Psalms 119:31

I have stuck unto thy testimonies: O LORD, put me not to shame. I HAVE STUCK UNTO THY TESTIMONIES: O LORD, PUT ME NOT TO SHAME - disappoint not my hope. Though "my soul cleaveth unto the dust" (), it cleaveth still faster to "thy testimonies," so that no business, pleasure, or peril can sever me from them....

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 119:31. _I HAVE STUCK_] דבקתי _dabakti_, I have _cleaved_ to, been _glued_ to, them: the same word as in Psalms 119:25. My _soul cleaves_ as much to _thy testimonies_, as my _life_ has _cleaved_ to the _dust_. _O LORD, PUT ME NOT TO SHAME._] Let my sins and follies be blotted out by thy mercy; and so hide and cover them that they shall never appear, either in _this_ or the _coming world_, to my _shame_ and _confusion_! How many need to be importunate with God in this prayer!...

I HAVE STUCK UNTO THY TESTIMONIES - The word here rendered “stuck” is the same which in Psalms 119:25 is rendered “cleave:” - “My soul cleaveth unto the dust.” It means here that he had adhered to the testimonies of God as if he had been glued to them, or as if he and they were firmly united together. He had so adhered to them that he could not be detached from them. O LORD, PUT ME NOT TO SHAME - Let me not be disappointed or confounded; let all my anticipations of the good effects of obeying thy law be realized; let me find all that I have hoped for; let me partake of thy friendship and favor as I desire. See the notes at Psalms 119:6....

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 STUCK UNTO THY TESTIMONIES,.... The word of God, the Scriptures of truth, and the doctrines contained in them. These he closely adhered to, was glued unto them as it were; having firmly believed them, he steadfastly professed them; nor could he be moved from them by any temptations whatever, notwithstanding the reproach cast upon them and him for their sake, or the opposition made unto them; O LORD, PUT ME NOT TO SHAME: or let me not be ashamed of the choice I have made, of the testimonies I adhere unto, of my hope and confidence in the Lord and his word; or suffer me not to do anything, any sinful action, that may expose me to shame and contempt....

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...

STUCK. cleaved, or adhered....