Psalm 119:36

Verse 36. Unto thy testimonies. The contrast is most striking. There are the divine testimonies on the one hand, and there is "covetousness" on the other. God stands on one side, the world on the other. The renewed man chooses between the two; he does not require long to think, and God is his choice. John Stephen.

Verse 36. Not to covetousness. He prays in particular that his heart may be diverted from covetousness, which is not only an evil, but as saith the Apostle, "the root of all evil." David here opposes it as an adversary to all the righteousness of God's testimonies: it inverts the order of nature, and makes the heavenly soul earthly. It is a handmaid of all sins; for there is no sin which a covetous man will not serve for his gain. We should beware of all sins, but specially of mother sins. William Cowper.

Verse 36. Covetousness, or rather, "gain unjustly acquired."... The Hebrew word [ck can only mean plunder, rapine, unjust gain. J. J. Stewart Perowne.

Verse 36. Covetousness. S. Bonaventura, on our Psalm, says Covetousness must be hated, shunned, put away: must be hated, because it attacks the life of nature: must be shunned, because it hinders the life of grace: must be put away, because it obstructs the life of glory. Clemens Alexandrinus says that covetousness is the citadel of the vices, and Ambrose says that it is the loss of the soul. Thomas Le Blanc.

Verse 36. Covetousness. I would observe to the reader, and desire him duly and seriously to consider, that although this commandment, "Thou shalt not covet," is placed the last in number, yet it is too often the first that is broken, man's covetous heart leading the van in transgression. William Crouch, in "The Enormous Sin of Covetousness detected," 1709.

Verse 36. Covetousness is an immoderate desire of riches, in which these vices concur. First, An excessive love of riches, and the fixing of our hearts upon them. Secondly, A resolution to become rich, either by lawful or unlawful means, 1 Timothy 6:9 . Thirdly, Too much haste in gathering riches, joined with impatience of any delay, Proverbs 28:20 Proverbs 28:22 , 20:21.

Fourthly, An insatiable appetite, which can never be satisfied; but when they have too much, they still desire more, and have never enough, Ecclesiastes 4:8 . Like the horseleech, Proverbs 30:15 ; the dropsy, and hell itself, Proverbs 27:20 . Fifthly, Miser like tenacity, whereby they refuse to communicate their goods, either for the use of others, or themselves. Sixthly, Cruelty. Proverbs 1:18-19 , exercised both in their unmercifulness and oppression of the poor. Covetousness is a most heinous vice; for it is idolatry, and the root of all evil, Colossians 3:5 1 Timothy 6:10 ; a pernicious thorn, that stifles all grace and chokes the seed of the word, Matthew 13:22 , and pierceth men through with many sorrows, 1 Timothy 6:10 , and drowns them in destruction and perdition. James Usher, 1580-1655.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 36. -- Holiness a cure for covetousness.

Verse 36,112. -- The Cooperation of the Divine and the Human in Salvation.