I will meditate on your precepts, and consider your ways.
Parallel Translations
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I will meditate on your precepts, and consider your ways.
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I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways.
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I will meditate in Thy precepts, and have respect unto Thy ways.
Cross-references (10)
Passages linked to Psalms 119:15 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 1:2 but his delight is in Yahweh’s law. On his law he meditates day and night.
- James 1:25 But he who looks into the perfect law of freedom and continues, not being a hearer who forgets, but a doer of the work, this man will be blessed in what he does.
- Psalms 119:148 My eyes stay open through the night watches, that I might meditate on your word.
- Psalms 119:97 How I love your law! It is my meditation all day.
- Psalms 119:48 I reach out my hands for your commandments, which I love. I will meditate on your statutes.
- Psalms 119:78 Let the proud be disappointed, for they have overthrown me wrongfully. I will meditate on your precepts.
- Psalms 119:117 Hold me up, and I will be safe, and will have respect for your statutes continually.
- Psalms 119:131 I opened my mouth wide and panted, for I longed for your commandments.
- Psalms 119:6 Then I wouldn’t be disappointed, when I consider all of your commandments.
- Psalms 119:23 Though princes sit and slander me, your servant will meditate on your statutes.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (12 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 15. In thy precepts That to which I formerly…
15. In thy precepts That to which I formerly adverted must not be forgotten — the prophet’s not making a boast of his own acquirements, but setting before others an example for their imitation. We are aware that the majority of mankind are so much involved in the cares of the world, as to leave no time or leisure for meditating upon the doctrine of God. To meet this callous indifference, he very seasonably commends diligence and attention. And even were we not so ensnared by the world, we know how readily we lose sight of the law of God, in the daily temptations which suddenly overtake us. It is not therefore without reason that the prophet exhorts us to constant exercise, and enjoins us to direct all our energies to the subject of meditation on God’s precepts. And as the life of men is unstable, being continually distracted by the carnality of their minds, he declares that he will consider attentively the ways of God. Subsequently, he repeats the exquisite pleasure he took in this pursuit. For our proficiency in the law of God will be small, until we cheerfully and heartily set our minds upon it. And, in fact, the commencement of a good life consists in God’s law attracting us to him by its sweetness. By the same means the lusts of the flesh, too, are subdued or mitigated. In our natural state, what is more agreeable to us than that which is sinful? This will be the constant tendency of our minds, unless the delight which we feel in the law carry us in the opposite direction.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 119:15 I will meditate in thy precepts, and…
Psa 119:15 I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways.
Ver. 15. I will meditate] Or, confabulate, talk freely of them, as worldlings do of their wealth, and ways to get it, αδολεσχησω (Sept.).
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And have respect unto thy ways] As an archer hath to his mark.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain I will diligently and seriously consider the nature, and…
I will diligently and seriously consider the nature, and design, and extent of thy precepts, and especially so far as they concern my own duty.
Have respect unto thy ways; or, look unto them, as workmen constantly and carefully look to their rule to guide themselves by it.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain GIMEL.--The Third Part.
GIMEL.--The Third Part.
GIMEL. Deal bountifully with thy servant,.... Which character is mentioned, not by way of plea or argument for favour, but as expressive of modesty, sense of duty, and obligation to it. He pleads not his services by way of merit; but prays that God would deal bountifully with him, in a way of grace and mercy: or "render good" unto him, as the Targum; bestow it on him as a free gift. The Lord deals bountifully with men, when he gives himself unto them as their portion and inheritance; his Son, and all things along with him; his Spirit, and the graces of it; and every daily needful supply of grace;
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that I may live, and keep thy word; life natural is the bounty of God; he grants life and favour, he grants life as a favour, and all the mercies and blessings of it; and through the gracious dealings of God with his people, they live spiritually and live comfortably; in his favour is life; the life of faith is encouraged and invigorated in them by it; and eternal life is the free gift and bounty of God through Christ, by whom they have both a right unto it and meetness for it: and the desire of good men to live in this world is not to indulge themselves in carnal lusts and pleasures; not to live to themselves, nor to the lusts of the flesh, nor to the will of men; but to live soberly, righteously, and godly; to live by faith in Christ, and in hope of eternal life through him; and while they live to keep the word of God, and not forget it, as Aben Ezra interprets it, to lay it up for their own use, and preserve it for others, and observe its instructions, cautions, and directions.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 15. I will meditate]
Verse 15. I will meditate]
12. He should encourage self-examination and reflection; and meditate frequently on God's words, works, and ways-and especially on his gracious dealings towards him.
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13. He should keep his eye upon God's steps; setting the example of his Saviour before his eyes, going where he would go, and nowhere else; doing what he would do, and nothing else; keeping the company that he would keep, and none else; and doing every thing in reference to the final judgment.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain I will meditate in thy precepts - I will…
I will meditate in thy precepts - I will think of them; I will find my happiness in them. See the notes at Psa 1:2.
And have respect unto thy ways - And look to thy ways - thy commands. I continually regard them, or refer to them in my mind as the guide of my life. See the notes at Psa 119:6.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 15. thy ways] Or, paths (Jer. semitas), a different…
15. thy ways] Or, paths (Jer. semitas), a different word from that in Psa_119:1; Psa_119:3; Psa_119:5. It is for the most part a poetical word, and is used in Psa_119:9; Psa_119:101; Psa_119:104; Psa_119:128.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain I will meditate in thy precepts. The full force…
I will meditate in thy precepts. The full force of the Divine precepts is not to be grasped except by prolonged meditation on them. God"s commandments are "exceeding broad" (ver. 96). And have respect unto thy ways; or, "consider them," "reflect upon them.
SUPPLEMENTARY: Vers. 15, 23, 30, 48, 59, 78, 97. Meditation: its place in Christian culture.
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In these days and in this country we may speak of meditation as a lost art, if not, indeed, as a lost faculty. We have become incapable of sustained thought, of prolonged consideration of Divine truth. Even with the aid of a well-studied and well-spoken discourse, and the presence of sympathetic fellow-listeners, it is found difficult to maintain continuous attention for more than half an hour once or twice a week. The psalmist again and again recurs to this sacred duty; he speaks of it as a much-prized privilege. The best men of Old and New Testament times were men of meditation as well as of action Enoch, Abraham, Moses, Samuel, David, Elijah, Nehemiah, John Baptist, St. Paul, John the apostle all of these illustrate the truth.
Our Lord himself sought the mountain fold for solitude and communion with his own heart and with his Father. The best men that have lived and wrought during this Christian era have been men that found time for contemplation, and for the devotion in which that reaches its highest point. In a time and a land where action is felt to be everything; where there is a multitude of distractions; where every hour may easily be occupied with some lawful or even laudable activity; where a positive effort has to be made to secure a quiet hour; there is serious danger lest our Christian character suffer from want of earnest and devout meditation.
I THE TWO THINGS ON WHICH TO DWELL. These are God"s Word and our own "ways." We should meditate on God"s statutes or precepts; we should "think on our ways." What a field for thought is here! The nature and the character and the work of God as revealed in sacred history and in Jesus Christ; the truth spoken to us by our Lord, and written for our learning by inspired men; the ways in which Divine truth has been illustrated and enforced in human history; the path along which God has led us; the witness we have borne, and the work we have done; the failure to become and to effect what we might have been and have done; the lessening distance before us this side the grave; the immortal life beyond, etc.
II THE STATE OR ACT IN WHICH IT CULMINATES. In prayer. Meditation is the best friend of devotion; it is its source and safeguard. There is much that passes for prayer which, in the absence of meditation, is only mechanical repetition; there is no real meditation which does not pass into genuine, acceptable, fruitful prayer.
III ITS PRACTICAL ISSUE. "I turned my feet," etc. (ver. 59). To be nothing at all but a thinker, or even a student, is a sad mistake. We must come forth from the chamber of communion to the field of conflict. But there is little danger now of too much seclusion. Much serious consideration, passing into prayer, is the best preparation for the "world"s broad field of battle," for the dangers to be dared and the duties to be done.
The treasures of meditation.
"I will meditate in thy precepts;" "In his Law doth he meditate day and night." There would be no need to explain to an Eastern man what is meant by meditation, and wherein lies the pleasure of it. He can sit still and think; both the physical and social atmosphere of the East encourage quietness, slowness, broodiness, and these favor meditation. Perhaps the proper warning of Eastern religious persons would concern the exaggeration of meditation, which tends to give men sentiment rather than truth. They need to be aroused to the exercise of the intellectual powers in the study of God"s Word. But in the West meditation is almost despised. It seems like doing nothing, and that is offensive to active and energetic Westerns, who are so keen for results. Consequently, meditation on God"s Word has become almost a lost art. It has little or no place in the ordinary routine of a Christian life. The West has much to learn from the East, but it need not copy any of its exaggerations. Perhaps we are misusing the Bible, failing to make it in our lives what it was intended to be, because we do not meditate in the precepts, dwell on them long and lovingly, so as to realize their helpfulness.
I MEDITATION IS A NECESSARY METHOD OF DEALING WITH THE REVEALED WORD, It is necessary that we should see this clearly. There are some studies which only call for active mental application. Put your whole mind into them while concerned with them, and put them wholly out of your mind when you have done. But these lie outside the man himself, and are but matters of knowledge. The revealed Word gives truth in relation to men truth for the sake of men; and the relations will only appear in response to that kind of mental action which we call "meditation.
II MEDITATION DEPENDS MUCH MORE UPON HEART-MOOD THAN UPON BRAIN-POWER. It is really moral faculty using brainpower as its agency, and carefully keeping the brain-power in subjection. Interest in meditation is found to be in precise relation to spiritual culture; and it is akin with the spiritual insight that gets to the heart of things, and the deeper relations of things, and cannot be trammeled by the mere forms and settings of things.
III MEDITATION PROVIDES THE MOST SATISFYING PLEASURES OF THE RELIGIOUS LIFE. It unfolds the most precious truths, and gives them personal relations and personal interest. And it brings to a man the most satisfying sense of Divine communion; for God speaks his best things to the soul that is still and open to receive Divine thought. R.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain Ver. 15. I will meditate in thy precepts. He…
Ver. 15. I will meditate in thy precepts. He who has an inward delight in anything will not long withdraw his mind from it. As the miser often returns to look upon his treasure, so does the devout believer by frequent meditation turn over the priceless wealth which he has discovered in the book of the Lord. To some men meditation is a task; to the man of cleansed way it is a joy. He who has meditated will meditate; he who saith, "I have rejoiced, "is the same who adds, "I will meditate." No spiritual exercise is more profitable to the soul than that of devout meditation; why are many of us so exceeding slack in it? It is worthy of observation that the preceptory part of God's word was David's special subject of meditation, and this was the more natural because the question was still upon his mind as to how a young man should cleanse his way. Practical godliness is vital godliness.
And have respect unto thy ways, that is to say, I will think much about them so as to know what thy ways are; and next; I will think much of them so as to have thy ways in great reverence and high esteem. I will see what thy ways are towards me that I may be filled with reverence, gratitude, and love; and then I will observe what are those ways which thou hast prescribed for me, thy ways in which thou wouldest have me follow thee; these I would watch carefully that I may become obedient, and prove myself to be a true servant of such a Master.
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Note how the verses grow more inward as they proceed: from the speech of Ps 119:13 we advanced to the manifested joy of Ps 119:14, and now we come to the secret meditation of the happy spirit. The richest graces are those which dwell deepest.
Ver. 15. I will meditate in thy precepts, etc. All along David had shown what he had done; now, what he will do. Ps 119:10, "I have sought"; Ps 119:11, "I have hid"; Ps 119:12, "I have declared"; Ps 119:14, "I have rejoiced." Now in the two following verses he doth engage himself to set his mark towards God for time to come. "I will meditate in thy precepts, "etc. We do not rest upon anything already done and past, but continue the same diligence unto the end. Here is David's hearty resolution and purpose, to go on for time to come. Many will say, Thus I have done when I was young, or had more leisure and rest; in that I have meditated and conferred. You must continue still in a holy course. To begin to build, and leave unfinished, is an argument of folly. Thomas Manton.
Ver. 15. I will meditate in thy precepts. Not only of thy precepts or concerning them, but in them, while engaged in doing them. Joseph Addison Alexander.
Ver. 15. I will. See this "I will" repeated again and again (Ps 119:48, 78). In meditation it is hard (sometimes at least) to take off our thoughts from the pre-engagements of other subjects, and apply them to the duty. But it is harder to become duly serious in acting in it, harder yet to dive and ponder; and hardest of all to continue in an abode of thoughts, and dwell long enough, and after views to make reviews, to react the same thinking, to taste things over and over, when the freshness and newness is past, when by long thinking the things before us seem old. We are ready to grow dead and flat in a performance except we stir up ourselves often in it. It is hard to hold on and hold up, unless we hold up a wakeful eye, a warm affection, a strong and quick repeated resolution; yea, and without often lifting up the soul to Christ for fresh recruits of strength to hold on. David, that so excellent artist in this way, saith he will meditate, he often saith he will. Doubtless, he not only said "I will" when he was to make his entrance into this hard work; but likewise for continuance in it, to keep up his heart from flagging, till he well ended his work. It is not the digging into the golden mine, but the digging long, that finds and fetches up the treasure. It is not the diving into the sea, but staying longer, that gets the greater quantity of pearls. To draw out the golden thread of meditation to its due length till the spiritual ends be attained, this is a rare and happy attainment. Nathanael Ranew, 1670.
Ver. 15. I will meditate. How much our "rejoicing in the testimonies" of God would be increased by a more habitual meditation upon them! This is, however, a resolution which the carnal mind can never be brought to make, and to which the renewed mind through remaining depravity is often sadly reluctant. But it is a blessed employment, and will repay a thousand fold the difficulty of engaging the too backward heart in the duty. Charles Bridges.
Ver. 15. Meditation is of that happy influence, it makes the mind wise, the affections warm, the soul fat and flourishing, and the conversation greatly fruitful. Nathanael Ranew.
Ver. 15. Meditate in, thy precepts. Study the Scriptures. If a famous man do but write an excellent book, O how we do long to see it! Or suppose I could tell you that there is in France or Germany a book that God himself wrote, I am confident men may draw all the money out of your purses to get that book. You have it by you: O that you would study it! When the eunuch was riding in his chariot, he was studying the prophet Isaiah. He was not angry when Philip came and, as we would have thought, asked him a bold question: "Understandest thou what thou readest?" (Ac 8:27-30); he was glad of it. One great end of the year of release was, that the law might be read (De 31:9-13). It is the wisdom of God that speaks in the Scripture (Lu 11:49); therefore, whatever else you mind, really and carefully study the Bible. Samuel Jacomb (1629-1659), in The Morning Exercises.
Ver. 15. I will have respect. The one is the fruit of the other: "I will meditate"; and then, "I will have respect." Meditation is in order to practice; and if it be right, it will beget a respect to the ways of God. We do not meditate that we may rest in contemplation, but in order to obedience: "Thou shalt meditate in the book of the law day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein" (Jos 1:8). Thomas Manton.
Ver. 15. And have respect unto thy ways. As an archer hath to his mark. John Trapp.
Ver. 15. Respect unto thy ways. It is not without a peculiar pleasure, when travelling, that we contemplate the splendid buildings, the gardens, the fortifications, or the fine art galleries. But what are all these sights to the contemplation of the ways of God, which he himself has traversed, or has marked out for man? And what practical need there is that we consider the way, for else we shall be as a sleepy coachman, not carefully observant of the road, who may soon upset himself and his passengers. Martin Geier.
Ver. 15. Thy ways. David's second internal action concerning the word is consideration; where mark well, how by a most proper speech he calls the word of God the ways of God; partly, because by it God comes near unto men, revealing himself to them, who otherwise could not be known of them; for he dwells in light inaccessible; and partly, because the word is the way which leads men to God. So then, because by it God cometh down to men, and by it men go up unto God, and know how to get access to him, therefore is his word called his way. William Cowper.
Ver. 15-16. The two last verses of this section present to us a threefold internal action of David's soul toward the word of God; first, meditation; secondly, consideration; thirdly, delectation: every one of these proceeds from another, and they mutually strengthen one another. Meditation brings the word to the mind; consideration views it and looks at length into it, whereof is bred delectation. That which comes into the mind, were it never so good, if it be not considered, goes as it came, leaving neither instruction nor joy; but being once presented by meditation, if it be pondered by consideration, then it breeds delectation, which is the perfection of godliness, in regard of the internal action. William Cowper.
Ver. 15. The contemplative and active life; their common food, object, and reward.
Psalms 119:16*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain I will meditate in Thy precepts, and have respect…
Psa_119:15-16
I will meditate in Thy precepts, and have respect unto Thy ways.
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A threefold internal action of the soul about the Word
These two verses present to us a threefold internal action of Davids soul towards the Word of God: first, meditation; secondly, consideration; thirdly, delectation; every one of these proceeds from the other and mutually strengthen one another. Meditation brings the Word to the mind; consideration views it, and looks at length into it; whereof is bred delectation. That which comes into the mind, were it never so good, if it be not considered, goes as it came; leaving neither instruction nor joy; but being once perfected by meditation, if it be pondered by consideration, then it breeds delectation; which is the perfection of godliness, in regard of the internal action. Thus we see that a godly man is ever fruitful in good: like that tree planted by the rivers of waters. For at the same time when his external good actions cannot be seen, he is not without internal good motions, breeding good in the root of his affection; which shortly brings out good fruit in his action, to the glory of God, and good of others. (Bp. Cowper.)
Reading profitless without meditation
St. Francis de Sales did not think well of those men who flit from book to book, taking up first one religious exercise and then another; he compared such persons to the drone bee, which makes no honey. Always learning, yet never coming to the knowledge of the truth; always gathering and acquiring, without retaining anything, because what they gather is put into a bottomless sack, a broken cistern. The longer a bee rests upon the flower, the more honey it will gather, he used to say. (Christian Weekly.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 I will meditate ... and pay attention
I will meditate ... and pay attention
These are parallel thoughts that have similar meanings, which are repeated for emphasis. (See: Parallelism)
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meditate on your instructions
"think carefully about what you have instructed us"
pay attention
This idiom refers to thinking clearly about what is being discussed. AT: "give careful thought" (See: Idiom)
I delight
to take pleasure
translationWords
meditate
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 119:15 The way of wisdom includes meditating on God’s…
119:15 The way of wisdom includes meditating on God’s ways (see 119:1, 3). The wise reflect on the implications of God’s word.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.