Psalm 119, 49 72 commentary

PSALM 119, 49-72 COMME TARY
EDITED BY GLE PEASE
Zayin
49 Remember your word to your servant,
for you have given me hope.
BAR ES, "Remember the word unto thy servant - This commences a new
division of the psalm, in which each verse begins with the Hebrew letter Zayin (‫ז‬ z) -
answering to our “z.” There is nothing special in this portion of the psalm as indicated by
the letter. The language here is a prayer that God would not forget what he had
promised; that all that he had said might be fulfilled; that the expectations and hopes
which he had raised in the mind might be realised. It is language which may be used
with reverence, and without any implication that God would forget - as a child might
with propriety and love ask a parent to remember a promise which he had made.
Upon which thou hast caused me to hope - That is, All the hope which I have
has been excited by thy word; thy promises. I have no other source of hope; I cherish no
other hope. I pray now, since that hope has been thus excited in me, that I may realise all
I have been led to desire and to expect. The word of God is the only foundation of hope
for people; and when our hopes are fairly built on that, we have a right to appeal to God
that he will make it good.
CLARKE,"Remember the word - Thou hast promised to redeem us from our
captivity; on that word we have built our hope. Remember that thou hast thus promised,
and see that we thus hope.
GILL, "ZAIN.--The Seventh Part.
ZAIN. Remember the word unto thy servant,.... The word of promise made unto
him, concerning establishing his house and kingdom for ever; which he desires God
would show himself mindful of in fulfilling it, and renew and confirm his faith in it, and
give him some fresh assurance of the performance of it, 2Sa_7:16. Not that God ever
forgets his promise, or is unmindful of his word; but so it seems when he delays the
accomplishment of it; and when unbelief prevails and doubts arise, and faith is not in
lively exercise; and he has not so clear a view of the promise, and comfortable assurance

of its being performed;
upon which thou hast caused me to hope; which, when first made, he received in
faith, and hoped and waited for the accomplishment of. A word of promise is a good
ground of hope, let it be on what account it will; whether it relates to interest in God, as a
covenant God and Father; or to pardon of sin; or to salvation by Christ; or to fresh
supplies of grace and strength from him; or to eternal life through him: and the hope
which is exercised on the promise is not of a man's self; it is the gift of God, a good hope
through grace; which the Lord, by his Spirit and power, produces, and causes to abound
in, or to exercise in a comfortable manner.
HE RY, "Two things David here pleads with God in prayer for that mercy and grace
which he hoped for, according to the word, by which his requests were guided: - 1. That
God had given him the promise on which he hoped: “Lord, I desire no more than that
thou wouldst remember thy word unto thy servant, and do as thou hast said;” see 1Ch_
17:23. “Thou art wise, and therefore wilt perfect what thou hast purposed, and not
change thy counsel. Thou art faithful, and therefore wilt perform what thou hast
promised, and not break thy word.” Those that make God's promises their portion may
with humble boldness make them their plea. “Lord, is not that the word which thou hast
spoken; and wilt thou not make it good?” Gen_32:9; Exo_33:12. 2. That God, who had
given him the promise in the word, had by his grace wrought in him a hope in that
promise and enabled him to depend upon it, and had raised his expectations of great
things from it. Has God kindled in us desires towards spiritual blessings more than
towards any temporal good things, and will he not be so kind as to satisfy those desires?
Has he filled us with hopes of those blessings, and will he not be so just as to accomplish
these hopes? He that did by his Spirit work faith in us will, according to our faith, work
for us, and will not disappoint us.
JAMISON, "Zain. (Psalm 119:49-56).
Resting on the promises consoles under affliction and the tauntings of the insolent.
upon which — rather, “Remember Thy word unto Thy servant, because,” etc. So the
Hebrew requires [Hengstenberg].
K&D 49-56, "The eightfold Zajin. God's word is his hope and his trust amidst all
derision; and when he burns with indignation at the apostates, God's word is his solace.
Since in Psa_119:49 the expression is not ָ‫ך‬ ְ‫ֽר‬ ָ‫ב‬ ְ but ‫ר‬ ָ‫ב‬ ָ , it is not to be interpreted
according to Psa_98:3; Psa_106:45, but: remember the word addressed to Thy servant,
because Thou hast made me hope (Piel causat. as e.g., ‫ה‬ ָ ִ‫,נ‬ to cause to forget, Gen_
41:51), i.e., hast comforted me by promising me a blessed issue, and hast directed my
expectation thereunto. This is his comfort in his dejected condition, that God's
promissory declaration has quickened him and proved its reviving power in his case. In
‫י‬ִ‫יצוּנ‬ ִ‫ל‬ ֱ‫ה‬ (‫י‬ִ‫יצוּנ‬ ִ‫ל‬ ֲ‫,)ה‬ ludificantur, it is implied that the ‫ים‬ ִ‫ד‬ֵ‫ז‬ eht taht d are just ‫ים‬ ִ‫צ‬ ֵ‫,ל‬ frivolous
persons, libertines, free-thinkers (Pro_21:24). ָ‫יך‬ ֶ‫ט‬ ָ ְ‫שׁ‬ ִ‫,מ‬ Psa_119:52, are the valid, verified
decisions (judgments) of God revealed from the veriest olden times. In the remembrance
of these, which determine the lot of a man according to the relation he holds towards
them, the poet found comfort. It can be rendered: then I comforted myself; or according

to a later usage of the Hithpa.: I was comforted. Concerning ‫ה‬ ָ‫פ‬ ָ‫ע‬ ְ‫ל‬ַ‫,ז‬ aestus, vid., Psa_11:6,
and on the subject-matter, Psa_119:21, Psa_119:104. The poet calls his earthly life “the
house of his pilgrimage;” for it is true the earth is man's (Psa_115:16), but he has no
abiding resting-place there (1Ch_29:15), his ‫ם‬ ָ‫ּול‬‫ע‬ ‫ית‬ ֵ (Ecc_12:5) is elsewhere (vid., supra,
Psa_119:19, Psa_39:13). God's statutes are here his “songs,” which give him spiritual
refreshing, sweeten the hardships of the pilgrimage, and measure and hasten his steps.
The Name of God has been in his mind hitherto, not merely by day, but also by night;
and in consequence of this he has kept God's law (‫אשׁמרה‬ָ‫,ו‬ as five times besides in this
Psalm, cf. Psa_3:6, and to be distinguished from ‫אשׁמרה‬ְ‫,ו‬ Psa_119:44). Just this, that he
keeps (observat) God's precepts, has fallen to his lot. To others something else is allotted
(Psa_4:8), to him this one most needful thing.
CALVI , "49.Remember thy word. He prays that God would really perform what
he promised; for the event proves that he does not forget his word. That he is
speaking of the promises we infer from the end of the verse, in which he declares,
that cause was given him to hope, for which there would be no place unless grace
had been presented to him. In the second verse he asserts, that though God still kept
him in suspense, yet he reposed with confidence in his word. At the same time he
informs us, that during his troubles and anxieties, he did not search after vain
consolation as the world is wont to do who look around them in all quarters to find
something to mitigate their miseries; and if any allurements tickle their fancy, they
make use of these as a remedy for alleviating their sorrows. On the contrary, the
prophet says he was satisfied with the word of God itself; and that when all other
refuges failed him, there he found life full and perfect; nevertheless, he covertly
confesses, that if he do not acquire courage from the word of God, he will become
like a dead man. The ungodly may sometimes experience elevation of spirit during
their miseries, but they are totally destitute of this inward strength of mind. The
prophet, then, had good reason for stating, that in the time of affliction the faithful
experience animation and rigor solely from the word of God inspiring them with
life,. Hence, if we meditate carefully on his word, we shall live even in the midst of
death, nor will we meet with any sorrow so heavy for which it will not furnish us
with a remedy. And if we are bereft of consolation and succor in our adversities, the
blame must rest with ourselves; because, despising or overlooking the word of God,
we purposely deceive ourselves with vain consolation.
SPURGEO , "This octrain deals with the comfort of the word. It begins by seeking
the main consolation, namely, the Lord's fulfilment of his promise, and then it
shows how the word sustains us under affliction, and makes us so impervious to
ridicule that we are moved by the harsh conduct of the wicked rather to horror of
their sin than to any submission to their temptations. We are then shown how the
Scripture furnishes songs for pilgrims, and memories for night watchers; and the
psalm concludes by the general statement that the whole of this happiness and

comfort arises out of keeping the statutes of the Lord.
Ver. 49. Remember the word unto thy servant. He asks for no new promise, but to
have the old word fulfilled. He is grateful that he has received so good a word, he
embraces it with all his heart, and now entreats the Lord to deal with him according
to it. He does not say, "remember my service to thee, "but "thy word to me." The
words of masters to servants are not always such that servants wish their lords to
remember them; for they usually observe the faults and failings of the work done, in
as much as it does not tally with the word of command. But we who serve the best of
masters are not anxious to have one of his words fall to the ground, since the Lord
will so kindly remember his word of command as to give us grace wherewith we
may obey, and he will couple with it a remembrance of his word of promise, so that
our hearts shall be comforted. If God's word to us as his servants is so precious,
what shall we say of his word to us as his sons?
The Psalmist does not fear a failure in the Lord's memory, but he makes use of the
promise as a plea, and this is the form in which he speaks, after the manner of men
when they plead with one another. When the Lord remembers the sins of his
servant, and brings them before his conscience, the penitent cries, Lord, remember
thy word of pardon, and therefore remember my sins and iniquities no more. There
is a world of meaning in that word "remember, "as it is addressed to God; it is used
in Scripture in the most tender sense, and suits the sorrowing and the depressed.
The Psalmist cried, "Lord, remember David, and all his afflictions": Job also
prayed that the Lord would appoint him a set time, and remember him. In the
present instance the prayer is as personal as the "Remember me" of the thief, for its
essence lies in the wordsâ€” "unto thy servant." It would be all in vain for us if the
promise were remembered to all others if it did not come true to ourselves; but there
is no fear, for the Lord has never forgotten a single promise to a single believer.
Upon which thou hast caused me to hope. The argument is that God, having given
grace to hope in the promise, would surely never disappoint that hope. He cannot
have caused us to hope without cause. If we hope upon his word we have a sure
basis: our gracious Lord would never mock us by exciting false hopes. Hope
deferred maketh the heart sick, hence the petition for immediate remembrance of
the cheering word. Moreover, it the hope of a servant, and it is pot possible that a
great and good master would disappoint his dependent; if such a master's word
were not kept could only be through an oversight, hence the anxious cry,
"Remember Our great Master will not forget his own servants, nor disappoint the
expectation which he himself has raised: because we are the Lord's, and endeavour
to remember his word by obeying it, we may be sure that he think upon his own
servants, and remember his own promise by making good."
This verse is the prayer of love fearing to be forgotten, of humility conscious of
insignificance and anxious not to be overlooked, of trembling lest the evil of its sin
should overshadow the promise, of a desire longing for the blessing, and of holy
confidence which feels that that is wanted is comprehended in the word. Let but the
Lord remember his promise, and the promised act is as good as done.
EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS.
Ver. 49. â€” Remember the word unto thy servant, etc. Those that make God's
promises their portion, may with humble boldness make them their plea. God gave
the promise in which the Psalmist hoped, and the hope by which he embraced the

promise. â€” Matthew Henry.
Ver. 49. â€” Remember the word unto thy servant, etc. When we hear any promise
in the word of God, let us turn it into a prayer. God's promises are his bonds. Sue
him on his bond. He loves that we should wrestle with him by his promises. Why,
Lord, thou hast made this and that promise, thou canst not deny thyself, thou canst
not deny thine own truth; thou canst not cease to be God, and thou canst as well
cease to be God, as deny thy promise, that is thyself. "Lord, remember thy word."
"I put thee in mind of thy promise, whereon thou hast caused me to hope." If I be
deceived, thou hast deceived me. Thou hast made these promises, and caused me to
trust in thee, and "thou never fullest those that trust in thee, therefore keep thy
word to me." â€” Richard Sibbes.
Ver. 49. â€” Remember the word unto thy servant, etc. God promises salvation
before he giveth it, to excite our desire of it, to exercise our faith, to prove our
sincerity, to perfect our patience. For these purposes he seemeth sometimes to have
forgotten his word, and to have deserted those whom he had engaged to succour and
relieve; in which case he would have us, as it were, to remind him of his promise,
and solicit his performance of it. The Psalmist here instructs us to prefer our
petition upon these grounds; first, that God cannot prove false to his own word:
"Remember thy word; "secondly, that he will never disappoint an expectation
which himself hath raised: "upon which thou hast caused me to hope." â€” George
Horne.
Ver. 49,52,55. â€” Remember. "I remembered." As David beseeches the Lord to
remember his promise, so he protests, in Psalms 119:52, that he remembered the
judgments of God, and was comforted; and in Psalms 119:55, that he remembered
the name of the Lord in the night. It is but a mockery of God, to desire him to
remember his promise made to us, when we make no conscience of the promise we
have made to him. But alas, how often we fail in this duty, and by our own default,
diminish that comfort we might have of God's promises in the day of our trouble. â
€” William Cowper.
Ver. 49. â€” Thy servant. Be sure of your qualification; for David pleadeth here,
partly as a servant of God, and partly as a believer. First, "Remember the word
unto thy servant; "and then, "upon which thou hast caused me to hope." There is a
double qualification: with respect to the precept of subjection, and the promise of
dependence. The precept is before the promise. They have right to the promises, and
may justly lay hold upon them, who are God's servants; they who apply themselves
to obey his precepts, these only can rightly apply his promises to themselves. one
can lay claim to rewarding grace but those who are partakers of sanctifying grace.
Make it clear that you are God's servants, and then these promises which are
generally offered are your own, no less than if your name were inserted in the
promise, and written in the Bible. â€” Thomas Manton.
Ver. 49. â€” Thou hast caused me to hope. Let us remember, first, that the promises
made to us are of God's free mercy; that the grace to believe, which is the condition
of the promise, is also of himself; for "faith is the gift of God"; thirdly, that the
arguments by which he confirms our faith in the certainty of our salvation are
drawn from himself, not from us. â€” William Cowper.
BE SO , "Verse 49-50

ZAI .
Psalms 119:49-50. Remember the word — That is, thy promises; upon which thou
hast caused me to hope — By thy command requiring it of me, and by thy grace
working it in me. This — amely, thy word, as is evident both from the foregoing
and following words; is my comfort in my affliction — Being the ground of my
confidence and hope. “A comfort divine, strong, lasting; a comfort that will not, like
all others, fail us when we most want it, in the day of sickness, and at the hour of
death, but will always keep pace with our necessities, increasing in proportion as the
pleasures of the world and the flesh decrease, and then becoming complete, when
they are no more. So powerful is the word of God to revive us when dead, either in
sins or in sorrows!”
COKE, "Psalms 119:49. Remember the word unto thy servant— i.e. "Be pleased,
therefore, in due time to perform the promise which thou hast long ago made me,
and concerning the performance whereof thou hast given me an assured hope." See
2 Samuel 5 and 1 Samuel 11:13.
EBC, "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 (Psalms
119:49) 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 Psalms 119:50, "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.
COFFMA , "Verse 49
STROPHE 7
PROUD SEDUCERS TORME T LAW-KEEPERS BUT CA OT DEPRIVE
THEM OF COMFORT A D JOY I DOI G SO
Zayin
"Remember the word unto thy servant,
Because thou hast made me to hope.
This is my comfort in my affliction;
For thy word hath quickened me.

The proud have had me greatly in derision:
Yet have I not swerved from thy law.
I have remembered thine ordinances of old, O Jehovah,
And have comforted myself.
Hot indignation hath taken hold upon me,
Because of the wicked that forsake thy law.
Thy statutes have been my songs
In the house of my pilgrimage.
I have remembered thy name, O Jehovah, in the night,
And have observed thy law.
This I have had,
Because I have kept thy precepts."
The new element in this strophe is the emphasis upon the proud seducers who
oppose the psalmist, but have in no way diminished his loving respect for God's law,
nor the comfort he receives from obeying it. Also, the mention of his "hot
indignation" (Psalms 119:53) against such wickedness is here mentioned for the first
time. The double affirmation that he indeed has kept the statutes of the Lord
(Psalms 119:55b and Psalms 119:56b) is a recurring theme throughout the whole
psalm, as in Psalms 119:15b,22b, and Psalms 119:30b.
"I have remembered thine ordinances of old" (Psalms 119:52). If the psalmist was a
young man, as Delitzsch reasoned, he could not have meant here that he had
personally remembered God's ordinances for some great length of time. "He is
remembering all of the course of God's providential government of the world,
including deliverances of God's servants."[24]
CO STABLE, "Verses 49-56
7. God"s Word as a source of hope119:49-56
The poet next expressed his hope in God"s Word ( Psalm 119:49). He said it renews
life ( Psalm 119:50). He despised the proud who scorn faith in God and have no use
for His law ( Psalm 119:51-53; cf. Psalm 119:69; Psalm 119:78; Psalm 119:85). In
contrast, he sang and thought about God"s precepts even at night ( Psalm 119:54-
56).

"Remembering [ Psalm 119:49] is not recalling, for God never forgets; it is relating
to His people in a special way." [ ote: Wiersbe, The . . . Wisdom . . ., p317.]
BI, "Remember the Word unto Thy servant, upon which Thou hast caused me to hope.
Pleading prayer
I admire in this psalm very greatly the singular amalgam that we have of testimony, of
prayer, and of praise. In one verse the psalmist bears witness, in a second verse he
praises, in a third verse he prays. It is an incense made up of many spices, but they are
wonderfully compounded and worked together, so as to form one perfect sweetness. My
text is a prayer, but there is testimony in it, and there is a measure of praise in it too.
I. The prayer. “Remember the Word unto Thy servant.”
1. “Remember.” That prayer is spoken after the manner of men, for God cannot
forget.
2. It is language which has some trace of unbelief in it.
3. The intention of him who prayed this prayer was to ask God to remember His
Word by fulfilling it. “Lord, let me not only be in Thy thoughts, but let me be in Thy
acts! Thou hast promised to supply my needs; remember me by supplying my needs.
Thou hast promised to forgive my sin; remember me by giving me a sense of pardon.
Thou hast premised to help Thy servant, and give me strength according to my day;
remember the word by fulfilling Thy Word, and granting strength to me according as
I have need of it.”
4. Sometimes this word “remember” is very fitly used, because it seems to the mind
that God is likely to remember something else which would be to our loss. Suppose
you and I have been walking contrary to God—then the Lord may remember our sin,
and He may begin to deal with us in a way of chastisement, and lay us very low. Then
is the time to come in with this prayer: “Remember the Word unto Thy servant.”
II. The pleas which, the psalmist uses.
1. The first is, “Remember the Word.” It is a blessed plea—the Word; for by the Word
upon which God has caused His servant to hope is meant God’s Word. He never
makes His people to hope in anybody else’s word. Let us consider the power, the
dignity, the glory of that Word. This is the greatest of all grounds of assurance.
2. The second plea lies in the words, “Thy servant.” “Remember the Worn unto Thy
servant.” A man is bound to keep his word to anybody and everybody, but sometimes
there may be special persons with whom a failure would be peculiarly dishonourable.
Among the rest, a man must be true to his servant.
3. “Upon which Thou hast caused me to hope.” Lord, I have been hoping on Thy
Word, and I have acted upon that hope: I believe the Word to be true, and I have
pledged the truth of it. That is good pleading. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
A genuine hope
Hope is an instinct of the soul. As an instinct it implies—

1. An instinctive faith in the existence of a future good;
2. An instinctive faith in the possibility of obtaining it. Hope is either the greatest
blessing or curse to a man: a blessing when it is realized, curse when it is
disappointed. Notice—
I. The ground of a good hope. “The Word”—
1. Not human calculations;
2. Not personal merits;
3. “The Word “. firmer than the everlasting heavens.
II. The author of a good hope. “Thou hast caused.” God—
1. Inspires it;
2. Directs it;
3. Settles it. (Homilist.)
50 My comfort in my suffering is this:
Your promise preserves my life.
BAR ES, "This is my comfort in my affliction - Compare Rom_15:4. The word
here rendered “comfort” occurs only here and in Job_6:10. The obvious meaning is, that
his only consolation in his affliction was derived from the word of God; the word which
had caused him to hope, and the word by which he had been quickened or made alive.
The particular design of this is to show the value of the word of God as a source of
comfort in trouble.
For thy word hath quickened me - Has made me alive; or, caused me to live. That
is, the word, the truth of God, had been the instrument of calling him from the death of
sin, and of imparting to him new life, or had been the means of his regeneration.
Compare Jam_1:18; 1Co_4:15; Heb_4:12; 1Pe_1:23. As it was by this “word” that he had
been made alive, so his only comfort was in that word, and it was to him a just ground of
consolation that God had brought him from the death of sin, and had imparted to him
spiritual life.
CLARKE,"This is my comfort - While enduring our harsh captivity, we

anticipated our enlargement; and thy word of promise was the means of keeping our
souls alive.
GILL, "This is my comfort in my affliction,.... David had his afflictions, and so has
every good man; none are without; it is the will and pleasure of God that so it should be;
and many are their afflictions, inward and outward: the word of God is often their
comfort under them, the written word, heard or read; and especially a word of promise,
powerfully applied: this is putting underneath everlasting arms, and making their bed in
sickness. This either respects what goes before, concerning the word of promise hoped
in, or what follows:
for thy word hath quickened me; not only had been the means of quickening him
when dead in am, as it often is the means of quickening dead sinners, being the savour of
life unto life; but of reviving his drooping spirits, when in affliction and distress; and of
quickening the graces of the Spirit of God in him, and him to the exercise of them, when
they seemed ready to die; and to the fervent and diligent discharge of duty, when listless
and backward to it.
HE RY, "Here is David's experience of benefit by the word. 1. As a means of his
sanctification: “Thy word has quickened me. It made me alive when I was dead in sin; it
has many a time made me lively when I was dead in duty; it has quickened me to that
which is good when I was backward and averse to it, and it has quickened me in that
which is good when I was cold and indifferent.” 2. Therefore as a means of his
consolation when he was in affliction and needed something to support him: “Because
thy word has quickened my at other times, it has comforted me then.” The word of God
has much in it that speaks comfort in affliction; but those only may apply it to
themselves who have experienced in some measure the quickening power of the word. If
through grace it make us holy, there is enough in it to make us easy, in all conditions,
under all events.
JAMISON, "for — rather, “This is my comfort ... that,” etc. [Maurer].
hath quickened — What the Word has already done is to faith a pledge of what it
shall yet do.
SPURGEO , "Ver. 50. This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath
quickened me. He means, â€” Thy word is my comfort, or the fact that thy word has
brought quickening to me is my comfort. Or he means that the hope which had
given him was his comfort, for God had quickened him thereby ever may be the
exact sense, it is clear that the Psalmist had afflictionâ€” affliction peculiar to
himself, which he calls "my affliction"; that he had comfort in it, â€” comfort
specially his own, for he styles it "my comfort"; and that he knew what the comfort
was, and where it came from, for exclaimsâ€” "this is my comfort". The worldling
clutches his money bag and says, "this is my comfort"; the spendthrift points to his
gaiety, shouts, "this is my comfort"; the drunkard lifts his glass, and sings, "this is
my comfort"; but the man whose hope comes from God feels the giving power of the

word of the Lord, and he testifies, "this is my fort." Paul said, "I know whom I have
believed." Comfort is desirable all times; but comfort in affliction is like a lamp in a
dark place. Some unable to find comfort at such times; but it is not so with believers,
their Savour has said to them, "I will not leave you comfortless." have comfort and
no affliction, others have affliction and no comfort; the saints have comfort in their
affliction.
The word frequently comforts us by increasing the force of our inner "this is my
comfort; thy word hath quickened me." To quicken the is to cheer the whole man.
Often the near way to consolation is sanctification and invigoration. If we cannot
clear away the fog, it may be to rise to a higher level, and so to get above it. Troubles
which weigh down while we are half dead become mere trifles when we are full of
Thus have we often been raised in spirit by quickening grace, and the thing will
happen again, for the Comforter is still with us, the Consolation of Israel ever liveth,
and the very God of peace is evermore our Father. Looking back upon our past life
there is one ground of comfort as to stateâ€” the word of God has made us alive, and
kept us so. We were but we are dead no longer. From this we gladly infer that if the
had meant to destroy he would not have quickened us. If we were only hypocrites
worthy of derision, as the proud ones say, he would not revived us by his grace. An
experience of quickening is a fountain of cheer.
See how this verse is turned into a prayer in Psalms 119:107. "Quicken me, O Lord,
according unto thy word." Experience teaches us how to pray, and furnishes
arguments in prayer.
Ver. 50. â€” This is my comfort, etc. The word of promise was David's comfort,
because the word had quickened him to receive comfort. The original is capable of
another modification of thoughtâ€” "This is my consolation that thy word hath
quickened me." He had the happy experience within him; he felt the reviving,
restoring, life giving power of the word, as he read, as he dwelt upon it, as he
meditated therein, and as he gave himself up to the way of the word. The believer
has all God's unfailing promises to depend upon, and as he depends he gains
strength by his own happy experiences of the faithfulness of the word. â€” John
Stephen.
Ver. 50. â€” My comfort. "Thy word." God hath given us his Scriptures, his word;
and the comforts that are fetched from thence are strong ones, because they are his
comforts, since they come from his word. The word of a prince comforts, though he
be not there to speak it. Though it be by a letter, or by a messenger, yet he whose
word it is, is one that is able to make his word good. He is Lord and Master of his
word. The word of God is comfortable, and all the reasons that are in it, and that
are deduced from it, upon good ground and consequence, are comfortable, because
it is God's word. Those comforts in God's word, and reasons from thence, are
wonderful in variety. There is comfort from the liberty of a Christian, that he hath
free access to the throne of grace; comfort from the prerogatives of a Christian, that
he is the child of God, that he is justified, that he is the heir of heaven, and such like;
comforts from the promises of grace, of the presence of God, of assistance by his
presence. â€” Richard Sibbes.
Ver. 50. â€” Comfort. ' echamah', consolation; whence the name of ehemiah was
derived. The word occurs only in Job 6:9.

Ver. 50. â€” Comfort. The Hebrew verb rendered 'to comfort' signifies, first, to
repent, and then to comfort. And certainly the sweetest joy is from the surest tears.
Tears are the breeders of spiritual joy. When Hannah had wept, she went away, and
was no more sad. The bee gathers the best honey from the bitterest herbs. Christ
made the best wine of water.
Gospel comforts are, first, unutterable comforts, 1 Peter 1:8; Philippians 4:4.
Secondly, they are real, John 14:27; all others are but seeming comforts, but painted
comforts. Thirdly, they are holy comforts, Isaiah 64:5, Psalms 138:5; they flow from
a Holy Spirit, and nothing can come from the Holy Spirit but that which is holy.
Fourthly, they are the greatest and strongest comforts, Ephesians 6:17. Few heads
and hearts are able to bear them, as few heads are able to bear strong wines. Fifthly,
they reach to the inward man, to the soul, 2 Thessalonians 2:17, the noble part of
man. "My soul rejoiceth in God my Saviour." Our other comforts only reach the
face; they sink not so deep as the heart. Sixthly, they are the most soul filling and
soul satisfying comforts, Psalms 16:11 Song of Solomon 4:3. Other comforts cannot
reach the soul, and therefore they cannot fill nor satisfy the soul. Seventhly, they
comfort in saddest distresses, in the darkest night, and in the most stormy day,
Psalms 94:19, Hebrews 3:7-8. Eighthly, they are everlasting, 2 Thessalonians 2:16.
The joy of the wicked is but as a glass, bright and brittle, and evermore in danger of
breaking; but the joy of the saints is lasting. â€” Thomas Brooks.
Ver. 50. â€” Thy word hath quickened me. It is a reviving comfort which quickeneth
the soul. Many times we seem to be dead to all spiritual operations, our affections
are damped and discouraged; but the word of God puts life into the dead, and
relieveth us in our greatest distresses. Sorrow worketh death, but joy is the life of
the soul. ow, when dead in all sense and feeling, "the just shall live by faith"
(Hebrews 4:4), and the hope wrought in us by the Scriptures is "a lively hope" (1
Peter 1:8). Other things skin the wound but our sore breaketh out again, and
runneth; faith penetrates into the inwards of a man, doth good to the heart; and the
soul revives by waiting upon God, and gets life and strength. â€” Thomas Manton.
Ver. 50. â€” Thy word hath quickened me. Here, as is evident from the mention of
"affliction" â€” and indeed throughout the psalmâ€” the verb "quicken" is used not
merely in an external sense of "preservation from death" (Hupfeld), but of
"reviving the heart, " "imparting fresh courage, "etc. â€” J.J. Stewart Perowne.
Ver. 50. â€” Thy word hath quickened me. It made me alive when I was dead in sin;
it has many a time made me lively when I was dead in duty; it has quickened me to
that which is good, when. I was backward and averse to it; and it has quickened me
in that which is good, when I was cold and indifferent. â€” Matthew Henry.
Ver. 50. â€” (Second Clause). Adore God's distinguishing grace, if you have felt the
power and authority of the word upon your conscience; if you can say as David,
"Thy word hath quickened me." Christian, bless God that he has not only given
thee his word to be a rule of holiness, but his grace to be a principle of holiness.
Bless God that he has not only written his word, but sealed it upon thy heart, and
made it effectual. Canst thou say it is of divine inspiration, because thou hast felt it
to be of lively operation? Oh free grace! That God should send out his word, and
heal thee; that he should heal thee and not others! That the Same Scripture which to
them is a dead letter, should be to thee a savour of life. â€” Thomas Watson.

EXPOSITOR'S DICTIO ARY, "Comfort in Trouble
Psalm 119:50
When we study the Psalm with a religious purpose, we would know something of the
writers, and it is unfortunate that we know very little about them.
But when we look into so long a Psalm as the119th we seem to see somewhat of the
circumstances of the writer"s life. It is a late Psalm , a Psalm written by one who
lived in times when the Jewish nation was being influenced by the heathen nations
around, and it seemed almost as if the persecution had gone further in reference to
him who wrote the Psalm , as if they had actually placed him in durance vile. Yet,
clinging more strongly to the words of God revealed to him and to his nation by the
prophets of old, they were the sole comfort to him in his distress. "The same is my
comfort in my trouble: for Thy word hath quickened me."
I. ow we come to the application to ourselves. Does it ever happen that we are
similarly situated? Has it never occurred to us that we have been under influences
which we felt were influences which tended to weaken the hold of the Christian faith
upon our souls and our hearts? Certainly, we are from time to time brought face to
face with persecution. Have we had recourse to God"s promises, written and
preserved to us in God"s Word, and can we say with this pious Jew, "The same is
my comfort in my trouble"? You and I will all, some time or other, have to face
trouble and pain. Pain will certainly come to us before the pilgrimage is over, and
what a glorious and splendid thing it will be if you and I, like this pious Jew, can say
of our trouble that we have got its corresponding comfort. This, I know, is my
trouble, and this is my comfort. We will face trouble, then, much more readily when
we know we have got our comfort.
ow let us consider just for a moment that thought, "My comfort in my trouble". It
is quite clear that the words are emphatic, that the Psalmist meant to draw attention
to himself, both in reference to his trouble and in reference to his comfort. And so
you and I must also be emphatic, and devote our attention to our trouble and our
comfort. Let us see, then, in what way he speaks of God"s revelation as his comfort.
First of all, he would distinguish it from the comfort that other persons receive. The
man of the world finds comfort in various sources. But this saint of God speaks of
God"s Word as "my comfort". It tells of that spiritual experience which is peculiar
to each one of us when we with all our hearts strive to serve God, and it speaks of
that comfort and joy which we can recollect we have received in reading with faith
and with love God"s Word, and deriving from it that help which we well know we
need in the hour of our trouble.
Or again, it is my comfort as revealing to me the cause of my trouble. The servant of
God looks to God"s Word, and there he finds that God has allowed this trouble to
come upon him to try him, to see whether he really loves Him, to see whether that
heart of the pilgrim responds to the heart of Him Who is its King, its Guide. And

therefore he begins to feel that the trouble Isaiah , after all, one allowed to come
upon him by God for some good reason of His own, and in that he receives comfort.
Or, again, it is my comfort, this message from God"s Word, because it is one always
present with me wherever I go. Wherever I am there is that message from God
which I recollect, remember imperfectly perhaps in reference to the exact words,
but there it is. I store it up in my memory: it is an ever-present comfort.
But one word more. The verse in the Psalm consists of two clauses: "The same is my
comfort in my trouble; for Thy Word hath quickened me"; that is to say, that the
result of this comfort which God gives to His striving and faithful soldier, in these
messages which He conveys through His revealed Word to His soul, gives him new
life, quickens him.
II. This quickening of our spiritual life, this quickening of our effort in the affairs of
our daily life, comes to us in two distinct ways.
First of all it comes to us from outside, it comes to us from our reading of God"s
Word. Holy Scripture is full of comfort and encouragement to those who strive with
a good heart. Only be strong and of a good courage. When the Apostles thought they
were overwhelmed with the waves of the storm on the lake, Jesus was present with
them, and when, in their fear, they saw Him coming, He cried out, "Be not afraid: it
is I". And we see in every page of God"s Word how God was the comfort and
support of His servants of old.
And it gives us new life from within. For we recall, in reference to that moment of
our spiritual wavering, many a time when God was very good to us. Our spiritual
experience tells us of a time when temptation came and seemed almost as if it were
going to overwhelm us, and how God in His goodness sent the angel, and He closed
the lion"s mouth that it should not hurt us. And we feel guilty of ingratitude because
we doubted that God would help us, and the thought of what He has done for us in
the past gives us new life. Yes, there wells up from within a new vigour; the grace of
God has been given us.
Ask yourselves to what extent you can take these words home; ask yourselves, in
reference to your trouble, to what extent God is your comfort? Can we say: "Thy
Word, Thy revealed truth is my comfort, shall be my comfort all the days of my
pilgrimage, whenever my trouble shall come upon me?" May God give us grace to
answer this aright.
ISBET, "COMFORT A D LIFE
‘The same is my comfort in my trouble: for Thy word hath quickened me.’
Psalms 119:50 (Prayer Book Version)
When we study the Psalms with a religious purpose, we would know something of
the writers, and it is unfortunate that we know very little about them.
I. ‘My comfort in my trouble.’—It is quite clear that the words are emphatic, that

the Psalmist meant to draw attention to himself, both in reference to his trouble and
in reference to his comfort. And so you and I must also be emphatic, and devote our
attention to our trouble and our comfort. Let us see, then, in what way he speaks of
God’s revelation as his comfort.
(a) He would distinguish it from the comfort that other persons receive. The man of
the world finds comfort in various sources. But this saint of God speaks of God’s
Word as ‘my comfort.’ It tells of that spiritual experience which is peculiar to each
one of us when we with all our hearts strive to serve God, and it speaks of that
comfort and joy which we can recollect we have received in reading with faith and
with love God’s Word, and deriving from it that help which we well know we need
in the hour of our trouble.
(b) It is my comfort as revealing to me the cause of my trouble. The servant of God
looks to God’s Word, and there he finds that God has allowed this trouble to come
upon him to try him, to see whether he really loves Him, to see whether that heart of
the pilgrim responds to the heart of Him Who is its King, its Guide. And therefore
he begins to feel that the trouble is, after all, one allowed to come upon him by God
for some good reason of His own, and in that he receives comfort.
(c) It is my comfort, because it is one always present with me wherever I go.
Wherever I am, there is that message from God which I recollect, remember
imperfectly perhaps in reference to the exact words, but there it is. I store it up in
my memory: it is an ever-present comfort.
II. ‘Thy Word hath quickened me.’—The result of this comfort which God gives to
His striving and faithful soldier, in these messages which He conveys through His
revealed Word to His soul, gives him new life, quickens him.
This quickening of our spiritual life, this quickening of our effort in the affairs of
our daily life, comes to us in two distinct ways.
(a) First of all it comes to us from outside, it comes to us from our reading of God’s
Word. Holy Scripture is full of comfort and encouragement to those who strive with
a good heart. Only be strong and of a good courage. When the apostles thought they
were overwhelmed with the waves of the storm on the lake, Jesus was present with
them, and when, in their fear, they saw Him coming, He cried out, ‘Be not afraid! it
is I.’ And we see in every page of God’s Word how God was the comfort and
support of His servants of old.
(b) And it gives us new life from within. For we recall, in reference to that moment
of our spiritual wakening, many a time when God was very good to us.
—Rev. Canon Holmes.
Illustration
‘When we look into so long a psalm as the 119th we seem to see somewhat of the

circumstances of the writer’s life. It is a late psalm, a psalm written by one who lived
in times when the Jewish nation was being influenced by the heathen nations
around, and it seemed almost as if the persecution had gone further in reference to
him who wrote the psalm, as if they had actually placed him in durance vile. Yet,
clinging more strongly to the words of God revealed to him and to his nation by the
prophets of old, they were the sole comfort to him in his distress. “The same is my
comfort in my trouble: for Thy word hath quickened me.” ow we come to the
application to ourselves. Does it ever happen that we are similarly situated? Has it
never occurred to us that we have been under influences which we felt were
influences which tended to weaken the hold of the Christian faith upon our souls
and our hearts? Certainly, we are from time to time brought face to face with
persecution. Have we had recourse to God’s promises, written and preserved to us
in God’s Word, and can we say with this pious Jew, “The same is my comfort in my
trouble”?’
BI, "This is my comfort in my affliction: for Thy Word hath quickened me.
Comfort and quickening
I. In our affliction, the word of God quickens to comfort.
1. By leading us to God, who is able to bless.
2. By showing us that God is willing and waiting to bless.
3. By throwing a mild and beautiful light on Providence.
4. By spreading before us “ exceeding great and precious promises,” which adapt
themselves with a fine flexibility to all the varieties of our experience.
5. By establishing in our hearts the anticipation of another and a sorrowless life.
II. In our affliction the word of God not only quickens to comfort, but also comforts to
quicken. First the Word becomes life, and then comfort; and then, through the comfort,
the Word becomes further and fuller life. How?
1. By confirming our faith.
2. By giving new scope and ardour to gratitude and love. The Divine Word helps us
to see that the Divine chastening is the sign and manifestation of the Divine mercy.
3. By stimulating the spirit of prayer.
4. By spiritualizing our tastes and aspirations.
5. By restraining our tendencies to wander from God. (J. P. Barnett.)
What is your comfort?
In some respects the same event happens to us all: to good men, to great men, to well-
instructed men, as well as to the wicked, the obscure, and the ignorant. Each of these can
speak of “my affliction” (Pro_14:10). It is a grand matter when “my affliction” is in each
case balanced by “my comfort.” It was so in David’s case, and he is a fair representative
of all believers.

I. Believers have their peculiar comfort. Each tried child of God can say, “This is my
comfort.”
1. “This,” as different from others. Worldly men get their drops of comfort from such
sources as they prefer; but the godly man looks to his experience of the Word, and
says, “This is my comfort” (Psa_4:6).
2. “This,” as understanding what it is. He knew his consolation as well as he knew his
tribulation. He was not like Hagar, who could not see the well which was so near her
(Gen_21:19). “This,” as having it near at hand. He does not say that, as if he pointed
it out in the distance; but this, as grasping it.
4. “This,” as pleading in prayer that which he had enjoyed; urging upon the Lord the
mercy already received.
II. That comfort comes from a peculiar source. “Thy Word hath quickened me.”
1. In part it is outward.
(1) The Word of God, full of promises, is our comfort (Rom_15:4).
(2) The Word of God, full of records of His goodness, is the confirmation of our
confidence (Psa_77:5-10).
(3) The Word of God, full of power, is our strength (Ecc_8:4).
2. In part it is inward: “Thy Word hath quickened me.”
(1) In past experience he had felt the power of the Word in raising him—Into life
from death (Psa_116:8). Into energy from lethargy (Son_6:12). Into higher life
from lower (Psa_119:67).
(2) In all things it had been a source of quickening to him.
(3) In present experience he was then feeling its power in making his mind less
worldly. His heart more prayerful. His spirit more tender. His faith more simple.
III. That comfort is valuable under peculiar trials.
1. Hope deferred. Quickening enables us to hope on.
2. Trial endured (verse 50). Comfort is most needed in trouble, and there is no
comfort like quickening.
3. Scorn suffered (verse 51). We care nothing for mockers when we are lively in
spiritual things.
4. Sin of others (verse 53). More grace will enable us to bear up under abounding
sin.
5. Changes (verse 54). The Bible has a song for all seasons, and a psalm for all places.
6. Darkness (verse 55). There is no night-light like the Word, enlightening and
enlivening the heart.
IV. That the form of our comfort is a test of character.
1. Some look to wealth: when their corn and their wine are increased, they say, “This
is my comfort.” They mind the main chance: they are worldly (Luk_12:19).
2. Some seek to dreams and visions, omens and fancies, impressions and
presentiments: they are superstitious.

3. Some run to sin, drink, gaming, worldly company, dissipation, opium: they are
wicked.
4. Some resort to their fellow-men for advice and assistance: they are unwise, and
will be disappointed (Jer_17:5).
(1) What is your comfort?
(2) Has this blessed volume quickened you?
(3) If so, look to it under all trials, for it wilt never fail you. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Spiritual quickening
I. Effected by the Divine word. How does God’s Word quicken the soul into supreme
love? By presenting Him—
1. As the supremely Kind. This quickens it into gratitude.
2. As the supremely Beautiful. This quickens it into admiration.
3. As the supremely Great. This quickens it into adoration.
II. Supplying comfort under trial. The soul quickened into supreme love for God can
bear up under all the trials of life. “Whom have I in heaven but Thee?” (Homilist.)
Quickening by the Word
What energy a text will breathe into a man l There is more in one Divine sentence than in
huge folios of human composition. There are tinctures of which one drop is more
powerful than large doses of the common dilutions. The Bible is the essence of truth; it is
the mind of God, the wisdom of the Eternal. By every word of God men are made to live,
and are kept in life. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
51 The arrogant mock me unmercifully,
but I do not turn from your law.
BAR ES, "The proud have had me greatly in derision - Those of rank; those
in high life: perhaps, as we should say, the frivolous and fashionable world. They have

ridiculed me; they have held me up to contempt for my scruples, my seriousness, my
conscientiousness, my unwillingness to mingle with them in the pursuits, the pastimes,
the frivolities of life. It is now no new thing to be held in contempt by the “proud” and
the frivolous, on account of serious piety; to be thus held in contempt has been rather
the rule than the exception in the treatment which the friends of religion have received
from the world.
Yet have I not declined from thy law - I have not been deterred from the avowal
of my religious belief; I have not turned away from the duties of piety on account of the
ridicule and scorn to which I have been exposed. Compare Psa_44:17-19.
CLARKE,"The proud have had me - We have been treated, not only with
oppressive cruelty, but also with contempt, because we still professed to trust in thee,
the living God, who because of our transgressions hadst been greatly displeased with us;
jet we have not declined from thy law.
GILL, "Psalms 119:51
The proud have had me greatly in derision,.... Profane sinners, proud and
haughty scorners, that make a jest of religion, and scoff at everything serious and good:
these derided the psalmist for his piety and religion, his principles and practices; in
which he was a type of Christ, who was both the song of the drunkards, and was derided
by the proud and haughty Scribes and Pharisees; as all self-righteous persons are, they
who trust in themselves, and despise others, Psa_69:11;
yet have I not declined from thy law; from walking according to it, as a rule of life
and conversation; from professing and maintaining the doctrine of the word, the truths
of the Gospel, he had knowledge and experience of; and from going on in the ways of
God and true religion he was
HE RY, "David here tells us, and it will be of use to us to know it, 1. That he had
been jeered for his religion. Though he was a man of honour, a man of great prudence,
and had done eminent services to his country, yet, because he was a devout
conscientious man, the proud had him greatly in derision; they ridiculed him, bantered
him, and did all they could to expose him to contempt; they laughed at him for his
praying, and called it cant, for his seriousness, and called it mopishness, for his
strictness, and called it needless preciseness. They were the proud that sat in the
scorner's seat and valued themselves on so doing. 2. That yet he had not been jeered out
of his religion: “They have done all they could to make me quit it for shame, but none of
these things move me: I have not declined from thy law for all this; but, if this be to be
vile” (as he said when Michal had him greatly in derision), “I will be yet more vile.” He
not only had not quite forsaken the law, but had not so much as declined from it. We
must never shrink from any duty, nor let slip an opportunity of doing good, for fear of
the reproach of men, or their revilings. The traveller goes on his way though the dogs
bark at him. Those can bear but little for Christ that cannot bear a hard word for him.
CALVI , "51.The proud have greatly scorned me This example is eminently useful,

as it serves to inform us, that though our honesty may render us obnoxious to the
insults of the ungodly, we ought, by our unflinching constancy, to repel their pride,
lest we should take a dislike to the law of God. Many who, in other respects, would
be disposed to fear God, yield to this temptation. The earth has always been filled
with the impious contemners of God, and at this day it is almost overrun with them.
Wherefore, if we do not disregard their reviling, there will be no stability in our
faith. In calling unbelievers proud, he applies to them a very appropriate
designation: for their wisdom consists in despising God, lightly esteeming his
judgments, trampling all piety under foot, and, in short, pouring contempt upon the
celestial kingdom. Were they not blinded with pride, they would not follow such a
headlong course. We must interpret the words in this manner: Though the proud
have treated me with scorn, I have not turned aside from thy law. We must not
overlook the,, particle very much, or greatly, which imports, that he was harassed,
not merely occasionally or for a short time, by the ungodly, but that the attack was
continued from day to day. Let us learn from these words, that the wicked, in
consequence of their forming the great majority of mankind, arrogate to themselves
the greater liberty. The number of the godly who worship God reverently is always
small. Hence we must hold out against a large troop and rabble of the impious if we
would maintain our integrity.
SPURGEO , "Ver. 51 The proud have had me greatly in derision. Proud men
never love gracious men, and as they fear them they veil their fear under a
pretended contempt. In this case their hatred revealed itself in ridicule, and that
ridicule was loud and long. When they wanted sport they made sport of David
because he was God's servant. Men must have strange eyes to be able to see a farce
in faith, and a comedy in holiness; yet it is sadly the case that men who are short of
wit can generally provoke a broad grin by jesting at a saint. Conceited sinners make
footballs of godly men. They call it roaring fun to caricature a faithful member of
"The Holy Club"; his methods of careful living are the material for their jokes
about "the Methodist"; and his hatred of sin sets their tongues wagging at long
faced Puritanism, and straitlaced hypocrisy. If David was greatly derided, we may
not expect to escape the scorn of the ungodly. There are hosts of proud men still
upon the lace of the earth, and if they find a believer in affliction they will be mean
enough and cruel enough to make jests at his expense. It is the nature of the son of
the bondwoman to mock the child of the promise.
Yet have I not declined from thy law. Thus the deriders missed their aim: they
laughed, but they did not win. The godly man, so far from turning aside from the
right way, did not even slacken his pace, or in any sense fall off from his holy habits.
Many would have declined, many have declined, but David did not do so. It is
paying too much honour to fools to yield half a point to them. Their unhallowed
mirth will not harm us if dogs pay no attention to it, even as the moon suffers
nothing from the dogs that bay at her. God's law is our highway of peace and safety,
and those who would laugh us out of it wish us no good.
From Psalms 119:61 we note that David was not overcome by the spoiling of his
goods any more than by these cruel mockings. See also Psalms 119:157, where the
multitude of persecutors and enemies were baffled in their attempts to make him
decline from God's ways.

Ver. 51. â€” The proud have had me greatly in derision. The saints of God have
complained of this in all ages: David of his busy mockers; the abjects jeered him.
Job was disdained of those children whose fathers he would have scorned to set with
the dogs of his flock, Job 30:1. Joseph was nicknamed a dreamer, Paul a babbler,
Christ himself a Samaritan, and with intent of disgrace a carpenter...Michal was
barren, yet she hath too many children, that scorn the habit and exercises of
holiness. There cannot be a greater argument of a foul soul, than the deriding of
religious services. Worldly hearts can see nothing in those actions, but folly and
madness; piety hath no relish, but is distasteful to their palates. â€” Thomas Adams.
Ver. 51. â€” The proud, etc. Scoffing proceedeth from pride. Proverbs 3:34, 1 Peter
5:5. â€” John Trapp.
Ver. 51. â€” Greatly. The word notes "continually, "the Septuagint translates it by
afuzra, the vulgar Latin by "usque valde", and "usque longe". They derided him
with all possible bitterness; and day by day they had their scoffs for him, so that it
was both a grievous and a perpetual temptation. â€” Thomas Manton.
Ver. 51. â€” Derision. David tells that he had been jeered for his religion, but yet he
had not been jeered out of his religion. They laughed at him for his praying and
called it cant, for his seriousness and called it mopishness, for his strictness and
called it needless preciseness. â€” Matthew Henry.
Ver. 51. â€” It is a great thing in a soldier to behave well under fire; but it is a
greater thing for a soldier of the cross to be unflinching in the day of his trial. It
does not hurt the Christian to have the dogs bark at him. â€” William S. Plumer.
Ver. 50-51. â€” The life and rigour infused into me by the promise which
"quickened me, "caused me "not to decline from thy law, "even though "the proud
did iniquitously altogether"; doing all in their power, through their jeering at me, to
deter me from its observance. â€” Robert Bellarmine.
BE SO , "Verse 51-52
Psalms 119:51-52. The proud have had me in derision — For my fear of thee and
trust in thy word; yet have I not declined from thy law — From faith in, or
obedience to, thy revealed will, in order to avoid that derision. I remembered thy
judgments of old — Thy former and ancient dispensations to the children of men, in
punishing the ungodly, and protecting and delivering thy faithful servants, and this
has been my support and encouragement. Here then we have the great remedy
against that temptation which arises from the reproaches of the ungodly and
unbelieving, namely, a remembrance of God’s judgments of old; “whether we
understand thereby the judgments of his mouth, or those of his hand; his righteous
decrees for the punishment of bad and reward of good men, or the many and
wonderful instances of his executing those decrees, from the beginning of the world,
recorded in the sacred history. These are sources of real comfort upon such
occasions; because nothing can happen to us which hath not happened to God’s
people of old; no case of which there is not a precedent in Scripture, where we may
read the process of similar trials, their issue, and the final sentence of the Judge,
who is still the same, and whose rule of procedure and determination is invariable.”
— Horne.

EBC, "Psalms 119:51-53 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 (Psalms 119:23). 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 (Psalms 119:52).
Righteous indignation, too, rises in a devout soul at sight of men’s departure from
God’s law (Psalms 119:53). The word rendered "fiery anger" is found in Psalms
11:6 ("a wind of burning"), and is best taken as above, though some would render
horror. The wrath was not unmingled with compassion (Psalms 119:136), 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.
SIMEO , "Verse 51-52
DISCOURSE: 703
COMFORT U DER PERSECUTIO
Psalms 119:51-52. The proud have had me greatly in derision; yet have I not
declined from thy Law. I remembered thy judgments of old, O Lord; and have
comforted myself.
THERE is not, throughout the whole Scriptures, any woe so little feared, so little
thought of, so little credited, as that which was denounced by our blessed Lord,
“Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you [ ote: Luke 6:26.]!” But, in
truth, there is no denunciation more certain to be executed than that: for there is
nothing that can more infallibly prove us to be the enemies of God, than the
approbation and love of an ungodly world. If it be asked, Whence this should be? I
answer, that “the things which are highly esteemed amongst men are an
abomination in the sight of God; and that the things which are pleasing to God are
no less an abomination in the sight of men: and consequently, that, whichever of the
two we serve, we must of necessity lose the favour of the other. This is what our
blessed Lord has told us: “Ye cannot serve God and mammon;” ye cannot adhere to
either without despising and renouncing the other [ ote: Matthew 6:24.]. And the
truth of this has been exemplified in all the saints, from the time of Abel to the
present moment. What David speaks respecting his own experience of it, will lead
me to consider,
I. The trials he endured—
He was held greatly in derision by his ungodly subjects—
[If any one could have escaped contempt, we should have supposed that David
would be the happy man. His rank in society, as the king of Israel; his extraordinary

prowess in arms; the services he had rendered to his country; and the marvellous
sublimity of his piety, must, we should have thought, have rendered him an object of
universal love and admiration. But, amongst his proud and envious subjects, this
last quality neutralized, us it were, all his merits, and reduced him to an object of
hatred and contempt. The highest people in his kingdom delighted to speak against
him [ ote: ver. 23.]; whilst the lowest readily joined in their opprobrious treatment
of him [ ote: Psalms 69:12.]. The fat bulls of Bashan on the one hand, and the dogs
on the other, compassed him about [ ote: Psalms 22:12; Psalms 22:16.], and treated
him with every species of indignity. Even his own wife, who should have been ready
to stem the torrent of abuse that was cast upon him, herself joined in it with peculiar
malignity [ ote: 2 Samuel 6:20.]; and the very best actions of his life were made the
chief subjects of their profane raillery [ ote: 2 Samuel 6:16 and Psalms 69:10-12.].
And let not this be thought a light affliction. Truly it is painful to flesh and blood to
bear such contemptuous treatment: so, at least, the Apostle represents it in the
Epistle to the Hebrews [ ote: Hebrews 10:32-33.]; and so David himself found it to
be: “Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us!” says he: “for we are
exceedingly filled with contempt; our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of
those that are at ease, and with the contempt of the proud [ ote: Psalms 123:3-4.].”]
And can we hope to escape a similar trial?
[Look at the saints from the beginning, and find one that ever escaped it? How
contemptuously did the scoffers of the antediluvian world ridicule the conduct of
oah, all the time that he was preparing the ark [ ote: 2 Peter 3:3-6.]! What an
object of derision, too, was Isaac, on account of his confidence in God [ ote: Genesis
21:6. with Galatians 4:29.]! Behold Lot also in Sodom [ ote: 2 Peter 2:7-8.], and
Elisha [ ote: 2 Kings 2:23.] and Jeremiah [ ote: Jeremiah 20:7.] in Israel: or
rather, look at our blessed Lord himself, and all his holy Apostles; what was there
too contemptuous for the ungodly to say either of him [ ote: Matthew 27:39-44.] or
them [ ote: 1 Corinthians 4:13.]? — — — How, then, can any one hope to escape in
the present day? Is “the carnal mind less at enmity with God” now, than in former
ages? That the laws of the land protect the godly to a certain degree, is true; but
from the shafts of calumny and contempt, no laws, whether divine or human, can
protect us: and this species of persecution, at least, shall every one experience, who
will come out from the world, and boldly declare himself to be on the side of Christ
[ ote: John 15:19.]. “If they called the Master of the house Beelzebub, much more
will they those of his household [ ote: Matthew 10:25.].”]
For our direction, then, let us contemplate,
II. The graces he exercised—
Whilst he bore his trials with patience, he suffered none of them to divert him from
the path of duty—
[David’s mind was too firmly fixed on God to be moved by the scoffs and raillery of
a profane world. What he did, he did from principle. He regarded God’s Law as a

rule from which no trial whatever should induce him to depart. ot only would he
not turn back from the path of duty; he would not turn aside from it, no, not for a
moment. The more contemptuously he was treated by men, the more diligently he
sought communion with his God, in the study of his blessed word [ ote: ver. 23,
24.], and in the exercise of fervent prayer [ ote: Psalms 69:13.]. Hence, when he and
his people were treated with the utmost possible scorn and derision, he could appeal
to God in the following triumphant language: “All this is come upon us; yet have we
not forgotten thee, neither have we dealt falsely in thy covenant: our heart is not
turned back; neither have our steps declined from thy ways [ ote: Psalms 44:13-18.
with 69:20.].”]
And such, also, is the firmness which we should manifest—
[It should be with us “a small matter to be judged of man’s judgment [ ote: 1
Corinthians 4:3.].” We should have but one object, and that is, to approve ourselves
to God; and, having “the testimony of our consciences that we have pleased him,”
we should not lay to heart the displeasure of others, however contemptuously or
virulently it may be displayed. Onward we should go in our destined path, not
turning either to the right hand or to the left. If the whole world should deride us,
we should not be induced either to do any thing which will offend our God, or to
forbear any thing which will honour him. That they “hate our light,” and are
offended at it, is no reason at all why we should “put it under a bushel:” whoever
they may be, whether friends or foes, our reply to them should be, “I will yet be
more vile than thus [ ote: 2 Samuel 6:22.].”]
or will this be very difficult, when once we have tasted of,
III. The consolations he enjoyed—
In the recollection of “God’s judgments of old, he comforted himself”—
[The term “judgments” has in the Scriptures a great variety of meanings. In the
psalm before us it seems to import the declarations and decisions of Jehovah. ow
God, in his word, has abundantly declared that such treatment is to be expected,
and that it is, to those who suffer it, a token for good: “The just upright man is
laughed to scorn. He that is ready to slip with his feet, is as a lamp despised in the
thought of him that is at ease [ ote: Job 12:4-5.].” A lamp burning bright in a dark
place is an object of high regard; but when it is so burnt down that the flame is
quivering on the wick, and almost extinct, it is regarded rather as an object of
disgust. And such is the light in which even the best of worldly men are viewed,
when once God is pleased to convert them to himself: they are no longer welcomed
as friends to exhilarate and enliven their companions, but are lothed rather, as the
bane of social happiness. In God’s estimation, however, they are proportionably
exalted; and are taught to consider “the reproach of Christ as greater riches than all
the treasures of Egypt [ ote: Hebrews 11:26.].” In the view of these things, the
Psalmist “comforted himself;” saying, “Let thy tender mercies come unto me, that I
may live: for thy Law is my delight. Let the proud be ashamed; for they dealt

perversely with me without a cause: but I will meditate in thy precepts [ ote: ver.
77, 78.].”]
The same sources of comfort are ever open unto us also—
[Our blessed Lord speaks of this treatment as the certain portion of all his people:
“Ye shall be hated of all men, for my name’s sake [ ote: Matthew 10:22.].” And
does he represent this as a matter for grief and sorrow? Far from it: he tells us
rather to “rejoice and leap for joy, because great will be our reward in heaven
[ ote: Matthew 5:10-12.].” Besides, in these afflictions we are made “partakers of
Christ’s sufferings;” and by means of them “the Spirit of glory and of God is made
more visibly and more abundantly to rest upon us:” and though, “on the part of our
enemies, God is evil spoken of and dishonoured, on our part he is glorified [ ote: 1
Peter 4:13-14.].” and, to crown the whole, we are assured, that, “if we suffer thus
with Christ, we shall also in due time be glorified together [ ote: Romans 8:17.].”
And are not these declarations abundantly sufficient to comfort us, under all that
we can be called to suffer for Christ’s sake? o doubt they are: and, therefore, if we
participate with David in his trials and his graces, we shall, both in this life and the
next, be partakers also of his consolations.]
Learn, then, from this subject,
1. What expectations to form—
[You must not dream of honour from man; but be contented with the honour that
cometh of God [ ote: John 5:44.] — — — You must expect to go through “honour
and dishonour, through evil report as well as good report [ ote: 2 Corinthians
6:8.].”]
2. What conduct to pursue—
[Be not cast down when these trials come upon you; but submit to them, as sent of
God for your good; and “rejoice that you are counted worthy to endure them for the
Lord’s sake [ ote: Acts 5:41.]” — — —]
3. What recompence to look for—
[Be not anxious about the approbation of men, if only you may but approve
yourselves to God. In a little time you will stand at his judgment-seat; and then you
shall receive a testimony from him, and “your righteousness shall appear as the
noon-day.” If “the Lord Jesus do but confess you before his Father and his holy
angels,” it will be no grief to you that you have suffered for confessing him [ ote:
Matthew 10:32.]. A crown of righteousness and glory will be an ample recompence
for all the hatred and contempt that an ungodly world could pour upon you.]
BI, "The proud have had me greatly in derision; yet have I not declined from Thy law.

The contemptible and admirable in character
I. The contemptible. “The proud.”
1. Who are the despicably proud? Not the men who have formed a true estimate of
their powers, and are nobly self-reliant, but the supercilious.
2. In the character of these men there are always two base elements.
(1) Servility. They cringe to their superiors; they are the flunkeys of society.
(2) Tyranny. Whilst they bow with a slavish spirit to those above them, they are
contemptuous and despotic to those beneath.
II. The admirable. He is the true nobleman who will dare to pursue the right, regardless
of the frowns or smiles of men. (Homilist.)
The Christian armed against ridicule
I. The persons who assail you. “The proud.” On the heart, which is so possessed, the
Holy Spirit will not, cannot enter. Whether it be right to hearken go such a one rather
than unto God, judge ye.
II. The means which they employ to draw you from the faith. “Derision.” Arguments
against the truth of your religion you could have confuted; or, had you been defeated,
would not have thought yourself disgraced;—but to have your judgment laughed at, the
generosity of your spirit denied, your principles scorned, to be branded with the name of
simple, coward, hypocrite,—alas! who is sufficient for these things?
III. The law from which they would drive you. If it be true that a revelation has been
given by God to man, it is not for man to trifle in obedience. (G. Mathew, M. A.)
52 I remember, Lord, your ancient laws,
and I find comfort in them.
BAR ES, "I remembered - In my troubles.
Thy judgments of old - The word “judgments” here seems to refer to the divine
dealings, whether expressed in the law of God, or in the actual administration of his
government over the world. The words “of old” do not seem here to refer to the “eternity
past,” as the phrase sometimes does now, but to the constancy and uniformity of the

principles of the divine administration. The psalmist remembered that the principles of
that administration had been always the same; that the law of God was always the same;
and that, therefore, he might confide in God. What God had done formerly he would do
now; the favor which he had shown in times past he would continue to show now. In the
trials of life, in the changes which occur, in the apparent wreck of things, in the fearful
prospect of disaster and ruin at any time, it is well for us to think of the unchanging
principles which mark the divine dealings. Under such an administration, all who put
their trust in God must be safe.
And have comforted myself - I have found consolation in this. When all else
seemed to fail, it was a comfort to reflect that an unchangeable God presided over the
affairs of people. We could not put confidence in a God given to change.
CLARKE,"I remembered thy judgments of old - The word judgments is here
taken for providential dealing; and indeed kind treatment; that which God showed to the
Hebrews in bearing with and blessing them. And it was the recollection of these
judgments that caused him to comfort himself.
GILL, "I remembered thy judgments of old, O Lord,.... Either the judgments of
God executed on wicked men; as the bringing a flood on the world of the ungodly; the
burning of Sodom and Gomorrah; the destruction of Pharaoh and his host in the Red
sea; the cutting off of the Canaanites, and dispossessing them of their land: or the
providential dispensations of God towards his own people; who sometimes chastises and
corrects them, and brings them very low, and then raises them up again, as in the case of
Job. These things the psalmist called to remembrance, and revolved them in his mind,
which gave him pleasure and comfort:
and have comforted myself; with such thoughts as these, that that God, who had
cast down the mighty from their seats, and had scattered the proud in the imaginations
of their hearts, and destroyed them, could easily rebuke the proud that had him in
derision; and he that had shown himself so good and gracious to his people, when
brought low, could raise him out of his afflictions and distresses.
HE RY, "When David was derided for his godliness he not only held fast his
integrity, but, 1. He comforted himself. He not only bore reproach, but bore it cheerfully.
It did not disturb his peace, nor break in upon the repose of his spirit in God. It was a
comfort to him to think that it was for God's sake that he bore reproach, and that his
worst enemies could find no occasion against him, save only in the matter of his God,
Dan_6:5. Those that are derided for their adherence to God's law may comfort
themselves with this, that the reproach of Christ will prove, in the end, greater riches to
them than the treasures of Egypt. 2. That which he comforted himself with was the
remembrance of God's judgments of old, the providences of God concerning his people
formerly, both in mercy to them and in justice against their persecutors. God's
judgments of old, in our own early days and in the days of our fathers, are to be
remembered by us for our comfort and encouragement in the way of God, for he is still
the same.
JAMISO 52-56, "The pious take comfort, when harassed and distressed by

wickedness of men who forsake God’s law, in remembering that the great principles of
God’s truth will still abide; and also God’s
judgments of old — that is, His past interpositions in behalf of His people are a
pledge that He will again interpose to deliver them; and they become the theme of
constant and delightful meditation. The more we keep the more we love the law of God.
CALVI , "52.I called to mind thy judgments of old, O Jehovah! In this psalm, the
judgments of God are generally taken for his statutes and decrees, that is, his
righteousness. (417) In this place, in consequence of the qualifying phrase, of old, it
is more probable that they refer to the examples by which God has made himself
known as the righteous Judge of the world. Why does he say that the law of God has
been from everlasting? This may to some extent be accounted for from the
righteousness here mentioned not being of recent growth, but truly everlasting,
because the written law is just an attestation of the law of nature, through means of
which God recalls to our memory that which he has previously engraved on our
hearts.
I am rather inclined to adopt another interpretation, That David remembered the
judgments of God, by which he testified that he had established his law perpetually
in the world, Such a settlement is very necessary for us; because, when God does not
make bare his arm, his word frequently produces little impression. But when he
takes vengeance upon the ungodly, he confirms what he had spoken; and this is the
reason why in civil law penalties are called confirmations. The term accords better
with God’s judgments, by which he establishes the authority of his law, as if a true
demonstration accompanied his words. And seeing he declares that he called to
mind the most ancient of God’s judgments, it becomes us to learn, that if his
judgments are not displayed as frequently as we would desire, for the strengthening
of our faith, this is owing to our ingratitude and apathy; for in no past age have
there been wanting clear demonstrations for this very purpose; and thus it may with
truth be affirmed, that God’s judgments have flowed in one continued manner from
age to age, and that the reason why we have not perceived them is, our not deigning
to open our eyes to behold them. If any one object, that it is contrary to the nature of
his judgments to afford consolation to because they are calculated rather to strike us
with terror, the answer is at handy — that the faithful are made to tremble for fear
of God’s judgments, as far as is requisite for the mortification of their flesh. On the
other hand, these supply them with a large source of consolation, from the fact of
their learning from them, that God exercises his superintending providence over the
human race. Farther, they learn, that after the wicked have reveled in licentiousness
for a season, they shall at length be sisted before the judgment-seat of God; but that
they themselves, after having patiently combated under such a Guardian of their
welfare, can be in no doubt about their preservation.
SPURGEO , "Ver. 52. I remembered thy judgments of old, O Lord; and have
comforted myself. He had asked the Lord to remember, and here he remembers
God and his judgments. When we see no present display of the divine power it is
wise to fall back upon the records of former ages, since they are just as available as
if the transactions were of yesterday, seeing the Lord is always the same. Our true

comfort must be found in what our God works on behalf of truth and right, and as
the histories of the olden times are full of divine interpositions it is well to be
thoroughly acquainted with them. Moreover, if we are advanced in years we have
the providence of our early days to review, and these should by no means be
forgotten or left out of our thoughts. The argument is good and solid: he who has
shown himself strong on behalf of his believing people is the immutable God, and
therefore we may expect deliverance at his hands. The grinning of the proud will not
trouble us when we remember how the Lord dealt with their predecessors in by
gone periods; he destroyed them at the deluge, he confounded them at Babel, he
drowned them at the Red Sea, he drove them out of Canaan: he has in all ages bared
his arm against the haughty, and broken them as potters' vessels. While in our own
hearts we humbly drink of the mercy of God in quietude, we are not without
comfort in seasons of turmoil and derision; for then we resort to God's justice, and
remember how he scoffs at the scoffers: "He that sitteth in the heavens doth laugh,
the Lord doth have them in derision."
When he was greatly derided the Psalmist did not sit down in despair, but rallied his
spirits He knew that comfort is needful for strength in service, and for the
endurance of persecution, and therefore he comforted himself. In doing this he
resorted not so much to the sweet as to the stern side of the Lord's dealings, and
dwelt upon his judgments. If we can find sweetness in the divine justice, how much
more shall we perceive it in divine love and grace. How thoroughly must that man
be at peace with God who dan find comfort, not only in his promises, but in his
judgments. Even the terrible things of God are cheering to believers. They know
that nothing is more to the advantage of all God's creatures than to be ruled by a
strong hand which will deal out justice. The righteous man, has no fear of the
ruler's sword, which is only a terror to evil doers. When the godly man is unjustly
treated he finds comfort in the fact that there is a Judge of all the earth who will
avenge his own elect, and redress the ills of these disordered times.
Ver. 52. â€” I remember thy judgments of old. It is good to have a number of
examples of God's dealings with his servants laid up in the storehouse of a sanctified
memory, that thereby faith may be strengthened in the day of affliction; for so are
we here taught. â€” David Dickson.
Verse 52. â€” I remembered thy judgments. He remembered that at the beginning
Adam, because of transgression of the divine command, was cast out from dwelling
in Paradise; and that Cain, condemned by the authority of the divine sentence, paid
the price of his parricidal crime; that Enoch, caught up to heaven because of his
devotion, escaped the poison of earthly wickedness: that oah, because of
righteousness the victor of the deluge, became the survivor of the human race; that
Abraham, because of faith, diffused the seed of his posterity through the whole
earth; that Israel, because of the patient bearing of troubles, consecrated a believing
people by the sign of his own name; that David himself, because of gentleness,
having had regal honour conferred, was preferred to his elder brothers. â€”
Ambrose.
Ver. 52. â€” I remembered, etc. Jerome writes of that religious lady Paula, that she
had got most of the Scriptures by heart. We are bid to have the "word dwell in" us:
Colossians 3:16. The word is a jewel that adorns the hidden man; and shall we not

remember it? "Can a maid forget her ornaments?" (Jer 4:32). Such as have a
disease they call lienteria, in which the meat comes up as fast as they eat it, and stays
not in the stomach, are not nourished by it. If the word stays not in the memory, it
cannot profit. Some can better remember a piece of news than a line of Scripture:
their memories are like those ponds, where frogs live, but fish die. â€” Thomas
Watson in "The Morning Exercises."
Ver. 52. â€” I remembered thy judgments, and have comforted myself. A case of
conscience may be propounded: how could David be comforted by God's judgments,
for it seemeth a barbarous thing to delight in the destruction of any? it is said, "He
that is glad at calamities shall not be unpunished" (Proverbs 17:5).
1. It must be remembered that judgment implies both parts of God's righteous
dispensation, the deliverance of the godly, and the punishment of the wicked. ow,
in the first sense there is no ground of scruple, for it is said, "Judgment shall return
unto righteousness" (Psalms 94:15); the sufferings of good men shall be turned into
the greatest advantages, as the context showeth that God will not cast off his people,
but judgment shall return unto righteousness.
2. Judgment, as it signifieth punishment of the wicked, may yet be a comfort, not as
it imports the calamity of any, but either, â€”
(a) When the wicked is punished, the snare and allurement to sin is taken away,
which is the hope of impunity; for by their
punishment men see that it is dangerous to sin against God: "When thy judgments
are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness" (Isaiah 26:9);
the snare is removed from many a soul.
(b) Their derision and mocking of godliness ceaseth, they do no longer vex and
pierce the souls of the godly, saying, "Aha, aha" (Psalms 40:15); it is as a wound to
their heart when they say, "Where is thy God?" (Psalms 42:10). Judgment slayeth
this evil.
(c) The impediments and hindrances of worshipping and serving God are taken
away: when the nettles are rooted up, the corn hath the more room to grow.
(c) Opportunity of molesting God's servants is taken away, and they are prevented
from afflicting the church by their oppressions; and so way is made for the
enlarging of Christ's kingdom.
(d) Thereby also God's justice is manifested: When it goeth well with the righteous,
the city rejoiceth: "and when the wicked perish, there is shouting" (Proverbs
11:10); "The righteous also shall see, and fear, and shall laugh at him: lo, this is the
man that made not God his strength" (Psalms 52:6-7); rejoice over Babylon, "ye
holy apostles and prophets, for God hath avenged you on her" (Revelation 18:20).
When the word of God is fulfilled, surely then we may rejoice that his justice and
truth are cleared.
â€” Thomas Mardon.
Ver. 52. â€” The word "mishphatim", "judgments, "is used in Scripture either for
laws enacted, or judgments executed according to those laws. The one may be called
the judgments of his mouth, as, "Remember his marvellous works that he hath
done; his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth"
(Psalms 105:5), the other, the judgments of his hand. As both will bear the name of
judgments, so both may be said to be "of old." His decrees and statutes which have
an eternal equity in them, and were graven upon the heart of man in innocency,

may well be said to be of old: and because from the beginning of the world God hath
been punishing the wicked, anti delivering the godly in due time, his judiciary
dispensations may be said to be so also, The matter is not much, whether we
interpret it of either his statutes or decrees, for they both contain matter of comfort,
and we may see the ruin of the wicked in the word, if we see it not in providence. Yet
I rather interpret it of those righteous acts recorded in Scripture, which God as a
just judge hath executed in all ages, according to the promises and threaten this
annexed to his laws. Only in that sense I must note to you, judgments imply his
mercies in the deliverance of his righteous servants, as well as his punishments on
the wicked: the seasonable interpositions of his relief for the one in their greatest
distresses, as well as his just vengeance on the other notwithstanding their highest
prosperities. â€” Thomas Manton.
Ver. 52,55. â€” I remembered thy judgments, "thy name in the night." Thomas
Fuller thus writes in his "David's Heartie Repentance": â€”
"For sundry duties he did dayes deride. Making exchange of worke his recreation;
For prayer he set the precious morne aside. The midday he bequeathed to
meditation:
Sweete sacred stories he reserved for night. To reade of Moses' meeknes, Sampson's
might: These were his joy, these onely his delight."
BI, "I remembered Thy judgments of old, O Lord; and have comforted myself.
A blessed field lot memory
The Divine Word may be looked upon here—
I. As a field for memory.
1. A refreshing field. What flowers bloom, what fruit clusters, what salubrious air
breathes here.
2. A large field. It goes back through eternity; it begins with the creation, it embraces
the human race, it runs on through centuries into the interminable future.
3. An imperishable field.
II. As a source of comfort.
1. By the presentation of examples. Noah, Abraham, Moses, Job, Daniel, Paul, etc.;
and more,—Christ, the model of all virtue, enduring affliction, overwhelming and
undeserved.
2. By the revelation of principles. It teaches that the afflictions of good men are not
penal but disciplinary, not sent in anger, but in fatherly love (2Co_4:17). (Homilist.)
The Divinely memorable
I. The memorable in the Divine conduct to man. “Thy judgments.” Whatever the
Almighty does is memorable, and ought to be remembered. But there are some things in
His conduct to man most strikingly memorable.
1. Some things with man generally. The deluge, the confusion of tongues, the
burning of Sodom and Gomorrah, the exodus of the Jews, the destruction of

Jerusalem, etc.
2. Some things with man individually. Every man is conscious of some memorable
event in his life; especially,—if he is a Christian,—his conviction, conversion, etc.
II. The memorable in the Divine conduct remembered by man. “I remembered.” Sad to
say, the memorable things in the Divine conduct to man are not generally remembered.
1. This is unnatural. How unnatural it is for a child to forget interpositions in the
conduct of the loving father. But how much more unnatural go forget the wondrous
works of God in His dealings with our race and with ourselves.
2. This is ungrateful. Ought we not to remember the self-sacrificing deeds of our
benefactors? This indeed we generally do, we rear monuments to those whom we
consider to be philanthropists. But how ungrateful to forget the wonderful mercies of
God.
3. This is pernicious. Forgetfulness of God leads to moral deadness, gross carnality,
black atheism.
III. The remembrance of the memorable in the Divine dispensation blest to man. “And
have comforted myself.” The memory of what God in past times has done for His people
is adapted to administer comfort under the trials of life.
1. He has always granted strength according to need (Isa_25:4).
2. He has always fulfilled His promises. (Holimist.)
53 Indignation grips me because of the wicked,
who have forsaken your law.
BAR ES, "Horror hath taken hold upon me - Has seized me; has overpowered
and overwhelmed me. I shudder; I tremble; I am afraid; I am filled with distress. Luther,
“I am burnt up.” The Hebrew word - ‫זלעפה‬ zal‛âphâh - is from a verb meaning “to be hot;
to glow”; and the idea in the word is that of violent heat; then, a glow or burning, as of a
wind - the “simoom” of the desert. See Psa_11:6, where the word is translated “horrible
tempest,” in the margin, “burning.” The word occurs only in that passage, in the one
before us, and in Lam_5:10, where it is rendered “terrible (famine),” in the margin,
“terrors,” or “storms.” The state referred to here is that of one who sees the storm of
burning wind and sand approaching; who expects every moment to be overcome and

buried; whose soul trembles with consternation.
Because of the wicked ... - Their conduct alarms me. Their danger appals me.
Their condition overwhelms me. I see them rebelling against God. I see them exposed to
his wrath. I see the grave just before them, and the awful scenes of judgment near. I see
them about to be cast off, and to sink to endless woe, and my soul is transfixed with
horror. The contemplation overwhelms me with uncontrollable anguish. Can such things
be? Can people be thus in danger? And can they be calm and composed, when so near
such awful horrors? No man can look on the world of despair without horror; no one can
truly realize that his fellow-men are exposed to the horrors of that abode without having
his soul filled with anguish. Strange that all people do not feel thus - that impenitent
people can walk along on the verge of the grave and of hell “without” horror - that pious
people, good people, praying people, can look upon their friends in that condition
without having their souls filled with unutterable anguish. Compare Psa_119:136; Rom_
9:1-4; Luk_19:41.
CLARKE,"Horror hath taken hold upon me - The word ‫זלעפה‬ zilaphah, which
we render horror, is thought to signify the pestilential burning wind called by the Arabs
simoom. Here it strongly marks the idea that the psalmist had of the destructive nature
of sin; it is pestilential; it is corrupting, mortal.
GILL, "Horror hath taken hold upon me,.... Trembling, sorrow, and distress, to a
great degree, like a storm, or a blustering, scorching, burning wind, as the word (h)
signifies, which is very terrible;
because of the wicked that forsake thy law: not only transgress the law of the
Lord, as every man does, more or less; but wilfully and obstinately despise it, and cast it
behind their backs, and live in a continued course of disobedience to it; or who
apostatize from the doctrine of the word of God; wilfully deny the truth, after they have
had a speculative knowledge of it, whose punishment is very grievous, Heb_10:26; and
now partly on account of the daring impiety of wicked men, who stretch out their hands
against God, and strengthen themselves against the Almighty, and run upon him, even
on the thick bosses of his bucklers; because of the shocking nature of their sins, the sad
examples thereby set to others, the detriment they are of to themselves, and dishonour
they bring to God; and partly because of the dreadful punishment that shall be inflicted
on them here, and especially hereafter, when a horrible tempest of wrath will come upon
them. Hence such trembling seized the psalmist; and often so it is, that good men
tremble more for the wicked than they do for themselves; see Psa_119:120.
HE RY, "Here is, 1. The character of wicked people; he means those that are openly
and grossly wicked: They forsake thy law. Every sin is a transgression of the law, but a
course and way of wilful and avowed sin is downright forsaking it and throwing it off. 2.
The impression which the wickedness of the wicked made upon David; it frightened him,
it put him into an amazement. He trembled to think of the dishonour thereby done to
God, the gratification thereby given to Satan, and the mischiefs thereby done to the souls
of men. He dreaded the consequences of it both to the sinners themselves (and cried out,
O gather not my soul with sinners! let my enemy be as the wicked) and to the interests

of God's kingdom among men, which he was afraid would be thereby sunk and ruined.
He does not say, “Horror has taken hold on me because of their cruel designs against
me,” but “because of the contempt they put on God and his law.” Sin is a monstrous
horrible thing in the eyes of all that are sanctified, Jer_5:30; Jer_23:14; Hos_6:10; Jer_
2:12.
CALVI , "53.Terror seized me (418) This verse may be understood in two senses;
either that the prophet was grievously afflicted when he saw God’s law violated by
the wicked, or that he was horror-struck at the thought of their perdition. Some
would render it ardor, which does not so properly agree with the nature of the
passage; I therefore abide by the termfear, by which I think his ardent zeal is
pointed out, in that he was not only deeply grieved at the transgressions of the law,
but held in the utmost detestation the impious boldness of those who lightly
esteemed the law of God. At the same time, it is worthy of notice, that it is no new
ground of offense to the faithful, if numbers throw off God’s yoke, and set up the
standard of rebellion against him. This, I repeat, must be attended to, because many
derive flimsy and frivolous pretexts for it, from the degeneracy of the age, as if they
must needs howl while they live among wolves. In the days of David, we see there
were many who apostatized from the faith, and yet, so far was he from being
discouraged or dismayed by these things, that the fear of God rather kindled a holy
indignation in his bosom. What is to be done, then, when surrounded by bad
examples, but that we should vie with each other in holding them up to detestation?
And here a contrast, if not directly stated, is implied, between the flattering unction
which we apply to ourselves, believing that all is lawful which is common, and the
horror with which the prophet tells us he was seized. If the wicked, haughtily and
without restraint, set themselves in opposition to God, in consequence of our not
being alive to his judgments, we convert that into an occasion of perverse confidence
and insensibility. On the contrary, the prophet asserts that he was seized with
horror, because, though he considered the long-suffering of God, on the one hand,
yet, on the other, he was fully persuaded that he must, sooner or later, call for
condign punishment.
SPURGEO , "Ver. 53. Horror hath taken hold upon me because of the wicked that
forsake thy law. He was horrified at their action, at the pride which led them to it,
and at the punishment which would be sure to fall upon them for it. When he
thought upon the ancient judgments of God he was filled with terror at the fate of
the godless; as well he might be. Their laughter had not distressed him, but he was
distressed by a foresight of their overthrow. Truths which were amusement to them
caused amazement to him. He saw them utterly turning away from the law of God,
and leaving it as a path forsaken and over grown from want of traffic, and this
forsaking of the law filled him with the most painful emotions: he was astonished at
their wickedness, stunned by their presumption, alarmed by the expectation of their
sudden overthrow, amazed by the terror of their certain doom.
See Psalms 119:106; Psalms 119:158, and note the tenderness which combined with
all this. Those who are the firmest believers in the eternal punishment of the wicked

Psalm 119, 49 72 commentary

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Psalm 119, 49 72 commentary