Psalms 119:1-24

1 ^[a] Blessed are those whose ¹way is blameless, who ²walk in the law of the LORD!

2 Blessed are those who ³keep his ⁴testimonies, who ⁵seek him with their whole heart,

3 who also ⁶do no wrong, but walk in his ways!

4 You have commanded your ⁷precepts to be kept diligently.

5 Oh that my ways may ⁸be steadfast in keeping your statutes!

6 ⁹Then I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.

7 I will praise you with an upright heart, when I learn ¹⁰your righteous rules.^[b]

8 I will keep your statutes; ¹¹do not utterly forsake me!

9 How can ¹²a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word.

10 ¹³With my whole heart I seek you; let me not ¹⁴wander from your commandments!

11 I have ¹⁵stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.

12 Blessed are you, O LORD; ¹⁶teach me your statutes!

13 With my lips I ¹⁷declare all the rules^[c] of your mouth.

14 In the way of your testimonies I ¹⁸delight as much as in all ¹⁹riches.

15 I will ²⁰meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ²¹ways.

16 I will ²²delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.

17 ²³Deal bountifully with your servant, ²⁴that I may live and keep your word.

18 Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.

19 I am ²⁵a sojourner on the earth; ²⁶hide not your commandments from me!

20 My soul is consumed with ²⁷longing for your rules^[d] at all times.

21 You rebuke ²⁸the insolent, ²⁹accursed ones, who ³⁰wander from your commandments.

22 Take away from me ³¹scorn and contempt, ³²for I have kept your testimonies.

23 Even though ³³princes sit plotting against me, your servant will ³⁴meditate on your statutes.

24 Your testimonies are my ³⁵delight; they are my ³⁶counselors.

Psalms 119:1-24 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 119

This psalm is generally thought to be written by David, but when is uncertain; very probably towards the decline of life; and, as some think, for the sake or his son Solomon. It seems to be a collection of observations on the word of God and its precepts, the usefulness and excellency of it, he had made in the course of his life; interspersed with various petitions for the grace of God, to enable him to observe it. The psalm is a very extraordinary one; partly on account of the unusual length of it, it being more than double the length of the longest psalm in the whole book; and partly on account of its curious composition. It consists of twenty two parts, according to the number of the letters in the Hebrew alphabet; the names of which letters stand between each part; and every part consists of eight verses, all of which begin with the same letter: thus, for instance, the first eight verses begin with the letter a, "aleph", and the second eight verses begin with the letter b, "beth", and so on throughout; hence the Masorah calls this psalm the Great Alphabet. This the psalmist did, perhaps to excite attention to what he said, and also to help the memory. And it is observable that there are very few verses in the whole, not more than one or two, but what has something in it concerning the word of God, and its precepts and ordinances; there are nine or ten different words used relative to it, which signify much one and the same thing; as laws, statutes, judgments, testimonies Luther {m} observes, that neither Cicero, nor Virgil, nor Demosthenes, are to be compared with David for eloquence, as we see in the hundred nineteenth Psalm, where he divideth one sense and meaning into twenty two sorts. And it may also be remarked, that there is nothing in it concerning the tabernacle worship, or the rites and ceremonies of the legal dispensation; so that it seems to be calculated for, and is suited to, the word of God, and the ordinances of it, as we now have them in their full perfection: and the design of the whole is to show the fervent affection the psalmist had for the word of God, and to stir up the same in others.

{m} Mensal. Colloqu. c. 32. p. 365.

a, \\ALEPH.--The First Part\\.

Cross References

• 1. Proverbs 11:20; Proverbs 13:6; [Psalms 101:2, 6]
• 2. Psalms 128:1; [Genesis 17:1]
• 3. [ver. 22]
• 4. [Psalms 78:5]
• 5. [ver. 10; 2 Chronicles 15:2]
• 6. 1 John 3:9; 1 John 5:18
• 7. Psalms 19:8
• 8. Psalms 37:23; [Proverbs 16:9; Jeremiah 10:23]
• 9. ver. 80; [1 John 2:28]
• 10. ver. 62, 106; Exodus 24:3
• 11. Psalms 38:21; Psalms 71:9, 18
• 12. [Psalms 25:7]
• 13. [2 Chronicles 15:2]
• 14. [ver. 21, 118]
• 15. Luke 2:19, 51; See Psalms 37:31
• 16. ver. 26, 64, 68, 108, 124, 135, 171; See Psalms 25:4
• 17. Psalms 40:9; [Deuteronomy 6:7]
• 18. ver. 111, 162
• 19. See Proverbs 3:13-15; Proverbs 8:10, 11, 18, 19
• 20. ver. 23, 78, 97
• 21. Psalms 25:4
• 22. ver. 24, 47, 70, 77, 92, 143, 174
• 23. See Psalms 13:6
• 24. ver. 144
• 25. See Psalms 39:12
• 26. [Isaiah 6:9, 10]
• 27. ver. 40, 131, 174; [Psalms 42:1, 2]
• 28. See ver. 51
• 29. Deuteronomy 27:26
• 30. [ver. 10]
• 31. See Psalms 44:13
• 32. [ver. 2]
• 33. ver. 161; [Daniel 6:4]
• 34. ver. 15, 27, 28
• 35. [Romans 7:22]; See ver. 16
• 36. [ver. 104]

Footnotes

• [a]. This psalm is an acrostic poem of twenty-two stanzas, following the letters of the Hebrew alphabet; within a stanza, each verse begins with the same Hebrew letter
• [b]. Or your just and righteous decrees; also verses 62, 106, 160, 164
• [c]. Or all the just decrees
• [d]. Or your just decrees; also verses 30, 39, 43, 52, 75, 102, 108, 137, 156, 175