Psalms 119:48

My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments, which I have loved; and I will meditate in thy statutes. MY HANDS ALSO WILL I LIFT UP UNTO THY COMMANDMENTS, WHICH I HAVE LOVED. The lifting up of the hands is the outward expression of the lifting up of the heart to them (). I will pray with uplifted hands for grace to fulfill them. Also I will bless the Lord for them with uplifted hands (). Also I will swear with uplifted hands, as Abraham did (), to keep them. Also I will lift up my hands to perform thy commandments: I will set about it as a matter of the utmost weight (;...

41-48 Lord, I have by faith thy mercies in view; let me by prayer prevail to obtain them. And when the salvation of the saints is completed, it will plainly appear that it was not in vain to trust in God's word. We need to pray that we may never be afraid or ashamed to own God's truths and ways before men. And the psalmist resolves to keep God's law, in a constant course of obedience, without backsliding. The service of sin is slavery; the service of God is liberty. There is no full happiness, or perfect liberty, but in keeping God's law. We must never be ashamed or afraid to own our religion. The more delight we take in the service of God, the nearer we come to perfection. Not only consent to his law as good, but take pleasure in it as good for us. Let me put forth all the strength I have, to do it. Something of this mind of Christ is in every true disciple....

Verse Psalms 119:48. _MY HANDS ALSO WILL I LIFT UP_] I will present every victim and sacrifice which the law requires. I will make prayer and supplication before thee, lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting. ANALYSIS OF LETTER VAU. - _SIXTH DIVISION_ The psalmist prays for _mercy_, and promises to show his _thankfulness two ways_: - I. By a bold confession of God's law. II. By holy obedience to it. The whole section consists of two petitions and six promises. I. I. _First petition_. "Let thy mercies come also unto me - even thy salvation." He joins these two, _mercy_ and _salvation_, as _cause_ and _effect_; for God's _mercy_ can alone bring _salvation_. This being granted, he v

MY HANDS ALSO WILL I LIFT UP UNTO THY COMMANDMENTS ... - As an expression of delight or rejoicing, as people lift up their hands with their voice when they give expression to joy. It denotes a high statue of joy, such as leads to an outward expression; not merely that which exists in calm contemplation, but where the heart is full, and when it finds outward expression. AND I WILL MEDITATE IN THY STATUTES - See the notes at Psalms 1:2. I will indicate my joy - my happiness - in thy commandments in every way possible; by outward expressions, and by deep and calm contemplation when I am alone; in my daily employments, in solitude, in the night-watches. This is indicative always of true religion....

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 HANDS ALSO WILL I LIFT UP UNTO THY COMMANDMENTS, WHICH I HAVE LOVED,.... Showing by such a gesture his great esteem of them, and affection for them; stretching out his hands, and embracing them with both arms, as it were: and this being a praying gesture, 2 Timothy 2:8, may signify his earnest desire and request that he might have grace and spiritual strength to enable him to observe them; and it being used in swearing, Genesis 14:22, may express his firm resolution in the strength of divine grace to keep them; and the phrase signifying a doing or an attempt to do anything, Genesis 41:44, may denote his practical observance of the commands, his putting his hand to do them with all his might; and I will

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...

MY HANDS, &C. Hebrew idiom. to swear by, as in Genesis 14:22.Exodus 6:8 (margin) Deuteronomy 32:40; Ezekiel 20:5; Ezekiel 20:6; Ezekiel 36:7. See note on Exodus 17:16....

MY HANDS ALSO WILL I LIFT UP— That is, says Mudge, "I will hold up my hands to receive God's law into them: I will be always reading it.'' Others think that the meaning is, "I will exemplify my love of thy commandments by a diligent and zealous practice of them." Thus, by lifting up the hands, is frequently meant the setting about any action, especially of weight and importance. See Genesis 41:44.Psalms 10:12.Hebrews 12:12. ZAIN....