Psalms 119:45-55

45 I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts.

46 I will speak of your statutes before kings and will not be put to shame,

47 for I delight in your commands because I love them.

48 I reach out for your commands, which I love, that I may meditate on your decrees.

49 Remember your word to your servant, for you have given me hope.

50 My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life.

51 The arrogant mock me unmercifully, but I do not turn from your law.

52 I remember, LORD, your ancient laws, and I find comfort in them.

53 Indignation grips me because of the wicked, who have forsaken your law.

54 Your decrees are the theme of my song wherever I lodge.

55 In the night, LORD, I remember your name, that I may keep your law.

Psalms 119:45-55 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. ver 94,155
• 2. Matthew 10:18; Acts 26:1-2
• 3. S ver 6
• 4. ver 77,143; S Psalms 112:1
• 5. ver 97,127,159,163,165
• 6. S Genesis 24:63
• 7. ver 9
• 8. ver 43
• 9. S ver 25; Romans 15:4
• 10. S ver 21; S Job 16:10; S Job 17:2; Jeremiah 20:7
• 11. ver 157; S Job 23:11; Psalms 44:18
• 12. Psalms 103:18
• 13. S Exodus 32:19; S Exodus 33:4; Ezra 9:3
• 14. Psalms 89:30
• 15. ver 172; Psalms 101:1; Psalms 138:5
• 16. ver 62,72; Psalms 1:2; Psalms 42:8; S Psalms 63:6; Psalms 77:2; Isaiah 26:9; Acts 16:25
• 17. S ver 44