Psalms 119:96-106

96 I saw the end of all end; thy commandment is full large. (I have seen the end of the end/I have seen that all things must end; but thy commandment shall go on forever.)

97 [Mem]. Lord, how loved I thy law; all day it is my thinking. (Lord, how I love thy Law! I think about it all day long.)

98 Above mine enemies thou madest me prudent by thy commandment; for it is to me [into] without end. (By thy commandments, thou hast made me more prudent than all my enemies; for thy commandments shall be with me forever.)

99 I understood over all men teaching me; for thy witnessings is my thinking. (I have more understanding than all those who teach me; because I think about thy teachings.)

100 I understood above eld men; for I sought thy commandments. (I have more understanding than the old men, that is, the elders; because I have kept thy precepts.)

101 I forbade my feet from all evil way; that I keep thy words (so that I obey thy commands).

102 I bowed not from thy dooms; for thou hast set law to me. (I turned not away from thy judgements; for thou thyself hast taught me.)

103 Thy speeches be full sweet to my cheeks; above honey to my mouth. (Thy words be exceedingly sweet to my taste; yea, sweeter in my mouth than honey.)

104 I understood of thy behests; therefore I hated all the ways of wickedness. (I gained understanding through thy precepts; and now I hate all wicked ways.)

105 [Nun]. Thy word is a lantern to my feet; and (a) light to my paths.

106 I swore, and purposed steadfastly; to keep the dooms of thy rightfulness. (I swore, and steadfastly purposed, to obey thy righteous judgements.)

Psalms 119:96-106 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\\.