Psalms 119:157-167

157 (118-157) Many are they that persecute me and afflict me; but I have not declined from thy testimonies.

158 (118-158) I beheld the transgressors, and pined away; because they kept not thy word.

159 (118-159) Behold I have loved thy commandments, O Lord; quicken me thou in thy mercy.

160 (118-160) The beginning of thy words is truth: all the judgments of thy justice are for ever.

161 (118-161) Princes have persecuted me without cause: and my heart hath been in awe of thy words.

162 (118-162) I will rejoice at thy words, as one that hath found great spoil.

163 (118-163) I have hated and abhorred iniquity; but I have loved thy law.

164 (118-164) Seven times a day I have given praise to thee, for the judgments of thy justice.

165 (118-165) Much peace have they that love thy law, and to them there is no stumbling. block.

166 (118-166) I looked for thy salvation, O Lord: and I loved thy commandments.

167 (118-167) My soul hath kept thy testimonies and hath loved them exceedingly.

Psalms 119:157-167 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\\.