Psalms 119:163-176

163 I hated and loathed wickedness; forsooth I loved thy law. (I hate and loathe all lies; but I love thy Law.)

164 I said praisings to thee seven times in the day; on the dooms of thy rightfulness. (Seven times a day I praise thee; for thy righteous judgements/for thy rightful decrees.)

165 Much peace is to them that love thy law; and no cause of stumbling is to them. (There is much peace for those who love thy Law; and they have no reason to slip, or to stumble.)

166 Lord, I abode thine health; and I loved thy behests. (Lord, I wait for thy salvation, or thy deliverance; and I follow thy commandments.)

167 My soul kept thy witnessings; and loved those greatly. (I obey thy teachings; and I love them so very much.)

168 I kept thy commandments, and thy witnessings; for all my ways be in thy sight. (I obey thy precepts, and thy teachings; and all my ways be before thee.)

169 [Tau]. Lord, my beseeching come nigh in thy sight; by thy speech give thou understanding to me. (Lord, let my plea come before thee; give thou me understanding of thy word/give thou me understanding according to thy word.)

170 Mine asking enter into thy sight; by thy speech deliver thou me. (Let my asking come before thee; save thou me according to thy word.)

171 My lips shall tell out an hymn; when thou hast taught me thy justifyings. (My lips shall tell out thy praises/My lips shall praise thee; because thou hast taught me thy statutes.)

172 My tongue shall pronounce thy speech; for why all thy commandments be equity. (My tongue shall tell out thy word; for all thy commandments be just, or fair.)

173 Thine hand be made, that it save me; for I have chosen thy behests. (Let thy hand swiftly save me; for I have chosen thy precepts.)

174 Lord, I coveted thine health; and thy law is my thinking. (Lord, I desire thy salvation, or thy deliverance; and thy Law is my delight.)

175 My soul shall live, and it shall praise thee; and thy dooms shall help me. (Let me live, and I shall praise thee; and let thy judgements help me/and let thy decrees guide me.)

176 I erred as a sheep that perished; Lord, seek thy servant, for I forgat not thy commandments. (I have wandered about like a lost sheep; Lord, search for thy servant, for I have not forgotten thy commandments.)

Psalms 119:163-176 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\\.