97 O how I love Your law ! It is my meditation all the day .
98 Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies , For they are ever mine. 99 I have more insight than all my teachers , For Your testimonies are my meditation . 100 I understand more than the aged , Because I have observed Your precepts .
101 I have restrained my feet from every evil way , That I may keep Your word .
102 I have not turned aside from Your ordinances , For You Yourself have taught me.
103 How sweet are Your words to my taste ! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth ! 104 From Your precepts I get understanding ; Therefore e I hate every false way . Nun.
105 Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path .
106 I have sworn and I will confirm it, That I will keep Your righteous ordinances .
107 I am exceedingly e afflicted ; Revive me, O Lord , according to Your word .
108 O accept the freewill offerings of my mouth , O Lord , And teach me Your ordinances .
109 My life is continually in my hand , Yet I do not forget Your law . 110 The wicked have laid a snare for me, Yet I have not gone astray from Your precepts .
111 I have inherited Your testimonies forever , For they are the joy of my heart . 112 I have inclined my heart to perform Your statutes Forever , even to the end . Samekh.
113 I hate those who are double-minded , But I love Your law .
114 You are my hiding place and my shield ; I wait for Your word .
115 Depart from me, evildoers , That I may observe the commandments of my God .
116 Sustain me according to Your word , that I may live ; And do not let me be ashamed of my hope . 117 Uphold me that I may be safe , That I may have regard for Your statutes continually .
118 You have rejected all those who wander from Your statutes , For their deceitfulness is useless . 119 You have removed all the wicked of the earth like dross ; Therefore I love Your testimonies . 120 My flesh trembles for fear of You, And I am afraid of Your judgments . Ayin.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Psalm 119:97-120
Commentary on Psalm 119:97-104
(Read Psalm 119:97-104)
What we love, we love to think of. All true wisdom is from God. A good man carries his Bible with him, if not in his hands, yet in his head and in his heart. By meditation on God's testimonies we understand more than our teachers, when we understand our own hearts. The written word is a more sure guide to heaven, than all the fathers, the teachers, and ancients of the church. We cannot, with any comfort or boldness, attend God in holy duties, while under guilt, or in any by-way. It was Divine grace in his heart, that enabled the psalmist to receive these instructions. The soul has its tastes as well as the body. Our relish for the word of God will be greatest, when that for the world and the flesh is least. The way of sin is a wrong way; and the more understanding we get by the precepts of God, the more rooted will be our hatred of sin; and the more ready we are in the Scriptures, the better furnished we are with answers to temptation.
Commentary on Psalm 119:105-112
(Read Psalm 119:105-112)
The word of God directs us in our work and way, and a dark place indeed the world would be without it. The commandment is a lamp kept burning with the oil of the Spirit, as a light to direct us in the choice of our way, and the steps we take in that way. The keeping of God's commands here meant, was that of a sinner under a dispensation of mercy, of a believer having part in the covenant of grace. The psalmist is often afflicted; but with longing desires to become more holy, offers up daily prayers for quickening grace. We cannot offer any thing to God, that he will accept but what he is pleased to teach us to do. To have our soul or life continually in our hands, implies constant danger of life; yet he did not forget God's promises nor his precepts. Numberless are the snares laid by the wicked; and happy is that servant of God, whom they have not caused to err from his Master's precepts. Heavenly treasures are a heritage for ever; all the saints accept them as such, therefore they can be content with little of this world. We must look for comfort only in the way of duty, and that duty must be done. A good man, by the grace of God, brings his heart to his work, then it is done well.
Commentary on Psalm 119:113-120
(Read Psalm 119:113-120)
Here is a dread of the risings of sin, and the first beginnings of it. The more we love the law of God, the more watchful we shall be, lest vain thoughts draw us from what we love. Would we make progress in keeping God's commands, we must be separate from evil-doers. The believer could not live without the grace of God; but, supported by his hand, his spiritual life shall be maintained. Our holy security is grounded on Divine supports. All departure from God's statutes is error, and will prove fatal. Their cunning is falsehood. There is a day coming which will put the wicked into everlasting fire, the fit place for the dross. See what comes of sin Surely we who fall so low in devout affections, should fear, lest a promise being left us of entering into heavenly rest, any of us should be found to come short of it, Hebrews 4:1.