Psalms 119:73

Thy hands have made me and fashioned me: give me understanding, that I may learn thy commandments. THY HANDS HAVE MADE ME AND FASHIONED ME. Israel saith this, in conformity with what Moses said to her, (cf. ; ). GIVE ME UNDERSTANDING, THAT I MAY LEARN THY COMMANDMENTS. 'Whatever I am or can is thine; I, cannot therefore teach myself; do thou teach me' (Cocceius). The gift of understanding in the will and Word of God is the crowning gift without which one's natural birth would be a curse, instead of a blessing....

73._Thy hands have made and fashioned me. _The avowal of the prophet, that he had been created by the hand of God, greatly contributed to inspire him with the hope of obtaining the favor which he supplicates. As we are the creatures and the workmanship of God, and as he has not only bestowed upon us vital motion, in common with the lower animals, but has, in addition thereto, given us the light of understanding and reasons — this encourages us to pray that he would direct us to the obedience of his law. And yet the prophet does not call upon God, as if He were under any obligations to him; but, knowing that God never forsakes the work which he has begun, he simply asks for new grace, by which God may carry on to perfection what he has commenced. We have need of the assistance of the _law, _since all that is sound in our understandings is corrupted; so that we cannot perceive what is righ...

73-80 God made us to serve him, and enjoy him; but by sin we have made ourselves unfit to serve him, and to enjoy him. We ought, therefore, continually to beseech him, by his Holy Spirit, to give us understanding. The comforts some have in God, should be matter of joy to others. But it is easy to own, that God's judgments are right, until it comes to be our own case. All supports under affliction must come from mercy and compassion. The mercies of God are tender mercies; the mercies of a father, the compassion of a mother to her son. They come to us when we are not able to go to them. Causeless reproach does not hurt, and should not move us. The psalmist could go on in the way of his duty, and find comfort in it. He valued the good will of saints, and was desirous to keep up his communion with them. Soundness of heart signifies sincerity in dependence on God, and devotedness to him....

LETTER י YOD. - _TENTH DIVISION_ Verse Psalms 119:73. _THY HANDS HAVE MADE ME_] Thou hast formed the _mass_ out of which I was made; and _fashioned me _- thou hast given me that particular _form_ that distinguishes me from all thy other creatures. _GIVE ME UNDERSTANDING_] As thou hast raised me above the beasts that perish in my _form_ and _mode of life, teach me_ that I may live for a higher and nobler end, in loving, serving, and enjoying thee for ever. Show me that I was made for _heaven_, not for _earth_....

THY HANDS HAVE MADE ME - This commences a new division of the psalm, in which each verse begins with the Hebrew letter _Jod_ (י _y_) - or “i” - the smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet, called in Matthew 5:18, “jot;” “one jot or tittle shall in no wise pass from the law.” The words “thy hands have made me” are expressive of the idea that he had been formed or moulded by God - as the “hands” are the instruments by which we do anything. See the notes at Job 10:8; compare Psalms 100:3. AND FASHIONED ME - Fitted me; shaped me, formed me as I am. He had received alike his existence and the particular form of his existence fr

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

y, JOD.--THE TENTH PART. Ver. 73. JOD. THY HANDS HAVE MADE ME AND FASHIONED ME,.... Not the psalmist himself, nor his parents, but the Lord alone: for though parents are fathers of our flesh, they are but instruments in the hand of the Lord; though man is produced by natural generation, yet the formation and fashioning of men are as much owing to the power and wisdom of God, which are his hands, as the formation of Adam was. Job owns this in much the same words as the psalmist does, Job 10:8; see Psalms 139:13. God not only gives conception, and forms the embryo in the womb, but fashions and gives it its comely and proportionate parts. Or, "covered me"; the first word may respect conception, and this the covering of the fetus with the secundine t; see...

In this Psalm we have, as it were, notes from David's pocket book. Psalms 119:73. _Thy hands have made me and fashioned me: give me understanding, that I may learn thy commandments._ This is a very instructive prayer; the psalmist does as good as say, «Lord, thou hast made me once- make me over again. Thou hast made my body; mould my spirit, form my character, give me understanding.» If God should make us, and then leave us without understanding, what imperfect creations we should be! A man devoid of understanding is only a blood and bone creation; and therefore the psalmist does well to pray, «Thy hands have made me and fashioned me: give me understanding.» But what sort of an understanding is desired? That I may learn to discuss and dispute? No: «that I may learn thy commandments;» for holiness is the best of wisdom, and the surest proof of a right understanding

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...