Psalm 119

Notes

As in the works of God 'one star differeth from another star in glory,' it is not surprising if, in the Word of God, one portion is found to surpass another in the preciousness of its sacred contents. All parts of Scripture are alike true; yet are there various ways in which one portion may surpass another. Some parts surpass others because they concentrate truths of deeper interest; point the finger of their light towards fairer objects; stir up the weary spirit to higher aspirations; and minister to the sick soul the air and the sun of a brighter climate—and all this because they contain more than other portions do of the person, the humiliation, the sorrows, the fervent prayers, the strong cries, the flowing tears, and earnest supplications—and more of the death, the sacrifice, the resurrection, the righteousness, the intercession, and glory of Jesus!

Of Ps. cxix. all this is specially true; other psalms shine as suns in the firmament; this is a constellation of suns—a galaxy of divine light and glory—Jesus its 'all and in all.' That this may appear, the attention of the unprejudiced and godly reader is humbly solicited to the following facts: (1) One speaker, whoever he be, speaks of himself throughout the whole psalm. (2) The following is the speaker's character, drawn by himself, under the sure guidance of the Spirit of God: 'With my whole heart have I sought thee, ver. 10.—Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee, 11.—With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth, 13.—I will not forget thy word, 16.—My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times, 20.—I have kept thy testimonies, 22.—Teach me, O Lord, the way of thy statutes, and I shall keep it unto the end, 33.—I shall keep thy law; I shall observe it with my whole heart, 34.— I shall keep thy law continually, for ever and ever, 44.—I have not declined from thy law, 51.—I have kept thy law, 55.—I kept thy precepts, 56.—I will keep thy precepts with my whole heart, 69.—I forsook not; I will never forget thy precepts, 87, 88.— Thou, through thy commandments, hast made me wiser than all mine enemies; for they (the commandments) are ever with me, 98.—I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts, 100.—I have refrained my feet from every evil way, 101.—I have not departed from thy judgments, 102.—I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments, 106.—I do not forget thy law; I erred not from thy precepts; I have inclined my heart to perform thy statutes alway, 109-112.—I will keep the commandments of my God, 115.—I will have respect unto thy statutes continually, 117.—I have done judgment and justice, 124.—Thy testimonies are wonderful, therefore doth my soul keep them, 129.—My zeal hath consumed me, 139.—I cried with my whole heart: hear me, O Lord, I will keep thy statutes, 145.—I do not decline from thy testimonies, 157.— I have hoped for thy salvation, and done thy commandments; I have kept thy precepts and thy testimonies, for all my ways are before thee, 166-168.—I have chosen thy precepts; I do not forget thy commandments,' 173-176.

Now, that David never imagined such a character for himself is historically unquestionable. The finger of the Spirit of truth ever pointing to his sin renders the supposition impossible. Would Paul have mistaken the portrait for his own? When he dipped his pencil in colours of truth and light, he produced a portrait of himself, inscribed as 'the chief of sinners.' Who then is this? Say, is not this Jesus, the chiefest among ten thousand, and altogether lovely? Yes, this is unquestionably the guileless, the spotless Lamb, who magnified the law and made it honourable: who knew no sin, yet was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

In face of this inevitable conclusion, three difficulties present themselves: (1) In ver. 67 the speaker admits, 'Before I was afflicted, I went astray;' and does not this seem to imply an acknowledgment of personal error and sin? Not so, the difficulty arises from the translation. The word here translated 'went astray,' signifies to wander, either naturally or morally. Thus it is translated in a natural and not a moral sense, Ge. 21. 14; 37. 15. Now, if the natural sense explain the passage, and if the moral sense of wandering be utterly inconsistent with the asserted character of the speaker—a character, be it remembered, every word of which has passed the testing fire of the Holy Spirit, then surely there can be no doubt, that in the natural, and not in the moral sense, the word wandered is here to be taken. (2) A second obstruction to the acknowledgment of Jesus in this psalm, arises from the frequent prayers of the speaker for teaching and guidance. But this obstruction arises merely from allowing the brilliancy of the Son's Godhead to dazzle and confuse the eyes in contemplating his manhood. Christ was truly God, Jn. 1. 1, 14; he was as truly man, made in all things like unto his brethren, yet without sin. Now, in this humbled condition he appeared not in 'the form of God,' but 'the form of a servant.' And hence, 'though he were a Son, yet (being in servant form) learned he obedience by the things that he suffered,' He. 5. 8. And, as the teaching Spirit descends to us only by the prayer of Christ to the Father, Jn. 14. 16, so we behold our Lord, in the days of his flesh, call upon the Father for the same heavenly instruction. (3) The third obstruction to the acknowledgment of Jesus in this psalm is found in ver. 176, 'I have gone astray like a lost sheep.' This obstruction, however, is but another mistranslation. The word here translated 'gone astray,' is not the same that occurs in ver. 67. The word here used signifies to pant, and is so translated, Is. 21. 4. A more correct rendering is unquestionably as follows:—'I have panted as a sheep perishing,' and this is in perfect keeping with the life, toils, and condition of our Lord in the sorrowful days of his flesh. C.

This is the most perfect specimen of an acrostic or alphabetical psalm in the whole book. Its peculiarity lies in this, that each letter of the Hebrew alphabet in regular succession begins eight consecutive verses. Though it might be thought that such a mode of construction would give a somewhat stiff and constrained formality to the whole poem; yet such is not the case. The genius of the Hebrew poet overcame all restraints, and produced a work, perfect in form, and yet free, beautiful, and inspiring. It has been well said by a recent writer,—'If we would fathom the depth of meaning in the written law of Israel, if we would measure the elevation of soul, the hope, the confidence, even before princes and kings, which pious Jews derived from it, we must turn to this psalm. Here is an epitome of all true religion as conceived by the best spirits of that time.' P.

Ver. 1. Law. From a root signifying to teach. It here signifies all divine instruction. C.

Ver. 2. Testimonies. From a root comprehending the idea of futurity. The witnessings of God concerning things to come. C.

Ver. 4. Precepts. From a word signifying to visit, to inspect. Those orders and institutions that continually remind the church of the visitation of her omnipresent Head. C.

Ver. 5. Statutes. From a root signifying to engrave. These significant divine institutions in which man is specially required neither to add nor diminish. C.

Ver. 13. Were there no other note of character in the whole psalm, this alone seems sufficient to identify the speaker as Christ. Who else ever declared all the judgments of God?—Note, Law, testimonies, precepts, statutes, commandments, judgments, having been explained in notes on ver. 1-7, will not again be noticed. C.

Ver. 18. Those wondrous things that lay in its holy constitution—unbending justice, awful penalties, and glorious end; its successful teachings, bringing souls to Christ; and its marvellous result, in entering, that sin might abound; but effecting, in divine wisdom, that grace did much more abound. C.

Ver. 33. That Christ, though a Son, learned obedience through the things that he suffered, is the testimony of the Holy Spirit, He. 5. 8. He accordingly prays for the teaching he requires, and thereon resolves, as none but he could resolve without self-ignorance and self-reliance, that he shall keep the statutes of his Father to the end; that is, to the full production of everlasting righteousness, Ro. 10. 4. C.

Ver. 49. Wishes, expectations, and even hopes may be generated and sustained without any solid foundation. Thus it is said, the hypocrite's hope shall perish, Job 8. 13; see also Pr. 11. 7. True Christian hope can rest upon no foundation but the revealed Word of God, the word of truth and of promise that can never mislead into error, or make ashamed by disappointment. C.

Ver. 67. I went astray. Whether these be taken as the words of Christ or of some of the prophets, they cannot be taken morally, for that would contradict ver. 22, 31, 51, 55, 56, 61. But these verses describe a character applicable to none but Christ. The translation, therefore, must be (see preface to this psalm), 'I wandered,' that is, as a stranger in a strange land, till by affliction, I learned the end and business of my incarnation, ver. 73, 'was made perfect,' He. 5. 8, as an example, 1 Pe. 2. 21, and as a High-priest and sacrifice, that my church might be saved, He. 8. 1-3; 9. 28. C.

Ver. 69. 'The word rendered forged means to patch together; and then it is applied to charges or accusations against any one, perhaps from their being made up (as they often are) of shreds and patches,—hints, small matters, things having no necessary connection in themselves, but brought together as if they pertained to the same transaction,—words dropped here and there in conversation, which, being artfully woven together, seem to make out a plausible case against a man. Most slanders are formed and sustained in this way; for it is rare that an absolutely forged slander is uttered against a man, or that a charge is brought which cannot be made to have plausibility from such circumstances as those referred to above' (Barnes). P.

Ver. 83. A bottle in the smoke. First the weary soul fainted for salvation, ver. 81; then the straining eyes failed for the comfort of the word of promise; lastly, the frame became as a skin-bottle, dried and blackened in the smoke—a mean and despised receptacle in such mean and uncomfortable dwellings as the smoky cottages of the East still continue to present, from the roofs of which the skin-bottles, both for solids and fluids, are still found suspended. C.

Ver. 96. I have seen, &c. (1) In the word and covenant, ver. 89, 90; (2) in the stability of the earth, and its ordinances of the seasons, ver. 90, 91; (3) in the holy precepts of life and testimonies to hope, ver. 93-95; (4) in the afflictions which Christ endured, ver. 92, 95; and in which the length and breadth of his love constantly filled up the length and breadth of the law, Ro. 10. 8. C.

Ver. 100. I understand more than the ancients. 'Thou hast made me wiser than mine enemies,' ver. 98. 'I have more understanding than all my teachers,' Lu. 2. 46, 47. 'I understand more than the ancients,' would surely in the lips of any mere man be nothing but great swelling words of vanity. Would either Moses, David, or Solomon so have spoken in their own names? None of them would have dared so to speak of himself; Christ alone, endowed with the sevenfold gifts of the Spirit, Is. 11. 2, 3, and learning obedience by the things that he suffered, He. 5. 8, could so speak, and of him alone could the assertions be true. C.

Ver. 106. I have sworn. The power of human promise when assailed, not by unexpected, but even by foreseen temptation, receives a full and melancholy illustration in the case of our Lord's disciples, Mat. 26. 33, 35. Nor is the instructed believer ever ready to promise, much less to swear what he will do, without a prayer for preventing and assisting grace; but here is one who has sworn without reservation in the Amen he has affixed to the holy law—and who promises, in full assurance of inherent ability, ver. 112, to perform and keep God's righteous judgments. Say, can this be any other than the Christ? C.

Ver. 115. Depart from me. Contrast these words with the prophetic anticipation of judgment, Mat. 7. 23—and then say, are not these the words of Him who is appointed Judge of the quick and the dead? C.

Ver. 130. All human instruction comes by words spoken to the ear, or exhibited to the eye, or touch; these bring the light (manifestation) of natural things to the understanding. But these words always require more or less the aid of a teacher. So God teaches by words; but his Spirit is the teacher that effects the entrance and diffuses the light of Jesus! C.

Ver. 139. My zeal hath consumed me. The quotation (Jn. 2. 17) from Ps. 69. 9, and, so far as it goes, its perfect parallelism to that in this verse, affords a farther evidence that this psalm is dictated by the Spirit in the person of Christ. C.

Ver. 142. The righteousness of God never means a rule of righteousness, any more than the love of God means a mere rule of love. The love of God means just the love of God: and the righteousness of God means just the righteousness of God, neither more nor less. It is the work which God the Father gave the Son to do; it is the work which God the Son performed. The creature righteousness was dissolved: the Godhead righteousness abideth for ever. C.

Ver. 148. Study, business, and piety alike court early and late hours. The student of nature, art, literature, or science awakes before the sun, outwatches the stars, and often disregards the sacrifice of health at the shrine of his beloved idol. The pursuit of riches claims votaries still more numerous and decided. And surely piety can claim no less. Wherefore, if its studies, privileges, and duties be shuffled into some mere corner of time and attention, what is it but a sure preparative for being speedily and finally cast away?—Note, The continuity of piety in thought, temper, reading, and prayer, is the only sufficient evidence of its sincerity and vitality. C.

Ver. 156. He that prays, 'O Lord, quicken me according to thy judgments,' must be one who has nothing to fear, because certain, when judged, to be justified in the Spirit, 1 Ti. 3. 16. C.

Ver. 157. Fear, favour, and covetousness are the three great causes of declining from a faithful adherence to the testimonies of God. Fear of suffering or loss begets base compliances with error. The favour of wicked men in power leads men away from truth by the influence of pride—while the 'love of money, the root of all evil,' bribes many to forsake what they believe to be true, follow what they know to be error, and practise what they feel to be sin. C.

Ver. 164. Seven times a-day. That seven signifies completeness is undoubted. It seems equally undoubted that here it signifies seven fixed and specific periods for secret prayer.—Note, Fixed times of prayer seem to many inconsistent with the free-dom of Christianity and the circumstances of society. If piety were a restraint or a burden, this opinion might be true; but since it is a privilege and a blessing, it must be unfounded. C.

Ver. 169. Let my cry. A cry is the voice of a child in want or pain, or of man or woman in deep and poignant distress. Of the cries of our Lord in his distress we have no special record beyond that contained in Mat. 27. 46, 50. But Paul, by the Spirit, leads us more into the secret history of our Lord's heart, feelings, and sufferings, and declares, in accordance with all that is written of him in the Psalms, that, 'in the days of his flesh,' he 'offered up prayers and supplications, with strong crying and tears, unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared,' He. 5. 7. C.

Reflections.—Let this psalm be a touchstone by which I may try my heart and my life. Let me constantly inquire—Are these gracious tempers and holy exercises of faith, love, hope, humility, patience, and zeal, to be found in my soul? Has my heart, purged from an evil conscience in Jesus' blood, made these meditations, prayers, resolutions, and confessions truly my own? Is God's Word, his Testaments in Jesus' blood, the sole standard of all my faith and law of my practice? Is it the channel of Jesus' fulness of grace and comfort to my heart? Is it the instructor, the counsellor, the quickener, the medicine, the armour, the treasury, the wealth, the support, the guard, the joy, and the All of my soul? Do I receive it as a word to me from God, and use it as my plea with him for whatever I need? Happy is he that is thus living in these delightful exercises!