It is lost labour to seek for close continuity or progress in this
psalm. One thought pervades it--the surpassing excellence of the
Law; and the beauty and power of the psalm lie in the unwearied
reiteration of that single idea. There is music in its monotony,
which is subtilely varied. Its verses are like the ripples on a sunny
sea, alike and impressive in their continual march, and yet each
catching the light with a difference, and breaking on the shore in a
tone of its own. A few elements are combined into these hundred and
seventy-six gnomic sentences. One or other of the usual synonyms for
the Law--viz., word, saying, statutes, commandments, testimonies,
judgments--occurs in every verse, except vv. 122 and 132. The prayers
"Teach me, revive me, preserve me--according to Thy word," and the
vows "I will keep, observe, meditate on, delight in---Thy law," are
frequently repeated. There are but few pieces in the psalmist's
kaleidoscope, but they fall into many shapes of beauty; and though
all his sentences are moulded after the same general plan, the
variety within such narrow limits is equally a witness of poetic
power which turns the fetters of the acrostic structure into helps,
and of devout heartfelt love for the Law of Jehovah.
The psalm is probably of late date; but its allusions to the
singer's circumstances, whether they are taken as autobiographical or
as having reference to the nation, are too vague to be used as clues
to the period of its composition. An early poet is not likely to have
adopted such an elaborate acrostic plan, and the praises of the Law
naturally suggest a time when it was familiar in an approximately
complete form. It may be that the rulers referred to in vv. 23,
46, were foreigners, but the expression is too general to draw a
conclusion from. It may be that the double-minded (ver. 113), who err
from God's statutes (ver. 118), and forsake His law (ver. 53), are
Israelites who have yielded to the temptations to apostatise, which
came with the early Greek period, to which Baethgen, Cheyne, and
others would assign the psalm. But these expressions, too, are of so
general a nature that they do not give clear testimony of date.
§ א
1 Blessed the perfect in [their] way,
Who walk in the law of Jehovah!
2 Blessed they who keep His testimonies,
That seek Him with the whole heart,
3 [Who] also have done no iniquity,
[But] have walked in His ways!
4 Thou hast commanded Thy precepts,
That we should observe them diligently.
5 O that my ways were established
To observe Thy statutes!
6 Then shall I not be ashamed,
When I give heed to all Thy commandments.
7 I will thank Thee with uprightness of heart,
When I learn Thy righteous judgments.
8 Thy statutes will I observe;
Forsake me not utterly.
The first three verses are closely connected. They set forth in
general terms the elements of the blessedness of the doers of the
Law. To walk in it--_i.e._, to order the active life in conformity
with its requirements--ensures perfectness. To keep God's testimonies
is at once the consequence and the proof of seeking Him with
whole-hearted devotion and determination. To walk in His ways is the
preservative from evil-doing. And such men cannot but be blessed with
a deep sacred blessedness, which puts to shame coarse and turbulent
delights, and feeds its pure fires from God Himself. Whether these
verses are taken as exclamation or declaration, they lead up
naturally to ver. 4, which reverently gazes upon the loving act of
God in the revelation of His will in the Law, and bethinks itself of
the obligations bound on us by that act. It is of God's mercy that
He has commanded, and His words are meant to sway our wills, since
He has broken the awful silence, not merely to instruct us, but to
command; and nothing short of practical obedience will discharge
our duties to His revelation. So the psalmist betakes himself to
prayer, that he may be helped to realise the purpose of God in giving
the Law. His contemplation of the blessedness of obedience and of
the Divine act of declaring His will moves him to longing, and
his consciousness of weakness and wavering makes the longing into
prayer that his wavering may be consolidated into fixity of purpose
and continuity of obedience. When a man's ways are established to
observe, they will be established by observing, God's statutes. For
nothing can put to the blush one whose eye is directed to these.
"Whatever record leap to light,
He never shall be shamed."
Nor will he cherish hopes that fail, nor desires that when
accomplished, are bitter of taste. To give heed to the commandments
is the condition of learning them and recognising how righteous they
are; and such learning makes the learner's heart righteous like them,
and causes it to run over in thankfulness for the boon of knowledge
of God's will. By all these thoughts the psalmist is brought to his
fixed resolve in ver. 8, to do what God meant him to do when He gave
the Law; and what the singer had just longed that he might be able to
do--namely, to observe the statutes. But in his resolve he remembers
his weakness, and therefore he glides into prayer for that Presence
without which resolves are transient and abortive.
§ ב
9 Wherewith shall a young man cleanse his path?
By taking heed, according to Thy word.
10 With my whole heart have I sought Thee,
Let me not wander from Thy commandments.
11 In my heart have I hid Thy saying,
That I may not sin against Thee.
12 Blessed art Thou, Jehovah,
Teach me Thy statutes.
13 With my lips have I rehearsed
All the judgments of Thy mouth.
14 In the way of Thy testimonies have I rejoiced,
As over all [kinds of] wealth.
15 In Thy precepts will I meditate,
And will have respect to all Thy paths.
16 In Thy statutes will I delight myself,
I will not forget Thy word.
The inference drawn from ver. 9, that the psalmist was a young man,
is precarious. The language would be quite as appropriate to an aged
teacher desirous of guiding impetuous youth to sober self-control.
While some verses favour the hypothesis of the author's youth (ver.
141, and perhaps vv. 99, 100), the tone of the whole, its rich
experience and comprehensive grasp of the manifold relations of the
Law to life, imply maturity of years and length of meditation. The
psalm is the ripe fruit of a life which is surely past its spring.
But it is extremely questionable whether these apparently personal
traits are really so. Much rather is the poet "thinking ... of the
individuals of different ages and spiritual attainments who may use
his works" (Cheyne, _in loc._).
The word rendered "By taking heed" has already occurred in vv. 4, 5
("observe"). The careful study of the Word must be accompanied with
as careful study of self. The object observed there was the Law;
here, it is the man himself. Study God's law, says the psalmist, and
study Thyself in its light; so shall youthful impulses be bridled,
and the life's path be kept pure. That does not sound so like a young
man's thought as an old man's maxim, in which are crystallised many
experiences.
The rest of the section intermingles petitions, professions, and
vows, and is purely personal. The psalmist claims that he is one of
those whom he has pronounced blessed, inasmuch as he _has_ "sought"
God with his "whole heart." Such longing is no mere idle aspiration,
but must be manifested in obedience, as ver. 2 has declared. If a
man longs for God, he will best find Him by doing His will. But no
heart-desire is so rooted as to guarantee that it shall not die, nor
is past obedience a certain pledge of a like future. Wherefore the
psalmist prays, not in reliance on his past, but in dread that he
may falsify it, "Let me not wander." He had not only sought God in
his heart, but had there hid God's law, as its best treasure, and as
an inward power controlling and stimulating. Evil cannot flow from a
heart in which God's law is lodged. That is the tree which sweetens
the waters of the fountain. But the cry "Teach me Thy statutes"
would be but faltering, if the singer could not rise above himself,
and take heart by gazing upon God, whose own great character is the
guarantee that He will not leave a seeking soul in ignorance.
Professions and vows now take the place of petitions. "From the
abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh," and the word hid in it
will certainly not be concealed. It is buried deep, that it may grow
high. It is hidden, that it may come abroad. Therefore ver. 13 tells
of bold utterance, which is as incumbent on men as obedient deeds.
A sane estimate of earthly good will put it decisively below the
knowledge of God and of His will. Lives which despise what the world
calls riches, because they are smitten with the desire of any sort
of wisdom, are ever nobler than those which keep the low levels. And
highest of all is the life which gives effect to its conviction that
man's true treasure is to know God's mind and will. To rejoice in
His testimonies is to have wealth that cannot be lost and pleasures
that cannot wither. That glad estimate will surely lead to happy
meditation on them, by which their worth shall be disclosed and their
sweep made plain. The miser loves to tell his gold; the saint, to
ponder his wealth in God. The same double direction of the mind,
already noted, reappears in ver. 15, where quiet meditation on God's
statutes is associated with attention to the ways which are called
His, as being pointed out by, and pleasing to, Him, but are ours, as
being walked in by us. Inward delight in, and practical remembrance
of, the Law are vowed in ver. 16, which covers the whole field of
contemplative and active life.
§ ג
17 Deal bountifully with Thy servant, that I may live,
So will I observe Thy word.
18 Open my eyes, that I may behold
Wonders out of Thy law.
19 A stranger am I on the earth,
Hide not from me Thy commandments.
20 Crushed is my soul with longing
Towards Thy judgments at all times.
21 Thou hast rebuked the proud [so that they are] cursed,
Those who wander from Thy commandments.
22 Remove from me reproach and shame,
For Thy testimonies do I keep.
23 Princes also sit and speak with one another against me,
Thy servant meditates on Thy statutes.
24 Also Thy testimonies are my delight,
The men of my counsel.
In ver. 17 the psalmist desires continued life, mainly because it
affords the opportunity of continued obedience. He will "observe Thy
word," not only in token of gratitude, but because to him life is
precious chiefly because in its activities he can serve God. Such
a reason for wishing to live may easily change to a willingness to
die, as it did with Paul, who had learned that a better obedience was
possible when he had passed through the dark gates, and therefore
could say, "To die is gain." Vv. 18, 19, are connected, in so far as
the former desires subjective illumination and the latter objective
revelation. Opened eyes are useless, if commandments are hidden; and
the disclosure of the latter is in vain unless there are eyes to
see them. Two great truths lie in the former petition--namely, that
scales cover our spiritual vision which only God can take away, and
that His revelation has in its depths truths and treasures which can
only be discerned by His help. The cognate petition in ver. 19 is
based upon the pathetic thought that man is a stranger on earth, and
therefore needs what will take away his sense of homelessness and
unrest. All other creatures are adapted to their environments, but he
has a consciousness that he is an exile here, a haunting, stinging
sense, which vaguely feels after repose in his native land. "Thy
commandments" can still it. To know God's will, with knowledge which
is acceptance and love, gives rest, and makes every place a mansion
in the Father's house.
There may possibly be a connection between vv. 20 and 21--the
terrible fate of those who wander from the commandments, as described
in the latter verse, being the motive for the psalmist's longing
expressed in the former. The "judgments" for which he longed,
with a yearning which seemed to bruise his soul are not, as might
be supposed, God's judicial acts, but the word is a synonym for
"commandments," as throughout the psalm.
The last three verses of the section appear to be linked together.
They relate to the persecutions of the psalmist for his faithfulness
to God's law. In ver. 22 he prays that reproach and shame, which
wrapped him like a covering, may be lifted from him; and his plea
in ver. 22_b_ declares that he lay under these because he was true
to God's statutes. In ver. 23 we see the source of the reproach and
shame, in the conclave of men in authority, whether foreign princes
or Jewish rulers, who were busy slandering him and plotting his ruin;
while, with wonderful beauty, the contrasted picture in _b_ shows the
object of that busy talk, sitting silently absorbed in meditation on
the higher things of God's statutes. As long as a man can do that,
he has a magic circle drawn round him, across which fears and cares
cannot step. Ver. 24 heightens the impression of the psalmist's rest.
"Also Thy testimonies are my delight"--not only the subjects of his
meditation, but bringing inward sweetness, though earth is in arms
against him; and not only are they his delights, but "the men of his
counsel," in whom he, solitary as he is, finds companionship that
arms him with resources against that knot of whispering enemies.
§ ד
25 My soul cleaves to the dust,
Revive me according to Thy word.
26 My ways I told and Thou answeredst me,
Teach me Thy statutes.
27 The way of Thy precepts make me understand,
And I will meditate on Thy wonders.
28 My soul weeps itself away for grief,
Raise me up according to Thy word.
29 The way of lying remove from me,
And [with] Thy law be gracious to me.
30 The way of faithfulness I have chosen,
Thy judgments have I set [before me].
31 I have cleaved to Thy testimonies;
Jehovah, put me not to shame.
32 The way of Thy commandments will I run,
For Thou dost enlarge my heart.
The exigencies of the acrostic plan are very obvious in this
section, five of the verses of which begin with "way" or "ways," and
two of the remaining three with "cleaves." The variety secured under
such conditions is remarkable. The psalmist's soul cleaves to the
dust--_i.e._, is bowed in mourning (cf. xliv. 25); but still, though
thus darkened by sorrow and weeping itself away for grief (ver. 28),
it cleaves to "Thy testimonies" (ver. 31). Happy in their sorrow are
they who, by reason of the force which bows their sensitive nature to
the dust, cling the more closely in their true selves to the declared
will of God! Their sorrow appeals to God's heart, and is blessed if
it dictates the prayer for His quickening (ver. 25). Their cleaving
to His law warrants their hope that He will not put them to shame.
The first pair of verses in which "way" is the acrostic word (vv.
26, 27) sets "my ways" over against "the way of Thy precepts." The
psalmist has made God his confidant, telling Him all his life's
story, and has found continual answers, in gifts of mercy and inward
whispers. He asks, therefore, for further illumination, which will
be in accordance with these past mutual communications. Tell God thy
ways and He will teach thee His statutes. The franker our confession,
the more fervent our longing for fuller knowledge of His will. "The
way of Thy precepts" is the practical life according to these, the
ideal which shall rebuke and transform "my ways." The singer's
crooked course is spread before God, and he longs to see clearly
the straight path of duty, on which he vows that he will meditate,
and find wonders in the revelation of God's will. Many a sunbeam is
wasted for want of intent eyes. The prayer for understanding is vain
without the vow of pondering. The next pair of "way-" verses (vv. 29,
30) contrasts ways of "lying" and of "faithfulness"--_i.e._, sinful
life which is false towards God and erroneous in its foundation
maxims, and life which is true in practice to Him and to man's
obligations. The psalmist prays that the former may be put far from
him; for he feels that it is only too near, and his unhelped feet too
ready to enter on it. He recognises the inmost meaning of the Law as
an outcome of God's favour. It is not harsh, but glowing with love,
God's best gift. The prayer in ver. 29 has the psalmist's deliberate
choice in ver. 30 as its plea. That choice does not lift him above
the need of God's help, and it gives him a claim thereon. Our wills
may seem fixed, but the gap between choice and practice is wide, and
our feebleness will not bridge it, unless He strengthens us. So the
last verse of this section humbly vows to transform meditation and
choice into action, and to "run the way of God's commandments," in
thanksgiving for the joy with which, while the psalmist prays, he
feels that his heart swells.
§ ה
33 Teach me, Jehovah, the way of Thy statutes,
And I will keep it to the end.
34 Make me understand so that I may keep Thy law,
And I will observe it with [my] whole heart.
35 Make me walk in the path of Thy commandments,
For in it I delight.
36 Incline my heart to Thy testimonies,
And not to plunder.
37 Make my eyes go aside from beholding vanity,
In Thy ways revive me.
38 Confirm to Thy servant Thy promise,
Which tends to Thy fear.
39 Make my reproach pass away which I dread,
For Thy judgments are good.
40 Behold, I have longed for Thy precepts,
In Thy righteousness revive me.
Vv. 33 and 34 are substantially identical in their prayer for
enlightenment and their vow of obedience. Both are based on the
conviction that outward revelation is incomplete without inward
illumination. Both recognise the necessary priority of enlightened
reason as condition of obedient action, and such action as the test
and issue of enlightenment. Both vow that knowledge shall not remain
barren. They differ in that the former verse pledges the psalmist
to obedience unlimited in time and the latter to obedience without
reservation. But even in uttering his vow the singer remembers his need
of God's help to keep it, and turns it, in ver. 35, into petition,
which he very significantly grounds on his heart's delight in the Law.
Warm as that delight may be, circumstances and flesh will cool it,
and it is ever a struggle to translate desires into deeds. Therefore
we need the sweet constraint of our Divine Helper to make us walk in
the right way. Again, in ver. 36 the preceding profession is caught
up and modulated into petition. "Incline my heart" stands to "In it
I delight," just as "Make me walk" does to "I will observe it." Our
purest joys in God and in His Will depend on Him for their permanence
and increase. Our hearts are apt to spill their affection on the earth,
even while we would bear the cup filled to God. And one chief rival of
"Thy testimonies" is worldly gain, from which there must be forcible
detachment in order to, and as accompaniment of, attachment to God. All
possessions which come between us and Him are "plunder," unjust gain.
The heart is often led astray by the eyes. The senses bring fuel to
its unholy flames. Therefore, the next petition (ver. 37) asks that
they may be made, as it were, to pass on one side of tempting things,
which are branded as being "vanity," without real substance or worth,
however they may glitter and solicit the gaze. To look longingly on
earth's good makes us torpid in God's ways; and to be earnest in the
latter makes us dead to the former. There is but one real life for
men, the life of union with God and of obedience to His commandments.
Therefore, the singer prays to be revived in God's ways. Experience of
God's faithfulness to His plighted word will do much to deliver from
earth's glamour, as ver. 38 implies. The second clause is elliptical
in Hebrew, and is now usually taken as above, meaning that God's
promise fulfilled leads men to reverence Him. But the rendering "who is
[devoted] to Thy fear" is tenable and perhaps better. The "reproach" in
ver. 39 is probably that which would fall on the psalmist if he were
unfaithful to God's law. This interpretation gives the best meaning to
ver. 39_b_, which would then contain the reason for his desire to keep
the "judgments"--_i.e._, the commandments, not the judicial acts--which
he feels to be good. The section ends with a constantly recurring
strain. God's righteousness, His strict discharge of all obligations,
guarantees that no longing, turned to Him, can be left unsatisfied. The
languishing desire will be changed into fuller joy of more vigorous
life. The necessary precursor of deeper draughts from the Fountain
of Life is thirst for it, which faithfully turns aside from earth's
sparkling but drugged potions.
§ ו
41 And let Thy lovingkindnesses come to me, Jehovah,
Thy salvation according to Thy promise.
42 And I shall have a word to answer him that reproaches me,
For I trust in Thy word.
43 And pluck not the word of truth out of my mouth utterly,
For I have waited for Thy judgments.
44 And I would observe Thy law continually,
For ever and aye.
45 And I would walk at liberty,
For I have sought Thy precepts.
46 And I would speak of Thy testimonies before kings,
And not be ashamed.
47 And I will delight myself in Thy judgments,
Which I love.
48 And I will lift up my palms to Thy commandments [which I love],
And meditate on Thy statutes.
There are practically no Hebrew words beginning with the letter
required as the initial in this section, except the copula
"and." Each verse begins with it, and it is best to retain it
in translation, so as to reproduce in some measure the original
impression of uniformity. The verses are aggregated rather than
linked. "And" sometimes introduces a consequence, as probably in
ver. 42, and sometimes is superfluous in regard to the sense. A
predominant reference to the duty of bearing witness to the Truth
runs through the section. The prayer in ver. 41 for the visits of
God's lovingkindnesses which, in their sum, make salvation, and are
guaranteed by His word of promise, is urged on the ground that, by
experience of these, the psalmist will have his answer ready for
all carpers who scoff at him and his patient faith. Such a prayer
is entirely accordant with the hypothesis that the speaker is the
collective Israel, but not less so with the supposition that he
is an individual. "Whereas I was blind, now I see" is an argument
that silences sarcasm. Ver. 43 carries on the thought of witnessing
and asks that "the word of truth"--_i.e._, the Law considered as
disclosure of truth rather than of duty--may not be snatched from the
witness's mouth, as it would be if God's promised lovingkindnesses
failed him. The condition of free utterance is rich experience.
If prayers had gone up in vain from the psalmist's lips, no glad
proclamation could come from them.
The verbs at the beginnings of vv. 44-46 are best taken as
optatives, expressing what the psalmist would fain do, and, to some
extent, has done. There is no true religion without that longing for
unbroken conformity with the manifest will of God. Whoever makes that
his deepest desire, and seeks after God's precepts, will "walk at
liberty," or _at large_, for restraints that are loved are not bonds,
and freedom consists not in doing as I would, but in willing to do
as I ought. Strong in such emancipation from the hindrances of one's
own passions, and triumphant over external circumstances which may
mould, but not dominate, a God-obeying life, the psalmist would fain
open his mouth unabashed before rulers. The "kings" spoken of in ver.
46 may be foreign rulers, possibly the representatives of the Persian
monarch, or later alien sovereigns, or the expression may be quite
general, and the speaker be a private person, who feels his courage
rising as he enters into the liberty of perfect submission.
Vv. 47, 48, are general expressions of delight in the Law. Lifting
the hands towards the commandments seems to be a figure for reverent
regard, or longing, as one wistfully stretches them out towards some
dear person or thing that one would fain draw closer. The phrase
"which I love" in ver. 48 overweights the clause, and is probably a
scribe's erroneous repetition of 47_b_.
§ ז
49 Remember the word to Thy servant,
On which Thou hast caused me to hope.
50 This is my comfort in my affliction,
That Thy promise has given me life.
51 The proud have derided me exceedingly,
From Thy law I have not declined.
52 I have remembered Thy judgments [which are] from of old, Jehovah,
And I have comforted myself.
53 Fiery anger has seized me because of the wicked,
Who forsake Thy law.
54 Thy statutes have been songs for me,
In my house of sojourning.
55 I remembered Thy name in the night, Jehovah,
And observed Thy law.
56 This good has been mine,
That I have kept Thy precepts.
This section has only one verse of petition, the others being mainly
avowals of adherence to the Law in the face of various trials.
The single petition (ver. 49) pleads the relation of servant, as
giving a claim on the great Lord of the household, and adduces God's
having encouraged hope as imposing on Him an obligation to fulfil
it. Expectations fairly deduced from His word are prophets of their
own realisation. In ver. 50, "This" points to the fact stated in
_b_--namely, that the Word had already proved its power in the past
by quickening the psalmist to new courage and hope--and declares that
that remembered experience solaces his present sorrow. A heart that
has been revived by life-giving contact with the Word has a hidden
warmth beneath the deepest snows, and cleaves the more to that Word.
Vv. 51-53 describe the attitude of the lover of the Law in presence
of the ungodly. He is as unmoved by shafts of ridicule as by the
heavier artillery of slander and plots (ver. 23). To be laughed out
of one's faith is even worse than to be terrified out of it. The
lesson is not needless in a day when adherence and obedience to
the Word are smiled at in so many quarters as indicating inferior
intelligence. The psalmist held fast by it, and while laughter, with
more than a trace of bitterness, rung about him, threw himself back
on God's ancient and enduring words, which made the scoffs sound very
hollow and transient (ver. 52). Righteous indignation, too, rises
in a devout soul at sight of men's departure from God's law (ver.
53). The word rendered "fiery anger" is found in xi. 6 ("a wind of
_burning_"), and is best taken as above, though some would render
_horror_. The wrath was not unmingled with compassion (ver. 136),
and, whilst it is clearly an emotion belonging to the Old Testament
rather than to the Christian type of devotion, it should be present,
in softened form, in our feelings towards evil.
In ver. 54 the psalmist turns from gainsayers. He strikes again the
note of ver. 19, calling earth his place of transitory abode, or,
as we might say, his inn. The brevity of life would be crushing,
if God had not spoken to us. Since He has, the pilgrims can march
"with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads," and all about
their moving camp the sound of song may echo. To its lovers, God's
law is not "harsh and crabbed ... but musical as is Apollo's lute."
This psalm is one of the poet's songs. Even those of us who are not
singers can and should meditate on God's law, till its melodious
beauty is disclosed and its commandments, that sometimes sound stern,
set themselves to rhythm and harmony. As God's words took bitterness
out of the thought of mortality, so His name remembered in the night
brought light into darkness, whether physical or other. We often lose
our memory of God and our hold of His hand when in sorrow, and grief
sometimes thinks that it has a dispensation from obedience. So we
shall be the better for remembering the psalmist's experience, and
should, like him, cling to the Name in the dark, and then we shall
have light enough to "observe Thy law." Ver. 56 looks back on the
mingled life of good and evil, of which some of the sorrows have just
been touched, and speaks deep contentment with its portion. Whatever
else is withheld or withdrawn, that lot is blessed which has been
helped by God to keep His precepts, and they are happy and wise who
deliberately prefer that good to all beside.
§ ח
57 My portion is Jehovah,
I have said that I would observe Thy words.
58 I have sought Thy favour with my whole heart,
Be merciful to me according to Thy promise.
59 I have thought on my ways,
And turned my feet to Thy testimonies.
60 I hasted and delayed not
To observe Thy commandments.
61 The cords of the wicked have enwrapped me,
Thy law have I not forgotten.
62 At midnight will I rise to thank Thee,
Because of Thy righteous judgments.
63 A companion am I of all who fear Thee,
And of those who observe Thy precepts.
64 Of Thy lovingkindness, Jehovah, the earth is full,
Thy statutes do Thou teach me.
Ver. 57 goes to the root of the matter in setting forth the resolve
of obedience as the result of the consciousness of possessing God. He
who feels, in his own happy heart, that Jehovah is his portion will
be moved thereby to vow to keep His words. This psalmist had learned
the evangelical lesson that he did not win God by keeping the Law,
but that he was moved to keep the Law because he had won God; and he
had also learned the companion truth, that the way to retain that
possession is obedience.
Ver. 58 corresponds in some measure to ver. 57, but the order of
clauses is inverted, _a_ stating the psalmist's prayer, as ver. 57_b_
did his resolve, and _b_ building on his cry the hope that God would
be truly his portion and bestow His favour on him. But the true ground
of our hope is not our most whole-hearted prayers, but God's promise.
The following five verses change from the key of petition into that
of profession of obedience to, and delight in, the Law. The fruit of
wise consideration of one's conduct is willing acceptance of God's
law as His witness of what is right for us. The only "ways" which
sober consideration will approve are those marked out in mercy by
Him, and meditation on conduct is worthless if it does not issue in
turning our feet into these. Without such meditation we shall wander
on bye-ways and lose ourselves. Want of thought ruins men (ver. 59).
But such turning of our feet to the right road has many foes, and
chief among them is lingering delay. Therefore resolve must never be
let cool, but be swiftly carried into action (ver. 60). The world is
full of snares, and they lie thick round our feet whenever these are
turned towards God's ways. The only means of keeping clear of them
is to fix heart and mind on God's law. Then we shall be able to pick
our steps among traps and pits (ver. 61). Physical weariness limits
obedience, and needful sleep relaxes nervous tension, so that many a
strenuous worker and noble aspirant falls beneath his daylight self
in wakeful night seasons. Blessed they who in the night see visions
of God and meditate on His law, not on earthly vanities or aims (ver.
62). Society has its temptations as solitude has. The man whose heart
has fed in secret on God and His law will naturally gravitate towards
like-minded people. Our relation to God and His uttered will should
determine our affinities with men, and it is a bad sign when natural
impulses do not draw us to those who fear God. Two men who have that
fear in common are liker each other in their deepest selves, however
different they may be in other respects, than either of them is to
those to whom he is likest in surface characteristics and unlike in
this supreme trait (ver. 63). One pathetic petition closes the section.
In ver. 19 the psalmist had based his prayer for illumination on his
being a stranger on earth; here he grounds it on the plenitude of God's
loving-kindness, which floods the world. It is the same plea in another
form. All creatures bask in the light of God's love, which falls on
each in a manner appropriate to its needs. Man's supreme need is the
knowledge of God's statutes; therefore, the same all-embracing Mercy,
which cares for these happy, careless creatures, will not be implored
in vain, to satisfy his nobler and more pressing want. All beings get
their respective boons unasked; but the pre-eminence of ours is partly
seen in this, that it cannot be given without the co-operation of our
desire. It will be given wherever that condition is fulfilled (ver. 64).
§ ט
65 Good hast Thou done with Thy servant,
Jehovah, according to Thy word.
66 Good judgment and knowledge teach me,
For I have believed Thy commandments.
67 Before I was afflicted, I went astray,
But now have I observed Thy saying.
68 Good art Thou and doing good,
Teach me Thy statutes.
69 The proud have trumped up a lie against me,
I, I with all [my] heart will keep Thy precepts.
70 Gross as fat is their heart,
I, I delight in Thy law.
71 Good for me was it that I was afflicted,
That I might learn Thy statutes.
72 Good for me is the law of Thy mouth,
Above thousands of gold and silver.
The restrictions of the acrostic structure are very obvious in this
section, five of the eight verses of which begin with "Good." The
epithet is first applied in ver. 65 to the whole of God's dealings
with the psalmist. To the devout soul all life is of one piece, and
its submission and faith exercise transmuting power on pains and
sorrows, so that the psalmist can say--
"Let one more attest,
I have lived, seen God's hand through a lifetime,
And all was for best."
The epithet is next applied (ver. 66) to the perception (lit. taste)
or faculty of discernment of good and evil, for which the psalmist
prays, basing his petition on his belief of God's word. Swift, sure,
and delicate apprehension of right and wrong comes from such belief.
The heart in which it reigns is sensitive as a goldsmith's scales or
a thermometer which visibly sinks when a cloud passes before the sun.
The instincts of faith work surely and rapidly. The settled judgment
that life had been good includes apparent evil (ver. 67), which is
real evil in so far as it pains, but is, in a deeper view, good,
inasmuch as it scourges a wandering heart back to true obedience
and therefore to well-being. The words of ver. 67 are specially
appropriate as the utterance of the Israel purified from idolatrous
tendencies by captivity, but may also be the expression of individual
experience. The epithet is next applied to God Himself (ver. 68). How
steadfast a gaze into the depths of the Divine nature and over the
broad field of the Divine activity is in that short, all-including
clause, containing but three words in the Hebrew, "Good art Thou and
doing good"! The prayer built on it is the one which continually
recurs in this psalm, and is reached by many paths. Every view of
man's condition, whether it is bright or dark, and every thought of
God, bring the psalmist to the same desire. Here God's character and
beneficence, widespread and continual, prompt to the prayer, both
because the knowledge of His will is our highest good, and because a
good God cannot but wish His servants to be like Himself, in loving
righteousness and hating iniquity.
Vv. 69 and 70 are a pair, setting forth the antithesis, frequent
in the psalm, between evil men's conduct to the psalmist and his
tranquil contemplation of, and delight in, God's precepts. False
slanders buzz about him, but he cleaves to God's Law, and is
conscious of innocence. Men are dull and insensible, as if their
hearts were waterproofed with a layer of grease, through which no
gentle rain from heaven could steal; but the psalmist is all the more
led to open his heart to the gracious influences of that law, because
others close theirs. If a bad man is not made worse by surrounding
evil, he is made better by it.
Just as in vv. 65 and 68 the same thought of God's goodness is
expressed, ver. 71 repeats the thought of ver. 67, with a slight
deepening. There the beneficent influence of sorrow was simply declared
as a fact; here it is thankfully accepted, with full submission and
consent of the will. "Good for me" means not only good in fact, but _in
my estimate_. The repetition of the phrase at the beginning of the next
verse throws light on its meaning in ver. 71. The singer thinks that
he has two real goods, pre-eminent among the uniform sequence of such,
and these are, first, his sorrows, which he reckons to be blessings,
because they have helped him to a firmer grasp of the other, the real
good for every man, the Law which is sacred and venerable, because it
has come from the very lips of Deity. That is our true wealth. Happy
they whose estimate of it corresponds to its real worth, and who have
learned, by affliction or anyhow, that material riches are dross,
compared with its solid preciousness!
§ י
73 Thy hands have made me and fashioned me,
Give me understanding that I may learn Thy commandments.
74 Let those who fear Thee see me and rejoice,
For I have waited for Thy word.
75 I know, Jehovah, that Thy judgments are in righteousness,
And that [in] faithfulness Thou hast afflicted me.
76 Oh let Thy lovingkindness be [sent] to comfort me,
According to Thy promise to Thy servant.
77 Let Thy compassions come to me that I may live,
For Thy law is my delight.
78 Let the proud be shamed, for they have lyingly dealt perversely
with me;
I, I meditate on Thy precepts.
79 Let those who fear Thee turn to me,
And they shall know Thy testimonies.
80 Let my heart be sound in Thy statutes,
That I be not shamed.
Prayer for illumination is confined to the first and last verses of
this section, the rest of which is mainly occupied with petitions for
gracious providences, based upon the grounds of the psalmist's love
of the Law, and of the encouragement to others to trust, derivable
from his experience. Ver. 73 puts forcibly the thought that man is
evidently an incomplete fragment, unless the gift of understanding
is infused into his material frame. God has begun by shaping it, and
therefore is pledged to go on to bestow spiritual discernment, when
His creature asks it. But that prayer will only be answered if the
suppliant intends to use the gift for its right purpose of learning
God's statutes. Ver. 74 prays that the psalmist may be a witness
that hope in His word is never vain, and so that his deliverances
may be occasions of widespread gladness. God's honour is involved
in answering His servant's trust. Vv. 75-77 are linked together.
"Judgments" (ver. 75) seem to mean here providential acts, not, as
generally in this psalm, the Law. The acknowledgment of the justice
and faithfulness which send sorrows precedes the two verses of
petition for "lovingkindness" and "compassions." Sorrows still sting
and burn, though recognised as sent in love, and the tried heart
yearns for these other messengers to come from God to sustain and
soothe. God's promise and the psalmist's delight in God's law are
the double ground of the twin petitions. Then follow three verses
which are discernibly connected, as expressing desires in regard to
"the proud," the devout, and the psalmist himself. He prays that
the first may be shamed--_i.e._, that their deceitful or causeless
hostility may be balked--and, as in several other verses, contrasts
his own peaceful absorption in the Law with their machinations. He
repeats the prayer of ver. 74 with a slight difference, asking that
his deliverance may draw attention to him, and that others may,
from contemplating his security, come to know the worth of God's
testimonies. In ver. 79_b_ the text reads "they shall know" (as the
result of observing the psalmist), which the Hebrew margin needlessly
alters into "those who know." For himself he prays that his heart may
be sound, or thoroughly devoted to keep the law, and then he is sure
that nothing shall ever put him to shame. "Who is he who will harm
you, if ye be zealous for that which is good?"
§ כ
81 My soul has pined for Thy salvation,
For Thy word have I waited.
82 My eyes have pined for Thy promise,
Saying, When wilt Thou comfort me?
83 For I am become like a wine-skin in the smoke;
Thy statutes have I not forgotten.
84 How many are the days of Thy servant?
When wilt Thou execute judgment on my persecutors?
85 The proud have digged pits for me,
--They who are not according to Thy law.
86 All Thy commandments are faithfulness,
Lyingly they persecute me, help Thou me.
87 They had all but made an end of me on earth,
But I, I have not forgotten Thy precepts.
88 According to Thy lovingkindness revive me,
And I will observe the testimonies of Thy mouth.
This section has more than usual continuity. The psalmist is
persecuted, and in these eight verses pours out his heart to God.
Taken as a whole, they make a lovely picture of patient endurance and
submissive longing. Intense and protracted yearning for deliverance
has wasted his very soul, but has not merged in impatience or
unbelief, for he has "waited for Thy word." His eyes have ached with
straining for the signs of approaching comfort, the coming of which
he has not doubted, but the delay of which has tried his faith. This
longing has been quickened by troubles, which have wrapped him round
like pungent smoke-wreaths eddying among the rafters, where disused
wine-skins hang and get blackened and wrinkled. So has it been with
him, but, through all, he has kept hold of God's statutes. So he
plaintively reminds God of the brevity of his life, which has so
short a tale of days that judgment on his persecutors must be swift,
if it is to be of use. Vv. 85-87 describe the busy hostility of his
foes. It is truculently contrary to God's law, and therefore, as is
implied, worthy of God's counter-working. Ver. 85_b_ is best taken
as a further description of the "proud," which is spread before God
as a reason for His judicial action. The antithesis in ver. 86,
between the "faithfulness" of the Law and the "lying" persecutors, is
the ground of the prayer, "Help Thou me." Even in extremest peril,
when he was all but made away with, the psalmist still clung to
God's precepts (ver. 87), and therefore he is heartened to pray for
reviving, and to vow that then, bound by new chains of gratitude, he
will, more than ever, observe God's testimonies. The measure of the
new wine poured into the shrivelled wine-skin is nothing less than
the measureless lovingkindness of God; and nothing but experience of
His benefits melts to obedience.
§ ל
89 For ever, Jehovah,
Thy word is set fast in the heavens.
90 To generation after generation lasts Thy faithfulness,
Thou hast established the earth, and it stands firm.
91 According to Thy ordinances they stand firm to-day,
For all [things] are Thy servants.
92 Unless Thy law had been my delight,
Then had I perished in my affliction.
93 Never will I forget Thy precepts,
For with them Thou hast revived me.
94 To Thee do I belong, save me,
For Thy precepts have I sought.
95 For me have the wicked waited to destroy me,
Thy testimonies will I consider.
96 To all perfection have I seen a limit,
Thy commandment is exceeding broad.
The stability of nature witnesses to the steadfastness of the Word
which sustains it. The Universe began and continues, because God puts
forth His will. The heavens with their pure depths would collapse,
and all their stars would flicker into darkness, if that uttered
Will did not echo through their overwhelming spaces. The solid earth
would not be solid, but for God's power immanent in it. Heaven and
earth are thus His servants. Ver. 91_a_ may possibly picture them
as standing waiting "_for_ Thine ordinances," but the indefinite
preposition is probably better regarded as equivalent to _In
accordance with_. The psalmist has reached the grand conceptions of
the universal reign of God's law, and of the continuous forth-putting
of God's will as the sustaining energy of all things. He seeks to
link himself to that great band of God's servants, to be in harmony
with stars and storms, with earth and ocean, as their fellow-servant;
but yet he feels that his relation to God's law is closer than
theirs, for he can delight in that which they unconsciously obey.
Such delight in God's uttered will changes affliction from a foe,
threatening life, to a friend, ministering strength (ver. 92). Nor
does that Law when loved only avert destruction; it also increases
vital power (ver. 93) and re-invigorates the better self. There is
a sense in which the law _can_ give life (Gal. iii. 21), but it
must be welcomed and enshrined in the heart, in order to do so. The
frequently recurring prayer for "salvation" has a double plea in
ver. 94. The soul that has yielded itself to God in joyful obedience
thereby establishes a claim on Him. He cannot but protect His own
possession. Ownership has its obligations, which He recognises.
The second plea is drawn from the psalmist's seeking after God's
precepts, without which seeking there would be no reality in his
profession of being God's. To seek them is the sure way to find
both them and salvation (ver. 94). Whom God saves, enemies will
vainly try to destroy, and, while they lurk in waiting to spring
on the psalmist, his eyes are directed, not towards them, but to
God's testimonies. To give heed to these is the sure way to escape
snares (ver. 95). Lifelong experience has taught the psalmist that
there is a flaw in every human excellence, a limit soon reached
and never passed to all that is noblest in man; but high above all
achievements, and stretching beyond present vision, is the fair ideal
bodied forth in the Law. Since it is God's commandment, it will not
always be an unreached ideal, but may be indefinitely approximated
to; and to contemplate it will be joy, when we learn that it is
prophecy because it is commandment.
§ מ
97 How I love Thy law!
All the day is it my meditation.
98 Wiser than my enemies do Thy commandments make me,
For they are mine for ever.
99 More than all my teachers am I prudent,
For Thy testimonies are my meditation.
100 More than the aged do I understand,
For Thy precepts have I kept.
101 From every evil path have I held back my feet,
That I might observe Thy word.
102 From Thy judgments have I not departed,
For Thou, Thou hast instructed me.
103 How sweet are Thy promises to my palate,
More than honey to my mouth!
104 By Thy precepts I have understanding,
Therefore I hate every path of falsehood.
One thought pervades this section, that the Law is the fountain
of sweetest wisdom. The rapture of love with which it opens is
sustained throughout. The psalmist knows that he has not merely more
wisdom of the same sort as his enemies, his teachers, and the aged
have, but wisdom of a better kind. His foes were wise in craft,
and his teachers drew their instructions from earthly springs,
and the elders had learned that bitter, worldly wisdom, which has
been disillusioned of youth's unsuspectingness and dreams, without
being thereby led to grasp that which is no illusion. But a heart
which simply keeps to the Law reaches, in its simplicity, a higher
truth than these know, and has instinctive discernment of good and
evil. Worldly wisdom is transient. "Whether there be knowledge, it
shall be done away," but the wisdom that comes with the commandment
is enduring as it (ver. 98). Meditation must be accompanied with
practice, in order to make the true wisdom one's own. The depths of
the testimonies must be sounded by patient brooding on them, and
then the knowledge thus won must be carried into act. To do what we
know is the sure way to know it better, and to know more (vv. 99,
100). And that positive obedience has to be accompanied by abstinence
from evil ways; for in such a world as this "Thou shalt not" is the
necessary preliminary to "Thou shalt." The psalmist has a better
teacher than those whom he has outgrown, even God Himself, and His
instruction has a graciously constraining power, which keeps its
conscious scholars in the right path (ver. 102). These thoughts draw
another exclamation from the poet, who feels, as he reflects on his
blessings, that the law beloved ceases to be harsh and is delightsome
as well as healthgiving. It is promise as well as law, for God will
help us to be what He commands us to be. They who love the Lawgiver
find sweetness in the law (ver. 103). And this is the blessed effect
of the wisdom which it gives, that it makes us quick to detect
sophistries which tempt into forbidden paths, and fills us with
wholesome detestation of these (ver. 104).
§ נ
105 A lamp to my foot is Thy word,
And a light to my path.
106 I have sworn, and have fulfilled it,
To observe Thy righteous judgments.
107 I am afflicted exceedingly,
Jehovah, revive me according to Thy word.
108 The free-will offerings of my mouth accept, I pray Thee,
Jehovah,
And teach me Thy judgments.
109 My soul is continually in my hand,
But Thy law I do not forget.
110 The wicked have laid a snare for me,
Yet from Thy precepts I do not stray.
111 Thy testimonies have I taken as my heritage for ever,
For the joy of my heart are they.
112 I have inclined my heart to perform Thy statutes,
For ever, [to the] end.
A lamp is for night; light shines in the day. The Word is both, to
the psalmist. His antithesis may be equivalent to a comprehensive
declaration that the Law is light of every sort, or it may intend to
lay stress on the varying phases of experience, and turn our thoughts
to that Word which will gleam guidance in darkness, and shine, a better
sun, on bright hours. The psalmist's choice, not merely the inherent
power of the Law, is expressed in ver. 105. He has taken it for his
guide, or, as ver. 106 says, has sworn and kept his oath, that he would
observe the righteous decisions, which would point to his foot the
true path. The affliction bemoaned in ver. 107 is probably the direct
result of the conduct professed in ver. 106. The prayer for reviving,
which means deliverance from outward evils rather than spiritual
quickening, is, therefore, presented with confidence, and based upon
the many promises in the Word of help to sufferers for righteousness.
Whatever our afflictions, there is ease in telling God of them, and
if our desires for His help are "according to Thy word," they will be
as willing to accept help to bear as help which removes the sorrow,
and thus will not be offered unanswered. That cry for reviving is
best understood as being "the free-will offerings" which the psalmist
prays may be accepted. Happy in their afflictions are they whose chief
desire even then is to learn more of God's statutes! They will find
that their sorrows are their best teachers. If we wish most to make
advances in His school, we shall not complain of the guides to whom He
commits us. Continual alarms and dangers tend to foster disregard of
Duty, as truly as does the opposite state of unbroken security. A man
absorbed in keeping himself alive is apt to think he has no attention
to spare for God's law (ver. 109), and one ringed about by traps is apt
to take a circuit to avoid them, even at the cost of divergence from
the path marked out by God (ver. 110). But, even in such circumstances,
the psalmist did what all good men have to do, deliberately chose his
portion, and found God's law better than any outward good, as being
able to diffuse deep, sacred, and perpetual joy through all his inner
nature. The heart thus filled with serene gladness is thereby drawn to
perform God's statutes with lifelong persistency, and the heart thus
inclined to obedience has tapped the sources of equally enduring joy.
§ ס
113 The double-minded I hate,
But Thy law I love.
114 My shelter and my shield art Thou,
For Thy word have I waited.
115 Depart from me, ye evil-doers,
That I may keep the commandments of my God.
116 Uphold me according to Thy promise that I may live,
And let me not be ashamed of my hope.
117 Hold me up and I shall be saved,
And have regard to Thy statutes continually.
118 Thou makest light of all those who stray from Thy statutes,
For their deceit is a lie.
119 [Like] dross Thou hast cast aside all the wicked of the earth,
Therefore I love Thy testimonies.
120 My flesh creeps for fear of Thee,
And of Thy judgments I am afraid.
This section is mainly the expression of firm resolve to cleave
to the Law. Continuity may be traced in it, since vv. 113-115
breathe love and determination, which pass in vv. 116, 117, into
prayer, in view of the psalmist's weakness and the strength of
temptation, while in vv. 118-120 the fate of the despisers of the Law
intensifies the psalmist's clinging grasp of awe-struck love. Hatred
of "double-minded" who waver between God and idols, and are weak
accordingly, rests upon, and in its turn increases, whole-hearted
adherence to the Law.
It is a tepid devotion to it which does not strongly recoil from
lives that water down its precepts and try to walk on both sides of
the way at once. Whoever has taken God for his defence can afford
to bide God's time for fulfilment of His promises (ver. 114). And
the natural results of such love to, and waiting for, His word are
resolved separation from the society of those whose lives are moulded
on opposite principles, and the ordering of external relations in
accordance with the supreme purpose of keeping the commandments of
Him whom love and waiting claim as "my God" (ver. 115). But resolves
melt in the fire of temptation, and the psalmist knows life and
himself too well to trust himself. So he betakes himself to prayer
for God's upholding, without which he cannot live. A hope built on
God's promise has a claim on Him, and its being put to shame in
disappointment would be dishonour to God (ver. 116). The psalmist
knows that his wavering will can only be fixed by God, and that
experience of His sustaining hand will make a stronger bond between
God and him than anything besides. The consciousness of salvation
must precede steadfast regard to the precepts of the God who saves
(ver. 117). To stray from the Law is ruin, as is described in vv.
118, 119. They who wander are despised or made light of, "for their
deceit is a lie"--_i.e._, the hopes and plans with which they deceive
themselves are false. It is a gnarled way of saying that all godless
life is a blunder as well as a sin, and is fed with unrealisable
promises. Dross is flung away when the metal is extracted. Slag from
a furnace is hopelessly useless, and this psalmist thinks that the
wicked of the earth are "thrown as rubbish to the void." He is not
contemplating a future life, but God's judgments as manifested here
in providence, and his faith is assured that, even here, that process
is visible. Therefore, gazing upon the fate of evil-doers, his flesh
creeps and every particular hair stands on end (as the word means).
His dread is full of love, and love is full of dread. Profoundly are
the two emotions yoked together in vv. 119_b_ and 120_b_, "I _love_
Thy testimonies ... of Thy judgments I am _afraid_."
§ ע
121 I have done judgment and righteousness,
Thou wilt not leave me to my oppressors.
122 Be surety for Thy servant for good,
Let not the proud oppress me.
123 My eyes pine for Thy salvation
And for Thy righteous promise.
124 Deal with Thy servant according to Thy lovingkindness,
And teach me Thy statutes.
125 Thy servant am I; give me understanding,
That I may know Thy testimonies.
126 It is time for Jehovah to work,
They have made void Thy law.
127 Therefore I love Thy commandments
More than gold and more than fine gold.
128 Therefore I esteem all Thy precepts to be right,
Every false way do I hate.
The thought of evil-doers tinges most of this section. It opens with
a triplet of verses, occasioned by their oppressions of the psalmist,
and closes with a triplet occasioned by their breaches of the Law. In
the former, he is conscious that he has followed the "judgment" or law
of God, and hence hopes that he will not be abandoned to his foes. The
consciousness and the hope equally need limitation, to correspond with
true estimates of ourselves and with facts; for there is no absolute
fulfilment of the Law, and good men are often left to be footballs for
bad ones. But in its depths the confidence is true. Precisely because
he has it, the psalmist prays that it may be vindicated by facts. "Be
surety for Thy servant"--a profound image, drawn from legal procedure,
in which one man becomes security for another and makes good his
deficiencies. Thus God will stand between the hunted man and his foes,
undertaking for him. "Thou shalt answer, Lord, for me." How much the
fulfilment in Christ has exceeded the desire of the psalmist! "The
oppressors' wrong" had lasted long, and the singer's weary eyes had
been strained in looking for the help which seemed to tarry (compare
ver. 82), and that fainting gaze humbly appeals to God. Will He not end
the wistful watching speedily? Vv. 124, 125, are a pair, the psalmist's
relation of servant being adduced in both as the ground of his prayer
for teaching. But they differ, in that the former verse lays stress
on the consonance of such instruction with God's lovingkindness,
and the latter, on its congruity with the psalmist's position and
character as His servant. God's best gift is the knowledge of His will,
which He surely will not withhold from spirits willing to serve, if
they only knew how. Vv. 126-128 are closely linked. The psalmist's
personal wrongs melt into the wider thought of wickedness which does
its little best to make void that sovereign, steadfast law. Delitzsch
would render "It is time to work for Jehovah"; and the meaning thus
obtained is a worthy one. But that given above is more in accordance
with the context. It is bold--and would be audacious if a prayer did
not underlie the statement--to undertake to determine when evil has
reached such height as to demand God's punitive action. But, however
slow we should be to prescribe to Him the when or the how of His
intervention, we may learn from the psalmist's emphatic "Therefores,"
which stand co-ordinately at the beginnings of vv. 127, 128, that the
more men make void the Law, the more should God's servants prize it,
and the more should they bind its precepts on their moral judgment, and
heartily loathe all paths which, specious as they may be, are "paths of
falsehood," though all the world may avow that they are true.
§ פ
129 Wonderful are Thy testimonies,
Therefore my soul keeps them.
130 The opening of Thy words gives light,
It gives understanding to the simple.
131 My mouth did I open wide, and panted,
For I longed for Thy commandments.
132 Turn to me and be gracious to me,
According to the right of those who love Thy name.
133 Establish my steps by Thy promise,
And let not iniquity lord it over me.
134 Redeem me from the oppression of men,
That I may observe Thy precepts.
135 Cause Thy face to shine upon Thy servant,
And teach me Thy statutes.
136 My eyes run down [in] streamlets of water,
Because men observe not Thy law.
Devout souls do not take offence at the depths and difficulties of
God's word, but are thereby drawn to intenser contemplation of them. We
weary of the Trivial and Obvious. That which tasks and outstrips our
powers attracts. But the obscurity must not be arbitrary, but inherent,
a clear obscure, like the depths of a pure sea. These wonderful
testimonies give light, notwithstanding, or rather because of, their
wonderfulness, and it is the simple heart, not the sharpened intellect,
that penetrates furthest into them and finds light most surely (ver.
130). Therefore the psalmist longs for God's commandments, like a
wild creature panting open-mouthed for water. He puts to shame our
indifference. If his longing was not excessive, how defective is ours!
Ver. 132, like ver. 122, has no distinct allusion to the Law, though
the word rendered in it "right" is that used in the psalm for the Law
considered as "judgments." The prayer is a bold one, pleading what is
justly due to the lovers of God's name. Kay appropriately quotes "God
is not _unrighteous_ to forget your work and labour of _love_, which ye
have showed towards His _name_" (Heb. vi. 10). One would have expected
"Law" instead of "name" in the last word of the verse, and possibly
the conception of Law may be, as it were, latent in "name," for the
latter does carry in it imperative commandments and plain revelations
of duty. God's Name holds the Law in germ. The Law is but the expansion
of the meaning of the Name. "Promise" in ver. 133 (lit. saying) must
be taken in a widened sense, as including all God's revealed will. The
only escape from the tyranny of sin is to have our steps established by
God's word, and His help is needed for such establishment. Rebellion
against sin's dominion is already victory over it, if the rebel summons
God's heavenly reinforcements to his help. It is a high attainment to
desire deliverance from men, chiefly in order to observe, unhindered,
God's commandments (ver. 134). And it is as high a desire to seek
the light of God's face mainly as the means of seeing His will more
clearly. The psalmist did not merely wish for outward prosperity or
inward cheer and comfort, but that these might contribute to fulfilling
his deepest wish of learning better what God would have him to do (ver.
135). The moods of indignation (ver. 53) and of hatred (vv. 104, 113,
128) have given place to softer emotions, as they ever should (ver.
136). Tears and dewy pity should mingle with righteous anger, as when
Jesus "looked round about on them with anger, being with the anger
grieved at the hardening of their heart" (Mark iii. 5).
§ צ
137 Righteous art Thou, Jehovah,
And upright are Thy judgments.
138 In righteousness Thou hast commanded Thy testimonies,
And in exceeding faithfulness.
139 My zeal has consumed me,
For my adversaries have forgotten Thy words.
140 Well tried by fire is Thy promise,
And Thy servant loves it.
141 Small and despised am I,
Thy precepts have I not forgotten.
142 Thy righteousness is righteousness for ever,
And Thy law is truth.
143 Distress and anguish have found me,
Thy commandments are my delight.
144 Righteousness for ever are Thy testimonies,
Give me understanding that I may live.
The first word suggested to the psalmist under this letter is
Righteousness. That august conception was grasped by devout Israelites
with a tenacity, and assumed a prominence in their thoughts,
unparalleled elsewhere. It is no mere yielding to the requirements of
the acrostic scheme which sets that great word in four of the eight
verses of this section (137, 138, 142, 144). Two thoughts are common to
them all, that Righteousness has its seat in the bosom of God, and that
the Law is a true transcript of that Divine righteousness. These things
being so, it follows that the Law is given to men in accordance with
the Divine "faithfulness"--_i.e._, in remembrance and discharge of the
obligations which God has undertaken towards them. Nor less certainly
does it follow that that Law, which is the "eradiation" of God's
righteousness, is eternal as its fontal source (vv. 142, 144). The beam
must last as long as the sun. No doubt, there are transient elements
in the Law which the psalmist loved, but its essence is everlasting,
because its origin is God's everlasting Righteousness. So absorbed is
he in adoring contemplation of it, that he even forgets to pray for
help to keep it, and not till ver. 144 does he ask for understanding
that he may live. True life is in the knowledge of the Law by which God
is known, as Jesus has taught us that to know the only true God is life
eternal. A faint gleam of immortal hope perhaps shines in that prayer,
for if the "testimonies" are for ever, and the knowledge of them is
life, it cannot be that they shall outlast the soul that knows and
lives by them. One more characteristic of God's righteous testimonies
is celebrated in ver. 140--namely, that they have stood sharp tests,
and, like metal in the furnace, have not been dissolved but brightened
by the heat. They have been tested, when the psalmist was afflicted and
found them to hold true. The same fire tried him and them, and he does
not glorify his own endurance, but the promise which enabled him to
stand firm. The remaining verses of the section describe the psalmist's
afflictions and clinging to the Law. Ver. 139 recurs to his emotions
on seeing men's neglect of it. "Zeal" here takes the place of grief
(ver. 136) and of indignation and hatred. Friction against widespread
godlessness generates a flame of zeal, as it should always do. "Small
and despised" was Israel among the great powers of the ancient world,
but he who meditates on the Law is armed against contempt and contented
in insignificance (ver. 141). "Distress and anguish" may surround him,
but hidden springs of "delight" well up in the heart that cleaves to
the Law, like outbursts of fresh water rising to the surface of a salt
sea (ver. 144).
§ ק
145 I have called with my whole heart; answer me, Jehovah;
Thy statutes will I keep.
146 I have called unto Thee, save me,
And I will observe Thy testimonies.
147 I anticipated the morning twilight and cried aloud,
For Thy word I waited.
148 My eyes anticipated the night watches,
That I might meditate on Thy promise.
149 Hear my voice according to Thy lovingkindness,
Jehovah, according to Thy judgments revive me.
150 They draw near who follow after mischief,
From Thy law they are far off.
151 Near art Thou, Jehovah,
And all Thy commandments are truth.
152 Long ago have I known from Thy testimonies,
That Thou hast founded them for ever.
The first two verses are a pair, in which former prayers for
deliverance and vows of obedience are recalled and repeated. The
tone of supplication prevails through the section. The cries now
presented are no new things. The psalmist's habit has been prayer,
whole-hearted, continued, and accompanied with the resolve to keep by
obedience and to observe with sharpened watchfulness the utterances
of God's will. Another pair of verses follows (vv. 147, 148), which
recall the singer's wakeful devotion. His voice rose to God ere
the dim morning broke, and his heart kept itself in submissive
expectance. His eyes saw God's promises shining in the nightly
darkness, and making meditation better than sleep. The petitions
in ver. 149 may be taken as based upon the preceding pairs. The
psalmist's patient continuance gives him ground to expect an answer.
But the true ground is God's character, as witnessed by His deeds of
loving-kindness and His revelation of His "judgments" in the Law.
Another pair of verses follows (vv. 150, 151), in which the hostile
nearness of the psalmist's foes, gathering round him with malignant
purpose, is significantly contrasted, both with their remoteness
in temper from the character enjoined in the Law, and with the yet
closer proximity of the assailed man's defender. He who has God near
him, and who realises that His "commandments are truth," can look
untrembling on mustering masses of enemies. This singer had learned
that before danger threatened. The last verse of the section breathes
the same tone of long-continued and habitual acquaintance with God
and His Law as the earlier pairs of verses do. The convictions of a
lifetime were too deeply rooted to be disturbed by such a passing
storm. There is, as it were, a calm smile of triumphant certitude in
that "Long ago." Experience teaches that the foundation, laid for
trust as well as for conduct in the Law, is too stable to be moved,
and that we need not fear to build our all on it. Let us build rock
on that rock, and answer God's everlasting testimonies with our
unwavering reliance and submission.
§ ר
153 See my affliction, and deliver me,
For Thy law do I not forget.
154 Plead my plea and redeem me,
Revive me according to Thy promise.
155 Far from the wicked is salvation,
For they seek not Thy statutes.
156 Thy compassions are many, Jehovah,
According to Thy judgments revive me.
157 Many are my pursuers and my adversaries,
From Thy testimonies I have not declined.
158 I beheld the faithless and loathed [them]
Because they observed not Thy promise.
159 See how I love Thy precepts,
Jehovah, according to Thy lovingkindness revive me.
160 The sum of Thy word is truth,
And every one of Thy righteous judgments endures for ever.
The prayer "revive me" occurs thrice in this section. It is not
a petition for spiritual quickening so much as for removal of
calamities, which restrained free, joyous life. Its repetition
accords with other characteristics of this section, which is markedly
a cry from a burdened heart. The psalmist is in affliction; he is, as
it were, the defendant in a suit, a captive needing a strong avenger
(ver. 154), compassed about by a swarm of enemies (ver. 157), forced
to endure the sight of the faithless and to recoil from them (ver.
158). His thoughts vibrate between his needs and God's compassions,
between his own cleaving to the Law and its grand comprehensiveness
and perpetuity. His prayer now is not for fuller knowledge of the
Law, but for rescue from his troubles. It is worth while to follow
his swift turns of thought, which, in their windings, are shaped
by the double sense of need and of Divine fulness. First come two
plaintive cries for rescue, based in one case on his adherence to the
Law, and in the other on God's promise. Then his eye turns on those
who do not, like him, seek God's statutes, and these he pronounces,
with solemn depth of insight, to be far from the salvation which he
feels is his, because they have no desire to know God's will. That
is a pregnant word. Swiftly he turns from these unhappy ones to gaze
on the multitude of God's compassions, which hearten him to repeat
his prayer for revival, according to God's "judgments"--_i.e._, His
decisions contained in the Law. But, again, his critical position
among enemies forces itself into remembrance, and he can only plead
that, in spite of them, he has held fast by the Law, and, when
compelled to see apostates, has felt no temptation to join them, but
a wholesome loathing of all departure from God's word. That loathing
was the other side of his love. The more closely we cleave to God's
precepts, the more shall we recoil from modes of thought and life
which flout them. And then the psalmist looks wistfully up once
more, and asks that his love may receive what God's loving-kindness
emboldens it to look for as its result--namely, the reviving, which
he thus once more craves. That love for the Law has led him into
the depths of understanding God's Word, and so his lowly petitions
swell into the declaration, which he has verified in life, that its
sum-total is truth, and a perpetual possession for loving hearts,
however ringed round by enemies and "weighed upon by sore distress."
§ ש
161 Princes have persecuted me without a cause,
But at Thy words my heart stands in awe.
162 I rejoice over Thy promise,
As one that finds great booty.
163 Lying I hate and abhor,
Thy law do I love.
164 Seven times a day I praise Thee,
Because of Thy righteous judgments.
165 Great peace have they that love Thy law,
And they have no stumbling-block.
166 I have hoped for Thy salvation, Jehovah,
And Thy commandments have I done.
167 My soul has observed Thy testimonies,
And I love them exceedingly.
168 I have observed Thy precepts and Thy testimonies,
For all my ways are before Thee.
The tone of this section is in striking contrast with that of the
preceding. Here, with the exception of the first clause of the first
verse, all is sunny, and the thunder-clouds are hull down on the
horizon. Joy, peace, and hope breathe through the song. Beautifully
are reverential awe and exuberant gladness blended as contemporaneous
results of listening to God's word. There is rapture in that awe;
there is awe in that bounding gladness. To possess that Law is
better than to win rich booty. The spoils of the conflict, which we
wage with our own negligence or disobedience, are our best wealth.
The familiar connection between love of the Law and hatred of lives
which depart from it, and are therefore lies and built on lies,
re-appears, yet not as the ground of prayer for help, but as part of
the blessed treasures which the psalmist is recounting. His life is
accompanied by music of perpetual praise. Seven times a day--_i.e._,
unceasingly--his glad heart breaks into song, and "the o'ercome of
his song" is ever God's righteous judgments. His own experience
gives assurance of the universal truth that the love of God's law
secures peace, inasmuch as such love brings the heart into contact
with absolute good, inasmuch as submission to God's will is always
peace, inasmuch as the fountain of unrest is dried up, inasmuch as
all outward things are allies of such a heart and serve the soul
that serves God. Such love saves from falling over stumbling-blocks,
and enables a man "to walk firmly and safely on the clear path of
duty." Like the dying Jacob, such a man waits for God's salvation,
patiently expecting that each day will bring its own form of help and
deliverance, and his waiting is no idle anticipation, but full of
strenuous obedience (ver. 166), and of watchful observance, such as
the eyes of a servant direct to his master (ver. 167_a_). Love makes
such a man keen to note the slightest indications of God's will,
and eager to obey them all (vv. 167_b_, 168_a_). All this joyous
profession of the psalmist's happy experience he spreads humbly
before God, appealing to Him whether it is true. He is not flaunting
his self-righteousness in God's face, but gladly recounting to God's
honour all the "spoil" that he has found, as he penetrated into the
Law and it penetrated into his inmost being.
§ ת
169 Let my cry come near before Thy face, Jehovah,
According to Thy word give me understanding.
170 Let my supplication come before Thy face,
According to Thy promise deliver me.
171 My lips shall well forth praise,
For Thou teachest me Thy statutes.
172 My tongue shall sing of Thy promise,
For all Thy commandments are righteousness.
173 Let Thy hand be [stretched out] to help me,
For Thy precepts have I chosen.
174 I long for Thy salvation, Jehovah,
And Thy law is my delight.
175 Let my soul live and it shall praise Thee,
And let Thy judgments help me.
176 I have strayed like a lost sheep, seek Thy servant,
For Thy commandments do I not forget.
The threads that have run through the psalm are knotted firmly
together in this closing section, which falls into four pairs
of verses. In the first, the manifold preceding petitions are
concentrated into two for understanding and deliverance, the twin
needs of man, of which the one covers the whole ground of inward
illumination, and the other comprises all good for outward life,
while both are in accordance with the large confidence warranted
by God's faithful words. Petition passes into praise. The psalmist
instinctively obeys the command, "By prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving let your requests be made known." His lips give forth
not only shrill cries of need, but well up songs of thanks; and,
while a thousand mercies impel the sparkling flood of praise, the
chief of these is God's teaching him His righteous statutes (vv.
171, 172). In the next pair of verses, the emphasis lies, not on
the prayer for help, so much as on its grounds in the psalmist's
deliberate choice of God's precepts, his patient yearning for God's
salvation, and his delight in the Law, all of which characteristics
have been over and over again professed in the psalm. Here, once
more, they are massed together, not in self-righteousness, but as
making it incredible that, God being the faithful and merciful
God which He is, His hand should hang idle when His servant cries
for help (vv. 173, 174). The final pair of verses sets forth the
relations of the devout soul with God in their widest and most
permanent forms. The true life of the soul must come from Him, the
Fountain of Life. A soul thus made to live by communion with, and
derivation of life from, God lives to praise, and all its motions are
worship. To it the Law is no menace nor unwelcome restriction but a
helper. Life drawn from God, turned to God in continual praise, and
invigorated by unfailing helps ministered through His uttered will,
is the only life worth living. It is granted to all who ask for it.
But a lower, sadder note must ever mingle in our prayers. Aspiration
and trust must be intertwined with consciousness of weakness and
distrust of one's self. Only those who are ignorant of the steps
of the soul's pilgrimage to God can wonder that the psalmist's
last thoughts about himself blend confession of wandering like a
straying sheep, and profession of not forgetting God's commandments.
Both phases of consciousness co-exist in the true servant of God,
as, alas! both have grounds in his experience. But our sense of
having wandered should ever be accompanied with the tender thought
that the lost sheep _is_ a sheep, beloved and sought for by the
great Shepherd, in whose search, not in our own docile following
of His footsteps, lies our firmest hope. The psalmist prayed "Seek
Thy servant," for he knew how continually he would be tempted to
stray. But we know better than he did how wonderfully the answer has
surpassed his petition. "The Son of Man is come to seek and to save
that which was lost."