Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings

Ver. 119. Thou puttest away all the wicked of the earth like dross. The godly and the wicked live together in the visible church, as dross and good metal; but God, who is the purger of his church, will not fail by diversity of trials and judgments to put difference between them, and at last will make a perfect separation of them, and cast away the wicked as refuse. David Dickson.

Ver. 119. God’s judgments upon others may be a necessary act of love to us. They are purged out as “dross, “that they may not infect us by their example, or molest us by their persecutions or oppressions. Now, the more we are befriended in this kind, the more we are bound to serve God cheerfully: “That we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life”: Luke 1:74-75. The world is one of those enemies, or the wicked of the earth; therefore we should serve him faithfully. Thomas Manton.

Ver. 119. Thou puttest away all the wicked. Many ways are wicked men taken away; sometime by the hand of other men, sometime by their own hand. The Philistines slew not Saul, but forced him to slay himself; yet the eye of faith ever looks to the finger of God, and sees that the fall of the wicked is the work of God. William Cowper.

Ver. 119. The wicked of the earth. Why are they thus characterized? Because here they flourish; their names “shall be written in the earth” (Jeremiah 17:13); they grow great and of good reckoning and account here. Judas had the bag; they prosper in the world: “Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world” (Psalms 73:12). Here they are respected: “They are of the world, therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them” (1 John 4:5). Their hearts and minds are in the world (Matthew 6:19-20). It is their natural frame to be worldly, they only savour the things of the world; preferment, honour, greatness, it is their *unum magnum;*here is their pleasure, and here is their portion, their hope, and their happiness. A child of God looketh for another inheritance, immortal and undefiled. Thomas Manton.

Ver. 119. Like dross. The men of this world esteem God’s children as the offscourings of the earth; so Paul (a chosen vessel of God) was disesteemed of men; but ye see here what the wicked are, in God’s account, but dross indeed, which is the refuse of gold or silver. Let this confirm the godly against the contempt of men: only the Lord hath in his own hand the balance which weigheth men according as they are. William Cowper.

Ver. 119. Dross. 1. The dross obscures the lustre and glory of the metal, yea, covers it up, so that it appears not; rust and filth compass and hide the gold, so that neither the nature nor lustre of it can be seen. 2. Dross is a deceiving thing. It is like metal, but is not metal; the dross of silver is like it, and so the dross of gold is like gold, but the dross is neither silver nor gold. 3. Dross is not bettered by the fire: put it into the fire time after time, it abides so still. 4. Dross is a worthless thing. It is of no value base, vile, contemptible. 5. It is useless, and to be rejected. 6. Dross is an offensive thing: rust eats into the metal, endangers it, and makes the goldsmith to kindle the fire, to separate it from the gold and silver. Condensed from William Greenhill.

Ver. 119. Thy testimonies. So, very frequently, he calleth God’s word, wherein there are both commands and promises: the commandments of God appertain to all, his testimonies belong to his children only; whereby more strictly, I understand his promises containing special declarations of his love and favour toward his own in Christ Jesus. William Cowper.

Hints to Preachers

Ver. 119. An insight into the divine will, the best assistance in our journey through the earth. Or, what I am; where I am; where I am going; how am I to get there?

Ver. 119 (first clause). The stranger in the earth.

1. A short exposition. The text means,

(a) That the saint is not born of the earth.

(b) That the saint is not known on earth.

(c) The saint’s portion is not upon the earth.

(d) The saint is compassed with sorrows and trials upon earth.

(e) The saint is soon to leave the earth.

2. A short application.

(a) Do not be like the world.

(b) Be prepared to be a sufferer on the earth.

(c) Sit loose to the world.

(d) Correspond with home.

(e) Cherish brotherly love for your fellow strangers on the

earth.

(f) Hasten home.

(g) Press others to come with you.

Duncan Macgregor’s Sermon in “The Shepherd in Israel, “1869.

Ver. 119. The stranger’s prayer.

1. How he came to be a stranger in the earth. He was born again. He learned the manners of his foreign home. He spoke the language of his Fatherland; and so was misunderstood and rejected on earth.

2. How he longed after everything homelike. Home rules: “thy commandments.” Home teaching: “hide not.” Specially his Father’s voice.

3. How in his loneliness he solaced himself by communication with his Father.

4. Would you not like to be a stranger? C.A.D.

Hints to Preachers

Ver. 119. The saint’s acquiescence in God’s judgments. W.B.H.

Ver. 119.

1. Comparison of the wicked to dross.

2. Comparison of their doom to the putting away of dross.

3. The saint’s admiration of divine justice as seen in the rejection of the wicked.

Ver. 119. God’s putting away the wicked like dross.

1. God’s judgments are a searching and separating fire.

2. The final judgment of the great day will complete the separating process.

3. The great result will be, the true metal and the dross, each gathered to its own place. J. F.

Psalm 119:120

Exposition

Ver. 120. My flesh trembleth for fear of thee. Such was his awe in the presence of the Judge of all the earth, whose judgment he had just now been considering, that he did exceedingly fear and quake. Even the grosser part of his being, his flesh, felt a solemn dread at the thought of offending one so good and great, who would so effectually sever the wicked from among the just. Alas, poor flesh, this is the highest thing to which thou canst attain!

And I am afraid of thy judgments. God’s words of judgment are solemn, and his deeds of judgment are terrible; they may well make us afraid. At the thought of the Judge of all, his piercing eye, his books of record, his day of assize, and the operations of his justice, we may well cry for cleansed thoughts, and hearts, and ways, lest his judgments should light on us. When we see the great Refiner separating the precious from the vile, we may well feel a godly fear, lest we should be put away by him, and left to be trodden under his feet.

Love in the previous verse is quite consistent with fear in this verse: the fear which hath torment is cast out, but not the filial fear which leads to reverence and obedience.

Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings

The fifteenth letter, SAMECH, denotes a prop or *pillar,*and this agrees well with the subject matter of the strophe, in which God is twice implored to uphold his servant (Psalms 119:16-17), while the utter destruction of those who make light of his law, or encourage scepticism regarding it, may be compared to the fate of the Philistine lords, on whom Samson brought down the roof of the house where they were making merry, by overthrowing the pillars which supported it. Neale and Littledale.

Ver. 120. My flesh trembleth for fear of thee. Instead of exulting over those who fell under God’s displeasure he humbleth himself. What we read and hear of the judgments of God upon wicked people should make us (1) To reverence his terrible majesty, and to stand in awe of him. Who is able to stand before this holy Lord God? 1 Samuel 6:20. (2) To fear lest we offend him, and become obnoxious to his wrath. Good men have need to be restrained from sin by the terrors of the Lord; especially when judgment begins at the house of God, and hypocrites are discovered, and put away as dross. Matthew Henry.

**Ver 120. My flesh trembleth for fear of thee,**etc. At the presence of Jehovah, when he appeareth in judgment, the earth trembleth and is still. His best servants are not exempted from an awful dread, upon such occasions; scenes of this kind, shown in vision to the prophets, cause their flesh to quiver, and all their bones to shake. Encompassed with a frail body, and a sinful world, we stand in need of every possible tie; and the affections both of fear and love must be employed, to restrain us from transgression; we must, at the same time, “love God’s testimonies, and fear his Judgments.” George Horne.

**Ver. 120 My flesh trembleth for fear of thee,**etc. In prayer, in the evening I had such near and terrific views of God’s judgments upon sinners in hell, that my flesh trembled for fear of them…I flew trembling to Jesus Christ as if the flames were taking hold of me: Oh! Christ will indeed save me or else I perish. *Henry Martyn,*1781-1812.

Ver. 120. My flesh trembleth for fear of thee. Familiarity with men breeds contempt; familiarity with God, not so: none reverence the Lord more than they who know him best and are most familiar with him. William Cowper.

Ver. 120,116. My flesh trembleth for fear of thee; I am Afraid.…let me not be ashamed of my hope. True religion consists in a proper mixture of fear of God, and of hope in his mercy; and wherever either of these is entirely wanting, there can be no true religion. God has joined these things, and we ought by no means to put them asunder. He cannot take pleasure in those who fear him with a slavish fear, without hoping in his mercy, because they seem to consider him as a cruel and tyrannical being, who has no mercy or goodness in his nature; and, besides, they implicitly charge him with falsehood, by refusing to believe and hope in his invitations and offers of mercy. On the other hand, he cannot be pleased with those who pretend to hope in his mercy without fearing him; for they insult him by supposing that there is nothing in him which ought to be feared; and, in addition to this, they make him a liar, by disbelieving his awful threatenings denounced against sinners, and call in question his authority, by refusing to obey him. Those only who both fear him and hope in his mercy, give him the honour that is due to his name. Edward Payson.

Ver. 120. Trembles or shudders, strictly used of the hair as standing erect in terror (comp. Job 4:15). J.J. Stewart Perowne.

Hints to Preachers

Ver. 120. The judgments of God on the wicked cause in the righteous,

1. Love.

2. Awe.

3. Fear.

Ver. 120.

1. Describe the true character of the fear.

(a) It is the fear of reverence for God’s authority and

power.

(b) It is the fear of horror against sin as meriting

judgment.

2. Show its compatibility with filial love.

(a) The more we love God the more firmly we believe in the

certainty and awfulness of his judgments.

(b) The more we love God the more will we

fear to arouse his chastising rod against ourselves.

(a) In fact, if we love not God, we shall have no fear lest

sin should involve us in judgment.

3. Commend it.

(a) As it proves a just sense of sin’s desert.

(b) As it shows a true appreciation of God’s righteousness.

(c) As it is not a fear that hath torment, but a fear which

increases watchfulness, and walks hand in hand with

perfect confidence in saying grace. J.F.

Psalm 119:121

Exposition

Ver. 121. I have done judgment and justice. This was a great thing for an Eastern ruler to say at any time, for these despots mostly cared more far gain than justice. Some of them altogether neglected their duty, and would not even do judgment at all, preferring their pleasures to their duties; and many more of them sold their judgments to the highest bidders by taking bribes, or regarding the persons of men. Some rulers gave neither judgment nor justice, others gave judgment without justice, but David gave judgment and justice, and saw that his sentences were carried out. He could claim before the Lord that he had dealt out even handed justice, and was doing so still. On this fact he founded a plea with which he backed the prayer “Leave me not to mine oppressors.” He who, as far as his power goes, has been doing right, may hope to be delivered from his superiors when attempts are made by them to do him wrong. If I will not oppress others, I may hopefully pray that others may not oppress me. A course of upright conduct is one which gives us boldness in appealing to the Great Judge for deliverance from the injustice of others. Nor is this kind of pleading to be censured as self righteous: when we are dealing with God as to our shortcomings, we use a very different tone from that with which we face the censures of our fellow men; when they are in the question, and we are guiltless towards them, we are justified in pleading our innocence.

Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings

Ver. 121. This commences a new division of the Psalm indicated by the Hebrew letter Ain a letter which cannot well be represented in the English alphabet, as there is, in fact, no letter in our language exactly corresponding with it. It would be best represented probably by what are called “breathings” in Greek. Albert Barnes.

Ver. 121. I have done judgment against the wicked, “and justice” towards the good. Simon de Muis, 1587-1644.

Ver. 121. I have done judgment and justice. Here the view of David in his judicial capacity might present itself to us; and if so, we have David in the midst of large experience; for the words would take in a large portion of his life. How blessed were their reflections, if, after a long reign, all sovereign rulers could thus appeal unto God. It should be so; for to him all shall be accountable at last. Even although we only conceive of David as speaking in the character of a private man, the sentiment is worthy of all consideration… For parents to say this of their dealings with their children, masters of servants, a man of his neighbours, is very excellent. John Stephen.

Ver. 121. Judgment and “justice, “are often put in Scripture for the same, and when put together, the latter is as an epithet to the former. “I have done judgment and justice, “that is, I have done judgment justly, exactly, to a hair. Joseph Caryl.

Ver. 121.

Do right and be a king,

Be this thy brazen bulwark of defence,

Still to preserve thy conscious innocence,

Nor ever turn pale with guilt. Francis’s Horace.

Ver. 121. If our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence before God: 1 John 3:21. This “testimony of conscience” has often been “the rejoicing” of the Lord’s people, when suffering under unmerited reproach or “proud oppression.” They have been enabled to plead it without offence in the presence of their holy, heart searching God; nay, even when, in the near prospect of the great and final account, they might well have been supposed to shrink from the strict and unerring scrutiny of their Omniscient Judge. Perhaps, however, we are not sufficiently aware of the importance of moral integrity in connexion with our spiritual comfort. Mark the boldness which it gave David in prayer: “I have done judgment and justice: leave me not to mine oppressors.” Charles Bridges.

Ver. 121. Leave me not to mine oppressors. That is, maintain me against those who would wrong me, because I do right; interpose thyself between me and my enemies, as if thou wert my pledge. Impartial justice upon oppressors sometimes lays judges open to oppression; but yet they who run greatest hazards in zeal for God shall find God ready to be their surety, when they pray, “be surety for thy servant, “as in the next verse. Abraham Wright.

**Ver. 121-122. I have done judgment and justice;**but, that I may always do it, and never fail in doing it, “uphold thy servant unto good, “by directing him, so that he may always relish what is good, and then the consequence will be that “the proud will not calumniate me; “for he that is well established “unto good, “and so made up that nothing but what is good and righteous will be agreeable to him, he will so persevere that he will have no reason for fearing “the proud that calumniate him.” Robert Bellarmine.

Hints to Preachers

Verses 121-128. The just man’s prayer against injustice. Out of the prison of oppression he appeals to God to be his surely (Psalms 119:121-122); utters his weary longing for deliverance (Psalms 119:123-125); points to the “time” (Psalms 119:126); and professes his supreme love for God’s law in contrast to the oppressors’ contempt of it (Psalms 119:127-128).

Hints to the Village Preacher

Outlines Upon Keywords of the Psalm, by Pastor C. A. Davis.

Ver. 121-122. The double appeal.

1. Of conscious integrity: “I have done judgment, “etc.

2. Of conscious deficiency: “Be surety for thy servant for good.” C.A.D.

Psalm 119:122

Ver. 122. Be surety for thy servant for good. Answer for me. Do not leave thy poor servant to die by the hand of his enemy and thine. Take up my interests and weave them with thine own, and stand for me. As my Master, undertake thy servants’ cause, and represent me before the faces of haughty men till they see what an august ally I have in the Lord my God.

Let not the proud oppress me. Thine interposition will answer the purpose of my rescue: when the proud see that thou art my advocate they will hide their heads. We should have been crushed beneath our proud adversary the devil if our Lord Jesus had not stood between us and the accuser, and become a surety for us. It is by his suretyship that we escape like a bird from the snare of the fowler. What a blessing to be able to leave our matters in our Surety’s hands, knowing that all will be well, since he has an answer for every accuser, a rebuke for every reviler.

Good men dread oppression, for it makes even a wise man mad, and they send up their cries to heaven for deliverance; nor shall they cry in vain, for the Lord will undertake the cause of his servants, and fight their battles against the proud. The word “servant” is wisely used,as a plea for favour for himself, and the word “proud” as an argument against his enemies. It seems to be inevitable that proud men should become oppressors, and that they should take most delight in oppressing really gracious men.

Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings

Ver. 122. Be surety for thy servant for good. What David prays to God to be for him, that Christ is for all his people: Hebrews 7:22. He drew nigh to God, struck hands with him, gave his word and bond to pay the debts of his people; put himself in their law place and stead, and became responsible to law and justice for them; engaged to make satisfaction for their sins, to bring in everlasting righteousness for their justification, and to preserve and keep them, and bring them safe to eternal glory and happiness; and this was being a surety for them for good. John Gill.

Ver. 122. Be surety for thy servant for good. There are three expositions of this clause, as noting the end, the cause, the event.

1. Undertake for me, ut sire bonus et justus, so Rabbi Arama on the place; surety for me that I may be good. Theodoret expounds it, “Undertake that I shall make good my resolution of keeping thy law.” He that joins, undertakes; though we have precepts and without God’s undertaking we shall never be able to perform our duty.

2. Undertake for me to help me in doing good; so some read it: would not take his part in an evil cause. To commend a wrong to God’s protection, is to provoke him to hasten our punishment, to us serve under our oppressors; but, when we have a good cause, and good conscience, he will own us. We cannot expect he should maintain us and bear us out in the Devil’s service, wherein we have entangled selves by our own sin.

3. Be with me for good: so it is often rendered: “Shew me a token for good” (Psalms 86:17); “Pray not for this people for good” (Jeremiah 11:14); so, “Remember me, O my God, for good” (Nehemiah 13:31). So here “Be surety for thy servant for good.” Thomas Manton.

Ver. 122. Be surety for thy servant for good. It is the prayer Hezekiah in his trouble, “O Lord, I am oppressed, “undertake for, (Isaiah 38:14); it is the prayer of Job for a “daysman” to between him and God (Job 9:33); it is the cry of the church before Incarnation for the appearance of a Divine Mediator; it is the confidence of every faithful soul since that blessed time in the perpetual of our Great High Priest in heaven, which is to us the pledge of blessedness. Agellius and Cocceius, in Neale and Littledale.

Ver. 122. Be surety for thy servant for good. His meaning is, thou knowest how unjustly I am calumniated and evil spoken of in parts: where I am not present or where I may not answer for myself, answer thou for me. William Cowper.

Ver. 122. Be surety for thy servant for good. The keen eye of world may possibly not be able to affix any blot upon my outward confession; but, “if thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities; O Lord, who shall stand?” The debt is continually accumulating, and the prospect of payment as distant as ever. I might well expect to be “left to my oppressors, “I should pay all that was due unto my Lord. But behold! “Where is the fury of the oppressor?” Isaiah 51:13. The surety is found the debt is paid the ransom is accepted the sinner is free. There was a voice heard heaven “Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom”, Job 33:24. The Son of God himself became Surety for a stranger, and “smarted for it, “Proverbs 11:15. At an infinite cost the cost of his precious blood he delivered me from “mine oppressors” sin Satan world death hell. Charles Bridges.

Ver. 122. Some observe that this is the only verse throughout the whole psalm wherein the Word is not mentioned under the name of “law “judgments, ""statutes, “or the like terms, and they make this note it, “Where the Law faileth, there Christ is a surety of a better testament. There are those that render the words thus, “Dulcify, or, delight thy servant good, “that is, make him joyful and comfortable in the pursuit and of that which is good. John Trapp.

Hints to Preachers

Ver. 122.

1. Suretyship entreated.

2. Good expected.

3. Obligation acknowledged: “thy servant.”

Ver. 122 (first clause). After explaining the Psalmist’s meaning as shown in the preceding verse, this sentence may be used for a sermon upon the Suretyship of Christ, by a reference to Hebrews 7:22.

1. A Surety for good wanted the deeply felt, though, perhaps, undefined want of a sin burdened soul.

(a) The mere statement of a gratuitous pardon on the part

of God is not thoroughly believable to such a soul,

nor, if it could be believed in, would it give peace to

the conscience. For, on the one hand, the pardon could

not be perceived as just, nor as consistent with God’s

necessary hatred of sin, yet the conscience demands

this perception; on the other hand, mere pardon does

not show how the obligation to a perfect fulfilment of

God’s law, as righteousness, can be met, yet the

conscience demands to see this before it can be

satisfied to realize peace Luther’s experience.

(b) Now the Scriptures tell us that God “justifies the

ungodly, “and that his “righteousness” is declared in

his justifying sinners: Romans 3:25. He can forgive

sins with justice. He can treat sinners as righteous

persons, and yet bo righteous in doing so. How? By a

Surety. Therefore, a Surety is the real want.

2. A Surety existent. Jesus is the Surety.

(a) He undertook to bear our obligation to the law’s

penalty, and fulfilled it in death. Thus pardon, though

mercy to us, is an act of justice to Christ.

(b) He undertook our obligation to a perfect obedience, and

satisfied for that in his fulfilment of the law; thus

for God to treat us as righteous is only just to

Christ.

(c) God has shown his satisfaction with the office of

Christ, and with his work, by the resurrection and

glorification of Christ. Hence a well accredited and

efficient Surety exists.

3. A Surety nigh at hand.

(a) In the gospel, Christ as Surety comes to the sinner as

truly as though he himself left his throne and came in

his own person.

(b) Thus, he is so close that a sinner has but to receive

the gospel into his heart and he receives Christ.

(c) Christ received as a Surety is the Surety for whosoever

receives him. J.F.

Psalm 119:123

Exposition

Ver. 123. Mine eyes fail for thy salvation. He wept, waited, and watched for God’s saving hand, and these exercises tried the eyes of his faith till they were almost ready to give out. He looked to God alone, he looked eagerly, he looked long, he looked till his eyes ached. The mercy is, that if our eyes fail, God does not fail, nor do his eyes fail. Eyes are tender things, and so are our faith, hope and expectancy: the Lord will not try them above what they are able to bear. “And for the word of thy righteousness:” a word that would silence the unrighteous words of his oppressors. His eyes as well as his ears waited for the Lord’s word: he looked to see the divine word come forth as a fiat for his deliverance. He was “waiting for the verdict” the verdict of righteousness itself. How happy are we if we have righteousness on our side; for then that which is the sinners’ terror is our hope, that which the proud dread is our expectation and desire. David left his reputation entirely in the Lord’s hand, and was eager to be cleared by the word of the Judge rather than by any defence of his own. He knew that he had done right, and, therefore, instead of avoiding the supreme court, he begged for the sentence which he knew would work out his deliverance. He even watched with eager eyes for the judgment and the deliverance, the word of righteousness from God which meant salvation to himself.

Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings

Ver. 123. Mine eyes fail flor thy salvation. In times of great sorrow when the heart is oppressed with care, and when danger threatens on every side, the human eye expresses with amazing accuracy the distressed and anguished emotions of the soul. The posture here described is that of an individual who perceives himself surrounded with enemies of the most formidable character, who feels his own weakness and insufficiency to enter into conflict with them, but who is eagerly looking for the arrival of a devoted and powerful friend who has promised to succour him in the hour of his calamity. As his friend delays the hour of his coming, his fears and anxieties multiply, till he finds himself in the condition of one whose eyes fail and grow dim in looking for the approach of his great deliverer. In this condition was the suppliant here described, his enemies were ready to swallow him up, and except from heaven he had no hope of final extrication. To the promises of God he betook himself, and while waiting their accomplishment, and looking with the utmost eagerness to the word of God’s righteousness, he gives utterance to the desponding sentiment, “Mine eyes fail for thy salvation.” O for such warm and anxious desires for that great salvation, which will realize the victory over all our spiritual enemies, and enable us to shout triumphantly through all eternity in the name of our almighty Deliverer! John Morison.

Ver. 123. Mine eyes fail…for the word of thy righteousness. Albeit the words of promise be neither performed, nor like to be performed, yet faith should justify the promise, for true and faithful. David Dickson.

Ver. 123. For the word of thy righteousness. This would be the word of promised salvation, which the Lord had given in righteousness. What an amazing plea God on the ground of his own righteousness appealed to for deliverance and yet how true! Or this might be the word of his justice, the issuing of justice, the exercising of a righteous decision between him and his oppressors. He had looked for the Lord to interpose between them, and so to fulfil all he had promised on behalf of the believer. The Lord will vindicate his own. Are any in great difficulty; and are they waiting for the Lord to interpose, to whom they have committed their concerns? …Wait on; he will not disappoint a gracious hope. John Stephen.

**Ver. 123. For the word of thy righteousness,**or, “the word of thy justice”; that is to say, for the sentence of justice on my oppressors, as the first part of the verse teaches; for the passing this sentence will be equivalent to the granting the salvation which the psalmist so earnestly desired. George Phillips.

Hints to Preachers

Ver. 123. Holy expectation long maintained, in danger of failing; this fact pleaded; reasons for never renouncing it.

Psalm 119:124

Exposition

Ver. 124. Deal with thy servant according unto thy mercy. Here he recollects himself: although before men he was so clear that he could challenge the word of righteousness, yet before the Lord, as his servant, he felt that he must appeal to mercy. We feel safest here. Our heart has more rest in the cry, “God be merciful to me, “than in appealing to justice. It is well to be able to say, “I have done judgment and justice, “and then to add in all lowliness, yet “deal with thy servant according unto thy mercy.” The title of servant covers a plea; a master should clear the character of his servant if he be falsely accused, and rescue him from those who would oppress him; and, moreover, the master should show mercy to a servant? even if he deal severely with a stranger. The Lord condescendingly deals, or has communications with his servants, not spurning them, but communing with them; and this he does in a tender and merciful way, for in any other form of dealing we should be crushed into the dust. “And teach me thy statutes.” This will be one way of dealing with us in mercy. We may expect a master to teach his own servant the meaning of his own orders. Yet since our ignorance arises from our own sinful stupidity, it is great mercy on God’s part that he condescends to instruct us in his commands. For our ruler to become our teacher is an act of great grace, for which we cannot be too grateful. Among our mercies this is one of the choicest.

Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings

Ver. 124. Deal with thy servant according unto thy mercy. If I am a “servant” of God, I can bring my services before him only upon the ground of “mercy”; feeling that for my best performances I need an immeasurable world of mercy pardoning saving everlasting mercy; and yet I am emboldened by the blood of Jesus to plead for my soul “Deal with thy servant according unto thy mercy.”

But then I am ignorant as well as guilty; and yet I dare not pray for divine teaching, much and hourly as I need it, until I have afresh obtained mercy. “Mercy” is the first blessing, not only in point of importance, but in point of order. I must seek the Lord, and know him as a Saviour, before I can go to him with any confidence to be my teacher. But when once I have found acceptance to my petition “Deal with thy servant according unto thy mercy” my way will be opened to follow on my petition “Teach me thy statutes. Give me understanding, that if may know thy testimonies” that I may know, walk, yea, “run in the way of thy commandments” with an enlarged heart, Psalms 119:32. My plea is the same as I have before urged with acceptance (Psalms 119:94) “I am thy servant.” Charles Bridges.

Ver. 124. Thy mercy. All the year round, every hour of every day, God is richly blessing us; both when we sleep and when we wake, his mercy waits upon us. The sun may leave off shining, but our God will never cease to cheer his children with his love. Like a river, his lovingkindness is always flowing with a fulness inexhaustible as his own nature, which is its source. Like the atmosphere which always surrounds the earth, and is always ready to support the life of man, the benevolence of God surrounds all his creatures; in it, as in their element, they live, and move, and have their being. Yet as the sun on summer days appears to gladden us with beams more warm and bright than at other times, and as rivers are at certain seasons swollen with the rain, and as the atmosphere itself on occasions is fraught with more fresh, more bracing, or more balmy influences than heretofore, so is it with the mercy of God; it hath its golden hours, its days of overflow, when the Lord magnifies his grace and lifteth high his love before the sons of men. C.H.S.

Ver. 124. Teach me. David had Nathan and Gad the prophets; and beside them, the ordinary Levites to teach him. He read the word of God diligently, and did meditate in the law night and day; but he acknowledgeth all this was nothing unless God did teach him. Other teachers speak to the ear, but God speaks to the heart: so Paul preached to Lydia, but God opened her heart. Let us pray for this grace. William Cowper.

Hints to Preachers

Ver. 124-125. The servant of God.

1. Making profession: “I am thy servant.”

2. Making confession of guilt, dulness, ignorance.

3. Making petition for mercy, understanding, and teaching. C.A.D.

Ver. 124. Heavenly instruction a great mercy.

Ver. 124.

1. His confidence in divine mercy.

2. His submission to divine authority.

3. His prayer for divine teaching. G.R.

Ver. 124. A Perfect Prayer.

1. As to the matter of it.

(a) Here is nothing superfluous; no petition for wealth,

nor for honours, nor for anything the worldling covets.

(b) Here is nothing wanting; “Deal with thy servant

according to thy mercy” comprehends everything the

guilty soul needs; “Teach me thy statutes” comprehends

all a saint needs to be anxious for.

2. As to the manner of it.

(a) It is direct and definite.

(b) It is simple and fervent.

(c) It is reverent yet bold.

3. As to the spirit of it.

(a) “Deal with thy servant”; a sense of obligation; a

feeling of devotedness; a spirit of consecration to

holy work.

(b) “Deal…according to thy mercy”; a sense of

unworthiness; becoming humility; submissiveness to the

divine will as to what form the mercy shall take; great

faith in the mercy, its freeness and sufficiency.

(c) “Teach me thy statutes.” Longing for holiness, sense of

ignorance, of weakness, of dependence upon special

divine spiritual influence. J.F.

Psalm 119:125

Exposition

Ver. 125. I am thy servant. This is the third time he has repeated this title in this one section: he is evidently fond of the name, and conceives it to be very effective plea. We who rejoice that we are sons of God are by no the less delighted to be his servants. Did not the firstborn Son assume the servant’s form and fulfil the servant’s labour to the full? What high, honour can the younger brethren desire than to be made like the Heir of things.

Give me understanding, that I may know thy testimonies. In the verse he sought teaching; but here he goes much further, and craves understanding. Usually, if the instructor supplies the teaching, the finds the understanding; but in our case we are far more dependent, must beg for understanding as well as teaching: this the ordinary cannot give, and we are thrice happy that our Divine Tutor can furnish us with it. We are to confess ourselves fools, and then our Lord will make us wise, as well as give us knowledge. The best understanding is that which enables us to render perfect obedience and to exhibit intelligent faith, and it is this which David desires, “understanding, that I may know thy testimonies.” Some would rather not know these things; they prefer to be at ease in the dark rather than possess the light which leads to repentance and diligence. The servant of God longs to know in an understanding manner all that the Lord reveals of man and to man; he wishes to be so instructed that he may apprehend and comprehend that which is taught him. A servant should not be ignorant concerning his master, or his master’s business; he should study the mind, will, purpose, and aim of him whom he serves, for so only can he complete his service; and as no man knows these things so well as his master himself, he should often go to him for instructions, lest his very zeal should only serve to make him the greater blunderer.

It is remarkable that the Psalmist does not pray for understanding through acquiring knowledge, but begs of the Lord first that he may have the gracious gift of understanding, and then may obtain the desired instruction. All that we know before we have understanding is apt to spoil us and breed vanity in us; but if there be first an understanding heart, then the stores of knowledge enrich the soul, and bring neither sin nor sorrow therewith. Moreover, this gift of understanding acts also in the form of discernment and thus the good man is preserved from hoarding up that which is false and dangerous: he knows what are and what are not the testimonies of the Lord.

Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings

**Ver. 125. I am thy servant; give me understanding,**etc. I am not a stranger to thee, but thine own domestic servant; let me want no grace, which may enable me to serve thee. William Cowper.

Ver. 125. I am thy servant. That thou art the servant of God, thou shouldest regard as thy chiefest glory and blessedness. Martin Geier.

Hints to Preachers

Ver. 125.

1. An office accepted.

2. Fitness requested.

3. Discernment desired.

Ver. 125.

1. A cheerful acknowledgment: “I am thy servant.”

2. A desire implied to serve more perfecty.

3. A need recognized Divine instruction in holy service.

4. A plea urged: “I am thy servant, “therefore “Teach me, “etc. W.H.J.P.

Psalm 119:126

Exposition

Ver. 126. It is time for thee, Lord, to work: For they have made void thy law. David was a servant, and therefore it was always his time to work: but being oppressed by a sight of man’s ungodly behaviour, he feels that his Master’s hand is wanted, and therefore he appeals to him to work against the working of evil. Men make void the law of God by denying it to be his law, by promulgating commands and doctrines in opposition to it, by setting up tradition in its place, or by utterly disregarding and scorning the authority of the lawgiver. Then sin becomes fashionable, and a holy walk is regarded as a contemptible puritanism; vice is styled pleasure, and vanity bears the bell. Then the saints sigh for the presence and power of their God: Oh for an hour of the King upon the throne and the rod of iron! Oh for another Pentecost with all its wonders, to reveal the energy of God to gain sayers, and make them see that there is a God in Israel! Man’s extremity, whether of need or sin, is God’s opportunity. When the earth was without form and void, the Spirit came and moved upon the face of the waters; should he not come when society is returning to a like chaos? When Israel in Egypt were reduced to the lowest point, and it seemed that the covenant would be void, then Moses appeared and wrought mighty miracles; so, too, when the church of God is trampled down, and her message is derided, we may expect to see the hand of the Lord stretched out for the revival of religion, the defence of the truth, and the glorifying of the divine name. The Lord can work either by judgments which hurl down the ramparts of the foe; or by revivals which build up the walls of his own Jerusalem. How heartily may we pray the Lord to raise up new evangelists, to quicken those we all early have, to set his whole church on fire, and to bring the world to his feet. God’s work is ever honourable and glorious; as for our work, it is as nothing apart from him.

Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings

Ver. 126. It is time for thee, Lord, to work. Was ever vessel more hopelessly becalmed in mid ocean? or did crew ever cry with more frenzy for some favouring breeze than those should cry who man the Church of the living God? If God work not, it is certain there is nothing before the Church but the prospect of utter discomfiture and overthrow. Greater is the world than the Church if God be not in her. But if God be in her, she shall not be moved. May he help her, and that right early!

When he arises to work we know not what may be the form and fashion of his operations. He worketh according to the counsel of his own will; and who knows but that when once he awakes, and puts on his strength, it may not be confined in its results to the immediate and exclusive quickening of the spiritual life of the Church; but may be associated with providential upheavals and convulsions which will fill the heart of the world with astonishment and dismay. His spiritual kingdom does not stand in isolation. It has relations which closely involve it with the material universe, and with human society and national life. There have been times when God has worked, and the signs of his presence have been seen, in terrible shaking of the nations, in the ploughing up from their foundations of hoary injustice, in the smiting of grinding tyrannies, and in the emancipation of peoples whose life had been a long and hopeless moan. There have been times, too, and many, when he has worked through the elements of nature through blasting and mildew, through floods and famine, through locust, caterpillar and palmer worm; through flagging commerce, with its machinery rusting in the mill and its ships rotting in the harbour. All these things are his servants. Sometimes the sleep of the world, and the Church too, is so profound that it can be broken only by agencies like the wind, or fire, or earthquake, which made the prophet shiver at the mouth of the cave, and without which the voice that followed, so still, so small and tender, would have lost much of its melting and subduing power. When society has become drugged with the Circean cup of worldliness, and the voices that come from eternity are unheeded, if not unheard, even terror has its merciful mission. The frivolous and superficial hearts of men have to be made serious, their idols have to be broken, their nests have to be stoned, or tossed from the trees where they had been made with so much care, and they have to be taught that if this life be all, it is but a phantom and a mockery. When the day of the Lord shall come, in which he shall begin to work, let us not marvel if it “shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low; and upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall, and upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures. And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.” But this working of God will also take other shapes. Will it not be seen in the inspiration of the Church with faith in its own creed, so far as that creed has the warrant of the Divine word? Does the Church believe its creed? It writes it, sets it forth, sings it, defends it; but does it believe it, at least with a faith which begets either enthusiasm in itself, or respect from the world? Have not the truths which form the methodized symbols of the Church become propositions instead of living powers? Do they not lie embalmed with superstitious reverence in the ark of tradition, tenderly cherished for what they have been and done But is it not forgotten that if they be truths they are not dead and cannot die? They are true now, or they were never true; living now, or they never lived. Time cannot touch them, nor human opinion, nor the Church’s sluggishness or unbelief, for they are emanations from the Divine essence, instinct with his own undecaying life. They are not machinery which may become antiquated and obsolete and displaced by better inventions; they are not methods of policy framed for conditions which are transient, and vanishing with them; they are not scaffolding within which other and higher truth is to be reared from age to age. They are like him who is the end of our conversation, “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and for ever.” There is not one of them which, if the faith it awakens were but commensurate with its intrinsic worth, would not clothe the Church with a new and wondrous power. But what would be that power if that faith were to grasp them all? It would be life from the dead. Enoch Mellor (1823-1881), in “The Hem of Christ’s Garment, and

other Sermons.”

Ver. 126. It is time for thee, Lord, to work. expresses emphatically the proper time for the Lord to do his own work; as if the Psalmist had said, “It is not for us to prescribe the time and occasion for God to exercise his power, and to vindicate the authority of his own law; he does everything at the proper time, and he will at the proper season punish those who have made void his law, and who have become notorious for their impiety and wickedness.” George Phillips.

**Ver. 126. It is time to work,**just as when the attack of some illness is becoming more severe, you hurry to the physician, that he may come more quickly, lest he should later be unable to do any good. So when the prophet saw in the Holy Spirit the rebellion of the people, their luxury, pleasures, deceits, frauds, avarice, drunkenness, he runs, for our help, to Christ, whom he knew to be alone able to remedy such sins; implores him to come, and admits of no delay. Ambrose, in Neale and Littledale.

Ver. 126. It is time for thee, Lord, to work. Infidelity was never more subtle, more hurtful, more plausible, perhaps more successful, than in the day in which we live. It has left the low grounds of vulgarity and coarseness and ribaldry, and entrenched itself upon the lofty heights of criticism, philology, and even science itself. It pervades to a fearful extent our popular literature; it has invested itself with the charms of poetry, to throw its spell over the public mind; it has endeavoured to inweave itself with science; and he must be little acquainted with the state of opinion in this land, who does not know that it is espoused by a large portion of the cultivated mind of this generation. “It is time for thee, Lord, to work.” John Angell James, 1785-1859.

**Ver. 126. It is time for thee, Lord, to work,**etc. To send the Messiah, to work righteousness, to fulfil the law and vindicate the honour of it, broken by men. It was always a notion of the Jews that the time of the Messiah’s coming would be when it was a time of great wickedness in the earth; and which seems to agree with the word of God, and was true in fact. See Matthew 2:17 3: Matthew 2:1-3,15-16 Matthew 15:4:2. John Gill.

**Ver. 126. It is time for thee, Lord, to work,**etc. True it is, Lord, that we are not to appoint thee thy times and limits, for thou art the Ancient of Days, Time’s Creator and destination. Neither do we presume to press in at the portal of thy privy chamber, to “know the times and seasons” which thou our Father hast reserved in thine own power; yet, Lord, thou hast taught us, as to discern the face of the sky, so to descry the signs of the times, and from the cause to expect the effect which necessarily doth ensue. “Thou art a God full of compassion and mercy, slow to anger, and of great kindness” (Psalms 103:8); and thou dost sustain many wrongs of the sons of men, being crushed with their sins as a cart is laden with sheaves: but if still they continue to load thee, thou wilt case thyself of that burden, and cast it on the ground of confusion. Thou art “slow to anger, but great in power, and wilt not surely clear the wicked” (Nahum 1:3). Thou dost for a long space hold thy peace at men’s sins, and art still, and dost restrain thyself. But if men will not turn, thou wilt whet thy sword and bend thy bow, and make it ready. Patient thou art, and for a long time dost forbear thine hand; but when the forehead of sin begins to lose the blush of shame, when the bead roll of transgressions doth grow in score from East to West, when the cry of them pierceth above the clouds, when the height of wickedness is come unto the top, and the fruits thereof are ripe and full, then it is time for thee, Lord, to take notice of it, to awake like a giant, and to put to thine all revenging hand.

But our sins are already ripe, yea, rotten ripe, the measure of our iniquities is full up to the brim. Doubtless out land is sunken deep in iniquity; our tongues and works have been against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of his glory; the trial of our countenance doth testify against us (Isaiah 3:8-9), yea, we declare our sins as Sodom; we hide them not, the cry of our sins is exceeding grievouS, the clamours of them pierce the skies, and with a loud voice roar, saying: “How long, Lord, holy and true? How long ere thou come to avenge thyself on such a nation as this?” Revelation 6:10 Jeremiah 9:9. George Webbe, in *“A Posie of Spiritual Flowers, “*1610.

Ver. 126. It is time for thee, Lord. Some read it, and the original will bear it, “It is time to work for thee, O Lord; “it is time for every one in his place to appear on the Lord’s side, against the threatening growth of profaneness and immorality. We must do what we can for the support of the sinking interests of religion, and, after all, we must beg of God to take the work into his own hands. Matthew Henry.

Ver. 126. They have made void thy law. In the second verse of this section he complained that the proud would oppress him, now he complains that they destroyed the law of God. Who, then, are David’s enemies, who seek to oppress him? Only such as are enemies to God, and seek to destroy his law. A great comfort have we in this, that if we love the Lord, and study in a good conscience to serve him we can have no enemies but such as are enemies to God. William Cowper.

Ver. 126. They have made void thy law. As if they would not only sin against the Law, but sin away the Law, not only withdraw themselves from the obedience of it, but drive St out of the world; they would make void and repeal the holy acts of God, that their own wicked acts might not be questioned; and lest the Law should have a power to punish them, they will deny it a power to rule them; that’s the force of the simple word here used, as applied to highest transgressing against the Law of God. Joseph Caryl.

Ver. 126-127. Everything betters a saint. Not only ordinances, word, sacraments, holy society, but even sinners and their very sinning. Even these draw forth their graces into exercise, and put them upon godly, broken hearted mourning. A saint sails with every wind. As the wicked are hurt by the best things, so the godly are bettered by the worst. Because “they have made void thy law, therefore do I love thy commandments.” Holiness is the more owned by the godly, the more the world despiseth it. The most eminent saints were those of Caesar’s (Nero’s) house (Philippians 4:22); they who kept God’s name were they who lived where Satan’s throne was (Revelation 2:13). Zeal for God grows the hotter by opposition; and thereby the godly most labour to give the glory of God reparation. William Jenkyn (1612-1685), in “The Morning Exercises”.

Hints to the Village Preacher

Ver. 126-128.

1. A terrible fact: “They have made void thy law”: Psalms 119:126.

2. Two blessed inferences: “Therefore, ""Therefore, “etc.: Psalms 119:127-128.

Ver. 126. They make void the law, by denying inspiration, by exalting tradition, by antinomianism, by scepticism, by indifference, etc.

Ver. 126.

1. There are times when sin is specially active and dominant.

2. Such times reveal the dependence of the church upon God.

3. Such times awaken the desires of the church for the intervention of God.

4. Such times are the times when God does arise to plead his own cause. W.H.J.P.

Ver. 126.

1. The work anticipated the vindication of the divine law.

2. The work delayed.

3. The work executed: “It is time, “etc. G.R.

Psalm 119:127

Exposition

Ver. 127. Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold. As it was God’s time to work so it was David’s time to love. So far from being swayed by the example of evil men, so as to join them in slighting the Scriptures, he was the rather led into a more vehement love of them. As he saw the commandments slighted by the ungodly, his heart was in sympathy with God, and he felt a burning affection for his holy precepts. It is the mark of a true believer that he does not depend upon others for his religion, but drinks water out of his own well, which springs up even when the cisterns of earth are all dried. Our holy poet amid a general depreciation of the law felt his own esteem of it rising so high that gold and silver sank in comparison. Wealth brings with it so many conveniences that men naturally esteem it, and gold as the symbol of it is much set by; and yet, in the judgment of the wise, God’s laws are more enriching, and bring with them more comfort than all the choicest treasures. The Psalmist could not boast that he always kept the commands; but he could declare that he loved them; he was perfect in heart, and would fain have been perfect in life. He judged God’s holy commands to be better than the best earthly thing, yea, better than the best sort of the best earthly thing; and this esteem was confirmed and forced into expression by those very oppositions of the world which drive hypocrites to forsake the Lord and his ways.

“The dearer, for their rage,

Thy words I love and own,

A wealthier heritage

Than gold and precious stone.”

Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings

**Ver. 127. Therefore I love thy commandments above gold,**etc. Partly, because it is one evidence of their excellency, that they are disliked by the vilest of men. Partly, out of a just indignation and opposition against my sworn enemies; and partly, because the great and general apostasy of others makes this duty more necessary to prevent their own and other men’s relapses. Matthew Pool.

Ver. 127. I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold. The image employed brings before us the picture of the miser; his heart and his treasure are in his gold. With what delight he counts it! with what watchfulness he keeps it! hiding it in safe custody, lest he should be despoiled of that which is dearer to him than life. Such should Christians be, spiritual misers, counting their treasure which is “above fine gold”; and “hiding it in their hearts, ” in safe keeping, where the great despoiler shall not be able to reach it. Oh, Christians! how much more is your portion to you than the miser’s treasure! Hide it; watch it; retain it. You need not be afraid of covetousness in spiritual things: rather “covet earnestly” to increase your store; and by living upon it and living in it, it will grow richer in extent, and more precious in value. Charles Bridges.

Ver. 127. I love thy commandments. He professes not that he fulfilled them, but that he loved them; and truly it is a great progress in godliness, if we be come thus far, as from our heart,to love them. The natural man hates the commandments of God; they are so contrary to his corruption; but the regenerate man, as he hates his own corruption, so he loves the word, because according to it he desires to be reformed. And here is our comfort, that, albeit we cannot do what is commanded, yet if we love to do it, it is an argument of grace received. “Above gold” etc. It is lawful to love those creatures which God hath appointed for our use; with these conditions: the one is, that the first seat in our affection of love be reserved to God; and any other thing we love, that we love it in him and for him, and give it only the second room. Thus David, being a natural man, loved his natural food; but he protests he loved the law of the Lord more than his appointed food; and here he loves the commandments of God above all gold. William Cowper.

Hints to Preachers

Ver. 127. The world’s assault upon the truth a reason for our loving it.

Ver. 127.

1. The object of love: “Thy commandments.”

2. The degree of love: “above gold, “etc.

3. The reason of this love: “therefore, “etc., because its object must ultimately prevail. G.R.

Ver. 127. God’s will versus the golden idol.

1. God’s commandments are better than gold.

2. The love of them is proportionably nobler.

3. The unmeasurable superiority of character they produce. W.B.H.

Psalm 119:128

Exposition

Ver. 128. Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right. Because the ungodly found fault with the precepts of God, therefore David was all the more sure of their being right. The censure of the wicked is a certificate of merit; that which they sanction we may justly suspect, but that which they abominate we may ardently, admire. The good man’s delight in God’s law is unreserved, he believes in all God’s precepts concerning all things.

And I hate every false way. Love to truth begat hatred of falsehood. This godly man was not indifferent to anything, but that which he did not love he hated. He was no chip in the porridge without flavour; he was a good lover or a good hater, but he was never a waverer. He knew what he felt, and expressed it. He was no Gallio, caring for none of the things. His detestation was as unreserved as his affection; he had not a good word for any practice which would not bear the light of truth. The fact that such large multitudes follow the broad road had no influence upon this holy mail, except to make him more determined to avoid every form of error and sin. May the Holy Spirit so rule in our hearts that our affections may be in the same decided condition towards the precepts of the word.

Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings

Ver. 128. I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right. It is no compromising testimony to the integrity and value of the Lord’s precepts with which the Psalmist concludes, “I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right” every command, however hard; every injunction, however distasteful; every precept, however severe; even cut off thy right hand, pluck out thy right eye; forget thine own people and thy father’s house; take up thy cross daily; sell all that thou hast yea, Lord, even so, “all thy precepts concerning all things are right.” What a blessed truth to arrive at, and find comfort in! Barton Bouchier.

**Ver. 128. I esteem all thy precepts,**etc. We must not only respect all God’s commandments, but also respect them all alike, and give them all the like respect. Obedience must be universal. R. Mayhew, in “The death of Death in the Death of Christ, ” 1679.

Ver. 128. All. The many “alls” in this verse used (not unlike that in Ezekiel 44:30) showeth the integrity and universality of his obedience. “All” is but a little word, but of large extent. John Trapp.

Ver. 128. All thy precepts concerning all things to be right. He had a high estimate of God’s precepts; he thought them just in all things; just, because they prescribe nothing but that which is exactly just; and just, because they bring a just punishment on the transgressors, and a reward to the righteous. William Nicholson.

Ver. 128. The upright man squares all his actions by a right rule: carnal reason cannot bias him, corrupt practice cannot sway him, but God’s sacred word directs him. Hence it is that his respect is universal to all divine precepts, avoiding all evil, performing all good without exception. Thus David’s upright man here esteems God’s precepts concerning all things to be right, and therefore is careful to observe them. Hence it is, that he is the same man at all times, in all places; because at all times, and in all societies, he acts by one and the same rule. It is a good saying of S. Cyprian, “ea non est religio, sed dissimulatio, quce per omnia non constat sibi”, that is not piety, but hypocrisy, that is not in all things like itself, since the upright man measures every action by the straight line of divine prescript. Abraham Wright.

Ver. 128. I hate every false way. The best trial of our love to God and his word is the contrary hatred of sin and impiety: “Ye that love the Lord, hate evil.” He that loves a tree, hates the worm that consumes it; he that loves a garment, hates the moth that eats it; he that loveth life, abhorreth death; and he that loves the Lord hates every thing that offends him. Let men take heed to this, who are in love of their sins: how can the love of God be in them?

Religion binds us not only to hate one way of falsehood, but all the ways of it. As there is nothing good, but in some measure a godly man loves it; so is there nothing evil, but in some measure he hates it. And this is the perfection of the children of God; a perfection not of degrees; for we neither love good, nor hate evil as we should; but a perfection of parts; because we love every good, and we hate every evil in some measure. William Cowper.

Ver. 128. And I hate. The Being who loves the good with infinite intensity must hate evil with the same intensity. So far from any incompatibility between this love and this hatred, they are the counterparts of each other, opposite poles of the same moral emotion. John W. Haley, in “A Examination of the alleged

*Discrepancies of the Bible, “*1875.

Ver. 128. I hate every false way. If Satan get a grip of thee by any one sin, is it not enough to carry thee to damnation? As the butcher carries the beast to the slaughter, sometime bound by all the four feet, and sometime by one only; so it is with Satan. Though thou be not a slave to all sin; if thou be a slave to one, the grip he hath of thee, by that one sinful affection, is sufficient to captive thee. William Cowper.

Hints to Preachers

Ver. 128 (first clause). This view should be taken of all divine precepts in their bearing,

1. Toward Christ.

2. Toward Self.

3. Toward the World.

4. Toward the Church.

5. Toward Heaven. W.J.

Ver. 128. The Bible right.

1. Its science is correct.

2. Its history is true.

3. Its promises are genuine.

4. Its morality is perfect.

5. Its doctrines are divine. W.J.

Ver. 128. Learn four lessons,

1. It is a good thing when wicked men do not praise the truth they cannot love.

2. It is a suspicious circumstance when they are found speaking well of any part of it; it is a Judas’ kiss in order to betray its interests.

3. It must be right to accept and love what the wicked oppose.

4. It is always safe to be on the opposite side to them. J.F.

Psalm 119:129

Exposition

Ver. 129 Thy commands are wonderful. Full of wonderful revelations, commands and promises. Wonderful in their nature, as being free from all error, and bearing within themselves overwhelming self evidence of their truth; wonderful in their effects as instructing, elevating, strengthening, and comforting the soul. Jesus the eternal Word is called Wonderful, and all the uttered words of God are wonderful in their degree. Those who know them best wonder at them most. It is wonderful that God should have borne testimony at all to sinful men, and more wonderful still that his testimony should be of such a character, so clear, so full, so gracious, so mighty.

Therefore doth my soul keep them. Their wonderful character so impressed itself upon his mind that he kept them in his memory: their wonderful excellence so charmed his heart that he kept them in his life. Some men wonder at the words of God, and use them for their speculation; but David was always practical, and the more he wondered the more he obeyed. Note that his religion was soul work; not with head and hand alone did he keep the testimonies; but his soul, his truest and most real self, held fast to them.

Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings

Ver. 129. Thy testimonies are wonderful. The Scriptures are “wonderful, “with respect to the matter which they contain, the manner in which they are written, and the effects which they produce. They contain the most sublime spiritual truths, veiled under external ceremonies and sacraments, figurative descriptions, typical histories, parables, similitudes, etc. When properly opened and enforced, they terrify and humble, they convert and transform, they console and strengthen. Who but must delight to study and to “observe” these “testimonies” of the will and the wisdom, the love and the power of God Most High! While we have these holy writings, let us not waste our time, misemploy our thoughts, and prostitute our admiration, by doting on human follies, and wondering at human trifles. George Horne.

Ver. 129. Thy testimonies are wonderful. God’s testimonies are “wonderful” (1) In their majesty and *composure,*which striketh reverence into the hearts of those that consider; the Scripture speaketh to us at a God like rate. (2) It is “wonderful” for the matter and depth of *mystery,*which cannot be found elsewhere, concerning God, and Christ, the creation of the world, the souls of men, and their immortal and everlasting condition, the fall of man, etc. (3) It is “wonderful” for purity and perfection. The Decalogue in ten words comprise the whole duty of man, and reacheth to the very soul, and all the motions of the heart. (4) It is “wonderful” for the harmony and consent of all the parts. All religion is of a piece, and one part doth not interfere with another, but conspires to promote the great end, of subjection of the creature to God. (5) It is “wonderful” for the power of it. There is a mighty power which goeth along with the word of God, and astonishes the hearts of those that consider it and feel it. 1 Thessalonians 1:5. Thomas Manton.

Ver. 129. Thy testimonies are wonderful. The Bible itself is an astonishing and standing miracle. Written fragment by fragment through the course of fifteen centuries, under different states of society, and in different languages, by persons of the most opposite tempers, talents, and conditions, learned and unlearned, prince and peasant, bond and free; cast into every form of instructive composition and good writing; history, prophecy, poetry, allegory, emblematic representation, judicious interpretation, literal statement, precept, example, proverbs, disquisition, epistle, sermon, prayer in short, all rational shapes of human discourse, and treating, moreover, on subjects not obvious, but most difficult; its authors are not found like other men, contradicting one another upon the most ordinary matters of fact and opinion, but are at harmony upon the whole of their sublime and momentous scheme. *J. Maclagan,*1788-1852.

Ver. 129. Highly prize the Scriptures, or you will not obey them. David said, “therefore doth my soul keep them”; and why was this, but that he counted them to be wonderful? Can he make a proficiency in any art, who doth slight and deprecate it? Prize this book of God above all other books. St. Gregory calls the Bible “the heart and soul of God.” The rabbins say, that there is a mountain of sense hangs upon every apex and tittle of Scripture. “The law of the Lord is perfect” (Psalms 14:7). The Scripture is the library of the Holy Ghost; it is a pandect of divine knowledge, an exact model and platform of religion. The Scripture contains in it the credenda, “the things which we are to believe, “and the agenda, “the things which we are to practise.” It is “able to make us wise unto salvation”: 2 Timothy 3:15. “The Scripture is the standard of truth, “the judge of controversies; it is the pole star to direct us to heaven (Isaiah 8:20). “The commandment is a lamp”: Proverbs 6:23. The Scripture is the compass by which the rudder of our will is to be steered; it is the field in which Christ, the Pearl of price, is hid; it is a rock of diamonds, it is a sacred collyrium, or “we salve; ” it mends their eyes that look upon it; it is a spiritual optic glass in which the glory of God is resplendent; it is the panacea or “universal medicine” for the soul. The leaves of Scripture are like the leaves of the tree of life, “for the healing of the nations”: Revelation 22:2. The Scripture is both the breeder and feeder of grace. How is the convert born, but by “the word of truth”? James 1:18. How doth he grow, but by “the sincere milk of the word”? 1 Peter 2:2. The word written is the book out of which our evidences for heaven are fetched; it is the sea mark which shows us the rocks of sin to avoid; it is the antidote against error and apostasy, the two edged sword which wounds the old serpent. It is our bulwark to withstand the force of lust; like the Capitol of Rome, which was a place of strength and ammunition. The Scripture is the “tower of David, “whereon the shields of our faith hang: So 4:4. “Take away the word, and you deprive us of the sun, “said Luther. The word written is above an angelic embassy, or voice from heaven. “This voice which came from heaven we heard. We have also, “bebaioteron lolon, “a more sure word”: 2 Peter 1:18-19 O, prize the word written; prizing is the way to profiting. If Caesar so valued his Commentaries, that for preserving them he lost his purple robe, how should we estimate the sacred oracles of God? “I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food”: Job 23:12. King Edward the Sixth, on the day of his coronation, had presented before him three swords, signifying that he was monarch of three kingdoms. The king said, there was one sword wanting; being asked what that was, he answered, “The Holy Bible, which is the sword of the Spirit, and is to be preferred before these ensigns of royalty.” Robert King of Sicily did so prize God’s word, that, speaking to his friend Petrarcha, he said, “I protest, the Scriptures are dearer to me than my kingdom; and if I must be deprived of one of them, I had rather lose my diadem than the Scriptures.” *Thomas Watson,*in “The Morning Exercises.”

Ver. 129. The word contains matter to exercise the greatest minds. Many men cannot endure to spend their thoughts and time about trivial matters; whereas others think it happiness enough if they can, by the meanest employments, procure subsistence. Oh, let all those of high aspirations exercise themselves in the law of God; here are objects fit for great minds, yea, objects that will elevate the greatest: and indeed none in the world are truly great but the saints, for they exercise themselves in the great counsels of God. We account those men the greatest that are employed in state affairs: now the saints are lifted up above all things in the world, and regard them all as little and mean, and are exercised in the great affairs of the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Hence the Lord would have the kings and the judges to have the book of the law written, Deuteronomy 17:18-19; and it is reported of Alphonsus, king of Arragon, that in the midst of all his great and manifold occupations, he read over the Scriptures fourteen times with commentaries. How many have we, men of great estates, and claiming to be of great minds, that scarce regard the law of God: they look upon his law as beneath them. Books of history and war they will peruse with diligence; but for the Scripture, it is a thing that has little in it. It is a special means to obedience to have high thoughts of God’s law. That is the reason why the prophet speaks thus, “I have written to him the great things of my law, but they were counted as a strange thing”: Hosea 8:12. As if he should say, if they had had the things of my law in their thoughts, they would never so have acted. Psalms 114:129, “Thy testimonies are wonderful, therefore doth my soul keep them.” He saith not, therefore do I keep them; but, therefore doth my soul keep them; my very soul is in this, in keeping thy testimonies, for I look upon them as wonderful things. It is a good sign that the spirit of the great God is in a man, when it raises him above other things, to look upon the things of his word as the only great things in the world. “All flesh is grass, and all the godliness thereof is as the flower of the field: the grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever:” Isaiah 40:6, Isaiah 40:8. There is a vanity in all things of the world; but in that which the word reveals, in that there is an eternity: we should therefore admire at nothing so as at the word, and we should greatly delight in God’s commandments; an ordinary degree of admiration or delight is not sufficient, but great admiration and great delight there should be in the law of God. And all arguments drawn from God’s law should powerfully prevail with you. Jeremiah Burroughs.

Ver. 129. Thy testimonies are wonderful. Wonders will never cease. Air, earth, water, the world above, the world beneath, time, eternity, worms, birds, fishes, beasts men, angels are all full of wonders. The more all things are studied, the more do wonders appear. It is idle, therefore, to find fault with the mysteries of Scripture, or to deny them. Inspiration glories in them. He who rejects the mysteries of love, grace, truth, power, justice and thankfulness of God’s word, rejects salvation. It has marvels in itself, and marvels in its operation. They are good cause of love, not of offence; of keeping, not of breaking God’s precepts. William S. Plumer.

**Ver. 129. My soul,**not merely I, but I with all my heart and soul. Joseph Addison Alexander.

Ver. 129. I have completed reading the whole Bible through since January last. I began it on the first day of the present year, and finished it on the 26th of October. I have read it in that space four times, and not without real profit to myself. I always find in it something new; it being, like its Author, infinite and inexhaustible. *Samuel Eyles Pierce,*1814.

Ver. 129. What do I not owe to the Lord for permitting me to take a part in the translation of his word? Never did I see such wonders, and wisdom, and love, in the blessed book, as since I have been obliged to study every expression; and it is a delightful reflection, that death cannot deprive us of the pleasure of studying its mysteries. Henry Martyn.

Hints to Preachers

Outlines Upon Keywords of the Psalm, by Pastor C. A. Davis.

Ver. 129-136. The wonderfulness of God’s testimonies. (Psalms 119:129), instanced as light giving (Psalms 119:130), pantingly longed (Psalms 119:131). An appeal for divine ordering in the word (Psalms 119:132-135) at its rejection by others (Psalms 119:136).

Hints to Preachers

Ver. 129-136. In this division the Psalmist

1. Praises God’s word.

2. Shows his affection to it.

3. Prays for grace to keep it.

4. Mourns for those who do not. Adam Clarke.

Ver. 129. The wonderful character of the word a reason for obedience. So wonderfully pure, just, balanced, elevating. So much for our own benefit, for the good of society, and for the divine glory.

Ver. 129.

1. What is wonderful in God’s word should be believed.

2. What is believed should be obeyed. G.R.

Ver. 129. Thy testimonies are wonderful.

1. The facts which they record are wonderful so wonderful, that, if the book recording them were now published for the first time, there would be no bounds to the avidity and curiosity with which it would be sought and perused.

2. The morality which they inculcate is wonderful.

3. If you turn from the morality to the doctrines of the Bible, your admiration will rather increase than diminish at the contents of the singular book.

4. These testimonies are wonderful for the style in which they are written.

5. They are wonderful for their preservation in the world.

6. They are wonderful for the effects which they have produced. Hugh Hughes, 1838.

Ver. 129. Thy testimonies are wonderful. The ceremonial law is wonderful, because the mystery of our redemption by the blood of Christ is pointed out in it.

2. The prophecies are wonderful, as predicting things, humanly speaking, so uncertain, and at such great distance of time, with so much accuracy.

3. The decalogue is wonderful, as containing in a very few words all the principles of justice and charity.

4. Were we to go to the New Testament, here wonders rise on wonders! All is astonishing; but the Psalmist could not have had this in view. Adam Clarke.

Ver. 129 (first clause).

1. Let us look at five of the wonders of the Bible.

(a) Its authority. It prefaces every statement with a “Thus

saith the Lord.”

(b) Its light.

(c) Its power it has a convincing, awakening, drawing,

life giving power.

(d) Its depth.

(e) Its universal adaptation.

2. Indicate three practical uses.

(a) Study the Bible daily.

(b) Pray for the Spirit to grave it on your heart with a

pen of iron.

(c) Practise it daily. D. Macgregor.

Ver. 129. To whom and in what respects are God’s testimonies wonderful?

1. To whom? To those, and those only, who through grace do know, believe, and experience the truth and power of them for themselves.

2. In what respects wonderful, i.e., astonishingly pleasing, delightful, and profitable (see Psalms 119:174).

(a) In respect of the Author and origin of them, whose they

are and from whence they come.

(b) In respect of the subject matter of them, which they

contain and reveal.

(c) In respect of the manner of language in which they are

revealed and declared.

(d) In respect of the multitude and variety of them suited

to every case.

(e) In respect of the usefulness of them, and the great

benefit and advantage he received from them.

(f) In the respect of the pleasure and delight he finds in

them (see Psalms 119:111).

(g) In respect of the final design, intent, and end of

them: viz., eternal life, salvation, and glory. Samuel Medley, 1738-1799.

Psalm 119:130

Exposition

Ver. 130. The entrance of thy words giveth light. No sooner do they gain admission into the soul than they enlighten it: what light may be expected from their prolonged indwelling! Their very entrance floods the mind with instruction for they are so full, so clear; but, on the other hand, there must be such an “entrance, “or there will be no illumination. The mere hearing of the word with the external car is of small value by itself, but when the words of God enter into the chambers of the heart then light is scattered on all sides. The word finds no entrance into some minds because they are blocked up with self conceit, or prejudice, or indifference; but where due attention is given, divine illumination must surely follow upon a knowledge of the mind of God. Oh, that thy words, like the beams of the sun, may enter through the window of my understanding, and dispel the darkness of my mind!

It giveth understanding unto the simple. The sincere and candid are the true disciples of the word. To such it gives not only knowledge, but understanding. These simple hearted ones are frequently despised, and their simplicity has another meaning infused into it, so as to be made the theme of ridicule; but what matters it? Those whom the world dubs as fools are among the truly wise if they are taught of God. What a divine power rests in the word of God, since it not only bestows light, but gives that very mental eye by which the light is received “It giveth understanding.” Hence the value of the words of God to the simple, who cannot receive mysterious truth unless their minds are aided to see it and prepared to grasp it.

Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings

Ver. 130. The opening of thy words enlightens, making the simple understand. The common version of the first word (entrance) is inaccurate, and the one here given, though exact, is ambiguous. The clause does not refer to the mechanical opening of the book by the reader, but to the spiritual opening of its true sense by divine illumination, to the mind which naturally cannot discern it. Joseph Addison Alexander.

**Ver. 130. Entrance,**lit. opening, i.e. unfolding or unveiling. J.J Stewart Perowne.

Ver. 130. The entrance of thy words giveth light. The first entrance, or vestibule: for the Psalmist wishes to point out that only the beginnings are apprehended in this life; and that these beginnings are to be preferred to all human wisdom. Henricus Mollerus.

**Ver. 130. The entrance of thy words giveth light,**etc. The beginning of them; the first three chapters in Genesis, what light do they give into the origin of all things; the creation of man, his state of innocence; his fall through the temptations of Satan, and his recovery and salvation by Christ, the seed of the woman! The first principles of the oracles of God, the rudiments of religion, the elements of the world, the rites of the ceremonial law gave great light unto Gospel mysteries. John Gill.

Ver. 130. The entrance of thy words giveth light. A profane shop man crams into his pocket a leaf of a Bible, and reads the last words of Daniel: “Go thou thy way, till the end be, for thou shalt rest and stand in thy lot at the end of the days, “and begins to think what Iris own lot will be when days are ended. A Gottingen Professor opens a big printed Bible to see if he has eyesight enough to read it, and alights on the passage, “I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not, “and in reading in the eyes of his understanding are enlightened. Cromwell’s soldier opens his Bible to see how far the musket ball has pierced, and finds it stopped at the verse: “Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth, and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth; and walk in the ways of thine heart and the sight of thine eyes; but know thou that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.” And in a frolic the Kentish soldier opens the Bible which his broken hearted mother had sent him, and the first sentence that turns up is the text so familiar in boyish days: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, “and the weary profligate repairs for rest to Jesus Christ. *James Hamilton,*1814-1867.

Ver. 130. He amplifies this praise of the word of God when he saith that the entrance thereof, the first operant of the door of the word, gives light: for if the first entrance to it give light, what will the progress and continuance thereof do? This accuseth the age wherein we live, who now of a long time hath been taught by the word of God so clearly, that in regard of time they might have been teachers of others, yet are they but children in knowledge and understanding. But to whom doth the word give understanding? David saith to the “simple”: not to such as are high minded, or double in heart, or wise in their own eyes, who will examine the mysteries of godliness by the quickness of natural reason. No: to such as deny themselves, as captive their natural understanding, and like humble disciples submit themselves, not to ask, but to hear; not to reason, but to believe. And if for this cause, naturalists who want this humility cannot profit by the word; what marvel that Papists far less become wise by it, who have their hearts so full of prejudices concerning it, that they spare not to utter blasphemies against it, calling it not unprofitable, but pernicious to the simple and to the idiots.

And again, where they charge it with difficulty, that simple men and idiots should not be suffered to read it, because it is obscure; all these frivolous allegations of men are annulled by this one testimony of God, that it gives light to the simple. William Cowper.

Ver. 130. Light. This “light” hath excellent properties. 1. It is lux manifestans, it manifests itself and all things else. How do I see the sun, but by the sun, by its own light? How do I know the Scripture to be the word of God, but by the light that shineth in it, commending itself to my conscience! So it manifests all things else; it layeth open all frauds and impostures of Satan, the vanity of worldly things, the deceits of the heart, the odiousness of sin. 2. It is lux dirigens, a directing light, that we may see our way and work. As the sun lighteth man to his labour, so doth this direct us in all our conditions: Psalms 119:105. It directs us how to manage ourselves in all conditions. 3. It is lux vivificans, a quickening light. “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life”: John 8:12. “Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light”: Ephesians 5:14. That light was the life of men: so is this spiritual life; it not only discovereth the object, but helpeth the faculty, filleth the soul with life and strength. 4. It is lux exhilarans, a comforting, refreshing, cheering light; and that in two respects. (1) Because it presents us with excellent grounds of comfort. (2) Because it is a soul satisfying light. Condensed from Manton.

Ver. 130. It giveth understanding. If all the books in the world were assembled together, the Bible would as much take the lead in disciplining the understanding as in directing the soul. It will not make astronomers, chemists, or linguists; but there is a great difference between strengthening the mind and storing it with information. Henry Melvill.

Ver. 130. It giveth understanding to the simple. There are none so knowing that God cannot blind; none so blind and ignorant whose mind and heart his Spirit cannot open. He who, by his incubation upon the waters at the creation, hatched that rude mass into the beautiful form we now see, and out of that dark chaos made the glorious heavens, and garnished them with so many orient stars, can move upon thy dark soul and enlighten it, though it be as void of knowledge as the evening of the world’s first day was of light. The schoolmaster sometimes sends home the child, and bids his father to put him to another trade, because not able, with all his art, to make a scholar of him; but if the Spirit of God be master, thou shalt learn, though a dunce: “The entrance of thy word giveth light, it giveth understanding to the simple.”: No sooner is the soul entered into the Spirit’s school, than he becomes a proficient. William Gurrnall.

Ver. 130. To the simple. He does not say, “giveth understanding” to the wise and prudent, to learned men, and to those skilled in letters; but to the “simple.” Wolfgang Musculus.

Ver. 130. To the simple. This is one great characteristic of the word of God, however incomprehensible to the carnal mind, it is adapted to every grade of enlightened intelligence. W. Wilson.

Ver. 130. The simple. The word is used sometimes in a good sense, and sometimes in a bad sense. It is used in a good sense, First, for the sincere and plain hearted: “The Lord preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me”: Psalms 116:6. “For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly toward you”: 2 Corinthians 1:12. Secondly, for those that do not oppose the presumption of carnal wisdom to the pure light of the word: so we must all be simple, or fools, that we may be wise: “If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise” (1 Corinthians 3:18); that is, in simplicity of heart submitting to God’s conduct, and believing what he hath revealed. Thomas Manton