Psalm 119:105-176

105 ¹Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

106 I have ²sworn an oath and confirmed it, to keep your ³righteous rules.

107 I am severely ⁴afflicted; ⁵give me life, O Lord, according to your word!

108 Accept ⁶my freewill offerings of praise, O Lord, and ⁷teach me your rules.

109 I hold my life ⁸in my hand continually, but I do not ⁹forget your law.

110 The wicked have laid ¹⁰a snare for me, but ¹¹I do not stray from your precepts.

111 Your testimonies are ¹²my heritage forever, for they are ¹³the joy of my heart.

112 I ¹⁴incline my heart to perform your statutes forever, ¹⁵to the end. ^[a] Samekh

113 I hate ¹⁶the double-minded, but I love ¹⁷your law.

114 You are my ¹⁸hiding place and my ¹⁹shield; I ²⁰hope in your word.

115 ²¹Depart from me, you evildoers, that I may ²²keep the commandments of my God.

116 Uphold me ²³according to your promise, that I may live, and let me not be ²⁴put to shame in my ²⁵hope!

117 ²⁶Hold me up, that I may be safe and have regard for your statutes continually!

118 You ²⁷spurn all who ²⁸go astray from your statutes, for their cunning is in vain.

119 All the wicked of the earth you discard like ²⁹dross, therefore ³⁰I love your testimonies.

120 My flesh ³¹trembles for fear of you, and I am afraid of your judgments. Ayin

121 I have done what is just and right; do not leave me to my oppressors.

122 Give your servant ³²a pledge of good; let not ³³the insolent oppress me.

123 My ³⁴eyes long for your salvation and for the fulfillment of your righteous promise.

124 Deal with your servant according to your steadfast love, and ³⁵teach me your statutes.

125 I am your ³⁶servant; ³⁷give me understanding, that I may know your testimonies!

126 It is time for the Lord to act, for your law has been broken.

127 Therefore I ³⁸love your commandments above gold, above fine gold.

128 Therefore I consider all your precepts to be right; I hate every ³⁹false way. Pe

129 Your testimonies are ⁴⁰wonderful; therefore my soul ⁴¹keeps them.

130 The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts ⁴²understanding to the simple.

131 I ⁴³open my mouth and ⁴⁴pant, because I ⁴⁵long for your commandments.

132 ⁴⁶Turn to me and be gracious to me, as is your way with those who love your name.

133 ⁴⁷Keep steady my steps according to your promise, and let no iniquity ⁴⁸get dominion over me.

134 ⁴⁹Redeem me from man’s oppression, that I may keep your precepts.

135 ⁵⁰Make your face shine upon your servant, and ⁵¹teach me your statutes.

136 My eyes ⁵²shed streams of tears, because people ⁵³do not keep your law. Tsadhe

137 ⁵⁴Righteous are you, O Lord, and right are your rules.

138 You have appointed your testimonies in ⁵⁵righteousness and in all ⁵⁶faithfulness.

139 My ⁵⁷zeal consumes me, because my foes forget your words.

140 Your promise is well ⁵⁸tried, and your servant ⁵⁹loves it.

141 I am small and despised, yet I do not ⁶⁰forget your precepts.

142 Your righteousness is righteous forever, and your law is ⁶¹true.

143 Trouble and anguish have found me out, but your commandments are my ⁶²delight.

144 Your testimonies are righteous forever; ⁶³give me understanding that I may ⁶⁴live. Qoph

145 With my ⁶⁵whole heart I cry; answer me, O Lord! I will ⁶⁶keep your statutes.

146 I call to you; save me, that I may observe your testimonies.

147 I rise before ⁶⁷dawn and cry for help; I ⁶⁸hope in your words.

148 My eyes are awake before ⁶⁹the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promise.

149 Hear my voice according to your steadfast love; O Lord, ⁷⁰according to your justice ⁷¹give me life.

150 They draw near who persecute me with evil purpose; they are far from your law.

151 But ⁷²you are near, O Lord, and all your commandments are ⁷³true.

152 Long have I known from your testimonies that you have ⁷⁴founded them forever. Resh

153 Look on my ⁷⁵affliction and deliver me, for ⁷⁶I do not forget your law.

154 ⁷⁷Plead my cause and redeem me; ⁷⁸give me life according to your promise!

155 ⁷⁹Salvation is far from the wicked, ⁸⁰for they do not seek your statutes.

156 ⁸¹Great is your mercy, O Lord; ⁸²give me life according to your rules.

157 ⁸³Many are my persecutors and my adversaries, but I do not ⁸⁴swerve from your testimonies.

158 I look at ⁸⁵the faithless with ⁸⁶disgust, because they do not keep your commands.

159 Consider how I ⁸⁷love your precepts! ⁸⁸Give me life according to your steadfast love.

160 ⁸⁹The sum of your word is ⁹⁰truth, and every one of your ⁹¹righteous rules endures forever. Sin and Shin

161 ⁹²Princes persecute me ⁹³without cause, but my heart ⁹⁴stands in awe of your words.

162 I ⁹⁵rejoice at your word like one who ⁹⁶finds great spoil.

163 I hate and abhor falsehood, but I love ⁹⁷your law.

164 Seven times a day I praise you for your ⁹⁸righteous rules.

165 Great ⁹⁹peace have those who love your law; ¹⁰⁰nothing can make them stumble.

166 I ¹⁰¹hope for your salvation, O Lord, and I do your commandments.

167 My soul keeps your testimonies; I ¹⁰²love them exceedingly.

168 I keep your precepts and testimonies, ¹⁰³for all my ways are before you. Taw

169 Let my ¹⁰⁴cry come before you, O Lord; ¹⁰⁵give me understanding ¹⁰⁶according to your word!

170 Let my plea come before you; ¹⁰⁷deliver me according to your word.

171 My lips will ¹⁰⁸pour forth praise, for you ¹⁰⁹teach me your statutes.

172 My tongue will sing of your word, for ¹¹⁰all your commandments are right.

173 Let your hand be ready to help me, for I have ¹¹¹chosen your precepts.

174 I ¹¹²long for your salvation, O Lord, and your law is my ¹¹³delight.

175 Let my soul live and praise you, and let your rules help me.

176 I have ¹¹⁴gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant, for I do not ¹¹⁵forget your commandments.

Psalm 119:105-176 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\\.

Cross References

• 1. 119:105 Prov. 6:23
• 2. 119:106 Neh. 10:29
• 3. 119:106 ver. 7
• 4. 119:107 [ver. 25, 50]
• 5. 119:107 ver. 88; See Ps. 71:20
• 6. 119:108 [Hos. 14:2]
• 7. 119:108 ver. 12
• 8. 119:109 See Judg. 12:3
• 9. 119:109 ver. 83
• 10. 119:110 See Ps. 91:3
• 11. 119:110 ver. 10
• 12. 119:111 Deut. 33:4
• 13. 119:111 ver. 14, 162
• 14. 119:112 ver. 36
• 15. 119:112 See ver. 33
• 16. 119:113 [1 Kgs. 18:21; James 1:8; 4:8]
• 17. 119:113 ver. 97
• 18. 119:114 See Ps. 32:7
• 19. 119:114 See Ps. 3:3
• 20. 119:114 ver. 74
• 21. 119:115 See Ps. 6:8
• 22. 119:115 [ver. 22]
• 23. 119:116 ver. 41
• 24. 119:116 ver. 31; See Ps. 25:2
• 25. 119:116 Ps. 146:5
• 26. 119:117 [Ps. 20:2]
• 27. 119:118 Lam. 1:15
• 28. 119:118 ver. 10, 21, 110
• 29. 119:119 Isa. 1:25; [Ezek. 22:18; Mal. 3:2, 3]
• 30. 119:119 ver. 97
• 31. 119:120 [Job 4:14; Hab. 3:16]
• 32. 119:122 See Job 17:3
• 33. 119:122 ver. 51
• 34. 119:123 ver. 82
• 35. 119:124 ver. 12
• 36. 119:125 See Ps. 116:16
• 37. 119:125 ver. 27
• 38. 119:127 ver. 72; Ps. 19:10
• 39. 119:128 ver. 104
• 40. 119:129 ver. 18, 27
• 41. 119:129 ver. 22
• 42. 119:130 See Ps. 19:7
• 43. 119:131 Ps. 81:10; Job 29:23
• 44. 119:131 Ps. 42:1
• 45. 119:131 ver. 20
• 46. 119:132 See Ps. 25:16
• 47. 119:133 [Ps. 17:5]
• 48. 119:133 Ps. 19:13
• 49. 119:134 [Luke 1:74]
• 50. 119:135 See Ps. 4:6
• 51. 119:135 ver. 12
• 52. 119:136 Jer. 9:1, 18; 14:17; Lam. 3:48; [Ezek. 9:4; Phil. 3:18]
• 53. 119:136 ver. 158
• 54. 119:137 See Ps. 116:5
• 55. 119:138 ver. 75, 172; See Ps. 19:7-9
• 56. 119:138 ver. 86
• 57. 119:139 See Ps. 69:9
• 58. 119:140 See Ps. 12:6
• 59. 119:140 ver. 97
• 60. 119:141 ver. 83
• 61. 119:142 ver. 151, 160; John 17:17; [Ps. 19:2]
• 62. 119:143 ver. 24
• 63. 119:144 ver. 27
• 64. 119:144 ver. 17
• 65. 119:145 ver. 2, 10
• 66. 119:145 ver. 22, 33
• 67. 119:147 See Ps. 5:3
• 68. 119:147 ver. 74
• 69. 119:148 See Ps. 42:8
• 70. 119:149 ver. 156; [ver. 40]
• 71. 119:149 ver. 25; See Ps. 71:20
• 72. 119:151 See Ps. 145:18
• 73. 119:151 See ver. 142
• 74. 119:152 ver. 89, 160; [Matt. 5:18]
• 75. 119:153 Job 36:15
• 76. 119:153 ver. 83
• 77. 119:154 Ps. 35:1
• 78. 119:154 ver. 25
• 79. 119:155 Job 5:4
• 80. 119:155 [ver. 150]
• 81. 119:156 2 Sam. 24:14
• 82. 119:156 [See ver. 154 above]
• 83. 119:157 Ps. 3:1, 2
• 84. 119:157 See ver. 51
• 85. 119:158 [Jer. 3:20]
• 86. 119:158 Ps. 139:21; [ver. 136]
• 87. 119:159 ver. 97
• 88. 119:159 [See ver. 154 above]
• 89. 119:160 Ps. 139:17
• 90. 119:160 [ver. 142, 172]
• 91. 119:160 ver. 7
• 92. 119:161 ver. 23; [1 Sam. 24:11; 26:18]
• 93. 119:161 See Ps. 69:4
• 94. 119:161 [Ps. 2:11]
• 95. 119:162 [See ver. 161 above]
• 96. 119:162 1 Sam. 30:16; Isa. 9:3; [Matt. 13:44]
• 97. 119:163 ver. 97
• 98. 119:164 [See ver. 160 above]
• 99. 119:165 Ps. 37:11, 37; [Prov. 3:2]
• 100. 119:165 Prov. 3:23; 1 John 2:10; [Matt. 13:41]
• 101. 119:166 ver. 174; Gen. 49:18
• 102. 119:167 [See ver. 163 above]
• 103. 119:168 Ps. 139:3; Prov. 5:21
• 104. 119:169 [ver. 145]
• 105. 119:169 See ver. 34
• 106. 119:169 ver. 65
• 107. 119:170 ver. 41
• 108. 119:171 Ps. 145:7
• 109. 119:171 ver. 12
• 110. 119:172 [ver. 160]
• 111. 119:173 Josh. 24:22; [Prov. 1:29]
• 112. 119:174 ver. 20
• 113. 119:174 ver. 24
• 114. 119:176 Isa. 53:6; 1 Pet. 2:25; [Matt. 18:12; Luke 15:4]
• 115. 119:176 ver. 83

Footnotes

• [a] 119:112 Or 'statutes; the reward is eternal'