Psalms 119:28

My soul melteth for heaviness: strengthen thou me according unto thy word. MY SOUL MELTETH FOR HEAVINESS - owing to my sufferings, notwithstanding my adherence to thy Word. "Melteth" - literally ( daalªpaah (H1811)), droppeth. Compare Job 16:20, the same Hebrew....

28._My soul droppeth away for grief _As a little before he said that his soul cleaved to the dust, so now, almost in the same manner, he complains that it melted away with grief. Some are of opinion that he alludes to tears, as if he had said that his soul was dissolved in tears. But the simpler meaning is, that his strength was poured out like water. The verb is in the future tense, yet it denotes a continued action. The prophet assures himself of a remedy for this his extreme sorrow, provided God stretch out his hand towards him. Formerly, when almost lifeless, he entertained the expectation of a revival through the grace of God; now also, by the same means, he cherishes the hope of being restored to renovated and complete vigor, notwithstanding he was nearly consumed. He repeats the expression, _according to thy word, _because, apart from his word, God’s power would afford us little c...

25-32 While the souls of the children of this world cleave to the earth as their portion, the children of light are greatly burdened, because of the remains of carnal affections in their hearts. It is unspeakable comfort to a gracious soul, to think with what tenderness all its complaints are received by a gracious God. We can talk of the wonders of redeeming love, when we understand the way of God's precepts, and walk in that way. The penitent melts in sorrow for sin: even the patient spirit may melt in the sense of affliction, it is then its interest to pour out its soul before God. The way of lying means all false ways by which men deceive themselves and others, or are deceived by Satan and his instruments. Those who know and love the law of the Lord, desire to know it more, and love it better. The way of serious godliness is the way of truth; the only true way to happiness: we must...

Verse Psalms 119:28. _MY SOUL MELTETH_] דלף _dalaph_ signifies _to distil_, to _drop_ as _tears from the eye_. As my distresses cause the _tears_ to _distil_ from my eyes, so the overwhelming load of my afflictions causes my life to _ebb_ and _leak_ out....

MY SOUL MELTETH - Margin, “droppeth.” The Hebrew word here employed - דלף _dâlaph_ - means to drop, to drip, to distil, spoken of a house, as when the rain drops through the roof, Ecclesiastes 10:18; then, to shed tears, to weep, Job 16:20 - and this seems to be the meaning here. The idea of melting is not properly in the word, and the term weep would better express the meaning. His soul seemed to drop tears. It overflowed with tears. Yet there is an idea of abundant or constant weeping. It is not a gush of emotion, as when we say of one that he is “bathed in tears;” it is the idea of a steady flow or dropping of tears - slow, silent, but constant - as if the soul were dripping away or dissolving. Thus the idea is more striking and beaut

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

MY SOUL MELTETH FOR HEAVINESS,.... Like wax before the sun or fire; or flows like water; drops a, as the word signifies, and dissolves into tears, through grief and sorrow for sins committed; or by reason of Satan's temptations, or divine desertions, or grievous troubles and afflictions; which cause heaviness, lie heavy, and press hard; STRENGTHEN THOU ME ACCORDING UNTO THY WORD; to oppose corruptions, withstand temptations, bear up under trials and afflictions, and do the will of God. And the word of God is a means of strengthening his people to do these things; it is the spiritual bread which strengthens man's heart, and in the strength of which, like Elijah, he walks many days, and goes from strength to strength: and there are many gracious words of promise, which may be pleaded with God to this purpose; that he will help, strengthen, and uphold his people; that he will renew their s...

Psalms 119:9. _Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word._ «Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?» A vital and solemn question. His way is full of temptations, and he himself has strong passions. How shall he make his way clean, and keep it so? «By taking heed thereto according to thy word.» Without heed he will soon be in the mire, but carefully walking with God's word as his rule, by the blessing of God's grace it will keep him out of sin. Psalms 119:10. _With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandment._ There might be thought in this confession to be some commendation of himself, and therefore he salts it with this prayer: «I have sought thee, Lord, sincerely, but stil

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...