Psalms 119:35

Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight. MAKE ME TO GO IN THE PATH OF THY COMMANDMENTS; FOR THEREIN DO I DELIGHT. Thou who hast given me the will, give me the power to perform. Do not forsake one who by thy aid has already embraced thy Word....

35._Direct me in the path _The frequent repetition of this phraseology by the prophet is not to be considered as redundant. Seeing that the end of man’s existence ought to consist in profiting in God’s school, we nevertheless perceive how the world distracts him by its allurements, and how he also forms for himself a thousand avocations calculated to withdraw his thoughts from the main business of his life. The next clause of the verse, _in it I take pleasure, _must be carefully attended to. For it is an indication of rare excellence when a person so arranges his sentiments and affections as to renounce all the enticements pleasant to the flesh, and take delight in nothing so much as in the service of God. The prophet had already attained to this virtue but he still perceives that he is not yet perfect. Therefore, that his desire may be fully accomplished, he solicits fresh assistance fr...

33-40 Teach me thy statutes, not the mere words, but the way of applying them to myself. God, by his Spirit, gives a right understanding. But the Spirit of revelation in the word will not suffice, unless we have the Spirit of wisdom in the heart. God puts his Spirit within us, causing us to walk in his statutes. The sin here prayed against is covetousness. Those that would have the love of God rooted in them, must get the love of the world rooted out; for the friendship of the world is enmity with God. Quicken me in thy way; to redeem time, and to do every duty with liveliness of spirit. Beholding vanity deadens us, and slackens our pace; a traveller must not stand gazing upon every object that presents itself to his view. The promises of God's word greatly relate to the preservation of the true believer. When Satan has drawn a child of God into worldly compliances, he will reproach him...

MAKE ME TO GO IN THE PATH ... - That is, Incline me to it; so direct me that I shall thus walk. It is an acknowledgment of his dependence on God, that he might be able to carry out the cherished purposes of his soul. FOR THEREIN DO I DELIGHT - See Psalms 119:16. I am conscious of having pleasure in thy commandments; of having a strong desire to keep them, and I pray for grace that I may be able to do it. Real delight in the law of God is one of the best means of securing its observance; one of the best evidences that it will be kept....

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

MAKE ME TO GO IN THE PATH OF THY COMMANDMENTS,.... Lead, guide, direct me in the path, and use me to it; work in me both to will and to do; give both ability and a willing mind to walk therein; by granting fresh supplies of grace, and more spiritual strength; by drawing with the cords of love, and by putting in him the good spirit of grace, to cause to walk in the statutes of the Lord, and keep his judgments and do them, Ezekiel 36:27; FOR THEREIN DO I DELIGHT; in the law of God, after the inward man; in the commandments of Christ, which are not grievous; in wisdom's ways and paths, which are pleasantness and peace....

By the help of God's Holy Spirit, this psalm may serve for the purposes of self-examination, for we may ask ourselves as we read, «Do I feel in that way? Are my prayers like those of this good man? Is my experience like his: «We may often ask ourselves, «Am I as watchful, and as careful, and as fond of God's Word as he was?» Such questions will do us good. Psalms 119:25. _My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou me according to thy word._ He does not like to feel the cleaving of his soul to the dust. There are some that feel it, but they seem content to continue in that condition; but no sooner does David feel it than he cries «Quicken thou me.» A sense of sin is of small value, unless it leads us to desire to escape out of it. «Quicken thou me.» I lie as dead as if it were dust to dust. My soul seems cleaving to it, as if it had come to its end, and meant to r

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...

PSALMS 119 DESCRIPTIVE TITLE Jehovah's Will in Relation to Human Character and Conduct, celebrated in Twenty-two Alphabetical Stanzas, and by the aid of Eight Comprehensive Synonyms. ANALYSIS (The analysis of this Psalm may be seen in its superficial structure, and further discovered by an examination of the following Table of Synonyms.) SYNONYMS EXPRESSIVE OF JEHOVAH'S WILL IN RELATION TO HUMAN CONDUCT AS CELEBRATED IN Psalms 119. TABLE OF PRINCIPAL WORDS AND PHRASES USED IN CONNECTION WITH EACH SYNONYM. English Hebrew No. of oc. in M.T. No. Emended 1. COMMANDMENTS _mizwah_ 22 22 look well to, 6; go astray from, 10, 21, 110; run in way of, 32; lead in path of, 35; delight in, 47, 143; keep, (55), 60; believe in,