Psalms 19:13

_KEEP BACK THY SERVANT ALSO FROM PRESUMPTUOUS SINS; LET THEM NOT HAVE DOMINION OVER ME: THEN SHALL I BE UPRIGHT, AND I SHALL BE INNOCENT FROM THE GREAT TRANSGRESSION._ Presumptuous (sins). He does not say, Cleanse me from presumptuous sins, but keep me back from them. These were not sins to which he was readily prone, but he felt that the "errors" and "secret faults," if not checked and 'cleansed,' would lead on to the "presumptuous" or deliberate sins, from which he therefore prays to be 'kept back.' Others translate the Hebrew х_ MIZEEDIYM_ (H2086), not mizaariym as the Septuagint ap' allotrioon], 'from the proud,' as in Psalms 86:14; Malachi 4:1. But the anti-thesis to the parallel words, "errors" and "secret faults" - i:e., sins of infirmit

13._Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins. _By _presumptuous sins _he means known and evident transgressions, (469) accompanied with proud contempt and obstinacy. By the word _keep back, _he intimates, that such is the natural propensity of the flesh to sin, that even the saints themselves would immediately break forth or rush headlong into it, did not God, by his own guardianship and protection, keep them back. It is to be observed, that while he calls himself _the servant of God, _he nevertheless acknowledges that he had need of the bridle, lest he should arrogantly and rebelliously break forth in transgressing the law of God. Being regenerated by the Spirit of God, he groaned, it is true, under the burden of his sins; but he knew, on the other hand, how great is the rebellion of the flesh, and how much we are inclined to forgetfulness of God, from which proceed contempt of...

11-14 God's word warns the wicked not to go on in his wicked way, and warns the righteous not to turn from his good way. There is a reward, not only after keeping, but in keeping God's commandments. Religion makes our comforts sweet, and our crosses easy, life truly valuable, and death itself truly desirable. David not only desired to be pardoned and cleansed from the sins he had discovered and confessed, but from those he had forgotten or overlooked. All discoveries of sin made to us by the law, should drive us to the throne of grace, there to pray. His dependence was the same with that of every Christian who says, Surely in the Lord Jesus have I righteousness and strength. No prayer can be acceptable before God which is not offered in the strength of our Redeemer or Divine Kinsman, through Him who took our nature upon him, that he might redeem us unto God, and restore the long-lost in...

Verse Psalms 19:13. _FROM PRESUMPTUOUS_ SINS] Sins committed not through _frailty_ or _surprise_, but those which are the offspring of _thought, purpose_, and _deliberation_. Sins against judgment, light, and conscience. The words might be translated, _Preserve thy_ _servant also from the proud_; from tyrannical governors, i.e., from evil spirits. - Bishop _Horsley_. So most of the _versions_ understand the place. _LET THEM NOT HAVE DOMINION OVER ME_] Let me never be brought into a _habit_ of sinning. He who sins _presumptuously_ will soon be _hardened_ through the deceitfulness of sin. _THEN SHALL I BE UPRIGHT_] Let me be preserved from all the evil that the craft and malice of the devil or man work against me, then shall I continue to walk _uprightly_, and shal

KEEP BACK THY SERVANT ALSO - Restrain thy servant; or, do not suffer him to commit those sins. FROM PRESUMPTUOUS SINS - The word used here is manifestly designed to stand in some respects in contrast with the secret faults mentioned in the previous verse. The word - זד _zêd_ - means properly that which is boiling, swelling, inflated; then proud, arrogant; with the accessory notion of shameless wickedness or impiety. Gesenius, Lexicon. The word is rendered proud in Psalms 86:14; Psalms 119:21, Psalms 119:51, Psalms 119:69,

EXPOSITION THE nineteenth psalm is one of meditative praise. The psalmist, looking abroad over the whole world, finds two main subjects for his eulogy—first, the glorious fabric of the material creation (Psalms 19:1); and, secondly, the Divine Law which God has given to man (Psalms 19:7). Having thus poured out his heart in praise and thanksgiving to God, he turns his eye inward upon himself, and finds many shortcomings (Psalms 19:12). The thought of these leads him to prayer, and so the hymn concludes with a few short petitions (Psalms 19:12). Rhythmically, the divisions correspond to the changes

KEEP BACK THY SERVANT ALSO FROM PRESUMPTUOUS [SINS],.... Some understand these words of persons: the Septuagint, and the versions that follow that, render it "from strangers": such who are strangers to God and godliness; that is, keep from all conversation with them in things sinful, or from others' sins; from having a fellowship with them, being a partaker of them, lest their plagues and punishments should be shared in: others, as the Targum, "from proud men", who are haughty, insolent, and conceited of themselves; lest he should be so corrupted and drawn aside by them: but rather the words are to be understood of sins wilfully, contumaciously, and presumptuously committed; and the petition supposes, that these may be committed by good men, if left to themselves; and that there is a proneness in them to them; and that they would rush into them, were they not kept back and restrained by...

This Psalm has the same subject as Psalms 119:1. Both of them are full of praise of God's Word. God has written two books for us to read,-the volume of the Creation and the volume of the Sacred Scriptures,-and these two are in complete harmony. Happy are they who can read both these books, and see the same vein of teaching running through every page. Psalms 19:1. _The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork._ The heavens are always declaring God's glory; if we gaze up to them by day or by night, we always read in them the power, the wisdom, the goodness, the greatness, the immutability of God. Psalms 19:2. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night

XIX. A. PSALMS 19:1. THE REVELATION OF GOD IN NATURE. A fragment of a longer poem. Day and night are pictured as living beings who hand on the tradition of God's creative act from age to age (see Job 3:3 *). Psalms 19:3 is a prosaic gloss to guard against any idea that the heavenly bodies speak in the literal sense. Psalms 19:4. for line read voice. IN THEM: _i.e._ in the heavens, but the text is probably corrupt. XIX. B. PSALMS 19:7. AN INDEPENDENT POEM IN PRAISE OF THE LAW. In...

KEEP BACK. restrain or hold back; as the motions of the heavenly bodies are controlled. First occurrence Genesis 20:6; Genesis 22:12; Genesis 22:16; Genesis 39:9. Compare 1 Samuel 25:39, &c. FROM PRESUMPTUOUS SINS. Figure of speech _Hypallage._ App-6. Hebrew keep back presumptuous [men] from me. HAVE DOMINION OVER. rule, as the sun and moon rule the day and night (Genesis 1:18;...