Psalms 119:38

Stablish thy word unto thy servant, who is devoted to thy fear. STABLISH THY WORD UNTO THY SERVANTS, WHO IS DEVOTED TO THY FEAR - or, 'thy Word which belongs to thy fearers;' namely, to them who fear thee (Hengstenberg). I prefer the English version (cf. ; ; ). Give the additional grace which thou promisest to one who uses the grace already given, and with reverential "fear" asks from his heart for more (Muis). Also "stablish thy word" of promise respecting the ultimate permanence of David's seed and kingdom (; )....

38._Confirm thy word unto thy servant. _Here we have briefly set forth the sole end and legitimate use of prayer, which is, that we may reap the fruits of God’s promises. Whence it comes to pass, that they commit sin who utter vague and incoherent desires. For we perceive the prophet allows not himself to petition or wish any thing but what God hath condescended to promise. And certainly their presumption is great, who rush into the presence of God without any call from his word; as if they would make him subservient to their humor and caprice. The argument by which the Psalmist enforces his plea deserves to be noticed_; because I am devoted to thy fear. _The relative אשר _asher, _in this place bears the signification of the causal conjunction, _because _or _for. _The prophet intimates that he does not content himself with mere temporal enjoyments, as worldly men do; and that he did not...

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...

Verse Psalms 119:38. _STABLISH THY WORD_] Fulfil the promises thou hast made to me....

STABLISH THY WORD UNTO THY SERVANT - Confirm it; make it seem firm and true; let not my mind be vacillating or skeptical in regard to thy truth. This seems to be a prayer against the influence of doubt and scepticism; a prayer that doubts might not be suffered to spring up in his mind, and that the objections and difficulties of scepticism might have no place there. There is a class of people whose minds are naturally skeptical and unbelieving, and for such people such a prayer is especially appropriate. For none can it be improper to pray that the word of God may always seem to them to be true; that their minds may never be left to the influence of doubt and unbelief. WHO IS DEVOTED TO THY FEAR - literally, “Who,” or which, “to thy fear.” This may refer either to the author of the psalm, or to the word of God. It may mean that he was among those who feared - that is, worshipped God; or,...

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

STABLISH THY WORD UNTO THY SERVANT,.... Either God's word of promise, which never fails, is firm and stable in Christ; and the sense is, that God would assure him of the fulfilment of it, and give him a strong faith and firm belief of it; for otherwise the word of the Lord cannot be surer or more stable than it is: or else the word of his grace; and then the sense is, that he might be established in it, and the truths of it, and be established by it; for the word is a means of establishment, and a good thing it is to have the heart established with grace, with the doctrine of grace, Hebrews 13:9; WHO [IS DEVOTED] TO THY FEAR; who served the Lord with reverence and godly fear; who feared the Lord and his goodness; that grace being a reigning one in his heart, and ever before his eyes. Or, "which is unto thy fear" d; that is, which word is unto thy fear; which leads unto it,

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

FEAR (_ See Scofield) - (Psalms 19:9). _...

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