Psalms 119:146-166

146 I call out to you; save me and I will keep your statutes.

147 I rise before dawn and cry for help; I have put my hope in your word.

148 My eyes stay open through the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promises.

149 Hear my voice in accordance with your love; preserve my life, LORD, according to your laws.

150 Those who devise wicked schemes are near, but they are far from your law.

151 Yet you are near, LORD, and all your commands are true.

152 Long ago I learned from your statutes that you established them to last forever.

153 Look on my suffering and deliver me, for I have not forgotten your law.

154 Defend my cause and redeem me; preserve my life according to your promise.

155 Salvation is far from the wicked, for they do not seek out your decrees.

156 Your compassion, LORD, is great; preserve my life according to your laws.

157 Many are the foes who persecute me, but I have not turned from your statutes.

158 I look on the faithless with loathing, for they do not obey your word.

159 See how I love your precepts; preserve my life, LORD, in accordance with your love.

160 All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal.

161 Rulers persecute me without cause, but my heart trembles at your word.

162 I rejoice in your promise like one who finds great spoil.

163 I hate and detest falsehood but I love your law.

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

165 Great peace have those who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble.

166 I wait for your salvation, LORD, and I follow your commands.

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Psalms 119:146-166 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\\.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 38

1. S ver 94
2. Psalms 5:3; Psalms 57:8; Psalms 108:2
3. S Psalms 63:6
4. S Psalms 27:7
5. ver 124
6. S ver 40
7. S Psalms 37:7
8. S Psalms 34:18; Psalms 145:18; Philippians 4:5
9. S ver 142
10. ver 7,73
11. S ver 89; S Psalms 111:8; Luke 21:33
12. S Psalms 13:3; Lamentations 5:1
13. S Psalms 3:7
14. S Psalms 44:17; Proverbs 3:1
15. Psalms 35:1; Jeremiah 50:34; Micah 7:9
16. S 1 Samuel 24:15
17. ver 25
18. S ver 41
19. ver 94,118; Job 5:4
20. S Nehemiah 9:27; James 5:11
21. ver 25; 2 Samuel 24:14
22. ver 149
23. S Psalms 7:1
24. S Psalms 44:18
25. ver 104; S Exodus 32:19; Psalms 139:21
26. S ver 136
27. ver 25; S Psalms 41:2
28. S ver 89; S Psalms 111:8
29. ver 23,122,157; 1 Samuel 24:14-15; 1 Samuel 24:11
30. ver 120
31. S ver 111
32. 1 Samuel 30:16; Isaiah 9:3; Isaiah 53:12
33. S ver 128
34. ver 47
35. ver 7,160
36. Psalms 37:11; Proverbs 3:2; Isaiah 26:3,12; Isaiah 27:5; Isaiah 32:17; Isaiah 57:19; Isaiah 66:12
37. S ver 11; S Psalms 37:24; 1 John 2:10
38. ver 81; Genesis 49:18