”... [ Continue Reading ]
THEREFORE I ESTEEM. — As the text stands, this verse literally runs, _Therefore all precepts of all I make straight. Every path of falsehood I hate._ The LXX. and Vulg. have, “Therefore to all Thy commandments I was being directed. Every unjust path I hated,” which only necessitates a slight change... [ Continue Reading ]
PE. (130) ENTRANCE. — Literally, _opening,_ which the LXX. and Vulg. better represent by “manifestation,” “declaration.” (Comp. “opening and alleging,” Acts 17:3.)... [ Continue Reading ]
Comp. Job 29:23.... [ Continue Reading ]
AS... NAME. — See margin. But the absence of the suffix is against this correction, as it is against the Authorised Version itself. Rather, _according to the right of._ It was not only theirs by custom, but by right of the covenant.... [ Continue Reading ]
HAVE DOMINION. — Or, _get the mastery._ The Arabic root cognate with the Hebrew of the word appears in the title _sultan._... [ Continue Reading ]
TZADDI. (137) AND UPRIGHT. — For an interesting historical association with this verse see Gibbon’s account of the death of the Emperor Maurice (chap 46).... [ Continue Reading ]
THY TESTIMONIES. — Better, _Thou hast commanded Thy testimonies in righteousness and very faithfulness._ But unquestionably another arrangement of the text of these two verses is correct. It takes the verb _commandest_ with Psalms 119:137, and gets the simple and obvious “righteous art Thou, O Lord,... [ Continue Reading ]
PURE. — More literally, _purged by trial._ LXX. and Vulg., “fired.” It is not only the excellence, but the _proved_ excellence, of the Divine Word, which is the object of love and adoration here.... [ Continue Reading ]
These words are hardly applicable to an individual, while to the struggling Israel, in relation to the great Eastern Powers, they are peculiarly suitable.... [ Continue Reading ]
THY... — Better, _Thy righteousness is right for ever, and Thy law is truth._... [ Continue Reading ]
KOPH. (147) PREVENTED. — See Psalms 18:5; Psalms 79:8. The Authorised Version gives the sense, _I was up before the morning._ DAWNING OF THE MORNING. — The Hebrew word means literally “breath,” and is used of the fresh breeze that blows both at sunset (Job 24:15; Proverbs 7:9) and sunrise (Job 7:4... [ Continue Reading ]
ACCORDING TO THY JUDGMENT. — See Note, Psalms 119:132. We must certainly here give the Hebrew noun the meaning of a “custom,” which it bears there. (Comp. Prayer Book version, “according as Thou art wont.”)... [ Continue Reading ]
NEAR. — Notice the antithesis. _They, the wicked,_ are _near_ with their temptation to sin and their hindrances to virtue. _Thou_ art near with the aid and support of Thy law.... [ Continue Reading ]
The more obvious rendering of this verse is, _Of old I was instructed out of Thy testimonies, for_ — _not for a brief time, but for ever_ — _Thou didst found them,_ where _for ever_ expresses indefinite past as well as indefinite future.... [ Continue Reading ]
RESH. (158) TRANSGRESSORS. — Better, _the faithless_ (or, _traitors_). WAS GRIEVED. — The Hebrew is a far stronger word, and the sense is intensified by the rare conjugation: _was filled with loathing at; sickened with disgust._ “The recreants I survey, And loathing turn away.” — KEBLE.... [ Continue Reading ]
BEGINNING. — Heb., _head;_ but here, as in Psalms 139:17, it might be rendered _sum._ (Comp. Proverbs 1:7.) The translation _“from_ the beginning,” of the Authorised Version must at all events be abandoned.... [ Continue Reading ]
SCHIN. (161) PRINCES. — Here again we have an indication of the national character of the psalm. It was the whole community which suffered from the intrigues and violence of princes.... [ Continue Reading ]
Comp. Isaiah 9:3.... [ Continue Reading ]
SEVEN TIMES. — Some commentators think the number is used here only in a general way for “often,” “repeatedly;” but the number seven evidently had some sacred association for the Hebrews. (Comp. Leviticus 26:18; Proverbs 24:16; Matthew 18:21, &c) No doubt the seven canonical hours were partly derive... [ Continue Reading ]
NOTHING SHALL OFFEND THEM. — See margin. Perhaps the verse should take the form of a wish: _great peace to the lovers of Thy law; no stumbling-block to them._ Or, it may be, _great peace have they who love Thy word and who find no hindrance._ It was not the fact that the faithful did _not_ stumble.... [ Continue Reading ]
TAU. (171) SHALL UTTER. — Better, preserving the metaphor of the Hebrew, _pour forth a stream of praise. _... [ Continue Reading ]
MY TONGUE SHALL SPEAK OF THY WORD. — Rather, _My tongue shall make response to Thy word, that all Thy commandments are true. _... [ Continue Reading ]
I HAVE GONE ASTRAY LIKE A LOST SHEEP. — It would be in accordance with a true religious character that even at the end of a long protestation of obedience to the Divine law the psalmist should confess his weakness and sin. But while this may be a legitimate application of the close of this remarkabl... [ Continue Reading ]