Psalms 119:112

I have inclined mine heart to perform thy statutes alway, even unto the end. I HAVE INCLINED MINE HEART TO PERFORM THY STATUTES ALWAY, EVEN UNTO THE END - (.)...

112._I have inclined my heart to perform thy statutes. _In this verse he describes the right observance of the law, which consists in Our cheerfully and heartily preparing ourselves for doing what the law commands. Slavish and constrained obedience differs little from rebellion. The prophet, therefore, in order briefly to define what it is to serve God, asserts, that he applied not only his hands, eyes, or feet, to the keeping of the law, but that he began with the affection of the heart. Instead of the verb _incline, _the verb _extend _might with propriety be employed; but I am inclined to rest in the more generally received interpretation, which is, that he devoted himself with sincere affection of heart to the observance of the law. This inclination of the heart is oppose to the wandering lusts which rise up against God, and drag us any where rather than incline us to a virtuous life....

89-96 The settling of God's word in heaven, is opposed to the changes and revolutions of the earth. And the engagements of God's covenant are established more firmly than the earth itself. All the creatures answer the ends of their creation: shall man, who alone is endued with reason, be the only unprofitable burden of the earth? We may make the Bible a pleasant companion at any time. But the word, without the grace of God, would not quicken us. See the best help for bad memories, namely, good affections; and though the exact words be lost, if the meaning remain, that is well. I am thine, not my own, not the world's; save me from sin, save me from ruin. The Lord will keep the man in peace, whose mind is stayed on him. It is poor perfection which one sees and end of. Such are all things in this world, which pass for perfections. The glory of man is but as the flower of the grass. The psa...

Verse Psalms 119:112. _I HAVE INCLINED MINE HEART_] I used the power God gave me, and turned to his testimonies with all mine heart. When we _work with God_, we can _do all things_. ANALYSIS OF LETTER NUN. - _FOURTEENTH DIVISION_ In this division the psalmist points out farther excellencies of God's word, in the use of it. 1. God's word was a _lamp to his feet_ to guide him through every dark place. 2. It was a _light to his_ _path_, ever showing him generally the way in which he should walk. 1. He therefore resolves to keep it, and binds himself to fulfil his resolution. As the lamp was going before, and the light was shining, it was necessary that he should walk while the light shone. He therefore, 1. Binds himself by an _oath_ or vow: "I have sworn." 2. He will be

I HAVE INCLINED MINE HEART - The Hebrew word means properly “to stretch out”; “to extend” - as the hand. Exodus 8:6, Exodus 8:17. Then it means to incline, to bow, to depress. Here the idea is, that he had “given” that “direction” to the inclinations of his heart; he had resolved or purposed. He refers to an act of choice on his part, meaning that he had preferred this course, or that he had made this a solemn intention. Though every right inclination of the human heart is to be traced to the divine agency, yet it is also true that man is active in religion - or that his own mind resolves, chooses, and prefers - and that true religion is the actual choice or preference of all who serve God aright. See the notes at...

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

I HAVE INCLINED MINE HEART TO PERFORM THY STATUTES ALWAY,.... He had prayed to God to incline his heart to them, Psalms 119:36; and by the grace of God his heart was inclined to obedience to them; and nothing but that can incline the heart, which is naturally averse unto them: the carnal mind is not subject to the law of God, nor can it be, until it is made so by the grace of God, Romans 8:7; and by this the psalmist had prevailed upon his heart to keep the statutes of the Lord, and do them, and that continually; for a good man is desirous of being steadfast and immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord; [EVEN UNTO] THE END; the end of life, as long as he lived. The Septuagint and Vulgate Latin version render it, "for a recompence"; and the Arabic version, "for an eternal recompen

Psalms 119:89. _For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven._ Other things come, and go, and change, moons wax and wane, tides ebb and flow, everything earthly is changeable; but «Thy word is settled settled in heaven,» with the eternal settlements. No truth of it can fail, no promise of it can be broken. What a joy this is to our hearts tonight! There is something sure, after all: «For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven.» Psalms 119:90. _Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast established the earth, and it abideth._ That is, God has spoken to nature, and that word has established the earth, and made it to stand securely. Psalms 119:91

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...