Psalms 119:111-121

111 I purchased thy witnessings by heritage [into] without end; for those be the full joying of mine heart. (Thy teachings be my inheritance forever; yea, they be the full out joy of my heart.)

112 I bowed mine heart to do thy justifyings [into] without end; for reward. (I committed my heart to follow thy statutes; for they be my reward forever/for they shall be my reward until the day I die.)

113 [Samech]. I hated wicked men; and I loved thy law. (I hate the wicked; but I love thy Law.)

114 Thou art mine helper, and mine up-taker; and I hoped more in thy word. (Thou art my helper, and my defender; I put my hope in thy word.)

115 Ye wicked men, bow away from me; and I shall seek the commandments of my God. (All ye wicked people, go away from me; so that I can obey my God's commandments.)

116 Up-take thou me by thy word, and I shall live; and shame thou not me for mine abiding. (Lift up thou me/Strengthen thou me according to thy word, so that I may live; and do not let me be shamed for trusting in thee.)

117 Help thou me, and I shall be safe; and I shall bethink ever[more] in thy justifyings. (Help thou me, and I shall be saved; and I shall think about thy statutes forevermore.)

118 Thou hast forsaken all men going away from thy dooms; for the thought of them is unjust. (Thou hast abandoned all who stray, or who go away, from thy statutes; for their thoughts be not just, or proper.)

119 I areckoned all the sinners of earth (to be) breakers of the law; therefore I loved thy witnessings. (Thou reckonest all the wicked of the earth to be but drit, or dirt; and so I love thy teachings.)

120 Nail thou my flesh with thy dread; for I dreaded of thy dooms. (My flesh shaketh in fear of thee; because I fear thy judgements/because I revere thy justice.)

121 [Ain]. I did doom and rightwiseness; betake thou not me to them that falsely challenge me. (I did what is just and right; so do not thou deliver me up to those who will oppress me.)

Psalms 119:111-121 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\\.