Salmi 119:101-111

101 Io ho rattenuti i miei piedi da ogni sentiero malvagio; Acciocchè io osservi la tua parola.

102 Io non mi sono stornato dalle tue leggi; Perciocchè tu mi hai ammaestrato.

103 Oh! quanto son dolci le tue parole al mio palato! Son più dolci che miele alla mia bocca.

104 Io son divenuto avveduto per li tuoi comandamenti; Perciò, odio ogni sentiero di falsità.

105 La tua parola è una lampana al mio piè, Ed un lume al mio sentiero.

106 Io ho giurato, e l’atterrò, Di osservare le leggi della tua giustizia.

107 Io son sommamente afflitto; O Signore, vivificami secondo la tua parola.

108 Deh! Signore, gradisci le offerte volontarie della mia bocca, Ed insegnami le tue leggi.

109 Io ho l’anima mia del continuo in palma di mano; E pur non ho dimenticata la tua Legge.

110 Gli empi mi hanno tesi de’ lacci; E pur non mi sono sviato da’ tuoi comandamenti.

111 Le tue testimonianze son la mia eredità in perpetuo; Perciocchè esse son la letizia del mio cuore.

Salmi 119:101-111 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\\.