97 'Mem.' O how I have loved Thy law! All the day it 'is' my meditation.
98 Than mine enemies Thy command maketh me wiser, For it 'is' before me to the age. 99 Above all my teachers I have acted wisely. For Thy testimonies 'are' my meditation. 100 Above elders I understand more, For Thy precepts I have kept.
101 From every evil path I restrained my feet, So that I keep Thy word.
102 From Thy judgments I turned not aside, For Thou—Thou hast directed me.
103 How sweet to my palate hath been Thy saying, Above honey to my mouth. 104 From Thy precepts I have understanding, Therefore I have hated every false path!
105 'Nun.' A lamp to my foot 'is' Thy word, And a light to my path.
106 I have sworn, and I confirm 'it', To keep the judgments of Thy righteousness.
107 I have been afflicted very much, O Jehovah, quicken me, according to Thy word.
108 Free-will-offerings of my mouth, Accept, I pray Thee, O Jehovah, And Thy judgments teach Thou me.
109 My soul 'is' in my hand continually, And Thy law I have not forgotten. 110 The wicked have laid a snare for me, And from thy precepts I wandered not.
111 I have inherited Thy testimonies to the age, For the joy of my heart 'are' they. 112 I have inclined my heart To do Thy statutes, to the age—'to' the end!
113 'Samech.' Doubting ones I have hated, And Thy law I have loved.
114 My hiding place and my shield 'art' Thou, For Thy word I have hoped.
115 Turn aside from me, ye evil-doers, And I keep the commands of my God.
116 Sustain me according to Thy saying, And I live, and Thou puttest me not to shame Because of my hope. 117 Support Thou me, and I am saved, And I look on Thy statutes continually.
118 Thou hast trodden down All going astray from Thy statutes, For falsehood 'is' their deceit. 119 Dross! Thou hast caused to cease All the wicked of the earth; Therefore I have loved Thy testimonies. 120 Trembled from Thy fear hath my flesh, And from Thy judgments I have been afraid!
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.