Psalms 119:49-112

Zayin.

49 Remember the word to Your servant, In which You have made me hope.

50 This is my ¹comfort in my affliction, That Your word has revived me.

51 The arrogant ²utterly * deride me, Yet I do not ³turn aside from Your law.

52 I have ⁴remembered Your ordinances from of old, O LORD, And comfort myself.

53 Burning ⁵indignation has seized me because of the wicked, Who ⁶forsake Your law.

54 Your statutes are my songs In the house of my ⁷pilgrimage.

55 O LORD, I ⁸remember Your name ⁹in the night, And keep Your law.

56 This has become mine, That I ¹⁰observe Your precepts. Heth.

Heth.

57 The LORD is my ¹¹portion; I have promised to ¹²keep Your words.

58 I ¹³sought Your favor ¹⁴with all my heart; ¹⁵Be gracious to me ¹⁶according to Your word.

59 I ¹⁷considered my ways And turned my feet to Your testimonies.

60 I hastened and did not delay To keep Your commandments.

61 The ¹⁸cords of the wicked have encircled me, But I have ¹⁹not forgotten Your law.

62 At ²⁰midnight * I shall rise to give thanks to You Because of Your ²¹righteous ordinances.

63 I am a ²²companion of all those who fear You, And of those who keep Your precepts.

64 ²³The earth is full of Your lovingkindness, O LORD; ²⁴Teach me Your statutes. Teth.

Teth.

65 You have dealt well with Your servant, O LORD, according to Your word.

66 Teach me good ²⁵discernment and knowledge, For I believe in Your commandments.

67 ²⁶Before I was afflicted I went astray, But now I keep Your word.

68 You are ²⁷good and ²⁸do good; ²⁹Teach me Your statutes.

69 The arrogant have ³⁰forged a lie against me; With all my heart I will ³¹observe Your precepts.

70 Their heart is ³²covered with fat, But I ³³delight in Your law.

71 It is ³⁴good for me that I was afflicted, That I may learn Your statutes.

72 The ³⁵law of Your mouth is better to me Than thousands of gold and silver pieces. Yodh.

Yodh.

73 ³⁶Your hands made me and fashioned me; ³⁷Give me understanding, that I may learn Your commandments.

74 May those who fear You ³⁸see me and be glad, Because I ³⁹wait for Your word.

75 I know, O LORD, that Your judgments are ⁴⁰righteous, And that ⁴¹in faithfulness You have afflicted me.

76 O may Your lovingkindness comfort me, According to Your word to Your servant.

77 May ⁴²Your compassion come to me that I may live, For Your law is my ⁴³delight.

78 May ⁴⁴the arrogant be ashamed, for they subvert me ⁴⁵with a lie; But I shall ⁴⁶meditate on Your precepts.

79 May those who fear You turn to me, Even those who know Your testimonies.

80 May my heart be ⁴⁷blameless in Your statutes, So that I will not ⁴⁸be ashamed. Kaph.

Kaph.

81 My ⁴⁹soul languishes for Your salvation; I ⁵⁰wait for Your word.

82 My ⁵¹eyes fail with longing for Your word, While I say, "When will You comfort me?"

83 Though I have ⁵²become like a wineskin in the smoke, I do ⁵³not forget Your statutes.

84 How many are the ⁵⁴days of Your servant? When will You ⁵⁵execute judgment on those who persecute me?

85 The arrogant have ⁵⁶dug pits for me, Men who are not in accord with Your law.

86 All Your commandments are ⁵⁷faithful; They have ⁵⁸persecuted me with a lie; ⁵⁹help me!

87 They almost destroyed me on earth, But as for me, I ⁶⁰did not forsake Your precepts.

88 Revive me according to Your lovingkindness, So that I may keep the testimony of Your mouth. Lamedh.

Lamedh.

89 ⁶¹Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven.

90 Your ⁶²faithfulness continues throughout all generations; You ⁶³established the earth, and it ⁶⁴stands.

91 They stand this day according to Your ⁶⁵ordinances, For ⁶⁶all things are Your servants.

92 If Your law had not been my ⁶⁷delight, Then I would have perished ⁶⁸in my affliction.

93 I will ⁶⁹never * forget Your precepts, For by them You have ⁷⁰revived me.

94 I am Yours, ⁷¹save me; For I have ⁷²sought Your precepts.

95 The wicked ⁷³wait for me to destroy me; I shall diligently consider Your testimonies.

96 I have seen a limit to all perfection; Your commandment is exceedingly broad. Mem.

Mem.

97 O how I ⁷⁴love Your law! It is my ⁷⁵meditation all the day.

98 Your ⁷⁶commandments make me wiser than my enemies, For they are ever mine.

99 I have more insight than all my teachers, For Your testimonies are my ⁷⁷meditation.

100 I understand ⁷⁸more than the aged, Because I have ⁷⁹observed Your precepts.

101 I have ⁸⁰restrained my feet from every evil way, That I may keep Your word.

102 I have not ⁸¹turned aside from Your ordinances, For You Yourself have taught me.

103 How ⁸²sweet are Your words to my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

104 From Your precepts I ⁸³get understanding; Therefore * I ⁸⁴hate every false way. Nun.

Nun.

105 Your word is a ⁸⁵lamp to my feet And a light to my path.

106 I have ⁸⁶sworn and I will confirm it, That I will keep Your righteous ordinances.

107 I am exceedingly * ⁸⁷afflicted; ⁸⁸Revive me, O LORD, according to Your word.

108 O accept the ⁸⁹freewill offerings of my mouth, O LORD, And ⁹⁰teach me Your ordinances.

109 My ⁹¹life is continually in my hand, Yet I do not ⁹²forget Your law.

110 The wicked have ⁹³laid a snare for me, Yet I have not ⁹⁴gone astray from Your precepts.

111 I have ⁹⁵inherited Your testimonies forever, For they are the ⁹⁶joy of my heart.

112 I have ⁹⁷inclined my heart to perform Your statutes Forever, even ⁹⁸to the end. Samekh.

Psalms 119:49-112 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. Job 6:10; Romans 15:4
• 2. Job 30:1; Jeremiah 20:7
• 3. Job 23:11; Psalms 44:18; Psalms 119:157
• 4. Psalms 103:18
• 5. Exodus 32:19; Ezra 9:3; Nehemiah 13:25; Psalms 119:158
• 6. Psalms 89:30
• 7. Genesis 47:9; Psalms 119:19
• 8. Psalms 63:6
• 9. Psalms 42:8; Psalms 92:2; Psalms 119:62; Isaiah 26:9; Acts 16:25
• 10. Ps 119:22, 69, 100
• 11. Psalms 16:5; Lamentations 3:24
• 12. Deuteronomy 33:9
• 13. 1 Kings 13:6
• 14. Psalms 119:2
• 15. Psalms 41:4; Psalms 56:1; Psalms 57:1
• 16. Psalms 119:41
• 17. Mark 14:72; Luke 15:17
• 18. Job 36:8; Psalms 140:5
• 19. Ps 119:83, 141, 153, 176
• 20. Psalms 119:55
• 21. Psalms 119:7
• 22. Psalms 101:6
• 23. Psalms 33:5
• 24. Psalms 119:12
• 25. Philippians 1:9
• 26. Psalms 119:71, 75; Jeremiah 31:18, 19; Hebrews 12:5-11
• 27. Psalms 86:5; Psalms 100:5; Psalms 106:1; Psalms 107:1; Matthew 19:17
• 28. Deuteronomy 8:16; Deuteronomy 28:63; Deuteronomy 30:5; Psalms 125:4
• 29. Psalms 119:12
• 30. Job 13:4; Psalms 109:2
• 31. Psalms 119:56
• 32. Deuteronomy 32:15; Job 15:27; Psalms 17:10; Isaiah 6:10; Jeremiah 5:28; Acts 28:27
• 33. Psalms 119:16
• 34. Psalms 119:67, 75
• 35. Psalms 19:10; Psalms 119:127; Prov 8:10, 11, 19
• 36. Job 10:8; Job 31:15; Psalms 100:3; Psalms 138:8; Psalms 139:15, 16
• 37. Psalms 119:34
• 38. Psalms 34:2; Psalms 35:27; Psalms 107:42
• 39. Psalms 119:43
• 40. Psalms 119:138
• 41. Hebrews 12:10
• 42. Psalms 119:41
• 43. Psalms 119:16
• 44. Jeremiah 50:32
• 45. Psalms 119:86
• 46. Psalms 119:15
• 47. Psalms 119:1
• 48. Psalms 119:46
• 49. Psalms 84:2
• 50. Psalms 119:43
• 51. Psalms 69:3; Psalms 119:123; Isaiah 38:14; Lamentations 2:11
• 52. Job 30:30
• 53. Psalms 119:61
• 54. Psalms 39:4
• 55. Revelation 6:10
• 56. Psalms 7:15; Psalms 35:7; Psalms 57:6; Jeremiah 18:22
• 57. Psalms 119:138
• 58. Psalms 35:19; Psalms 119:78, 161
• 59. Psalms 109:26
• 60. Isaiah 58:2
• 61. Psalms 89:2; Psalms 119:160; Isaiah 40:8; Matthew 24:35; 1 Peter 1:25
• 62. Psalms 36:5; Psalms 89:1, 2
• 63. Psalms 148:6
• 64. Ecclesiastes 1:4
• 65. Jeremiah 31:35; Jeremiah 33:25
• 66. Psalms 104:2-4
• 67. Psalms 119:16
• 68. Psalms 119:50
• 69. Psalms 119:16, 83
• 70. Psalms 119:25
• 71. Psalms 119:146
• 72. Psalms 119:45
• 73. Psalms 40:14; Isaiah 32:7
• 74. Ps 119:47, 48, 127, 163, 165
• 75. Psalms 1:2; Psalms 119:15
• 76. Deuteronomy 4:6; Psalms 119:130
• 77. Psalms 119:15
• 78. Job 32:7-9
• 79. Psalms 119:22, 56
• 80. Proverbs 1:15
• 81. Deuteronomy 17:20; Joshua 23:6; 1 Kings 15:5
• 82. Psalms 19:10; Proverbs 8:11; Proverbs 24:13, 14
• 83. Psalms 119:130
• 84. Psalms 119:128
• 85. Proverbs 6:23
• 86. Nehemiah 10:29
• 87. Psalms 119:25, 50
• 88. Psalms 119:25
• 89. Hosea 14:2; Hebrews 13:15
• 90. Psalms 119:12
• 91. Judges 12:3; Job 13:14
• 92. Psalms 119:16
• 93. Psalms 91:3; Psalms 140:5; Psalms 141:9
• 94. Psalms 119:10
• 95. Deuteronomy 33:4
• 96. Psalms 119:14, 162
• 97. Psalms 119:36
• 98. Psalms 119:33

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "On"
• [b]. Or "preserved me alive"
• [c]. Or "everlasting"
• [d]. Or "Because"
• [e]. Lit "said that I would keep"
• [f]. Or "promise"
• [g]. Or "revere"
• [h]. Or "judgment"
• [i]. Lit "besmear me with lies"
• [j]. Lit "gross like fat"
• [k]. Lit "established"
• [l]. Or "revere"
• [m]. Or "hope in"
• [n]. Lit "be for my comfort"
• [o]. Or "promise"
• [p]. Or "revere"
• [q]. Lit "complete;" or "having integrity"
• [r]. Or "hope in"
• [s]. Or "promise"
• [t]. Lit "Saying"
• [u]. Lit "according to Your law"
• [v]. Lit "in the earth"
• [w]. Lit "stands firm"
• [x]. Lit "to"
• [y]. Or "kept me alive"
• [z]. Lit "an end of"
• [aa]. Or "with me"
• [ab]. Or "promises"
• [ac]. Lit "palate"
• [ad]. Or "Keep me alive"
• [ae]. Lit "soul"
• [af]. I.e. in danger