Psalms 119:1-48

Meditations and Prayers Relating to the Law of God.

Aleph.

1 How blessed are those whose way is ¹blameless, Who ²walk in the law of the LORD.

2 How blessed are those who ³observe His testimonies, Who ⁴seek Him ⁵with all their heart.

3 They also ⁶do no unrighteousness; They walk in His ways.

4 You have ⁷ordained Your precepts, That we should keep them diligently.

5 Oh that my ⁸ways may be established To ⁹keep Your statutes!

6 Then I ¹⁰shall not be ashamed When I look upon all Your commandments.

7 I shall ¹¹give thanks to You with uprightness of heart, When I learn Your righteous judgments.

8 I shall keep Your statutes; Do not ¹²forsake me utterly *! Beth.

Beth.

9 How can a young man keep his way pure? By ¹³keeping it according to Your word.

10 With ¹⁴all my heart I have sought You; Do not let me ¹⁵wander from Your commandments.

11 Your word I have ¹⁶treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You.

12 Blessed are You, O LORD; ¹⁷Teach me Your statutes.

13 With my lips I have ¹⁸told of All the ¹⁹ordinances of Your mouth.

14 I have ²⁰rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies, As much as in all riches.

15 I will ²¹meditate on Your precepts And regard ²²Your ways.

16 I shall ²³delight in Your statutes; I shall ²⁴not forget Your word. Gimel.

Gimel.

17 ²⁵Deal bountifully with Your servant, That I may live and keep Your word.

18 Open my eyes, that I may behold Wonderful things from Your law.

19 I am a ²⁶stranger in the earth; Do not hide Your commandments from me.

20 My soul is crushed ²⁷with longing After Your ordinances at all times.

21 You ²⁸rebuke the arrogant, the ²⁹cursed, Who ³⁰wander from Your commandments.

22 ³¹Take away reproach and contempt from me, For I ³²observe Your testimonies.

23 Even though ³³princes sit and talk against me, Your servant ³⁴meditates on Your statutes.

24 Your testimonies also are my ³⁵delight; They are my counselors *. Daleth.

Daleth.

25 My ³⁶soul cleaves to the dust; ³⁷Revive me ³⁸according to Your word.

26 I have told of my ways, and You have answered me; ³⁹Teach me Your statutes.

27 Make me understand the way of Your precepts, So I will ⁴⁰meditate on Your wonders.

28 My ⁴¹soul weeps because of grief; ⁴²Strengthen me according to Your word.

29 Remove the false way from me, And graciously grant me Your law.

30 I have chosen the faithful way; I have placed Your ordinances before me.

31 I ⁴³cling to Your testimonies; O LORD, do not put me to shame!

32 I shall run the way of Your commandments, For You will ⁴⁴enlarge my heart. He.

He.

33 ⁴⁵Teach me, O LORD, the way of Your statutes, And I shall observe it to the end.

34 ⁴⁶Give me understanding, that I may ⁴⁷observe Your law And keep it ⁴⁸with all my heart.

35 Make me walk in the ⁴⁹path of Your commandments, For I ⁵⁰delight in it.

36 ⁵¹Incline my heart to Your testimonies And not to ⁵²dishonest gain.

37 Turn away my ⁵³eyes from looking at vanity, And ⁵⁴revive me in Your ways.

38 ⁵⁵Establish Your word to Your servant, As that which produces reverence for You.

39 ⁵⁶Turn away my reproach which I dread, For Your ordinances are good.

40 Behold, I ⁵⁷long for Your precepts; Revive me through Your righteousness. Vav.

Vav.

41 May Your ⁵⁸lovingkindnesses also come to me, O LORD, Your salvation ⁵⁹according to Your word;

42 So I will have an ⁶⁰answer * for him who ⁶¹reproaches me, For I trust in Your word.

43 And do not take the word of truth utterly * out of my mouth, For I ⁶²wait for Your ordinances.

44 So I will ⁶³keep Your law continually, Forever and ever.

45 And I will ⁶⁴walk at liberty, For I ⁶⁵seek Your precepts.

46 I will also speak of Your testimonies ⁶⁶before kings And shall not be ashamed.

47 I shall ⁶⁷delight in Your commandments, Which I ⁶⁸love.

48 And I shall lift up my hands to Your commandments, Which I ⁶⁹love; And I will ⁷⁰meditate on Your statutes. Zayin.

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Psalms 119:1-48 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\\.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 70

1. Psalms 101:2, 6; Proverbs 11:20; Proverbs 13:6
2. Psalms 128:1; Ezekiel 11:20; Ezekiel 18:17; Micah 4:2
3. Psalms 25:10; Psalms 99:7; Psalms 119:22, 168
4. Deuteronomy 4:29; Psalms 119:10
5. Deuteronomy 6:5; Deuteronomy 10:12; Deuteronomy 11:13; Deuteronomy 13:3; Deuteronomy 30:2
6. 1 John 3:9; 1 John 5:18
7. Deuteronomy 4:13; Nehemiah 9:13
8. Psalms 40:2; Proverbs 4:26
9. Deuteronomy 12:1; 2 Chronicles 7:17
10. Job 22:26; Psalms 119:80
11. Psalms 119:62
12. Psalms 38:21; Psalms 71:9, 18
13. 1 Kings 2:4; 1 Kings 8:25; 2 Chronicles 6:16
14. 2 Chronicles 15:15; Psalms 119:2, 145
15. Psalms 119:21, 118
16. Psalms 37:31; Psalms 40:8; Luke 2:19, 51
17. Ps 119:26, 64, 108, 124, 135, 171
18. Psalms 40:9
19. Psalms 119:72
20. Psalms 119:111, 162
21. Psalms 1:2; Psalms 119:23, 48, 78, 97, 148
22. Psalms 25:4; Psalms 27:11; Isaiah 58:2
23. Psalms 1:2; Psalms 119:24, 35, 47, 70, 77, 92, 143, 174
24. Psalms 119:93
25. Psalms 13:6; Psalms 116:7
26. Genesis 47:9; Leviticus 25:23; 1 Chronicles 29:15; Psalms 39:12; Psalms 119:54; Hebrews 11:13
27. Psalms 42:1, 2; Psalms 63:1; Psalms 84:2; Psalms 119:40, 131
28. Psalms 68:30
29. Deuteronomy 27:26; Psalms 37:22
30. Psalms 119:10, 118
31. Psalms 39:8; Psalms 119:39
32. Psalms 119:2
33. Psalms 119:161
34. Psalms 119:15
35. Psalms 119:16
36. Psalms 44:25
37. Ps 119:37, 40, 88, 93, 107, 149, 154, 156, 159; Psalms 143:11
38. Psalms 119:65
39. Psalms 25:4; Psalms 27:11; Psalms 86:11; Psalms 119:12
40. Psalms 105:2; Psalms 145:5
41. Psalms 22:14; Psalms 107:26
42. Psalms 20:2; 1 Peter 5:10
43. Deuteronomy 11:22
44. 1 Kings 4:29; Isaiah 60:5; 2 Corinthians 6:11, 13
45. Psalms 119:5, 12
46. Ps 119:27, 73, 125, 144, 169
47. 1 Chronicles 22:12; Ezekiel 44:24
48. Psalms 119:2, 69
49. Psalms 25:4; Isaiah 40:14
50. Psalms 112:1; Psalms 119:16
51. 1 Kings 8:58
52. Ezekiel 33:31; Mark 7:21, 22; Luke 12:15; Hebrews 13:5
53. Isaiah 33:15
54. Psalms 71:20; Psalms 119:25
55. 2 Samuel 7:25
56. Psalms 119:22
57. Psalms 119:20
58. Psalms 119:77
59. Ps 119:58, 76, 116, 170
60. Proverbs 27:11
61. Psalms 102:8; Psalms 119:39
62. Ps 119:49, 74, 81, 114, 147
63. Psalms 119:33
64. Proverbs 4:12
65. Psalms 119:94, 155
66. Matthew 10:18; Acts 26:1, 2
67. Psalms 119:16
68. Ps 119:97, 127, 159
69. Ps 119:97, 127, 159
70. Psalms 119:15

Footnotes 18

[a]. Lit "complete;" or "having integrity"
[b]. Lit "commanded"
[c]. Lit "To keep"
[d]. Lit "to"
[e]. Lit "As over all"
[f]. Or "look upon"
[g]. Lit "delight myself"
[h]. Lit "for"
[i]. Or "Cursed are those who wander..."
[j]. Lit "the men of my counsel"
[k]. Lit "drops"
[l]. Or "accounted Your ordinances worthy"
[m]. Or "promise"
[n]. Lit "Which is for the fear of You"
[o]. Or "promise"
[p]. Or "hope in"
[q]. Lit "in a wide place"
[r]. Lit "delight myself"