Psalms 119:1

Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD. The connection of the sacred aphorisms of this psalm is their common reference to the Word of God, the grand theme of the whole. The only two verses (; ) in which it is not named, contain an indirect reference to it, "good" and "thy name" being both elsewhere continually associated with God's Word. The psalm is a suitable sermon after the Hallel, to urge the people to regard God's Word as the palladium of their national and individual salvation. Ezra, the restorer of the national polity, was probably the author of the present form of the psalm (Pusey). Israel is the real speaker whom the Psalmist represents. Israel's calling was to testify for the Word of truth before the pagan world-powers ...

1_Blessed are they who are upright _In these words the prophet sets forth the same paradox which we met with at the commencement of the Book of Psalms. All men naturally aspire after happiness, but instead of searching for it in the right path, they designedly prefer wandering up and down through endless by-paths, to their ruin and destruction. The Holy Spirit deservedly condemns this apathy and blindness. And but for man’s cupidity, which, with brutish impetuosity, hurries him in the opposite direction, the meaning of the words would appear quite plain to him. And the further a man wanders from God, the happier does he imagine himself to be; and hence all treat, as a fable, what the Holy Spirit declares about true piety and the service of God. This is a doctrine which scarcely one among a hundred receives. The term _way, _is here put for the manner, or course and way of life: and hence...

1-8 This psalm may be considered as the statement of a believer's experience. As far as our views, desires, and affections agree with what is here expressed, they come from the influences of the Holy Spirit, and no further. The pardoning mercy of God in Christ, is the only source of a sinner's happiness. And those are most happy, who are preserved most free from the defilement of sin, who simply believe God's testimonies, and depend on his promises. If the heart be divided between him and the world, it is evil. But the saints carefully avoid all sin; they are conscious of much evil that clogs them in the ways of God, but not of that wickedness which draws them out of those ways. The tempter would make men think they are at them out of those ways. The tempter would make men think they are at liberty to follow the word of God or not, as they please. But the desire and prayer of a good man...

PSALM CXIX _The various excellencies and important uses of the law or_ _revelation of God._ NOTES ON PSALM CXIX This is another of the _alphabetical_ or _acrostic_ Psalms. It is divided into _twenty-two_ parts, answering to the _number_ of letters in the _Hebrew alphabet_. Every _part_ is divided into _eight verses_; and each verse begins with that letter of the alphabet which forms the _title_ of the part, e.g.: The _eight_ first verses have א _aleph_ prefixed, the second _eight_ ב beth, each of the _eight_ verses beginning with _that_ letter; and so of the rest. All _connexion_, as might be naturally expected, is sacrificed to this artificial and methodical arrangement....

BLESSED ARE THE UNDEFILED IN THE WAY - In the way or journey of life; in the path of religion; in the road which leads to heaven. As life - the religious life - is represented under the image of a journey, the expression here is equivalent to saying, “Blessed are those who in the journey of life - in their religious course - are pure, Sincere, uncontaminated.” On the word way, see the notes at Psalms 1:6. The margin here on the word undefiled, is perfect, or sincere. So the Hebrew. The word is the same as in Job 1:1, where it is rendered “perfect.” See the notes at that passage. The Greek translation is undefiled - ἄμωμοι _amōmoi_. So the Latin, _“immaculati.”_ Luther renders it, “Who live without blemish” or stain. The idea is,

EXPOSITION This is an "alphabetic psalm" of a more stringent character than any other. It consists of twenty-two stanzas, each of eight verses, every verse in each stanza beginning with its own proper letter—those of stanza 1 with _aleph_,_ _the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet; those of stanza 2 with _both_,_ _the second letter; and so on. The writer, having thus fettered himself, moves with some difficulty, but still has produced what has been justly called "a sweetly monotonous meditation" (Cheyne). He takes the Law for his one and only subject, and, further, seems to have bound himself, almost absolutely, to introduce the word "Law," or something which he regards as a synonym of "Law," into every verse. The synonyms are nine in number— 1. TORAH, "the Law"_ _itself; but not merely the Law given on Mount Sinai; rather, God's law in the widest sense, all whereby he

ALEPH. BLESSED [ARE] THE UNDEFILED IN THE WAY,.... Who are in the right way to heaven and happiness, which is Jesus Christ; the strait gate, and narrow way to eternal life; the only true way of life and salvation, in which way believers walk by faith. All out of this way are altogether become filthy; but all in this way are clean, even every bit: they are without spot and blemish, blameless and unreproveable, and without fault, before the throne of God and in his sight; being washed from their sins in the blood of the Lamb, and clothed with his righteousness; and even "perfect" and complete in him, as the Targum renders the word. These are also found in the way of their duty, and walk in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord, blameless before men, and are sincere and upright in the sight of God; and are upon all accounts happy persons: WHO WALK IN THE LAW OF THE LORD: within t...

The first eight verses of this Psalm, in the Hebrew, begin with the letter A, and the second eight begin with the letter B. The whole Psalm is the good man's alphabet; the Holy Spirit condescended to use these expedients to help the memory of the readers of Holy Scripture. We should be thankful for this. I have sometimes heard preachers blamed for dividing their discourses in such a way as to help the memory of their hearers. The preacher may well bear that blame without any regret, since the Spirit of God here condescends to alliteration, and to alphabetical arrangement, in order to help the memories of readers. Thus the Psalm begins Psalms 119:1. _Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD._ If there are any people in the world who are blessed, surely it must be those who are in God's way, and who take care to keep their garments unspotted

Psalms 119 The Law Written on Their Hearts and the Praise of the Word This is the longest and most perfect Psalm in the whole collection. It is an alphabetical acrostic. It is composed of 22 sections, each having eight verses, 176 verses in all. Each section begins with a different letter of the alphabet and each verse of the different sections begins also with the corresponding letter of the section. Eight times each letter of the alphabet is mentioned in the 22 sections. The number eight in the Word has the meaning of resurrection, death is gone and life has come. Israel has passed from death to life and now extols the Word and the Law of God. The time has come when it is fulfilled what the Lord spoke through Jeremiah concerning the new covenant, “I will put my law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts.” We behold then in this Psalm the joy of Israel in knowing the Word

CXIX. PRAISE OF THE LAW. This is the longest and most artificial Ps. in the whole collection. It is divided into twenty-two strophes, each beginning with one of the twenty-two letters of the Heb. alphabet in regular order. Again each strophe contains eight verses, and each verse begins with the same letter which introduces the strophe. The number of strophes then is determined by the number of the Heb. letters. But what of the eight verses in each strophe? The Psalmist had derived from a kindred Ps., viz. Psalms 19, the eight synonyms for the conception Word of God and impresses these terms on his readers by introducing them all into each stanza of his work. So Cheyne, in his _Book of Psalms_ (1904), following D. H. Mü ller. It is right, however, to bear in mind that this theory involves considerable, though by no means extravagant or arbitrary, changes in the received text both of Psalm...