Psalms 119:61

61 Even when the cords of the wicked close around me, I don't forget your Torah.

Psalms 119:61 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 119:61

The bands of the wicked have robbed me
Very probably Saul and his ministers seized on his effects, when he fled from him; and the Amalekites plundered him of all his substance, when they took Ziklag; and Absalom and the conspirators with him robbed him, when he was obliged, because of them, to flee from his palace and court, which they entered and took possession of. But Aben Ezra rejects this sense of the word, which Jarchi and Kimchi espouse, and we follow, and renders it, "took hold of me"; and so the Targum,

``the company of the wicked were gathered together against me:''

they surrounded him and put him into fear, great numbers of them encompassing him about; see ( Psalms 18:4 ) ;

[but] I have not forgotten thy law;
this was written in his heart; he kept it in his memory, and retained an affection for it; and could not be deterred from obedience to it by the numbers and violence of wicked men, who hated and persecuted him for his attachment to it.

Psalms 119:61 In-Context

59 I thought about my ways and turned my feet toward your instruction.
60 I hurry, I don't delay, to observe your mitzvot.
61 Even when the cords of the wicked close around me, I don't forget your Torah.
62 At midnight I rise to give you thanks because of your righteous rulings.
63 I am a friend of all who fear you, of those who observe your precepts.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.