Psalms 119:142

Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth. THY RIGHTEOUSNESS IS AN EVERLASTING RIGHTEOUSNESS - Thy standard of righteousness is an abiding one: though now the enemy seem to prevail against thy righteousness, yet it "endureth forever." AND THY LAW IS THE TRUTH. It cannot, therefore, prove false to its promises to them who trust in it (; )....

142._Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness. _Here the law of God is honored by the additional encomium, that it is everlasting righteousness and truth; as if it had been said, that all other rules of life, with whatever attractions they may appear to be recommended, are but a shadow, which quickly vanishes away. The Psalmist, no doubt, indirectly contrasts the doctrine of the law with all the human precepts which were ever delivered, that he may bring all the faithful in subjection to it, since it is the school of perfect wisdom. There may be more of plausibility in the refined and subtle disquisition’s of men; but there is in them nothing firm or solid at bottom, as there is in God’s law. This firmness of the divine law he proves in the following verse from one instance — the continual comfort he found in it when grievously harassed with temptations. And the true test of the...

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 119:142. _THY RIGHTEOUSNESS_ IS _AN EVERLASTING RIGHTEOUSNESS_] The word צדק _tsedek_ is a word of very extensive meaning in the Bible. It signifies, not only God's inherent righteousness and perfection of nature, but also his method of treating others; his plan of redemption; _his method of saving others_. And the word δικαιοσυνη, which answers to it, in the _Septuagint_ and in the _New Testament_, is used with the same latitude of meaning, and in the same sense; particularly in that remarkable passage, Romans 3:25, where see the notes. Thy merciful method of dealing with sinners and justifying the ungodly will last as long as the earth lasts; and thy _law_ that witnesses this, in all its pages, is _the truth_....

THY RIGHTEOUSNESS IS AN EVERLASTING RIGHTEOUSNESS - It never changes. The principles of thy law, of thy government, and of thy method of saving people, are the same under all dispensations, in every land, in all worlds; and they will remain the same forever. Human governments change. Old dynasties pass away. New laws are enacted under new administrations. Customs change. Opinions change. People change. The world changes. But as God himself never changes, so it is with his law. That law is founded on eternal truth, and can never change. AND THY LAW IS THE TRUTH - It is founded on “truth;” on the reality of things. It is so essentially founded on truth, it springs so certainly out of truth, or out of the reality of things, that it may be said to be the truth itself. He who understands the law of God understands what truth is, for it is the expression and the exponent of that which is true...

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

THY RIGHTEOUSNESS [IS] AN EVERLASTING RIGHTEOUSNESS,.... Or, "is for ever" z. The rectitude of his nature, his faithfulness in his promises, and his kindness and beneficence to his people; and particularly the righteousness of God revealed in the Gospel; the righteousness of his Son, which he approves and accepts of, and imputes to him that believes. This is a righteousness that will last for ever, will never be abolished; it will answer for them that have it in a time to come; it is of use throughout the whole of life, at death, in the day of judgment, and to all eternity; see Daniel 9:24; AND THY LAW [IS] THE TRUTH; or "thy doctrine"; or "thy word", as the Arabic version. The Scriptures are called the Scriptures of truth, Daniel 10:21 they come from the God of truth, and all

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...