97 Oh, how I love thy law! It is my meditation all the day.
98 Thy commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me. 99 I have more understanding than all my teachers, for thy testimonies are my meditation. 100 I understand more than the aged, for I keep thy precepts.
101 I hold back my feet from every evil way, in order to keep thy word.
102 I do not turn aside from thy ordinances, for thou hast taught me.
103 How sweet are thy words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! 104 Through thy precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.
105 Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
106 I have sworn an oath and confirmed it, to observe thy righteous ordinances.
107 I am sorely afflicted; give me life, O Lord, according to thy word!
108 Accept my offerings of praise, O Lord, and teach me thy ordinances.
109 I hold my life in my hand continually, but I do not forget thy law. 110 The wicked have laid a snare for me, but I do not stray from thy precepts.
111 Thy testimonies are my heritage for ever; yea, they are the joy of my heart. 112 I incline my heart to perform thy statutes for ever, to the end.
113 I hate double-minded men, but I love thy law.
114 Thou art my hiding place and my shield; I hope in thy word.
115 Depart from me, you evildoers, 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 put to shame in my hope! 117 Hold me up, that I may be safe and have regard for thy statutes continually!
118 Thou dost spurn all who go astray from thy statutes; yea, their cunning is in vain. 119 All the wicked of the earth thou dost count as dross; therefore I love thy testimonies. 120 My flesh trembles for fear of thee, and I am afraid of thy judgments.
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.