Psalms 119:40

Behold, I have longed after thy precepts: quicken me in thy righteousness. BEHOLD, I HAVE LONGED AFTER THY PRECEPTS: QUICKEN ME IN THY RIGHTEOUSNESS - according to thy righteousness, whereby thou savest them who trust in thee. 'The longing after God's commandments is the distinguishing mark of the godly and the pledge of salvation.' (Hengstenberg.)...

40._Behold, I have a desire to thy precepts _This is a repetition of what he declared a little before, with regard to his pious affection, and his love of righteousness; and that nothing was wanting but God to complete the work which he had commenced. If this interpretation be admitted, then, _to be quickened in the righteousness of God, _will be tantamount to being quickened in the way. The term _righteousness _is often put in this psalm for the law of God, or the rule of a righteous life. This view tends to make the two parts of the verse accord with one another. “Lord_, _this is now a remarkable kindness thou hast done me, in having inspired me with a holy desire to keep thy law; one thing is still necessary, that this same virtue pervade my whole life.” But as the word _righteousness _is ambiguous, my readers may, if they choose, understand it thus: Restore, defend, and maintain me f...

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 119:40. _BEHOLD, I HAVE LONGED_] Thou searchest the heart; thou knowest that I have long desired thy salvation; thou seest that this desire still remains. Behold it! it is thy work; and through thy mercy I breathe after thy mercy. _QUICKEN ME_] I am _dying_; O give me the spirit of life in Christ Jesus! ANALYSIS OF LETTER HE. - _FIFTH DIVISION_ In this part, which is wholly _precatory_, the psalmist prays, - I. That God would _illuminate_ his mind. II. That he would _remove all those hinderances_ which might prevent him from doing his duty. I. 1. The first petition is for illumination: "Teach me;" point me out _what_ I am to _learn_, and _how_ I am to learn it. 2. The secon

BEHOLD, I HAVE LONGED AFTER THY PRECEPTS - I have earnestly desired them. See the notes at Psalms 119:20. QUICKEN ME IN THY RIGHTEOUSNESS - Make me to live; to live in obedience to thy righteous laws. See Psalms 119:25, note; Psalms 119:37, note....

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

BEHOLD, I HAVE LONGED AFTER THY PRECEPTS,.... After a greater degree of knowledge of them, and an opportunity of hearing them explained and enforced, and of yielding obedience to them; see Psalms 119:7; QUICKEN ME IN THY RIGHTEOUSNESS: in the way of righteousness, according to the word of righteousness, the Gospel, and with the righteousness of Christ revealed in it; and which is unto life, and quickens and comforts the heart, and from whence abundance of peace and joy flows....

Psalms 119:33. _Teach me, O Lord, the way of thy statutes;_ The psalmist is constantly talking about «the way.» We have that expression in the 27 th verse, then in the 29 th, the 30 th, and the 32 nd; and now again we have it here: «Teach me, O Lord, the way of thy statutes;» Psalms 119:33. _And I shall keep it unto the end. Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart._ That is not true or right understanding which permits us to go into sin; those who are really wise in heart hate evil and love righteousness. Psalms 119:35. _Make me to go in the path_ Or, say...

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...