Psalms 119:132

Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me, as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name. LOOK THOU UPON ME, AND BE MERCIFUL UNTO ME - thy mere look is able to heal me. AS THOU USEST TO DO UNTO THOSE THAT LOVE THY NAME. It is no new thing with thee, but thy wont in the case of all the godly, as they can joyfully testify. "As thou usest to do" - literally, 'according to the judgment' or 'right (which thou dost exercise-Hebrew, kªmishpaaT (H4941)) toward those that love thy name.' But the English version is justified by Genesis 40:13, "after the former manner when," etc.; Exodus 21:9;...

132._Look upon me, and be merciful to me_. In this verse he beseeches God to have a regard to him: as he is accustomed always to look to those who are his people. The Hebrew word משפט _mishpat, _translated _judgment, _signifies in this passage, as in many others, _a common rule, _or _ordinary usage. _(12) He next adds the purpose for which he desires that God would look upon him, namely, that he may be relieved from his miseries. This, then, is the prayer of an afflicted man, who, when apparently destitute of all help, and unable to come to any other conclusion than that he is neglected and forsaken of God, yet reflects with himself, that, for God to forsake him, was foreign to his nature and to his usual manner of procedure. It is as if he had said — Although I can perceive no token of thy favor, yea, although my condition is so wretched and desperate, t

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 119:132. _AS THOU USEST TO DO_] Treat me as thy mercy has induced thee to treat others in my circumstances. Deal with me as thou dealest with thy _friends_....

LOOK THOU UPON ME - Turn not away from me. Regard me with thy favor. AND BE MERCIFUL UNTO ME, AS THOU USEST TO DO UNTO THOSE THAT LOVE THY NAME - Margin, “According to the custom toward those,” etc. The Hebrew word is “judgment:” “according to the judgment to the lovers of thy name.” The word seems here to be used in the sense of “right;” of what is due; or, of what is usually determined: that is, as God usually determines, judges, acts toward those who love him. The idea is, Treat me according to the rules which regulate the treatment of thy people. Let me be regarded as one of them, and be dealt with accordingly. On the sentiment in this passage, see the notes at Psalms 106:4....

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

LOOK THOU UPON ME,.... Not as in himself; a sinful creature will not bear looking upon by the Lord, especially with the strict eye of justice; but as in Christ, and clothed with his righteousness; and so not merely in a providential way, though that is a favour, but in a way of special grace and mercy. It may be rendered, "turn unto me" r; as it is in Psalms 25:16; the Lord had turned from him, and had hid his face, which had given him trouble; and therefore he desires he would turn again to him, and show him his face and favour; AND BE MERCIFUL UNTO ME; in forgiving his sins, and admitting him to communion with him: he pleads mercy, and not merit and this shows it was not any look but a look of grace and mercy he prays for; AS THOU USEST TO DO UNTO THOSE THAT LOVE THY NAME; that is, himself: such as love the Lord have favours shown them; he shows merc

Psalms 119:129. _Thy testimonies are wonderful: therefore doth my soul keep them._ Every true believer admires God's Word; and, more than that, it amazes him: «Thy testimonies are wonderful.» View them from any point you may select, they are wonderful, wonderful in themselves, wonderful in their operation, wonderful in the way in which they endure all kinds of testing, and yet remain the same: «Thy testimonies are wonderful.» This wonder, however, in the true believer leads to godly practice, to holy living: «Therefore doth my soul keep them.» Our soul must be like a golden gasket in which we store the priceless jewels of the Word of the Lord. You cannot rightly keep God's Word anywhere but in your soul; to keep it merely in the memory, or in the intellect, is of no avail. Ps

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...