Psalms 119:36-53

36 Incline my heart to Your testimonies, And not to covetousness.

37 Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things, And revive me in Your way.

38 Establish Your word to Your servant, Who is devoted to fearing You.

39 Turn away my reproach which I dread, For Your judgments are good.

40 Behold, I long for Your precepts; Revive me in Your righteousness.

41 Let Your mercies come also to me, O Lord-- Your salvation according to Your word.

42 So shall I have an answer for him who reproaches me, For I trust in Your word.

43 And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, For I have hoped in Your ordinances.

44 So shall I keep Your law continually, Forever and ever.

45 And I will walk at liberty, For I seek Your precepts.

46 I will speak of Your testimonies also before kings, And will not be ashamed.

47 And I will delight myself in Your commandments, Which I love.

48 My hands also I will lift up to Your commandments, Which I love, And I will meditate on Your statutes.

49 Remember the word to Your servant, Upon which You have caused me to hope.

50 This is my comfort in my affliction, For Your word has given me life.

51 The proud have me in great derision, Yet I do not turn aside from Your law.

52 I remembered Your judgments of old, O Lord, And have comforted myself.

53 Indignation has taken hold of me Because of the wicked, who forsake Your law.

Psalms 119:36-53 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\\.

Footnotes

• [a]. Following Masoretic Text, Septuagint, and Vulgate; Targum reads Your words.