Psalms 119:137-167

137 ¹Righteous are you, O LORD, and right are your rules.

138 You have appointed your testimonies in ²righteousness and in all ³faithfulness.

139 My ⁴zeal consumes me, because my foes forget your words.

140 Your promise is well ⁵tried, and your servant ⁶loves it.

141 I am small and despised, yet I do not ⁷forget your precepts.

142 Your righteousness is righteous forever, and your law is ⁸true.

143 Trouble and anguish have found me out, but your commandments are my ⁹delight.

144 Your testimonies are righteous forever; ¹⁰give me understanding that I may ¹¹live.

145 With my ¹²whole heart I cry; answer me, O LORD! I will ¹³keep your statutes.

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

147 I rise before ¹⁴dawn and cry for help; I ¹⁵hope in your words.

148 My eyes are awake before ¹⁶the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promise.

149 Hear my voice according to your steadfast love; O LORD, ¹⁷according to your justice ¹⁸give me life.

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

151 But ¹⁹you are near, O LORD, and all your commandments are ²⁰true.

152 Long have I known from your testimonies that you have ²¹founded them forever.

153 Look on my ²²affliction and deliver me, for ²³I do not forget your law.

154 ²⁴Plead my cause and redeem me; ²⁵give me life according to your promise!

155 ²⁶Salvation is far from the wicked, ²⁷for they do not seek your statutes.

156 ²⁸Great is your mercy, O LORD; ²⁹give me life according to your rules.

157 ³⁰Many are my persecutors and my adversaries, but I do not ³¹swerve from your testimonies.

158 I look at ³²the faithless with ³³disgust, because they do not keep your commands.

159 Consider how I ³⁴love your precepts! ³⁵Give me life according to your steadfast love.

160 ³⁶The sum of your word is ³⁷truth, and every one of your ³⁸righteous rules endures forever.

161 ³⁹Princes persecute me ⁴⁰without cause, but my heart ⁴¹stands in awe of your words.

162 I ⁴²rejoice at your word like one who ⁴³finds great spoil.

163 I hate and abhor falsehood, but I love ⁴⁴your law.

164 Seven times a day I praise you for your ⁴⁵righteous rules.

165 Great ⁴⁶peace have those who love your law; ⁴⁷nothing can make them stumble.

166 I ⁴⁸hope for your salvation, O LORD, and I do your commandments.

167 My soul keeps your testimonies; I ⁴⁹love them exceedingly.

Psalms 119:137-167 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\\.

Cross References

• 1. See Psalms 116:5
• 2. ver. 75, 172; See Psalms 19:7-9
• 3. ver. 86
• 4. See Psalms 69:9
• 5. See Psalms 12:6
• 6. ver. 97
• 7. ver. 83
• 8. ver. 151, 160; John 17:17; [Psalms 19:2]
• 9. ver. 24
• 10. ver. 27
• 11. ver. 17
• 12. ver. 2, 10
• 13. ver. 22, 33
• 14. See Psalms 5:3
• 15. ver. 74
• 16. See Psalms 42:8
• 17. ver. 156; [ver. 40]
• 18. ver. 25; See Psalms 71:20
• 19. See Psalms 145:18
• 20. See ver. 142
• 21. ver. 89, 160; [Matthew 5:18]
• 22. Job 36:15
• 23. ver. 83
• 24. Psalms 35:1
• 25. ver. 25
• 26. Job 5:4
• 27. [ver. 150]
• 28. 2 Samuel 24:14
• 29. [See ver. 154 above]
• 30. Psalms 3:1, 2
• 31. See ver. 51
• 32. [Jeremiah 3:20]
• 33. Psalms 139:21; [ver. 136]
• 34. ver. 97
• 35. [See ver. 154 above]
• 36. Psalms 139:17
• 37. [ver. 142, 172]
• 38. ver. 7
• 39. ver. 23; [1 Samuel 24:11; 1 Samuel 26:18]
• 40. See Psalms 69:4
• 41. [Psalms 2:11]
• 42. [See ver. 161 above]
• 43. 1 Samuel 30:16; Isaiah 9:3; [Matthew 13:44]
• 44. ver. 97
• 45. [See ver. 160 above]
• 46. Psalms 37:11, 37; [Proverbs 3:2]
• 47. Proverbs 3:23; 1 John 2:10; [Matthew 13:41]
• 48. ver. 174; Genesis 49:18
• 49. [See ver. 163 above]