Psalms 119:129-152

Pe.

129 Your testimonies are ¹wonderful; Therefore * my soul ²observes them.

130 The ³unfolding of Your words gives light; It gives ⁴understanding to the simple.

131 I ⁵opened my mouth wide and ⁶panted, For I ⁷longed for Your commandments.

132 ⁸Turn to me and be gracious to me, After Your manner with those who love Your name.

133 Establish my ⁹footsteps in Your word, And do not let any iniquity ¹⁰have dominion over me.

134 ¹¹Redeem me from the oppression of man, That I may keep Your precepts.

135 ¹²Make Your face shine upon Your servant, And ¹³teach me Your statutes.

136 My eyes shed ¹⁴streams of water, Because they ¹⁵do not keep Your law. Tsadhe.

Tsadhe.

137 ¹⁶Righteous are You, O LORD, And upright are Your judgments.

138 You have commanded Your testimonies in ¹⁷righteousness And exceeding ¹⁸faithfulness.

139 My ¹⁹zeal has consumed me, Because my adversaries have forgotten Your words.

140 Your ²⁰word is very pure, Therefore Your servant ²¹loves it.

141 I am small and ²²despised, Yet I do not ²³forget Your precepts.

142 Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, And ²⁴Your law is truth.

143 Trouble and anguish have come upon me, Yet Your commandments are my ²⁵delight.

144 Your ²⁶testimonies are righteous forever; ²⁷Give me understanding that I may live. Qoph.

Qoph.

145 I cried ²⁸with all my heart; answer me, O LORD! I will ²⁹observe Your statutes.

146 I cried to You; ³⁰save me And I shall keep Your testimonies.

147 I ³¹rise before dawn and cry for help; I wait for Your words.

148 My eyes anticipate the ³²night watches, That I may ³³meditate on Your word.

149 Hear my voice ³⁴according to Your lovingkindness; ³⁵Revive me, O LORD, according to Your ordinances.

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

151 You are ³⁶near, O LORD, And all Your commandments are ³⁷truth.

152 Of old I have ³⁸known from Your testimonies That You have founded them ³⁹forever. Resh.

Psalms 119:129-152 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. Psalms 119:18
• 2. Psalms 119:22
• 3. Proverbs 6:23
• 4. Psalms 19:7
• 5. Job 29:23; Psalms 81:10
• 6. Psalms 42:1
• 7. Psalms 119:20
• 8. Psalms 25:16; Psalms 106:4
• 9. Psalms 17:5
• 10. Psalms 19:13; Romans 6:12
• 11. Psalms 119:84; Psalms 142:6; Luke 1:74
• 12. Numbers 6:25; Psalms 4:6; Psalms 31:16; Psalms 67:1; Psalms 80:3, 7, 19
• 13. Psalms 119:12
• 14. Jeremiah 9:1, 18; Jeremiah 14:17; Lamentations 3:48
• 15. Psalms 119:158
• 16. 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
• 17. Psalms 19:7-9; Psalms 119:144, 172
• 18. Psalms 119:86, 90
• 19. Psalms 69:9; John 2:17
• 20. Psalms 12:6; Psalms 19:8
• 21. Psalms 119:47
• 22. Psalms 22:6
• 23. Psalms 119:61
• 24. Psalms 19:9; Psalms 119:151, 160
• 25. Psalms 119:24
• 26. Psalms 19:9
• 27. Psalms 119:27
• 28. Psalms 119:10
• 29. Psalms 119:22, 55
• 30. Psalms 3:7
• 31. Psalms 5:3; Psalms 57:8; Psalms 108:2
• 32. Psalms 63:6
• 33. Psalms 119:15
• 34. Psalms 119:124
• 35. Psalms 119:25
• 36. Psalms 34:18; Psalms 145:18; Isaiah 50:8
• 37. Psalms 119:142
• 38. Psalms 119:125
• 39. Psalms 119:89; Luke 21:33

Footnotes

• [a] Lit "to"
• [b] Or "promise"
• [c] Lit "run down"
• [d] Lit "put an end to"
• [e] Or "promise"
• [f] Lit "refined"
• [g] Lit "found me"
• [h] Lit "anticipate the dawn"
• [i] Or "hope in"
• [j] Or "promise"