Hints to Preachers

Ver. 130.

1. The essential light of the word.

2. The dawn of it in the soul.

3. The great benefit of its advancing day.

Ver. 130.

1. The source of divine light to man: “Thy words.”

2. Its force. It forces an entrance into the heart.

3. Its direction: “unto the simple.”

4. Its effect: “it giveth understanding.” G.R.

Ver. 130. A Bible Society Sermon.

1. Evidence from history and from personal experience that God’s word has imparted the light of civilization, liberty, holiness.

2. Argument drawn from hence for the further spread of the word of God. G.A.D.

Ver. 130. The Self evidencing Virtue of God’s Word.

1. Prove it. “Entrance of thy word giveth light.” If this be true, God’s word is light for only light can give light. But light is self evidencing; it needs nothing to show its presence and its value but itself; so the word of God, show its own truth and divinity to the believer.

(a) His conscience it; in its convictions of sin; in its

peace through the stoning blood.

(b) heart proves it; in its outgoings of love to the God,

the Christ, and righteousness revealed.

(c) His experience in affliction and temptation it; in the

solace and in the strength given by the word.

2. Answer an objection. “If God’s word were self evidencing as light is, then everyone would acknowledge it to be truth.” Answer, No; for the law holds good universal experience, that the “entrance” only of light gives light. Light cannot enter a blind man.

(a) The Scriptures teach that men by nature blind.

(b) If all men did perceive, by merely reading and hearing

word, that it was light and truth, paradoxical as it may

seem, the would not be truth.

(c) Hence the want of universal acknowledgment is an

objection, but a confirmation.

3. Show its importance.

(a) It the believer independent of church authority for his

faith.

(b) He need trouble to examine books of evidence; his faith

is valid enough them.

(c) He who receives the word into his soul shall be

satisfied of truth and value. J.F.

Psalm 119:131

Exposition

Ver. 131. I opened my mouth, and panted. So animated was his desire that he looked into the animal world to find a picture of it. He was filled with an intense longing, and was not ashamed to describe it by a most expressive, natural, and yet singular symbol. Like a stag that has been hunted in the chase, and is hard pressed, and therefore pants for breath, so did the Psalmist pant for the entrance of God’s word into his soul. Nothing else could content him. All that the world could yield him left him still panting with open mouth.

For I longed for thy commandments. Longed to know them, longed to obey them, longed to be conformed to their spirit, longed to teach them to others. He was a servant of God, and his industrious mind longed to receive orders; he was a learner in the school of grace, and his eager spirit longed to be taught of the Lord.

Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings

Ver. 131. I opened my mouth, and panted. By this manner of speech, David expresses, as Basil thinks, animi propensionem, that the inclination of his soul was after God’s word. For, this opened mouth, Ambrose thinks, is os interioris hominis, the mouth of the inward man, which in effect is his heart; and the, speech notes vehementem animi intensionem, a vehement intension of his spirit, saith Euthymius. Yet shall it not be amiss to consider here how the mind of the godly earnestly affected moves the body also. The speech may be drawn from travellers, who being very desirous to attain to their proposed ends, enforce their strength thereunto; and finding a weakness in their body to answer their will, they pant and open their mouth, seeking refreshment from the air to renew their strength: or as Vatablus thinks, from men exceeding hungry and thirsty, who open their mouth as if they would draw in the whole air, and then pant and sigh within themselves when they find no full refreshment by it. So he expresses it: “My heart burns with so ardent a longing for thy commandments, that I am forced ever and anon to gasp by reason of my painful breathing.”

However it be, it lets us see how the hearing, reading, or meditating of God’s word wakened in David a most earnest affection to have the light, joy, grace, and comfort thereof communicated to his own heart. For in the godly, knowledge of good increaseth desires; and it cannot be expressed how vehemently their souls long to feel that power and comfort which they know is in the word; and how sore they are grieved and troubled when they find it not.

And happy were we, if we could meet the Lord with this like affection; that when he opens his mouth, we could also open our heart to hear, as David here doth. Christus aperit os, ut daret allis spiritum; David aperuil ut acciperet;offering his heart to receive the spirit of grace, when God openeth his mouth in his word to give it. For it is his promise to us all “Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.” Let us turn it into a prayer, that the Lord, who opened the heart of Lydia, would open our heart to receive grace when he offers by his word to give it. William Cowper.

**Ver. 131. I opened my mouth, and panted,**etc, There are two ways in which these words may be understood. They may be considered as expressing the very earnest longing of the Psalmist for greater acquaintance with God in spiritual things; and then in saying, “I opened my mouth, and panted, “he merely asserts the vehemence of his desire. Or you may separate the clauses: you may regard the first as the utterance of a man utterly dissatisfied with the earth and earthly things, and the second as the expression of a consciousness that God, and God only, could meet the longings of his soul. “I opened my mouth, and panted. “Out of breath, with chasing shadows, and hunting after baubles, I sit down exhausted, as far off as ever from the happiness which has been earnestly but fruitlessly sought. Whither, then, shall I turn? Thy commandments, O Lord, and these alone, can satisfy the desires of an immortal being like myself; and on these, therefore, henceforward shall my longings be turned. Henry Melvill.

Ver. 131. I opened my mouth, and panted. A metaphor taken from men scorched and sweltered with heat, or from those that have run themselves out of breath in following the thing which they would overtake. The former metaphor expressed the vehemency of his love; the other the earnestness of his pursuit: he was like a man gasping for breath, and sucking in the cool air. Thomas Manton.

Ver. 131. I longed for thy commandments. This is a desire which God will satisfy. “Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it”: Psalms 81:10. Thomas Manton.

Hints to Preachers

Ver. 131. Panting for holiness. A rare hunger; the evidence of much grace, and the pledge of glory.

Psalm 119:132

Exposition

Ver. 132. Look thou upon me. A godly man cannot long be without prayer. During the previous verses he had been expressing his love to God’s word, but here he is upon his knees again. This prayer is specially short, but exceedingly sententious, “Look thou upon me.” While he stood with open mouth panting for the commandments, he besought the Lord to look upon him, and let his condition and his unexpressed longings plead for him. He desires to be known of God, and daily observed by him. He wishes also to be favoured with the divine smile which is included in the word “look.” If a look from us to God has saving efficacy in it, what may we not expect from a look from God to us.

And be merciful unto me. Christ’s look at Peter was a look of mercy, and all the looks of the heavenly Father are of the same kind. If he looked in stern justice his eyes would not endure us, but looking in mercy he spares and blesses us. If God looks and sees us panting, he will not fail to be merciful to us.

As thou usest to do unto those that love thy name. Look on me as thou lookest on those who love thee; be merciful to me as thou art accustomed to be towards those who truly serve thee. There is a use and wont which God observes towards them that love him, and David craved that he might experience it. He would not have the Lord deal either better or worse with him than he was accustomed to deal with his saints worse would not save him, better could not be. In effect he prays, “I am thy servant; treat me as you treat thy servants. I am thy child; deal with me as with a son.” Especially is it clear from the context that he desired such an entering in of the word, and such a clear understanding of it as God usually gives to his own, according to the promise, “All thy children shall be taught of the Lord.”

Reader, do you love the name of the Lord? Is his character most honourable in your sight? Most dear to your heart? This is a sure mark of grace, for no soul ever loved the Lord except as the result of love received from the Lord himself.

Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings

**Ver. 132. Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me,**etc. “Look upon me” stripped by thieves of my virtues, and then wounded with sins, and “be merciful unto me, “showing compassion on me, taking care of me in the inn of the Church universal, that I fall not again among thieves, nor be harmed by the wolves which howl about this fold, but dare not enter in. “Look upon me, “no longer worthy to be called thy son, and “be merciful unto me, “not as the jealous elder brother would treat me, but let me join the glad song and banquet of them that love thy name. Look upon me the publican, standing afar off in thy temple the Church, and be merciful unto me, not after the Pharisee’s judgment, but “as thou usest to do unto them that love thy name, ” which is the gracious God. Look on me as on weeping Peter, and be merciful unto me as thou wast to him, who so loved thy name as by his triple confession of love to wash out his threefold denial, saying, “Lord, thou knowest that I love thee.” “Look upon me, “as on the sinful woman, penitent and weeping, and be merciful unto me, not according to the judgment of the Pharisee who murmured at her, as Judas who was indignant at her, but forgiving me as thou didst her, “because she loved much, “telling me also, “Thy faith hath saved thee, go in peace.” Neale and Littledale.

Ver. 132. Look thou upon me. Lord! since our looks to thee are often so slight, so cold, so distant, that no impression is made upon our hearts, do thou condescend continually to look upon us with mercy and with power. Vouchsafe us such a look, as may bring us to ourselves and touch us with tenderness and contrition in the remembrance of that sin, unbelief, and disobedience, which pierced the hands, the feet, the heart of our dearest Lord and Saviour. Comp. Luke 22:61. Charles Bridges.

**Ver. 132. As thou usest to do,**etc. David would not lose any privilege that God hath by promise settled on his children. Do with me, saith he, “as thou usest to do.” This is no more than family fare, what you promise to do for all that love thee; and let me not go worse clad than the rest of my brethren. William Gurnall.

**Ver. 132. As thou usest to do unto those,**etc. We should be content if God deals with us as he has always dealt with his people. While he could not be satisfied with anything less than their portion, David asks for nothing better; he implores no singular dispensation in his favour, no deviation from the accustomed methods of his grace…It is always a good proof that your convictions and desires are from the operation of the Spirit when you are willing to conform to God’s order. What is this order? It is to dispense his blessings connectedly. It is never to justify without sanctifying; never to give a title to heaven without a meetness for it. Now the man that is divinely wrought upon will not expect nor desire the one without the other. Therefore he will not expect the blessing of God without obedience; because it is always God’s way to connect the comforts of the Holy Ghost with the fear of the Lord; and if his children transgress his laws, to visit their transgressions with a rod. Therefore he will neither expect nor desire his blessing without exertion; for it has always been God’s way to crown only those that run the race that is set before them, and fight the good fight of faith. Therefore he will not expect nor desire the Divine blessing without prayer; for it has always been God’s way to make his people sensible of their wants, and to give an answer to prayer. Therefore he will not expect nor desire to reach heaven without difficulties; for his people have always had to deny themselves, and take up their cross. If they have not been chosen in the furnace of affliction, they have been purified. God had one Son without sin, but he never had one without sorrow: “he scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.” “Yes, ” says the suppliant before us, “secure me their everlasting portion, and I am willing to drink of the cup they drank of, and to be baptized with the baptism they were baptized with. I want no new, no by path to glory. I am content to keep the King’s high road. Be merciful unto me, as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name. I ask no more.” *William Jay,*1769-1853.

Hints to Preachers

Ver. 132.

1. Look.

2. Love.

3. Use and wont.

Ver. 132. Fellowship with the righteous.

1. There are some who love God’s name.

2. His mercy is the source of all the goodness they experience.

3. The Lord has been always accustomed to deal mercifully with them.

4. His mercy towards them should encourage us to implore mercy for ourselves.

5. We should be anxious to secure the mercy that is peculiar to them.

6. We should be content if God deals with us as he has always dealt with his people. W. Jay.

Ver. 132. Divine use and wont.

1. God is accustomed to look upon and be merciful toward his people.

2. We are stirred up to specially desire such merciful dealings in time of affliction.

3. Love to God qualifies us for these loving looks and merciful dealings. C.A.D.

Ver. 132. Notice,

1. The mark of true believers: “Those that love thy name.”

2. God’s custom of dealing with them: “Be merciful as thou usest to do.”

3. Their individual and earnest solicitude: “Look thou upon me.” J.F.

Psalm 119:133

Exposition

Ver. 133. Order my steps in thy word. This is one of the Lord’s customary mercies to his chosen, “He keepeth the feet of his saints.” By his grace he enables us to put our feet step by step in the very place which his word ordains. This prayer seeks a very choice favour, namely, that every distinct act, every step, might be arranged and governed by the will of God. This does not stop short of perfect holiness, neither will the believer’s desires be satisfied with anything beneath that blessed consummation.

And let not any iniquity have dominion over me. This is the negative side of the blessing. We ask to do all that is right, and to fall under the power of nothing that is wrong. God is our sovereign, and we would have every thought in subjection to his sway. Believers have no choice, darling sins to which they would be willing to bow. They pant for perfect liberty from the power of evil, and being conscious that they cannot obtain it of themselves, they cry unto God for it.

Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings

Ver. 133. Order my steps in thy word. As before he sought mercy, so now he seekers grace. There are many that seek mercy to forgive sin, who seek not grace to deliver them from the power of sin: this is to abuse God’s mercy, and turn his grace into wantonness. He that prayeth for mercy to forgive the guilt of sin only, seeks not that by sin he should not offend God; but that he may sin and not hurt himself: but he who craves deliverance also from the commanding power and deceit of sin, seeks not only a benefit to himself, but grace also to please and serve the Lord his God. The first is but a lover of himself; the second is a lover of God, more than of himself. And truly he never knew what it was to seek mercy for sin past, who with it also earnestly sought not grace to keep him from sin in time to come. These benefits cannot be divided: he who hath not the second whosoever he flatter himself may be assured that he hath not gotten the first. William Cowper.

Ver. 133. Order my steps in thy word. It is written of Boleslaus, one of the kings of Poland, that he still carries about him the picture of his father, and when he was to do any great work or set upon any design extraordinary, he would look on the picture and pray that he might do nothing unworthy of such a father’s name. Thus it is that the Scriptures are the picture of God’s will, therein drawn out to the very life. Before a man enter upon or engage himself in any business whatsoever, let him look there, and read there what is to be done; what to be undone; and what God commands, let that be done; what he forbids, let that be undone; let the balance of the sanctuary weigh all, the oracles of God decide all, the rule of God’s word be the square of all, and his glory the ultimate of all intendments whatsoever. From Spencer’s “Things New and Old.”

Ver. 133. Order my steps. Nbh hachen, make them firm;let me not walk with a halting or unsteady step. Adam Clarke.

**Ver. 133. Order my steps,**etc. The people of God would not only have their path right, but their steps ordered; as not their general course wrong (as those who walk in the way of everlasting perdition), so not a step awry; they would not miss the way to heaven, either in whole or in part. Thomas Manton.

Ver. 133. My steps. Speaking of the steps of the Temple, Bunyan says, “These steps, whether cedar, gold, or stone, yet that which added to their adornment, was the wonderment of a Queen. And whatever they were made of, to be sure, they were a shadow of those steps, which we should take to, and in the house of God. Steps of God, Psalms 75:13. Steps ordered by him, Psalms 37:23 Steps ordered in his word, Psalms 64:133. Steps of faith, Romans 4:12. Steps of the spirit, 2 Corinthians 7:18. Steps of truth, 3 John 1:4. Steps washed with butter, Job 29:6. Steps taken before, or in the presence of God. Steps butted and bounded by a divine rule. These are steps indeed.” John Bunyan, in “Solomon’s Temple Spiritualized.”

**Ver. 133. Let not any iniquity,**etc. True obedience to God is inconsistent with the dominion of any one lust, or corrupt affection. I say, though a man out of some slender and insufficient touch of religion upon his heart, may go right for a while, and do many things gladly; yet that corruption which is indulged, and under the power of which a man lieth, will at length draw him off from God; and therefore no one sin shall have dominion over us. When doth sin reign, or have dominion over us? When we do not endeavour to mortify it, and to cut off the provisions that may feed that lust. Chrysostom’s observation is, the apostle does not say, let it not tyrannize over you, but, let it not reign over you; that is, when you suffer it to have a quiet reign in your hearts. Thomas Manton.

Ver. 133. Let not any iniquity have dominion over me. I had rather be a prisoner to man all my life than be a bondage to sin one day. He says not, Let not this and the other man rule over me; but “let not sin have dominion over mo.” Well said! There is hope in such a man’s condition as long as it is so. *Michael Bruce,*1666.

Hints to Preachers

Ver. 133.

1. A holy life is no work of chance, it is a masterpiece of order the order of conformity to the prescribed rule; there is arithmetical and geometrical order; the proportional order; the order of relation; an order of period: holiness, as to its order, is seasonable, suitable.

2. The rule of this order: “in thy word.”

3. The director chosen. See “Spurgeon’s Sermons, “No. 878: “A Well ordered Life.”

Ver. 133.

1. Order in outward life desired.

2. Order according to the divine idea.

3. Order in the government within.

Ver. 133.

1. Help needed.

(a) To avoid sin.

(b) To be holy.

2. Help sought.

(a) From below: “thy word.”

(b) From above: “order, “etc., and “let not, “etc. G.R.

Ver. 133. Sin’s sway in the soul.

1. Fervently deprecated.

(a) Realization of the horrors of its rule.

(b) Recognition of the better power.

(c) Thorough exclusion sought.

2. Wisely combated.

(a) Practicalness as well as prayerfulness.

(b) Regard had to little “steps.”

3. Steps to be governed by divine rule.

4. System not trusted apart from God. W.B.H.

Ver. 133. Notice,

1. The right path for human feet: “In thy word.”

2. The needed help to control the steps: “Order my steps.”

3. The perverting power of a dominant sin: “Let not any, “etc. J.F.

Psalm 119:134

Exposition

Ver. 134. Deliver me from the oppression of man. David had tasted all the bitterness of this great evil. It had made him an exile from his country, and banished him from the sanctuary of the Lord: therefore he pleads to be saved from it. It is said that oppression makes a wise man mad, and no doubt it has made many a righteous man sinful. Oppression is in itself wicked, and it drives men to wickedness. We little know how much of our virtue is due to our liberty; if we had been in bonds under haughty tyrants we might have yielded to them, and instead of being confessors we might now have been apostates. He who taught us to pray, “Lead us not into temptation, “will sanction this prayer, which is of much the same tenor, since to be oppressed is to be tempted.

So will I keep thy statutes. When the stress of oppression was taken off he would go his own way, and that way would be the way of the Lord. Although we ought not to yield to the threatenings of men, yet many do so; the wife is sometimes compelled by the oppression of her husband to act against her conscience: children and servants, and even whole nations have been brought into the same difficulty. Their sins will be largely laid at the oppressor’s door, and it usually pleases God ere long to overthrow these powers and dominions which compel men to do evil. The worst of it is that some persons, when the pressure is taken off from them, follow after unrighteousness of their own accord. These give evidence of being sinners in grain. As for the righteous, it happens to them as it did to the apostles of old, “Being let go, they went to their own company. “When saints are freed from the tyrant they joyfully pay homage to their king.

Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings

Ver. 134. Deliver me from the oppression of man. 1. “Man” by way of distinction. There is the oppression and tyranny of the Devil and sin; but the Psalmist doth not mean that now: Heminum non daemonum, saith Hugo. 2. “Man” by way of aggravation. Homo homini lupus:no creatures so ravenous and destructive to one another as man. It is a shame that one man should oppress another. Beasts do not usually devour those of the same kind; but, usually, a man’s enemies are those of his own household: Matthew 10:36. The nearer we are in bonds of alliance, the greater the hatred. 3. “Man” by way of diminution. And to lessen the fear of this evil, this term Adam is given them, to show their weakness in comparison of God. Thou art God; but they that are so ready and forward to oppress and injure us are but men; thou canst easily overrule their power and break the yoke. I think this consideration chiefest, because of other places. “Who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass; and forgettest the Lord thy maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and hast feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? and where is the fury of the oppressor?” Isaiah 41:12-13. Thomas Manton.

Ver. 134. From the oppression of man. Some render it, “from the oppression of Adam; “as Jarchi observes; and Arama interprets it of the sin of Adam, and as a prayer to be delivered or redeemed from it; as the Lord’s people are by the blood of Christ. John Gill.

Hints to Preachers

Ver. 134. What sins may be produced by oppression. What obedience ought to come from those who are set free.

Ver. 134.

1. The course to he pursued: “thy precepts.”

2. The opposition to that course: “the oppression of men.”

(a) Human opinions.

(b) Human examples.

3. Human sympathies.

4. Interests.

5. Persecutions.

6. The resistance to that opposition: “Deliver me, so will I, “etc. G.R.

Ver. 134. Hindrances removed.

1. The impeding influence of persecution.

2. The prayer of the persecuted one.

3. The conduct of the delivered one (Luke 1:74, Luke 1:75). G.A.D.

Ver. 134.

1. How some men oppress their fellows. By the laws they make as statesmen. By the books they write as authors. By the tyranny they exercise as masters. By the lives they live as professors. By the sermons they deliver as ministers!

2. How the prayer of the oppressed may be answered. By the gift of wise and good statesmen. By increase of sound literature. By the conversion or removal of hard masters. By a baptism of the Spirit on the church. W.W.

Psalm 119:135

Exposition

Ver. 135. Make thy face to shine upon thy servant. Oppressors frown, but do thou smile. They darken my life, but do thou shine upon me, and all will be bright. The Psalmist again declares that he is God’s servant, and he seeks for no favour from others, but only from his own Lord and Master.

And teach me thy statutes. This is the favour which he considers to be the shining of the face of God upon him. If the Lord will be exceeding gracious, and make him his favourite, he will ask no higher blessing than still to be taught the royal statutes. See how he craves after holiness; this is the choicest of all gems in his esteem. As we say among men that a good education is a great fortune, so to be taught of the Lord is a gift of special grace. The most favoured believer needs teaching; even when he walks in the light of God’s countenance he has still to be taught the divine statutes or he will transgress.

Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings

Ver. 135. Make thy face to shine upon thy servant. The face of God shines upon us, when, in his providence, we are guided and upheld; also when we are made to share in the good things of his providence, and when we are placed in a position wherein we can do much good. Much more does the face of God shine upon us, when we are favoured with tokens of his gracious favour; for then we grow under the consciousness of a loving God, with rich supplies of his grace and Spirit. John Stephen.

Ver. 135. Make thy face to shine upon thy servant. Oftentimes the wrongful dealings of men, of others, and of ourselves, like a cloud of smoke arising from the earth and obscuring the face of the sun, hide from us for a while the light, of the countenance of God: but he soon clears it all away, and looks down upon us in loving mercy as before, lighting for us the path of obedience, and brightening our way unto himself. “Plain Commentary, “1859.

Ver. 135. Make thy face to shine upon thy servant. The believer’s incessant cry is, Let me see “the King’s face.” This is a blessing worth praying for. It is his heart’s desire, his present privilege, and what is infinitely better, his sure, everlasting prospect “They shall see his face.” Revelation 22:4. Charles Bridges.

Ver. 135. Make thy face to shine… and teach me. Blessed is the man whom eternal Truth teacheth, not by obscure figures and transient sounds, but by direct and full communication. The perceptions of our senses are narrow and dull, and our reason on those perceptions frequently misleads us. He whom the eternal Word condescends to teach is disengaged at once from the labyrinth of human opinions. For “of one word are all things”; and all things without voice or language speak of him alone: he is that divine principle which speaketh in our hearts, and without which there can be neither just apprehension nor rectitude of judgment.

O God, who art the truth, make me one with thee in everlasting life! I am often weary of reading, and weary of hearing; in thee alone is the sum of my desire! Let all teachers be silent, let the whole creation be dumb before thee, and do thou only speak unto my soul!

Thy ministers can pronounce the words, but cannot impart the spirit; they may entertain the fancy with the charms of eloquence, but if thou art silent they do not inflame the heart. They administer the letter, but thou openest the sense; they utter the mystery, but you reveal its meaning; they point out the way of life, but you bestow strength to walk in it; they water, but thou givest the increase. Therefore do thou, O Lord, my God, Eternal Truth! speak to my soul! lest, being outwardly warmed, but not inwardly quickened, I die, and be found unfruitful. “Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth.” “Thou only hast the words of eternal life.” *Thomas a Kempis,*1380-1471.

**Ver. 135. Make thy face to shine teach me,**etc. God hath many ways of teaching; he teaches by book, he teaches by his fingers, he teaches by his rod; but his most comfortable and effectual teaching is by the light of his eye: “O send out thy light and thy truth; let them lead me: let them bring me unto thy holy hilt:” Psalms 42:3. Richard Alleine (1611-1681), in “Heaven Opened.”

Ver. 135. Make thy face to shine… teach me thy statutes. God’s children, when they beg comfort, also beg grace to serve him acceptably. For by teaching God’s statutes is not meant barely a giving speculative knowledge of God’s will; for so David here; “Make thy face to shine”; and “Teach me thy statutes.” Thomas Manton.

Hints to Preachers

Ver. 135.

1. A choice position: “thy servant.”

2. A choice delight: “thy face to shine.”

3. A choice privilege: “teach me thy statutes.”

Ver. 135.

1. God in the word: “Thy word.”

2. God for the word: “Teach me, “etc.

3. God with the word: “Make thy face, “etc. G.R.

Ver. 135. Sunshine.

1. The light in which we can best learn our lessons God’s favour shown in pardon, justification, adoption, assurance, etc.

2. The lessons we should learn in the light grace is productive of holiness. C.A.D.

Ver. 135.

1. A rich historic promise (Numbers 6:25). Its sublime origin and associations.

2. The new prayer born of it.

(a) Looks up for the face Divine; the same in its majestic

sweetness that has watched generations decay since the

word was first spoken.

(b) Asks to know its shining. Light of fatherhood, etc.

3. The old prayer repeated: “Teach me thy statutes.” Last time in the psalm.

(a) Our need of teaching oft repeated prayer.

(b) The intimate connection between obedience and the

shining of God’s face. W.B.H.

Psalm 119:136

Exposition

Ver. 136. Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law. He wept in sympathy with God to see the holy law despised and broken. He wept in pity for men who were thus drawing down upon themselves the fiery wrath of God. His grief was such that he could scarcely give it vent; his tears were not mere drops of sorrow, but torrents of woe. In this he became like the Lord Jesus, who beheld the city, and wept over it; and like unto Jehovah himself, who hath no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, but that be turn unto him and live. The experience of this verse indicates a great advance upon anything we have had before: the psalm and the Psalmist are both growing. That man is a ripe believer who sorrows because of the sins of others. In Psalms 119:120 his flesh trembled at the presence of God, and here it seems to melt and flow away in floods of tears. None are so affected by heavenly things as those who are much in the study of the word, and are thereby taught the truth and essence of things. Carnal men are afraid of brute force, and weep over losses and crosses; but spiritual men feel a holy fear of the Lord himself, and most of all lament when they see dishonour cast upon his holy name.

“Lord, let me weep for nought but sin,

And after none but thee,

And then I would, O that I might!

A constant weeper be.”

Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings

Ver. 136. Rivers of waters run down my eyes. Most of the easterners shed tears much more copiously than the people of Europe. The psalmist said rivers of waters ran down his eyes; and though the language is beautifully figurative, I have no doubt it was also literally true. I have myself seen Arabs shed tears like streams. John Gadsby.

**Ver. 136. Rivers of waters run down mine eyes,**etc. Either because mine eyes keep not thy law, so some. The eye is the inlet and outlet of a great deal of sin, and therefore it ought to be a weeping eye. Or rather, they, i.e., those about me: Psalms 119:139. Note, the sins of sinners are the sorrows of saints. We must mourn for that which we cannot mend. Matthew Henry.

**Ver. 136. Rivers of waters run down mine eyes,**etc. David’s afflictions drew not so many tears from him as the sins of others; not his banishment by his son, as the breach of God’s law by the wicked. Nothing went so to his heart as the dishonour of God, whose glory shining in his word and ordinances, is dearer to the godly than their lives. Elijah desired to die when he saw God so dishonoured by Ahab and Jezebel. The eye is for two things, sight and tears: if we see God dishonoured, presently our eyes should be filled with tears. *William Greenhill,*1591-1677.

**Ver. 136. Rivers of waters run down mine eyes,**etc. Godly men are affected with deep sorrow for the sins of the ungodly.

Let us consider the nature of this affection. 1. It is not a stoical apathy, and affected carelessness; much less a delightful partaking with sinful practices. 2. Not a proud setting off of their own goodness, with marking the sin of others as the Pharisee did in the gospel. 3. Not the derision and mocking of the folly of men, with that “laughing philosopher”: it comes nearer to the temper of the other who wept always for it. 4. It is not a bitter, bilious anger, breaking forth into railings and reproaches, nor an upbraiding insultation. 5. Nor is it a vindictive desire of punishment, venting itself in curses and imprecations, which is the rash temper of many, but especially of the vulgar sort. The disciples’ motion to Christ was far different from that way, and yet he says to them, “We know not of what spirit ye are.” They thought they had been of Elijah’s spirit, but he told them they were mistaken, and did not know of what a spirit they were in that motion. Thus heady zeal often mistakes and flatters itself. We find not here a desire of fire to come down from heaven upon the breakers of the law, but such a grief as would rather bring water to quench it, if it were falling on them. “Rivers of waters run down mine eyes.” Robert Leighton.

**Ver. 136. Rivers of waters run down mine eyes,**etc. The Lord requireth this mourning bitterly for other men’s sins to keep our hearts the more tender and upright; it is an act God useth to make us more careful of our own souls, to be troubled at the sins of others, at sin in a third person. It keepeth us at a great distance from temptation. This is like quenching of fire in a neighbour’s house: before it comes near thee, thou runnest with thy bucket. There is no way to keep us free from the infection, so much as mourning. The soul will never agree to do that which it grieved itself to see another do. And, as it keepeth us upright, so also humble, fearful of Divine judgment, tender lest we ourselves offend, and draw down the wrath of God. He that shrugs when he seeth a snake creeping upon another, will much more be afraid when it cometh near to himself. In our own sins we have the advantage of conscience scourging the soul with remorse and shame; in bewailing the sins of others, we have only the reasons of duty and obedience. They that fight abroad out of love to valour and exploits, will certainly fight at home out of love to their own safety. Thomas Manton.

**Ver. 136. Rivers of waters run down mine eyes,**etc. Thus uniformly is the character of God’s people represented not merely as those who are free from but as “those that sigh and cry for all the abominations that are done it, the midst of the land”: Ezekiel 9:4 And who does not see what an enlarged sphere still presents itself on every side for the unrestrained exercise of Christian compassion? The appalling spectacle of a world apostatized from God, of multitudes sporting with everlasting destruction as if the God of heaven were “a man that he should lie” is surely to force “rivers of waters” from the hearts of those that are concerned his honour. What a mass of sin ascends as a cloud before the Lord, a single heart! Add the aggregate of a village a town a country a world! every day every hour every moment. Well might the “waters rise to an overflowing tide, ready to burst its barriers.” Charles Bridges.

Ver. 136. Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not law. The vices of the religious are the shame of religion: the sight this hath made the stoutest champions of Christ melt into tears. David was one of those great worthies of the world, not matchable in his time yet he weeps. Did he tear in pieces a bear like a kid? Rescue a lamb will the death of a lion? Foil a mighty giant, that had dared the whole of God? Did he like a whirlwind, bear and beat down his enemies bel him; and now, does he, like a child or a woman, fall weeping? Yes, had heard the name of God blasphemed, seen his holy rites profaned, his statutes vilipended, and violence offered to the pure chastity of that virgin, religion; this resolved that valiant heart into tears: “Rivers of waters run down mine eyes.” Thomas Adams.

Ver. 136. My soul frequently spent itself in such breathings after conformity to the law of God as the one hundred and nineteenth Psalm is with throughout: “O that my ways were directed to keep thy My heart breaketh through the longing it hath to thy commands at times; incline my heart that I may keep them alway unto the end, “the like. This appeared further in a fixed dislike of the least inconformity: to the law, either in myself or others. Now; albeit I was always affected with my own or others’ breaches, yet this was my burden; I always that rivers of tears might run down mine eyes, because I, or transgressors, kept not God’s law. *Thomas Halyburton,*1674-1712.

Ver. 136. If we grieve not for others, their sin may become Ezekiel 4:8 1 Corinthians 5:2. William Nicholson.

Hints to Preachers

Ver. 136. Abundant sorrow for abounding sin. Other men’s sins the saint’s own sorrows. He thinks of the good God provoked, of the sinners themselves debased, of their death, and their perdition.

Ver. 136.

1. Occasion of his grief: “they keep not thy law.”

2. Extent of his grief: “rivers, “etc. See examples in Jeremiah, Ezra, Paul, Christ himself.

3. Effect of his grief. To warn, teach, invite, and exhort them as in his psalms. G.R.

Ver. 136. Sacred tears.

1. The world sinning.

2. The church weeping.

3. It is time the world began to weep for itself. C.A.D.

Ver. 136.

I weep, because,

1. Of the dishonour done to the Law giver.

2. Of the injury done to the law breaker.

3. Of the wrong done to the law abiding.

“That kingly prophet, that wept so plentifully for his own offences (Psalms 6:6), had yet floods of tears left to bewail his people’s” (Psalms 119:136). Thomas Adams.

“Benedetti, a Franciscan monk, author of the Stabat Mater, one day was found weeping, and when asked the reason of his tears, he exclaimed, I weep because Love goes about unloved.” W.H.J.P.

Psalm 119:137

Exposition

This passage deals with the perfect righteousness of Jehovah and his word, and expresses the struggles of a holy soul in reference to that righteousness. The initial letter with which every verse commences in the Hebrew is “P”, and the keyword to us is PURITY.

Ver. 137. Righteous art thou, O LORD. The Psalmist has not often used the name of Jehovah in this vast composition. The whole psalm shows him to have been a deeply religious man, thoroughly familiar with the things of God; and such persons never use the holy name of God carelessly, nor do they even use it at all frequently in comparison with the thoughtless and the ungodly. Familiarity begets reverence in this case. Here he uses the sacred name in worship. He praises God by ascribing to him perfect righteousness. God is always right, and he is always actively light, that is, righteous. This quality is bound up in our very idea of God. We cannot imagine an unrighteous God.

And upright are thy judgments. Here he extols God’s word, or recorded judgments, as being right, even as their Author is righteous. That which conics from the Righteous God is itself righteous. Jehovah both saith and doth that which is right, and that alone. This is a great stay to the soul in time of trouble. When we are most sorely afflicted, and cannot see the reason for the dispensation, we may fall back upon this most sure and certain fact, that God is righteous, and his dealings with us are righteous too. It should be our glory to sing this brave confession when all things around us appear to suggest the contrary. This is the richest adoration this which rises from the lips of faith when carnal reason mutters about undue severity, and the like.

Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings

S. Jerome, whom most of the medievalists follow, explains Tsaddi as meaning justice or righteousness, which, however, is mru, tsedek But he is so far right that there is a play in this strophe on the sound of the initial letter, as in the case of Gemol;for the very first word, righteous, is mru, tsaddik, and the whole scope of the strophe is the strong grasp which even the young and inexperienced soul can have of righteousness amidst the troubles of the world. Neale and Littledale.

All these verses begin with Tzaddi, the eighteenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet; Psalms 119:137, Psalms 119:142, Psalms 119:144, with some form of the word which we render righteous, or righteousness; each of the remainder with a wholly different word. William S. Plumer.

Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings

**Ver. 137. Righteous art thou, O LORD,**etc. Here David, sore troubled with grief for the wickedness of his enemies, yea, tempted greatly to impatience and distrust, by looking to their prosperous estate, notwithstanding their so gross impiety, doth now show unto us a three fold ground of comfort, which in this dangerous temptation upheld him. The first is, a consideration of that which God is in himself; namely, just and righteous: the second, a consideration of the equity of his word; the third, a view of his constant truth, declared in his working and doing according to his word. When we find ourselves tempted to distrust by looking to the prosperity of the wicked, let us look up to God, and consider his nature, his word, his works, and we shall find comfort.

Righteous art thou. This is the first ground of comfort a meditation of the righteousness of God’s nature; he alters not with times, he changes not with persons, he is, alway and unto all, one and the same righteous and holy God. Righteousness is essential to him, it is himself; and he can no more defraud the godly of their promised comforts, not let the wicked go unpunished in their sins, than he can deny himself to be God, which is impossible. William Cowper.

**Ver. 137. Righteous art thou, O LORD,**etc. Essentially, originally, and of himself; naturally, immutably and universally, in all his ways and works of nature and grace; in his thoughts, purposes, counsels, and decrees; in all the dispensations of his providence; in redemption, in the justification of a sinner, in the pardon of sin, and in the gift of eternal life through Christ. “And upright are thy judgments.” They are according to the rules of justice and equity. He refers to the precepts of the word, the doctrines of the gospel, as well as the judgments of God inflicted on wicked men, and all the providential dealings of God with his people, and also the final judgment. John Gill.

**Ver. 137. Righteous art thou, O LORD,**etc. Here is much to keep the children of God in awe. The Lord is a righteous God: though they have found mercy and taken sanctuary in his grace, the Lord is impartial in his justice. God that did not spare the angels when they sinned, nor his Son when he was a sinner by imputation, will not spare you, though you are the dearly beloved of his soul: Proverbs 11:31. The sinful courses of God’s children occasion bitterness enough; they never venture upon sin, but with great Joss. If Paul give way to a little pride, God will humble him. If any give way to sin, their pilgrimage will be made uncomfortable. Eli falls into negligence and indulgence, then is the ark of God taken, his two sons are slain in battle, his daughter-in-law dies, he himself breaks his neck. Oh! the wonderful tragedies that sin works in the houses of the children of God! David, when he intermeddled with forbidden fruit, was driven from his palace, his concubines defiled, his own son slain; a great many calamities did light upon him. Therefore the children of God have cause to fear; for the Lord is a just God, and they will find it so. Here upon earth he hath reserved liberty to visit their iniquity with rods, and their transgression with scourges. I must press you to imitate God’s righteousness: “If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him”: 1 John 2:29. You have a righteous God; and this part of his character you should copy out. Thomas Manton.

Ver. 137. David’s great care, when he was under the afflicting hand of God, was to clear the Lord of injustice. Oh! Lord, saith he, there is not the least show, spot, stain, blemish, or mixture of injustice, in all the afflictions thou hast brought upon me. I desire to take shame to myself, and to set to my seal, that the Lord is righteous, and that there is no injustice, no cruelty, nor no extremity in all that the Lord hath brought upon me. He sweetly and readily subscribes unto the righteousness of God in those sharp and smart afflictions that God exercised him with. “Righteous art thou, O LORD, and upright are thy judgments.” God’s judgments are always just; he never afflicts but in faithfulness. His will is the rule of justice; and therefore a gracious soul dares not cavil nor question his proceedings. Thomas Brooks.

Ver. 137. The hundred and thirty-seventh verse, like the twenty-fifth, is associated with the sorrows of an Imperial penitent (Gibbon, Decline and Fall, ch. 46). When the deposed and captive Emperor Maurice was led out for execution by the usurper Phocas, his five sons were previously murdered one by one in his presence; and at each fatal blow he patiently exclaimed, “Righteous art thou, O Lord, and upright are thy judgments.” Neale and Littledale.

Hints to Preachers

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

Ver. 137-144. The righteousness of God and his word. (Psalms 119:137-138). Indignation at the forgetfulness of the enemies (Psalms 119:139) The purity of the word (Psalms 119:140-141). This righteousness of God and his testimonies is everlasting (Psalms 119:142-144).

Hints to Preachers

Ver. 137-138. Solemn contemplation.

1. The contemplation of the deep and awful display of the divine character is good for the soul.

2. It will lead to a conviction of the righteousness of God’s character and administration.

3. It will result in loyal submission. C.A.D.

Ver. 137. A consideration of divine righteousness. Convinces us of sin, reconciles us to trying providence, excites a desire to imitate, arouses to reverent adoration.

Ver. 137. God is righteous.

1. In his commands.

2. In his threatenings.

3. In his chastisement.

4. In his judgments.

5. In his promises. G.R.

Psalm 119:138

Exposition

Ver. 138. Thy testimonies that thou hast commanded are righteous and very faithful. All that which God hath testified in his word is right and truthful. It is righteous, and may be relied upon for the present; it is faithful, and may be trusted in for the future. About every portion of the inspired testimonies there is a divine authority, they are issued and published by God’s command, and they bear the impress of the royal style which carries omnipotence about it. Not only the precepts but the promises also are commanded of the Lord, and so are all the teachings of Scripture. It is not left to our choice whether we will accept them or no; they are issued by royal command, and are not to be questioned. Their characteristic is that they are like the Lord who has proclaimed them, they are the essence of justice and the soul of truth. God’s word is righteous and cannot be impeached; it is faithful and cannot be questioned it is true from the beginning, and it will be true unto the end.

Dwell upon that “sweet word” “very faithful.” What a mercy that we have a God to deal with who is scrupulously faithful, true to all the items and details of his promises, punctual to time, steadfast during all time. Well may we risk all upon a word which is” ever faithful, ever sure.”

Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings

Ver. 138. Thy testimonies that thou hast commanded are righteous and very faithful. The force of this expression is much feebler than that of the original, which literally may be rendered, “Thou hast commanded righteousness thy testimonies, and truth exceedingly. “So the Septuagint hath it. Righteousness and truth were his testimonies; the testimonies were one with his righteousness and truth. The English translation gives the quality of the testimonies; the Hebrew gives that which is commanded; as if we might say, Thou hast enjoined righteousness to be thy testimonies, and truth exceedingly. John Stephen.

Ver. 138. Thy testimonies. The word of God is called his testimony, both because it testifies his will, which he will have us to do; as also because it testifies unto men truly what shall become of them, whether good or evil. Men by nature are curious to know their end, rather than careful to mend their life; and for this cause seek answers where they never get good: but if they would know, let them go to the word and testimony; they need not to seek any other oracle. If the word of God testify good things unto them, they have cause to rejoice; if otherwise it witnesseth evil unto them, let them haste to prevent it, or else it will assuredly overtake them. William Cowper.

Ver. 138. Righteous and very faithful. Literally, “faithfulness exceedingly.” Harsh and severe as they may seem, they are all thoroughly for man’s highest good. William Kay.

Hints to Preachers

Ver. 138. Very faithful. Based on a faithful covenant; confirmed by faithful promises; carried out by a faithful Redeemer; enjoyed hitherto; relied on for the future. “Though we believe not, yet he abideth faithful.”

Psalm 119:139

Exposition

Ver. 139. In the last two verses David spoke concerning his God and his law; here he speaks of himself, and says,

My zeal hath consumed me, because mine enemies have forgotten thy words: this was no doubt occasioned by his having so clear a sense of the admirable character of God’s word. His zeal was like a fire burning within his soul. The sight of man’s forgetfulness of God acted as a fierce blast to excite the fire to a more vehement flame, and it blazed until it was ready to consume him. David could not bear that men should forget God’s words. He was ready to forget himself, aye, to, consume himself, because these men forgot God. The ungodly were David s enemies: his enemies, because they hated him for his godliness; his enemies, because he abhorred them for their ungodliness. These men had gone so far in iniquity that they not only violated and neglected the commands of God, but they appeared actually to have forgotten them. This put David into a great heat; he burned with indignation. How dare they trample on sacred things! How could they utterly ignore the commands of God himself! He was astonished, and filled with holy anger.

Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings

Ver. 139. My zeal hath consumed me. “Zeal” is a high degree of love; and when the object of that love is ill treated, it vents itself in a mixture of grief and indignation, which are sufficient to wear and “consume” the heart. This will be the case where men rightly conceive of that dishonour which is continually done to God by creatures whom he hath made and redeemed. But never could the verse be uttered, with such fulness of truth and propriety, by any one, as by the Son of God, who had such a sense of his Father’s glory, and of man’s sin, as no person else ever had. And, accordingly, when his zeal had exerted itself in purging the temple, St. John tells us, “his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal thine house hath eaten me up.” The place where it is so written Psalms 69:9, and the passage is exactly parallel to this before us. Horne.

**Ver. 139. My zeal hath consumed me,**etc. Zeal is the heat or tension of the affections; it is a holy warmth, whereby our love and an are drawn out to the utmost for God, and his glory. Now, our love to and his ways, and our hatred of wickedness, should be increased, because ungodly men. Cloudy and dark colours in a table, make those that are and lively to appear more beautiful; others’ sin should make God and godliness more amiable in thine eyes. Thy heart should take fire by striking on such cold flints. David by a holy antiperistasis, did kindle from of coldness: “My zeal hath consumed me, because mine enemies have forgotten words.” Cold blasts make a fire to flame the higher, and burn the hotter George Swinnock.

Ver. 139. My zeal hath consumed me. The fire of zeal, like the fire which consumed Solomon’s sacrifice, cometh down from heaven; and zealots are not those salamanders that always live in the fire of hatred contention; but seraphs, burning with the spiritual fire of divine And there true zeal inflames the desires and affections of the soul. If it be true zeal, then tract of time, multitude of discouragements, falseness of deserting the cause, strength of oppositions, will not tire out a man’s s Zeal makes men resolute, difficulties are but whetstones to their fortitude steels men’s spirits with an undaunted resolution. This was the zeal burned in the disciples (Luke 24:0), that consumed David here, and up the very marrow of Christ: John 2:17. Abraham Wright.

Ver. 139. My zeal hath consumed me. There are divers kinds of there is a zeal of the world, there is a zeal of the flesh, there is a zeal of religion, there is a zeal of heresy, and there is a zeal of the true God. First, we see the zeal of the world maketh men to labour day night to get a transitory thing. The zeal of the flesh torments me minds early and late for a momentary pleasure. The zeal of heresy maketh travel and compass sea and land, for the maintaining and increasing of opinion. Thus we see every man is eaten up with some kind of zeal. The drunkard is consumed with drunkenness, the whoremonger is spent with his whoredom, the heretic is eaten with heresies. Oh, how ought this to ashamed, who are so little eaten, spent, and consumed with the zeal of word! And so much the rather, because godly zeal leaveth in us advantage and a recompence, which the worldly and carnally zealous have not. For when they have spent all the strength of their bodies, powers of their mind, they have no gain or comfort left, but torment conscience; and when they are outwardly spent, they are inwardly never better: whereas the godly being concerned for a good thing, and eaten with the zeal of God’s glory, have this notable privilege and profit, howsoever their outward man perisheth and decayeth, yet their inward is still refreshed and nourished to everlasting life. Oh, what a benefit to be eaten up with the love and zeal of a good thing! Richard Greenham.

Ver. 139. Have forgotten thy words. A proper phrase to set forth in the bosom of the visible church who do not wholly deny and reject word and rule of Scripture, but yet live on as though they had it: they do not observe it; as if God had never spoken any such thing, given them any such rule. They that reject and condemn such things as word enforces, surely do not remember to do them. Thomas Manton.

Hints to Preachers

Ver. 139. Zeal.

1. Consuming self.

2. Inflamed by that which would naturally quench it.

3. Fed upon God’s words.

Ver. 139. Zeal.

1. Flourishing in an unpromising atmosphere.

2. Attaining an astonishing growth.

3. Accomplishing a blessed work the consumption of self. C.A.D.

Ver. 139.

1. The object of his zeal: “Thy words.”

2. The occasion of his zeal: “Mine enemies, “etc.

3. The fervour of his zeal: “My zeal hath consumed me.” G.R.

Psalm 119:140

Exposition

Ver. 140. Thy word is very pure. It is truth distilled, holiness in its quintessence. In the word of God there is no admixture of error or sin. It is pure in its sense, pure in its language, pure in its spirit, pure in its influence, and all this to the very highest degree “very pure.” “Therefore thy servant loveth it, “which is a proof that he himself was pure in heart, for only those who are pure love God’s word because of its purity. His heart was knit to the word because of its glorious holiness and truth. He admired it, delighted in it, sought to practise it, and longed to come under its purifying power.

Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings

Ver. 140. Thy word is very pure. In the original, “tried, purified, like gold in the furnace, “absolutely perfect, without the dross vanity and fallibility, which runs through human writings. The more we try the promises, the surer we shall find them. Pure gold is so fixed, Boerhaave, informs us of an ounce of it set in the eye of a glass furnace for two months, without losing a single grain. George Horne.

**Ver. 140. Thy word is very pure; therefore,**etc. The word of God is not only “pure, “free from all base admixture, but it is a purifier;it cleanses from sin and guilt every heart with which into comes into contact. “Now ye are clean, “said Jesus Christ to his disciples, “by the word which I have spoken unto you”: John 15:3. It is this its pure quality combined with its tendency to purify every nature that yields to its holy influence, that endears it to every child of God. Here it is that he finds those views of the divine character, those promises, those precepts, those representations of the deformity of sin, of the beauty of holiness, which lead him, above all things, to seek conformity to the divine image. A child of God in his best moments does not wish the word of God brought down to a level with his own imperfect character, but desires rather that his character may be gradually raised to a conformity to that blessed word. Because it is altogether pure, and because it tends to convey to those who make it their constant study a measure of its own purity, the child of God loves it, and delights to meditate in it day and night. John Morison.

Ver. 140. Thy word is very pure. Before I knew the word of God in spirit and in truth, for its great antiquity, its interesting narratives, its impartial biography, its pure morality, its sublime poetry, in a word, for its beautiful and wonderful variety, I preferred it to all other books; but since I have entered into its spirit, like the Psalmist, I love it above all things for its purity; and desire, whatever else I read, it may tend to increase my knowledge of the Bible, and strengthen my affection for its divine and holy truths. *Sir William Jones,*1746-1794.

Ver. 140. Thy word. Let us refresh our minds and our memories with some of the Scripture adjuncts connected with “the word, “and realize, in some degree at least, the manifold relations which it bears both to God and our souls. It is called “the word of Christ, ” because much of it was given by him, and it all bears testimony to him…It is called “the word of his grace, “because the glorious theme on which it loves to expatiate is grace, and especially grace as it is seen in Christ’s dying love for sinful men. It is called ololov tou staurou, “the word of the cross” (1 Corinthians 1:18), because in the crucifixion of the divine Redeemer we see eternal mercy in its brightest lustre. It is called “the word of the gospel, “because it brings glad tidings of great joy to all nations. It is called “the word of the kingdom, “because it holds out to all believers the hope of an everlasting kingdom of righteousness and peace. It is called “the word of salvation, “because the purpose for which it was given is the salvation of sinners. It is called “the word of truth, “because, as Chillingworth says, it has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth without mixture of error for its contents. And we will only add, it is called “the word of life, “because it reveals to a sinful, perishing world the doctrines of life and immortality. IV. Graham, in “A Commentary on the First Epistle of John, “1857.

Ver. 140. Therefore thy servant loveth it. Love in God is the fountain of all his benefits extended to us; and love in man is the fountain of all our service and obedience to God. He loved us first to do us good; and hereof it comes that we have grace to love him next to do him service. Love is such a duty that the want thereof cannot be excused in any; for the poorest both may and should love God: yet without it all the rest thou canst do in his service is nothing; nay, not if thou shouldest give thy goods to the poor, and offer thy body to be burned. Small sacrifices, flowing from faith and love, are welcome to him, where greater without these are but abomination to him. Proofs of both we have in the widow’s mite and Cain’s rich oblation; whereof the one was rejected, the other received. Happy are we though we cannot say, “We have done as God commands, “if out of a good heart we can say, “We love to do what he commands.” William Cowper.

Ver. 140. Therefore thy servant loveth it. Of all our grounds and reasons of love to the word of God, the most noble and excellent is to love the word for its purity. This showeth indeed that we are made partakers of the Divine nature: 2 Peter 1:4. For I play you mark, when we hate evil as evil, and love good as good, we have the same love and hatred that God hat Is. When once we come to love things because they are pure, it is a sign that we have the same love that God hath. Thomas Manton.

Ver. 140. Thy servant loveth it. Otherwise, indeed, the Psalmist would not have been the Lord’s servant at all. But he glories in the title because he delights in the pure service. John Stephen.

Ver. 140-141. God’s own utterance is indeed without spot, and therefore not to be carped at; it is pure, fire proved, noblest metal, therefore he loves it, and does not, though young and lightly esteemed, care for the remonstrances of his proud opponents, who are older and more learned than himself. Franz Delitzsch.

Hints to Preachers

Ver. 140.

1. An awakened sinner adoring the holy law.

2. A saint loving it because the pure love the pure.

3. A saint among sinners loving the law all the more for its contrast.

Ver. 140.

1. The crystal stream.

(a) Flows from under the throne.

(b) Mirrors heaven.

(c) Undefiled through the ages.

(d) Nourishes holiness as it flows.

2. The enraptured pilgrim.

(a) Keeping by its brink.

(b) Delighted with its lucid depths.

3. Pleased with its mirrored revelations self, heaven, God.

4. Cleansed and refreshed by its waters. W.B.H.

Ver. 140.

1. The purity of God’s Word.

(a) It proceeds from a perfectly pure source: “Thy word.”

(b) It reveals a purity otherwise unknown.

(c) It treats impure subjects with absolute purity.

(d) It inculcates the most perfect purity.

(e) It produces such purity in those who are subject to its

power.

2. The love which its purity inspires in gracious souls.

(a) They love it because, while it reveals their natural

impurity, it shows them how to escape from it.

(b) They love it because it conforms them to its own purity.

(c) They love it because to a pure heart the purity of the

word is one of its chief commendations.

3. The evidences of this love to the pure word.

(a) Desire to possess it in its purity.

(b) Subjection to its spirit and

teachings.

(c) Zeal for its honour and diffusion. W.H.J.P.

Psalm 119:141

Exposition

Ver. 141. I am small and despised: yet do I not forget thy precepts. That fault of forgetfulness which he condemned in others (Psalms 119:139) could not be charged upon himself. His enemies made no account of him, regarded him as a man without power or ability, and therefore looked down upon him. He appears to accept the situation and humbly take the lowest room, but he carries God’s word with him. How many a man has been driven to do some ill action in order to reply to the contempt of his enemies: to make himself conspicuous he has either spoken or acted in a manner which he could not justify. The beauty of the Psalmist’s piety was that it was calm and well balanced, and as he was not carried away by flattery, so was he not overcome by shame. If small, he the more jealously attended to the smaller duties; and if despised, he was the more in earnest to keep the despised commandments of God.

Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings

**Ver. 141. I am small and despised,**or, I have been. Some versions render it young; as if it had respect to the time of his anointing by Samuel, when he was overlooked and despised in his father’s family (1 Samuel 16:11 1 Samuel 16:17:28); but the word here used is not expressive of age, but of state, condition, and circumstances; and the meaning is, that he was little in his own esteem, and in the esteem of men, and was despised; and that on account of religion, in which he was a type of Christ (Psalms 24:6 Isaiah 53:3), and which is the common lot of good men, who are treated by the world as the filth of it, and the offscouring of all things. John Gill.

Ver. 141. I am small. They that love God may be reduced to a mean, low, and afflicted condition; the Lord seeth it meet for divers reasons: 1. That they may know their happiness is not in this world, and so the snore long for heaven, and delight in heavenly things. 2. It is necessary to cut off the provisions of the flesh and the fuel of their lusts. A rank soil breeds weeds; and when we sail with a full stream we are apt to be carried away with it. 3. That they may be more sensible of his displeasure against their sins and scandalous carriage by which they have dishonoured him, and provoked the pure eyes of his glory. 4. That they may learn to live upon the promises, and learn to exercise suffering graces; especially dependence upon God, who can support us without a temporal, visible interest. 5. That God may convince the enemies that there is a people that do sincerely serve him, and not for carnal, selfish ends: Job 1:6. That his glory may be more seen in their deliverance; and therefore, before God doth appear for his children, he bringeth them very low. Thomas Manton.

Ver. 141. Small. This applies to David in his early days of trouble and persecution. It is difficult to find any other individual to whom it is so suitable. James G. Murphy.

Ver. 141. A notable example to the shame of them, that perhaps will serve and praise God in their prosperity, and when they are increased; but let affliction or want come, and then they have little heart to do it. Abraham Wright.

Ver. 141. Yet do not I forget thy precepts. God observeth what we do in our trouble: “If we have forgotten the name of our God, or stretched out our hands to a strange god: shall not God search this out? for he knoweth the secrets of the heart”: Psalms 44:20-21. If we slacken our service to God, or fall off to any degree of apostasy, the Judge of hearts knoweth all: God knoweth whether we would have depraved and corrupt doctrine, worship, or ordinances; or whether we will faithfully adhere to him, to his word, and worship, and ordinances, whatever it cost us.

In our poor and despicable condition we see more cause to love the word than we did before; because we experience supports and comforts which we have thereby: “Knowing that tribulation worketh patience, ” etc. (Romans 5:3); “For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ”: 2 Corinthians 1:5. God hath special consolations for his afflicted and despised people, and makes their consolation by Christ to run parallel with, and keep pace with, their sufferings for Christ. Thomas Manton.

Ver. 141. Yet do not I forget thy precepts. We see by experience that our affection leaves anything from the time it goes out of our remembrance. We cease to love when we cease to remember; but earnest love ever renews remembrance of that which is beloved. The first step of defection is to forget what God hath commanded, and what we are obliged in duty to do to him; and upon this easily follows the offending of God by our transgression. Such beasts as did not chew their cud, under the law were accounted unclean, and not meet to be sacrificed unto God: that was but a figure, signifying unto us that a man who hath received good things from God, and doth not think upon them, cannot feel the sweetness of them, and so cannot be thankful to God. William Cowper.

Hints to Preachers

Ver. 141-144. A mournful song arid a joyful refrain. Stanza 1: “I am small and despised.” Refrain. The everlasting righteousness of God. Stanza 2: “Trouble and anguish have seized me.” Refrain: The everlasting righteousness of God. C.A.D.

Ver. 141. Here is

1. David pious, and yet poor. He was a man after God’s own heart, and yet “small and despised” in his own account and in account of many others.

2. David poor and yet pious; “small and despised” for his strict and serious godliness; yet his conscience can witness for him, that he “did not forget God’s precepts.” M. Henry.

Ver. 141.

1. The source of man’s littleness is in himself.

2. The source of his greatness is in the Divine word. Hence the greatest philosopher is a small man compared with the most uneducated whose delight is in the law of God, and who meditates, etc. G.R.

Ver. 141.

1. A little scholar.

2. A quick learner.

3. A firm reminder.

Ver. 141. Unknown, yet well known.

1. The estimate formed of the believer by the world.

2. The estimate formed of the believer by himself.

3. The profession made by the believer to God.

4. On a review, a revised estimate of the believer: 1 Corinthians 1:27 James 4:5. C.A.D.

Psalm 119:142

Exposition

Ver. 142. Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness. Having in a previous verse ascribed righteousness to God, he now goes on to declare that that righteousness is unchanging and endures from age to age. This is the joy and glory of the saints, that what God is he always will be, and his mode of procedure towards the sons of men is immutable: having kept his promise, and dealt out justice among his people, he will do so world without end. Both the righteousnesses and the unrighteousnesses of men come to an end, but the righteousness of God is without end.

And thy law is the truth. As God is love, so his law is the truth, the very essence of truth, truth applied to ethics, truth in action, truth upon the judgment seat. We hear great disputes about, “What is truth?” The holy Scriptures are the only answer to that question. Note, that they are not only true, but the truth itself. We may not say of them that they contain the truth, but that they are the truth: “thy law is the truth.” There is nothing false about the law or preceptory part of Scripture. Those who are obedient thereto shall find that they are walking in a way consistent with fact, while those who act contrary thereto are walking in a vain show.

Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings

Ver. 142. Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness. Here the law of God is honoured by the additional encomium, that it is everlasting righteousness and truth; as if it had been said, that all other rules of life, with whatever attractions they may appear to be recommended, are but a shadow, which quickly vanishes away. The Psalmist, no doubt, indirectly contrasts the doctrine of the law with all the human precepts which were ever delivered, that he may bring all the faithful in subjection to it, since it is the school of perfect wisdom. There may be more of plausibility in the refined and subtle disquisitions of men; but there is in them nothing firm or solid at bottom, as there is in God’s law. This firmness of the divine law he proves in the following verse from one instance the continual comfort he found in it when grievously harassed with temptations. And the true test of the profit we have reaped from it is, when we oppose to all the distresses of whatever kind which may straiten us, the consolation derived from the word of God, that thereby all sadness may be effaced from our minds. David here expresses something more than he did in the preceding verse; for there he only said that he reverently served God, although from his rough and hard treatment he might seem to lose his labour; but now when distressed and tormented, he affirms that he finds in the law of God the most soothing delight, which mitigates all griefs, and not only tempers their bitterness, but also seasons them with a certain sweetness. Assuredly when this taste does not exist to afford us delight, nothing is more natural than for us to be swallowed up of sorrow. John Calvin.

Ver. 142. Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness. Not only righteous at the first giving out, but righteous in all ages and times; and should we slight this rule that will hold for ever? In the world, new lords, new laws; men vary and change their designs and purposes; privileges granted today may be repealed tomorrow; but this wold will hold true for ever. Our justification by Christ is irrevocable; that part of righteousness is everlasting. Be sure you are justified now upon terms of the gospel, and you shall be justified for ever: your forgiveness is an everlasting forgiveness, and your peace is an everlasting peace: “I will remember their sin no more”: Jeremiah 31:34. So the other righteousness of sanctification, it is for ever; approve yourselves to God now, and you will approve yourselves at the day of judgment. Thomas Manton.

**Ver. 142. Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness,**etc. The original is better expressed thus, “Thy righteousness is righteousness everlastingly, and thy law is truth. “So the Septuagint. The English translation expresses the perpetuity of the righteousness, the original expresses also the character of it…God’s righteousness is essentially and eternally righteousness. The expressions are absolute; there is only this righteousness, and only this truth. John Stephen.

Ver. 142. Thy law is the truth. 1. It is the chief truth. There is some truth in the laws of men and the writings of men, even of heathens; but they are but sorry fragments and scraps of truth, that have escaped since the fall. 2. It is the only truth; that is, the only revelation of the mind of God that you can build upon. It is the rule of truth. 3. It is the pure truth. In it there is nothing but the truth, without the mixture of falsehood; every part is true as truth itself. It is true in the promises, threatenings, doctrines, histories, precepts, prohibitions. 4. It is the whole truth. It containeth all things necessary for the salvation of those that yield up themselves to be instructed by it. Thomas Manton.

Hints to Preachers

Ver. 142. Righteousness, immutability, and truth combined in the revelation of God.

Psalm 119:143

Exposition

Ver. 143. Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me. This affliction may have arisen from his circumstances, or from the cruelty of his enemies, or from his own internal conflicts, but certain it is that he was the subject of much distress, a distress which apprehended him, and carried him away a captive to its power. His griefs, like fierce dogs, had taken hold upon him; he felt their teeth. He had double trouble: trouble without and anguish within, as the apostle Paul put it, “without were rightings and within were fears.”

Yet thy commandments are my delights. Thus he became a riddle; troubled, and yet delighted; in anguish, and yet in pleasure. The child of God can understand this enigma, for well he knows that while he is cast down on account of what he sees within himself he is all the more lifted up by what he sees in the word. He is delighted with the commandments, although he is troubled because he cannot perfectly obey them. He finds abundant light in the commandments, and by the influence of that light he discovers and mourns over his own darkness. Only the man who is acquainted with the struggles of the spiritual life will understand the expression before us. Let the reader herein find a balance in which to weigh himself. Does he find even when he is begin with sorrow that it is a delightful thing to do the will of the Lord? Does he find more joy in being sanctified than sorrow in being chastised? Then the spot of God’s children is upon him.

Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings

Ver. 143. Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me: yet thy commandments are my delights. This is strange, that in the midst of anguish David had delight: but indeed the sweetness of God’s word is best perceived under the bitterness of the cross. The joy of Christ and the joy of the world cannot consist together. A heart delighted with worldly joy cannot feel the consolations of the Spirit; the one of these destroys the other: but in sanctified trouble, the comforts of God’s word are felt and perceived in a most sensible manner. Many a time hath David protested this delight of his in the word of God; and truly it is a great argument of godliness, when men come not only to reverence it, but to love it, and delight in it. Let this be considered by those unhappy men who hear it of custom, and count it but a weariness. Abraham Wright.

**Ver. 143. Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me,**or “found me, “etc. We need not take pains, as many do, “to find trouble and anguish; “for they will, one day, “find us.” In that day the revelations of God must be to us instead of all worldly “delights” and pleasures, which will then have forsaken us; and how forlorn and desolate will be our state if we should have no other delights, no other pleasures, to succeed them, and to accompany us into eternity. Let our study be then in the Scriptures, if we expect our comfort in them in time to come. George Horne.

Ver. 143. Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me. You may conceive a bold figure here, as if Trouble and Anguish were being sent out against the helpless sons of men. These, like enemies, were going round. Instead of seizing upon the wicked, they had found the righteous man. So it was by the ordering of God. I suppose many of us have remarked, that the believer is never long at ease. He is in the world; he is in the flesh; there is indwelling sin; there are enemies around; there is the great enemy; besides all this, the Lord, for wise purposes, hides his face. Then the believer is in trouble and anguish. John Stephen.

Ver. 143. Have taken hold on me. Hebrew, found me. Like dogs tracking out a wild beast hiding or fleeing. A.R. Fausset.

Ver. 143. Thy commandments are my delights. Delight in moral things (saith Aquinas) is the rule by which we may judge of men’s goodness or badness. Delectatio est quies voluntatis in bono. Men are good and bad as the objects of their delight are: they are good who delight in good things, and they are evil who delight in evil things. Thomas Manton.

Hints to Preachers

Ver. 143. Mingled emotions.

Ver. 143.

1. The dark cloud. Trouble, etc.

2. His silver lining. Yet, etc.

Ver. 143.

1. The Saint cast into prison.

(a) The jailers: “Trouble and anguish.”

(b) Their proceeding: “take hold” and make him fast.

2. Songs in the night.

(a) Blessed theme: “thy commandments.”

(b) Ecstatic melodies: “delights.”

3. Let the prisoners hear them.

(a) Pain held, sin held, despair held.

(b) It is matter and melody to open prisons. W.B.H.

Ver. 143. Consider,

1. The excellency of the word, in that it gives delight when trouble and anguish oppress.

2. The great kindness of God in so framing his word that it can give delight at such a time, and under such circumstances.

3. The disposition of the believer to resort to the word for delight, when others give themselves over to vain grief and despondency.

4. The blessed position of the believer, in that he need never be without joy. J.F.