Psalms 119:89-176

Lamedh.

89 ¹Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven.

90 Your ²faithfulness continues throughout all generations; You ³established the earth, and it ⁴stands.

91 They stand this day according to Your ⁵ordinances, For ⁶all things are Your servants.

92 If Your law had not been my ⁷delight, Then I would have perished ⁸in my affliction.

93 I will ⁹never * forget Your precepts, For by them You have ¹⁰revived me.

94 I am Yours, ¹¹save me; For I have ¹²sought Your precepts.

95 The wicked ¹³wait 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 ¹⁴love Your law! It is my ¹⁵meditation all the day.

98 Your ¹⁶commandments 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 ¹⁷meditation.

100 I understand ¹⁸more than the aged, Because I have ¹⁹observed Your precepts.

101 I have ²⁰restrained my feet from every evil way, That I may keep Your word.

102 I have not ²¹turned aside from Your ordinances, For You Yourself have taught me.

103 How ²²sweet are Your words to my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

104 From Your precepts I ²³get understanding; Therefore * I ²⁴hate every false way. Nun.

Nun.

105 Your word is a ²⁵lamp to my feet And a light to my path.

106 I have ²⁶sworn and I will confirm it, That I will keep Your righteous ordinances.

107 I am exceedingly * ²⁷afflicted; ²⁸Revive me, O LORD, according to Your word.

108 O accept the ²⁹freewill offerings of my mouth, O LORD, And ³⁰teach me Your ordinances.

109 My ³¹life is continually in my hand, Yet I do not ³²forget Your law.

110 The wicked have ³³laid a snare for me, Yet I have not ³⁴gone astray from Your precepts.

111 I have ³⁵inherited Your testimonies forever, For they are the ³⁶joy of my heart.

112 I have ³⁷inclined my heart to perform Your statutes Forever, even ³⁸to the end. Samekh.

Samekh.

113 I hate those who are ³⁹double-minded, But I love Your ⁴⁰law.

114 You are my ⁴¹hiding place and my ⁴²shield; I ⁴³wait for Your word.

115 ⁴⁴Depart from me, evildoers, That I may ⁴⁵observe the commandments of my God.

116 ⁴⁶Sustain me according to Your word, that I may live; And ⁴⁷do not let me be ashamed of my hope.

117 Uphold me that I may be ⁴⁸safe, That I may ⁴⁹have regard for Your statutes continually.

118 You have rejected all those ⁵⁰who wander from Your statutes, For their deceitfulness is useless.

119 You have removed all the wicked of the earth like ⁵¹dross; Therefore I ⁵²love Your testimonies.

120 My flesh ⁵³trembles for fear of You, And I am ⁵⁴afraid of Your judgments. Ayin.

Ayin.

121 I have ⁵⁵done justice and righteousness; Do not leave me to my oppressors.

122 Be ⁵⁶surety for Your servant for good; Do not let the arrogant ⁵⁷oppress me.

123 My ⁵⁸eyes fail with longing for Your salvation And for Your righteous word.

124 Deal with Your servant ⁵⁹according to Your lovingkindness And ⁶⁰teach me Your statutes.

125 ⁶¹I am Your servant; ⁶²give me understanding, That I may know Your testimonies.

126 It is time for the LORD to ⁶³act, For they have broken Your law.

127 Therefore * I ⁶⁴love Your commandments Above gold, yes, above fine gold.

128 Therefore * I esteem right all Your ⁶⁵precepts concerning everything, I ⁶⁶hate every false way. Pe.

Pe.

129 Your testimonies are ⁶⁷wonderful; Therefore * my soul ⁶⁸observes them.

130 The ⁶⁹unfolding of Your words gives light; It gives ⁷⁰understanding to the simple.

131 I ⁷¹opened my mouth wide and ⁷²panted, For I ⁷³longed for Your commandments.

132 ⁷⁴Turn to me and be gracious to me, After Your manner with those who love Your name.

133 Establish my ⁷⁵footsteps in Your word, And do not let any iniquity ⁷⁶have dominion over me.

134 ⁷⁷Redeem me from the oppression of man, That I may keep Your precepts.

135 ⁷⁸Make Your face shine upon Your servant, And ⁷⁹teach me Your statutes.

136 My eyes shed ⁸⁰streams of water, Because they ⁸¹do not keep Your law. Tsadhe.

Tsadhe.

137 ⁸²Righteous are You, O LORD, And upright are Your judgments.

138 You have commanded Your testimonies in ⁸³righteousness And exceeding ⁸⁴faithfulness.

139 My ⁸⁵zeal has consumed me, Because my adversaries have forgotten Your words.

140 Your ⁸⁶word is very pure, Therefore Your servant ⁸⁷loves it.

141 I am small and ⁸⁸despised, Yet I do not ⁸⁹forget Your precepts.

142 Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, And ⁹⁰Your law is truth.

143 Trouble and anguish have come upon me, Yet Your commandments are my ⁹¹delight.

144 Your ⁹²testimonies are righteous forever; ⁹³Give me understanding that I may live. Qoph.

Qoph.

145 I cried ⁹⁴with all my heart; answer me, O LORD! I will ⁹⁵observe Your statutes.

146 I cried to You; ⁹⁶save me And I shall keep Your testimonies.

147 I ⁹⁷rise before dawn and cry for help; I wait for Your words.

148 My eyes anticipate the ⁹⁸night watches, That I may ⁹⁹meditate on Your word.

149 Hear my voice ¹⁰⁰according to Your lovingkindness; ¹⁰¹Revive me, O LORD, according to Your ordinances.

150 Those who follow after wickedness draw near; They are far from Your law.

151 You are ¹⁰²near, O LORD, And all Your commandments are ¹⁰³truth.

152 Of old I have ¹⁰⁴known from Your testimonies That You have founded them ¹⁰⁵forever. Resh.

Resh.

153 ¹⁰⁶Look upon my ¹⁰⁷affliction and rescue me, For I do not ¹⁰⁸forget Your law.

154 ¹⁰⁹Plead my cause and ¹¹⁰redeem me; Revive me according to Your word.

155 Salvation is ¹¹¹far from the wicked, For they ¹¹²do not seek Your statutes.

156 ¹¹³Great are Your mercies, O LORD; Revive me according to Your ordinances.

157 Many are my ¹¹⁴persecutors and my adversaries, Yet I do not ¹¹⁵turn aside from Your testimonies.

158 I behold the ¹¹⁶treacherous and ¹¹⁷loathe them, Because they do not keep Your word.

159 Consider how I ¹¹⁸love Your precepts; ¹¹⁹Revive me, O LORD, according to Your lovingkindness.

160 The ¹²⁰sum of Your word is ¹²¹truth, And every one of Your righteous ordinances ¹²²is everlasting. Shin.

Shin.

161 ¹²³Princes persecute me without cause, But my heart ¹²⁴stands in awe of Your words.

162 I ¹²⁵rejoice at Your word, As one who ¹²⁶finds great spoil.

163 I ¹²⁷hate and despise falsehood, But I ¹²⁸love Your law.

164 Seven times a day I praise You, Because of Your ¹²⁹righteous ordinances.

165 Those who love Your law have ¹³⁰great peace, And ¹³¹nothing causes them to stumble.

166 I ¹³²hope for Your salvation, O LORD, And do Your commandments.

167 My ¹³³soul keeps Your testimonies, And I ¹³⁴love them exceedingly.

168 I ¹³⁵keep Your precepts and Your testimonies, For all my ¹³⁶ways are before You. Tav.

Tav.

169 Let my ¹³⁷cry come before You, O LORD; ¹³⁸Give me understanding ¹³⁹according to Your word.

170 Let my ¹⁴⁰supplication come before You; ¹⁴¹Deliver me according to Your word.

171 Let my ¹⁴²lips utter praise, For You ¹⁴³teach me Your statutes.

172 Let my ¹⁴⁴tongue sing of Your word, For all Your ¹⁴⁵commandments are righteousness.

173 Let Your ¹⁴⁶hand be ready to help me, For I have ¹⁴⁷chosen Your precepts.

174 I ¹⁴⁸long for Your salvation, O LORD, And Your law is my ¹⁴⁹delight.

175 Let my ¹⁵⁰soul live that it may praise You, And let Your ordinances help me.

176 I have ¹⁵¹gone astray like a lost sheep; seek Your servant, For I do ¹⁵²not forget Your commandments.

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Psalms 119:89-176 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 152

1. Psalms 89:2; Psalms 119:160; Isaiah 40:8; Matthew 24:35; 1 Peter 1:25
2. Psalms 36:5; Psalms 89:1, 2
3. Psalms 148:6
4. Ecclesiastes 1:4
5. Jeremiah 31:35; Jeremiah 33:25
6. Psalms 104:2-4
7. Psalms 119:16
8. Psalms 119:50
9. Psalms 119:16, 83
10. Psalms 119:25
11. Psalms 119:146
12. Psalms 119:45
13. Psalms 40:14; Isaiah 32:7
14. Ps 119:47, 48, 127, 163, 165
15. Psalms 1:2; Psalms 119:15
16. Deuteronomy 4:6; Psalms 119:130
17. Psalms 119:15
18. Job 32:7-9
19. Psalms 119:22, 56
20. Proverbs 1:15
21. Deuteronomy 17:20; Joshua 23:6; 1 Kings 15:5
22. Psalms 19:10; Proverbs 8:11; Proverbs 24:13, 14
23. Psalms 119:130
24. Psalms 119:128
25. Proverbs 6:23
26. Nehemiah 10:29
27. Psalms 119:25, 50
28. Psalms 119:25
29. Hosea 14:2; Hebrews 13:15
30. Psalms 119:12
31. Judges 12:3; Job 13:14
32. Psalms 119:16
33. Psalms 91:3; Psalms 140:5; Psalms 141:9
34. Psalms 119:10
35. Deuteronomy 33:4
36. Psalms 119:14, 162
37. Psalms 119:36
38. Psalms 119:33
39. 1 Kings 18:21; James 1:8; James 4:8
40. Psalms 119:47
41. Psalms 31:20; Psalms 32:7; Psalms 61:4; Psalms 91:1
42. Psalms 84:9
43. Psalms 119:74
44. Psalms 6:8; Psalms 139:19; Matthew 7:23
45. Psalms 119:22
46. Psalms 37:17, 24; Psalms 54:4
47. Psalms 25:2, 20; Psalms 31:1, 17; Romans 5:5; Romans 9:33; Philippians 1:20
48. Psalms 12:5; Proverbs 29:25
49. Psalms 119:6, 15
50. Psalms 119:10, 21
51. Isaiah 1:22, 25; Ezekiel 22:18, 19
52. Psalms 119:47
53. Job 4:14; Habakkuk 3:16
54. Psalms 119:161
55. 2 Samuel 8:15; Job 29:14
56. Job 17:3; Hebrews 7:22
57. Psalms 119:134
58. Psalms 119:82
59. Psalms 51:1; Psalms 106:45; Psalms 109:26; Psalms 119:88, 149, 159
60. Psalms 119:12
61. Psalms 116:16
62. Psalms 119:27
63. Jeremiah 18:23; Ezekiel 31:11
64. Psalms 19:10; Psalms 119:47
65. Psalms 19:8
66. Psalms 119:104
67. Psalms 119:18
68. Psalms 119:22
69. Proverbs 6:23
70. Psalms 19:7
71. Job 29:23; Psalms 81:10
72. Psalms 42:1
73. Psalms 119:20
74. Psalms 25:16; Psalms 106:4
75. Psalms 17:5
76. Psalms 19:13; Romans 6:12
77. Psalms 119:84; Psalms 142:6; Luke 1:74
78. Numbers 6:25; Psalms 4:6; Psalms 31:16; Psalms 67:1; Psalms 80:3, 7, 19
79. Psalms 119:12
80. Jeremiah 9:1, 18; Jeremiah 14:17; Lamentations 3:48
81. Psalms 119:158
82. Ezra 9:15; Nehemiah 9:33; Psalms 116:5; Psalms 129:4; Psalms 145:17; Jeremiah 12:1; Lamentations 1:18; Daniel 9:7, 14
83. Psalms 19:7-9; Psalms 119:144, 172
84. Psalms 119:86, 90
85. Psalms 69:9; John 2:17
86. Psalms 12:6; Psalms 19:8
87. Psalms 119:47
88. Psalms 22:6
89. Psalms 119:61
90. Psalms 19:9; Psalms 119:151, 160
91. Psalms 119:24
92. Psalms 19:9
93. Psalms 119:27
94. Psalms 119:10
95. Psalms 119:22, 55
96. Psalms 3:7
97. Psalms 5:3; Psalms 57:8; Psalms 108:2
98. Psalms 63:6
99. Psalms 119:15
100. Psalms 119:124
101. Psalms 119:25
102. Psalms 34:18; Psalms 145:18; Isaiah 50:8
103. Psalms 119:142
104. Psalms 119:125
105. Psalms 119:89; Luke 21:33
106. Lamentations 5:1
107. Psalms 119:50
108. Psalms 119:16; Proverbs 3:1; Hosea 4:6
109. 1 Samuel 24:15; Psalms 35:1; Micah 7:9
110. Psalms 119:134
111. Job 5:4
112. Psalms 119:45, 94
113. 2 Samuel 24:14
114. Psalms 7:1; Psalms 119:86, 161
115. Psalms 119:51
116. Isaiah 21:2; Isaiah 24:16
117. Psalms 139:21
118. Psalms 119:47
119. Psalms 119:25
120. Psalms 139:17
121. Psalms 119:142
122. Psalms 119:89, 152
123. 1 Samuel 24:11; 1 Samuel 26:18; Psalms 119:23
124. Psalms 119:120
125. Psalms 119:14, 111
126. 1 Samuel 30:16; Isaiah 9:3
127. Psalms 31:6; Psalms 119:104, 128; Proverbs 13:5
128. Psalms 119:47
129. Psalms 119:7, 160
130. Psalms 37:11; Proverbs 3:2; Isaiah 26:3; Isaiah 32:17
131. Proverbs 3:23; Isaiah 63:13; 1 John 2:10
132. Genesis 49:18; Psalms 119:81, 174
133. Psalms 119:129
134. Psalms 119:47
135. Psalms 119:22
136. Job 24:23; Psalms 139:3; Proverbs 5:21
137. Job 16:18; Psalms 18:6; Psalms 102:1
138. Psalms 119:27, 144
139. Psalms 119:65, 154
140. Psalms 28:2; Psalms 130:2; Psalms 140:6; Psalms 143:1
141. Psalms 22:20; Psalms 31:2; Psalms 59:1
142. Psalms 51:15; Psalms 63:3
143. Psalms 94:12; Psalms 119:12; Isaiah 2:3; Micah 4:2
144. Psalms 51:14
145. Psalms 119:138
146. Psalms 37:24; Psalms 73:23
147. Joshua 24:22; Luke 10:42
148. Psalms 119:166
149. Psalms 119:16, 24
150. Isaiah 55:3
151. Isaiah 53:6; Jeremiah 50:6; Matthew 18:12; Luke 15:4
152. Psalms 119:16

Footnotes 37

[a]. Lit "stands firm"
[b]. Lit "to"
[c]. Or "kept me alive"
[d]. Lit "an end of"
[e]. Or "with me"
[f]. Or "promises"
[g]. Lit "palate"
[h]. Or "Keep me alive"
[i]. Lit "soul"
[j]. I.e. in danger
[k]. Or "hope in"
[l]. Or "promise"
[m]. Lit "put to shame because of"
[n]. Lit "made light of"
[o]. Lit "falsehood"
[p]. Lit "caused to cease"
[q]. Lit "bristles up from"
[r]. Or "promise"
[s]. Lit "to"
[t]. Or "promise"
[u]. Lit "run down"
[v]. Lit "put an end to"
[w]. Or "promise"
[x]. Lit "refined"
[y]. Lit "found me"
[z]. Lit "anticipate the dawn"
[aa]. Or "hope in"
[ab]. Or "promise"
[ac]. Or "promise"
[ad]. Or "Many"
[ae]. Or "promise"
[af]. Or "promise"
[ag]. Lit "they have no stumbling block"
[ah]. Lit "come near before"
[ai]. Or "promise"
[aj]. Or "promise"
[ak]. Lit "to help me"