Psalms 119:86

All thy commandments are faithful: they persecute me wrongfully; help thou me. ALL THY COMMANDMENTS ARE FAITHFUL - literally, faithfulness (); have attached to them promises to the obedient which shall surely be fulfilled....

86._All thy commandments are truth. _In this verse he again confirms the statement, That, in whatever ways he was afflicted, his mind had not been distracted by various devices, because, trusting in the word of God, he never doubted of his assistance. In the first place, he tells us, that the consideration, by which he was armed for repelling all assaults, was this, That the faithful, under the conduct of God, engage in a prosperous warfare, the salvation which they hope for from his word being absolutely certain. For this reason he declares, that _the commandments of God are true; _by which encomium he teaches us, that those who rely upon the word of God are out of all danger; and he lays down this truth, that such a support may always sustain our courage. In the second place, he complains of the treachery of his enemies, as he declared before. Here the word שקר,_sheker, _is repeated, b...

81-88 The psalmist sought deliverance from his sins, his foes, and his fears. Hope deferred made him faint; his eyes failed by looking out for this expected salvation. But when the eyes fail, yet faith must not. His affliction was great. He was become like a leathern bottle, which, if hung up in the smoke, is dried and shrivelled up. We must ever be mindful of God's statutes. The days of the believer's mourning shall be ended; they are but for a moment, compared with eternal happiness. His enemies used craft as well as power for his ruin, in contempt of the law of God. The commandments of God are true and faithful guides in the path of peace and safety. We may best expect help from God when, like our Master, we do well and suffer for it. Wicked men may almost consume the believer upon earth, but he would sooner forsake all than forsake the word of the Lord. We should depend upon the gra...

ALL THY COMMANDMENTS ARE FAITHFUL - Margin, “faithfulness.” The idea in the Hebrew is that they are worthy to be relied on. They are founded in truth, and they should secure our confidence. THEY PERSECUTE ME WRONGFULLY ... - Hebrew, a “lie, “or “falsehood.” That is, There is a “lie” or “falsehood” at the foundation of their persecutions. Those persecutions are not based on any just views of what I am, or of the treatment which I ought to receive at the hand of my fellow-men. They charge on me tilings which are not true, and they act accordingly. See the notes at Psalms 119:78....

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

ALL THY COMMANDMENTS [ARE] FAITHFUL,.... Or, "faithfulness" x they are made by a faithful God, who is holy, just, and true; they command faithfulness, sincerity, and uprightness; and require men to love their neighbours as themselves, and to do all they do faithfully, cordially, and affectionately; they are to be done in truth and faithfulness, in charity, out of a pure heart, and faith unfeigned; and therefore to dig pits for men must not be after, but contrary, to the law of God; THEY PERSECUTE ME WRONGFULLY; without a cause, purely out of ill will and for religion's sake; which, as it is an argument with the saints to bear persecution patiently, it is used as an argument with the Lord, to arise and appear on the behalf of his persecuted ones, as follows: HELP THOU ME; against my persecutors, and out of their hands: God is able to help his people; he has promised to do it; it may be...

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...

FAITHFUL. faithfulness. WRONGFULLY. See note on "perversely", Psalms 119:78....