Those who love your law have great peace. Nothing causes them to stumble.
Parallel Translations
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Those who love your law have great peace. Nothing causes them to stumble.
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Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.
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Great peace have they that love Thy law; and there is no stumbling for them.
Cross-references (17)
Passages linked to Psalms 119:165 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Proverbs 3:1-2 My son, don’t forget my teaching; but let your heart keep my commandments: for they will add to you length of days, years of life, and peace.
- Isaiah 32:17 The work of righteousness will be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever.
- Isaiah 26:3 You will keep whoever’s mind is steadfast in perfect peace, because he trusts in you.
- John 14:27 Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, I give to you. Don’t let your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful.
- Philippians 4:7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.
- Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
- Proverbs 3:23 Then you shall walk in your way securely. Your foot won’t stumble.
- 1 Peter 2:6-8 Because it is contained in Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, chosen and precious: He who believes in him will not be disappointed.” For you who believe therefore is the honor, but for those who are disobedient, “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone,” and, “a stumbling stone and a rock of offense.” For they stumble at the word, being disobedient, to which also they were appointed.
- Proverbs 3:17 Her ways are ways of pleasantness. All her paths are peace.
- Isaiah 57:21 “There is no peace”, says my God, “for the wicked.”
- 1 John 2:10 He who loves his brother remains in the light, and there is no occasion for stumbling in him.
- Matthew 13:21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while. When oppression or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.
- Isaiah 28:13 Therefore Yahweh’s word will be to them precept on precept, precept on precept; line on line, line on line; here a little, there a little; that they may go, fall backward, be broken, be snared, and be taken.
- Galatians 6:15-16 For in Christ Jesus neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. As many as walk by this rule, peace and mercy be on them, and on God’s Israel.
- Isaiah 8:13-15 Yahweh of Armies is who you must respect as holy. He is the one you must fear. He is the one you must dread. He will be a sanctuary, but for both houses of Israel, he will be a stumbling stone and a rock that makes them fall. For the people of Jerusalem, he will be a trap and a snare. Many will stumble over it, fall, be broken, be snared, and be captured.”
- Isaiah 57:14 He will say, “Build up, build up, prepare the way! Remove the stumbling-block out of the way of my people.”
- Matthew 24:24 For there will arise false christs, and false prophets, and they will show great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the chosen ones.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 165. Great peace have they who love thy law.…
165. Great peace have they who love thy law. If we take the word peace for a prosperous or happy condition of life — a sense in which the Hebrews often employ it — the word rendered stumbling-block, to correspond with it, will be used for adversity; as if it had been said, that those who love God’s law shall continually prosper and retain their position, although the whole world should fall into ruins. But a different interpretation will be equally appropriate, namely, that they have great peace, because, being persuaded that both their persons and their life are acceptable to God, they calmly repose themselves on a good conscience. This tranquil state of conscience, this serenity of mind, is justly reckoned the chief point of a happy life, that is to say it is so, when it proceeds from God’s being reconciled to us, and from his fatherly favor shining in our hearts. The Prophet justly teaches that we attain this peace from the love of the law; for whoever would make it to depend upon anything else, will be from time to time trembling at every little blast. If this sense is adopted, the word stumbling-block, in the second clause, will signify all the troubles and disquietudes of mind with which all who lean not upon God’s word are miserably distressed and tormented, and with which they are driven about either by their own depraved passions, or by the caprice of other men. But in whatever way understand these two words, peace and stumbling-block, the design of the Prophet will remain the same, which is to show, that those who are not devoted to God are miserable; for although they may applaud themselves for a time, yet they will meet with many stumbling-blocks to drive them suddenly out of their course. From the term love, we gather that this peace is not acquired by a slavish observance of the law, but proceeds from faith; for the law has no sweetness to attract us to it, unless it exhibit to us God in the character of a father, and tranquilize our minds by the assurance of eternal salvation. So far from enjoying peace, all worldly men and despisers of God are justly punished by their own depravity and obdurate rebellion; for each of them is his own executioner, and the more fiercely they rage against the word of God, the sorer are they tormented, until they bring upon themselves utter destruction. The godly, it is true, are also tormented or distressed, but this inward consolation wipes away all their sorrow, or, raising them up, enables them to surmount all stumbling-blocks, or so relieves them, that they faint not.
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.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain For their conscience assureth them that they please thee,…
For their conscience assureth them that they please thee, whereas they that love not thee, have the contrary.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 119:165 Great peace have they which love thy…
Psa 119:165 Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.
Ver. 165. Great peace have they which love thy law] The fruit of righteousness shall be peace, Isa 32:17, even the peace of God, the joy of faith, a heaped up happiness.
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And nothing shall offend them] Heb. they shall have no stumbling block; non pereunt, quicquid accidat, though they fall, they shall arise; for the Lord putteth under his hand, Psa 37:24
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 Great peace; either outward prosperity and happiness, which God…
Great peace; either outward prosperity and happiness, which God in his law hath expressly promised to good men; or at least inward peace, satisfaction and tranquility of mind, arising from the sense of God’s love to them and watchful care over them in all the concerns of this life and of the next.
Have they, Heb. is to them, or shall be to them; for the verb being not expressed, it may be understood either way. Although they may meet with some disturbance, yet their end shall be peace, as is said, Psa 37:37.
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Nothing shall offend them, Heb. they shall have no stumbling-block, to wit, such at which they shall stumble and fall into mischief and utter ruin, as ungodly men have, before whom God doth oft lay stumbling-blocks, or occasions of sin and destruction, as it is affirmed by God himself, Jer 6:21; Eze 3:20; Rom 9:33, out of Isa 8:14.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain Here is an account of the happiness of good…
Here is an account of the happiness of good men, who are governed by a principle of love to the word of God, who make it their rule and are ruled by it. 2. They are easy, and have a holy serenity; none enjoy themselves more than they do: Great peace have those that love thy law, abundant satisfaction in doing their duty and pleasure in reflecting upon it. The work of righteousness is peace (Isa 32:17), such peace as the world can neither give nor take away. They may be in great troubles without and yet enjoy great peace within, sat lucis intus - abundance of internal light. Those that love the world have great vexation, for it does not answer their expectation; those that love God's word have great peace, for it outdoes their expectation, and in it they have sure footing. 2. They are safe, and have a holy security: Nothing shall offend them; nothing shall be a scandal, snare, or stumbling-block, to them, to entangle them either in guilt or grief. No event of providence shall be either an invincible temptation or an intolerable affliction to them, but their love to the word of God shall enable them both to hold fast their integrity and to preserve their tranquility. They will make the best of that which is, and not quarrel with any thing that God does. Nothing shall offend or hurt them, for every thing shall work for good to them, and therefore shall please them, and they shall reconcile themselves to it. Those in whom this holy love reigns will not be apt to perplex themselves with needless scruples, nor to take offence at their brethren, Co1 13:6, Co1 13:7.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Let my supplication come before thee,.... The same with…
Let my supplication come before thee,.... The same with his "cry" in Psa 119:169; only expressed by another word, signifying a petition for grace and favour, in an humble and submissive manner; which it is entreated might be received and accepted, as before;
deliver me according to thy word; of promise, such as that in Psa 50:15; meaning from all troubles and afflictions; out of the hands of all his enemies, and from the power of sin, Satan, and the world; and from all fears of wrath, ruin, and destruction. Kimchi observes, that this is not to be understood of a deliverance of the body from distress, but of the soul from the stumbling block of sin.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Offend - Hebrew. they shall have no stumbling-block, at…
Offend - Hebrew. they shall have no stumbling-block, at which they shall stumble and fall into mischief.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 165. Great peace have they] They have peace…
Verse 165. Great peace have they] They have peace in their conscience, and joy in the Holy Spirit; and
Nothing shall offend] Stumble, or put them out of the way.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Psa 119:165. Great peace have they which love thy…
Psa 119:165. Great peace have they which love thy law — Hebrew, great peace is, or shall be, to the lovers of thy law, that is, great inward peace, satisfaction, and tranquillity of mind, arising from the sense of thy love to them, and of thy watchful care over them. In other words: “amidst the storms and tempests of the world, there is a perfect calm in the breasts of those who not only do the will of God, but love to do it. They are at peace with God by the blood of reconciliation; at peace with themselves by the answer of a good conscience and the subjection of those desires which war against the soul; at peace with all men by the spirit of charity; and the whole creation is so at peace with them, that all things work together for their good.” And nothing shall offend them — Hebrew, ואין למו מכשׁול, to them is no stumbling-block, namely, such as they shall stumble at, and fall by, into sin and misery. “No external troubles can rob them of this great peace, no offences or stumbling-blocks, which are thrown in their way by persecution or temptation, by the malice of enemies, or the apostacy of friends, by any thing which they see, hear of, or feel, can detain or divert them from their course. Heavenly love surmounts every obstacle, and runs with delight the way of God’s commandments.” — Horne.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Great peace have they - See the notes at…
Great peace have they - See the notes at Isa 26:3; compare the notes at Phi 4:6-7. They have great calmness of mind. They are not troubled and anxious. They believe and feel that all things are well-ordered by thee, and will be conducted to the best result. They, therefore, calmly leave all with thee. As a matter of fact, the friends of God have peace and calmness in their minds, even amidst the troubles, the disappointments, and the reverses of life. The love of God is the best - the only - way to secure permanent peace in the soul.
Which love thy law - It is the love of law, and the belief that the law of God is in accordance with justice, that gives peace to their minds. God’s government is a government of law, and therefore it is loved.
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And nothing shall offend them - Margin, “They shall have no stumbling-block.” “Hebrew, “And to them no stumbling,” or stumbling-block. See the notes at Mat 5:29-30; notes at Mat 18:6; notes at Mat 16:23; notes at 1Pe 2:8; notes at Jam 2:10. The meaning here is, that they would not fall into sin; they would be kept safe; they would be preserved from the power of temptation. The meaning is not, as it would seem to be in our version, that nothing would pain, grieve, or irritate them; but, as above, that as long as they were obedient to the law, and disposed to obey it, they would be safe from the power of temptation.
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 165. Those who love the law find it a…
165. Those who love the law find it a spring of constant inward peace, even in the midst of outward persecution: and they have none occasion of stumbling (R.V.). Cp. 1Jn_2:10, and the LXX here, οὐκ ἔστιν αὐτοῖς σκάνδαλον. “They walk firmly and safely on the clear path of duty” without stumbling and falling through sin. Cp. Eze_18:30, “Repent … and iniquity shall not be a stumblingblock unto you.” They are not ‘scandalized,’ made to stumble and driven into scepticism by the sight of the anomalies of the world, such as suffering goodness and triumphant wickedness. “They are free from the ‘stumbling of heart’ (1Sa_25:31)—the paralysing weakness—which follows on the consciousness of having wronged, or of bearing ill-will to, a brother” (Kay). The P.B.V. and they are not offended at it appears to be Coverdale’s mistaken paraphrase of the Zürich Version, “und werdend sich niemermer stossen.”
166 a. From Gen_49:18, with the substitution of a later word sibbçr for hope for the sake of the initial letter.
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and have done thy commandments] To the LXX the phrase seemed over-bold, and they substituted and loved (cp. Psa_119:163). The same feeling may have prompted Coverdale to render “done after thy commandments.”
167 a. Cp. 129 b.
and I love] P.B.V. and loved is from LXX through Vulg. So also Jer.
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.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (165) Nothing shall offend them.—See margin. Perhaps the verse…
(165) Nothing shall offend them.—See margin. Perhaps the verse should take the form of a wish: great peace to the lovers of Thy law; no stumbling-block to them. Or, it may be, great peace have they who love Thy word and who find no hindrance. It was not the fact that the faithful did not stumble.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Great peace have they which love thy Law. (comp.…
Great peace have they which love thy Law. (comp. Pro_3:1, 2 Isa_32:17 Jam_3:18) There is always disquietude where there is sin. A sense of perfect peace and rest belongs to those who love and keep God"s Law. And nothing shall offend them; rather, and they shall have no stumbling-block. Nothing shall cause them to stumble, much less to fall away from grace.
The steadying influence of God"s Word.
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"They are not staggered or perplexed by anything which they meet with, either in Scripture or nature." "When God"s Law is loved, instead of being struggled against, the conscience is at peace, and the inward eye is clear; a man sees his duty, and does it, free from those stumbling-blocks which are ever occasion of falling to others." Marginal reading is," They shall have no stumbling-block." Compare our Lord"s denunciation of those who "offend a stumbling-block in the way of of his little ones." The point is that those who steady themselves by holding firm to God"s Word have a sure support in every time of temptation or danger. There are two ways in which the knowledge and use of God"s Word steadies us. It braces us up. It gives us something sure to lean upon.
I GOD"S WORD STEADIES BY BRACING US UP. This may be illustrated by the careers of two youths, who leave their country homes for business city life, and the peril of city snares and town traps." The one is braced up with good principles, and is able to resist temptation, and to throw off morally infecting disease. The principles of the other hang all lax and loose about him; and he has no ready resisting force when the enemy "comes in like a flood." Just what familiarity with God"s Word. does is brace up our principles, brace up our moral nature, hold. us together; nourish the vitality in every part of us, so that we are kept in health and energy. Mind braced up with knowledge; heart braced up with right feeling; will braced up with motive. "Let your loins be girded about
II GOD"S WORD STEADIES BY GIVING US SOMETHING SURE TO LEAN UPON. Illustrate by the ship-captain who can always fortify his own judgment by appealing to his chart. It is of the utmost importance that we should preserve our sense of the authority of God"s Word, as an absolute and final appeal; a trusty staff on which we may lean. This form of the steadying power of God"s Word was effectively illustrated in the time of our Lord"s temptation. 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. 165. Great peace have they which love thy…
Ver. 165. Great peace have they which love thy law. What a charming verse is this! It dwells not with those who perfectly keep the law, for where should such men be found? but with those who love it, whose hearts and hands are made to square with its precepts and demands. These men are ever striving, with all their hearts, to walk in obedience to the law, and though they are often persecuted they have peace, yea, great peace; for they have learned the secret of the reconciling blood, they have felt the power of the comforting Spirit, and they stand before the Father as men accepted. The Lord has given them to feel his peace, which passed all understanding. They have many troubles, and are likely to be persecuted by the proud, but their usual condition is that of deep calm a peace too great for this little world to break.
And nothing shall offend them, or, "shall really injure them." "All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." It must needs be that offences come, but these lovers of the law are peacemakers, and so they neither give nor take offence. That peace which is founded upon conformity to God's will is a living and lasting one, worth writing of with enthusiasm, as the Psalmist here does.
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Ver. 165. Great peace have they which love thy law. Amidst the storms and tempests of the world, there is a perfect calm in the breasts of those, who not only do the will of God, but "love" to do it. They are at peace with God, by the blood of reconciliation; at peace with themselves, by the answer of a good conscience, and the subjection of those desires which war against the soul; at peace with all men, by the spirit of charity; and the whole creation is so at peace with them that all things work together for their good. No external troubles can rob them of this "great peace, "no "offences" or stumbling blocks, which are thrown in their way by persecution, or temptation, by the malice of enemies, or by the apostasy of friends, by anything which they see, hear of, or feel, can detain, or divert them from their course. Heavenly love surmounts every obstacle, and runs with delight the way of God's commandments. George Horne.
Ver. 165. Great peace have they which love thy law. There have been Elis trembling for the ark of God, and Uzzahs putting out their hand in fear that it was going to fall; but in the mids't of the deepest troubles through which the church has passed, and the fiercest storms that have raged about it, there have been true, faithful men of God who have never despaired. In every age there have been Luthers and Latimers, who have not only held fast their confidence, but whose peace has deepened with the roaring of the waves. The more they have been forsaken of men, the closer has been their communion with God. And with strong hold of him and of his promises, and hearts that could enter into the secret place of the Most High, although there has been everything without to agitate, threaten, and alarm, they have been guided into perfect peace. James Martin, in, "The Christian Mirror, and other Sermons",
1878.
Ver. 165. Great peace have they which love thy law. Clearness of conscience is a help to comfortable thoughts. Yet observe, that peace is not so much effected as preserved by a good conscience and conversation; for though joy in the Holy Ghost will make its nest nowhere but in a holy soul, yet the blood of Christ only can speak peace; "being justified by faith, we have peace:" Ro 5:1. An exact life will not make, but keep conscience quiet; an easy shoe does not heal a sore foot, but it keeps a sound one from hurt. Walking with God according to gospel rules hath peace entailed upon it, and that peace is such a treasure, as thereby, a Christian may have his rejoicing from himself. Ga 6:4, 16. His own heart sings him a merry tune, which the threats and reproaches of the world cannot silence. The treasure of comfort is not expended in affliction; death itself doth not exhaust but increase and advance it to an eternal triumph. O the excellency and necessity of it! Paul laid it up for a death-bed cordial: "Our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience:" 2Co 1:12. And Hezekiah dares hold it up to God, as well as cheer up himself with it on approaching death. A conscience good in point of integrity will be good also in point of tranquillity: "The righteous are bold as a lion": they have great peace that love and keep God's commandments: Pr 28:1 Ps 119:165. And saith the apostle, "If our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence towards God" (1Jo 3:2), and I may add also, towards men. Oh! what comfort and solace hath a clear conscience! A conscientious man hath something within to answer accusations without; he hath such a rich treasure as will not fail in greatest straits and hazards. I shall conclude this with a notable saying of Bernard: "The pleasures of a good conscience are the Paradise of souls, the joy of angels, a garden of delights, a field of blessing, the temple of Solomon, the court of God, the habitation of the Holy Spirit." Oliver Heywood.
Ver. 165. Great peace. Note that for "peace" the Hebrew word is mylw, shalom:it signifies not only "peace, "but also perfection, wholeness, prosperity, tranquillity, healthfulness, safety, the completion and consummation, of every good thing; and so it is frequently taken by the Hebrews; hence in salutations, wishing one the other well, they say, Pl mylw, shalom lekha, i.e, "peace be with thee"; as if one should say, "may all things be prosperous with thee." Thomas Le Blanc.
Ver. 165. They which love thy law. To love a law may Seem strange; but it is the only true divine life. To keep it because we are afraid of its penalties is only a form of fear or prudential consideration. To keep it to preserve a good name may be propriety and respectability. To keep it because it is best for society may be worldly self interest. To keep it because of physical health may be the policy of epicurean philosophy. To keep it because we love it is to show that it is already part of us has entered into the moral texture of our being. Sin then becomes distasteful, and temptations lose their power. W.M. Statham, quoted in "Atictoilette Commentary on the
Psalms", 1879.
Ver. 165. And nothing shall offend them. Hebrew, "they shall have no stumbling block." 1Jo 4:10, "There is none occasion of stumbling in him" who abides in the light, which makes him to see and avoid such stumblingblocks. Wealth, tribulation, temptation, which are the occasion to many of falling (Isa 8:14, 15; Ez 3:20 7:19 14:3 4:7), are not so to him. A.R. Faussett.
Ver. 165. Learn the true wisdom of those of you who are new creatures, and who love God's holy law. All of you who are really brought to Christ are changed into his image, so that you love God's holy law. "I delight in the law of God after the inward man." "The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart": Psalm 19. The world says: What a slave you are! you cannot have a little amusement on the Sabbath you cannot take a Sabbath walk, or join a Sabbath tea party; you cannot go to a dance or a theatre; you cannot enjoy the pleasures of sensual indulgence you are a slave. I answer: Christ had none of these pleasures. He did not want them: nor do we. He knew what was truly wise, and good, and happy, and he chose God's holy law. He was the freest of all beings, and yet he knew no sin. Only make me free as Christ is free this is all I ask. "Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them." Robert Murray M Cheyne, 1813-1843.
Ver. 165. Nothing shall offend them. They that have this character of God's children, will not the stumbled at God's dispensations, let them he never so cross to their desires, because they have a God to fly unto in all their troubles, and a sure covenant to rest upon. Therefore the reproaches cast upon them, and on the way of God, do not scandalize them; for they have found God in that very way which others speak evil of; they are not so offended by anything that attends the way of God, as to dislike or forsake that way. Nevertheless we must take heed that we be not offended. John Bunyan.
Ver. 165.
1. Great love to a great law.
2. Great peace under great disquietude.
3. Great upholding from all stumblingblocks.
Ver. 165. Perfect peace.
1. The law of God should be regarded with love.
2. Love to the law is productive of great peace. Peace with God through the blood of reconciliation: peace with self by good conscience and suppression of evil desires: peace with men by charity.
3. The peace which springs from love to the law is a security against stumbling: "nothing shall offend them; "neither the daily cross (Mr 5:21, 22) nor the fiery trial (Mr 4:7); nor the humbling doctrine (Joh 6:60, 66, etc.). C.A.D
Ver. 165.
1. The characters described "they which love thy law."
2. The blessing they enjoy: "great peace."
3. The evils they escape: "nothing shall offend them."
G.R.
Ver. 165. The peace and security of the godly.
1. Their peace. It arises from
(a) Freedom from an accusing conscience.
(b) Conformity to the requirements of the law.
(c) Enjoyment of the privileges revealed in the law.
(d) Assurance of divine approval and benediction.
2. Their security.
(a) They are prepared for every duty.
(b) They are proof against every temptation.
(c) They are pledged to final perseverance.
(d) They have the promise of divine protection.
W.H.J.P.
Ver. 165.
1. An honourable title: "They which love thy law."
2. A good possession: "Great peace have they."
3. A blessed immunity: "Nothing shall offend them."
J.F.
Psalms 119:166*
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 Great peace have they which love Thy law: and…
Psa_119:165
Great peace have they which love Thy law: and nothing shall offend them.
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The glowing testimony of the good
This is the testimony of--
I. Philosophy. Moral remorse, malign passions, dark forebodings, battling impulses, these are the source of all inner tumult; but, in the nature of the case, where the soul is in a loving ruling sympathy with Gods law, such elements of distress cannot exist.
II. Scripture (Pro_3:13; Php_4:7; Joh_14:27).
III. Experience. In proportion to the amount of the low of God in the heart of a man is his peace--with his own nature, his conscience, and God. (Homilist.)
The lover of Gods law filled with peace
I. A spiritual character. They which love Thy law.
1. Love lies deep, it is in the heart: it is not a thing of the surface, it is of the mans own self. As a man loveth so is he. To love Gods law is to have the very nature and essence of our manhood in a right condition.
2. This inward and spiritual love to Gods Word includes many other good things.
(1) A deep reverence for it.
(2) This advances to rejoicing in it.
(3) Further than this, we receive Holy Scripture with emotion.
(4) Great gratitude to God for His Word is formed in the believing heart.
3. This love is productive of many good things.
(1) Meditation on it.
(2) Courage in defence of it.
(3) Penitence for having sinned against it.
(4) Patience under suffering.
(5) Holiness.
4. If in any of us there is a love of the law of the Lord, this is a work of the Holy Spirit.
II. A special possession. When Orientals meet each other their usual salutation is Shalom--Peace be to thee. The word does not mean merely quiet and rest, but happiness or prosperity. Great peace means great prosperity. Those who love Gods law have great blessedness in this life as well as in that which is to come. In loving the law of God we have intense enjoyment and real success in life.
1. Great restfulness of the intellect.
2. A pacified conscience.
3. Peace in heart.
4. Peace as to our desires.
5. Peace in resignation to God, acquiescence in His will, and conformity to it.
6. A happy confidence in God as to all things in the past, the present, and the future.
III. A singular preservation. Nothing shall offend them.
1. Intellectual stumbling-blocks are gone.
2. No moral duty shall be a cross to them.
3. They can stand alone. Solitude does not offend them. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The greatness of Gods peace
Its greatness appears from--
I. Its being the result of love to the Divine law.
II. Its being identically that peace which Christ bestows upon His own, which He designated His peace, and which none but He can bestow.
III. Whether, therefore, you contemplate the agent or the agency, you behold here a peace so grand and so elevating, that the possessors of it must embrace the whole law with their whole souls. They can except against none of all the gracious commandments. There is not one thing you can put them on, whether to do or to suffer, which, in the strength of that heavenly love, and by the help of that grace, they will not go into for their Saviour. (John Bruce, D. D.)
The happiness of holiness
I. We are surrounded by law. The law holds our entire being in its grasp--our heart, our secret acts, our words, our life, and there is no escape: nor is there any breaking of the law with impunity.
II. We can have no true peace while out of harmony with law. The consciousness of wrong-doing brings a weight upon the soul (Psa_32:4; Psa_38:4). An unwillingness to submit creates internal strife (Rom_7:12-24): therefore there is no peace to the wicked.
III. How can harmony with Divine law be attained? By pardon through the atonement. By the renovation of our nature, so that the law is written on the heart (Heb_8:10)--so that the heart delights in that which the law enjoins (Eze_36:25-27).
IV. Great peace results from this harmony.
1. Absolutely perfect peace with and in God: the King is now our friend: loyalty is natural--perfect love casteth out fear.
2. Peace with ourselves--the internal war is ended. Conscience is at rest, duty is a delight.
3. Peace with all mankind so far as lies in our power.
4. Peace with the universe, for when we are in harmony with law we are in harmony with God, and therefore with the whole God-pervaded universe. (C. O. Eldridge, B. A.)
Submieeion and peace
Loving the law of God, not only with delight in the vehicle of its expression, but with inward submission to its behests, we shall have--
I. The peacefulness of a restful heart. Such a heart has found an adequate and worthy object for the outgoings of its affections. Base things loved always disturb. Noble things loved always tranquillize. For our hearts are like the creatures in some river, of which they tell us that they change their colour according to the hue of the bed of the stream in which they float and of the food of which they partake. The heart that lives on the will of God will be calm and steadfast, and ennobled into reposeful tranquillity like that which it grasps and grapples.
II. The calm of a submitted will. If you were ever on board a sailing ship you know the difference between its motion when it is beating up against the wind and when it is running before it. In the one case all is agitation and uneasiness, in the other all is smooth, and frictionless, and delicious. So, when we go with the great stream, in not ignoble surrender, then we go quietly. It is Gods great intention, in all that befalls us in this life, to bring our wills into conformity with His. Blessed is the ministry of sorrow, and of pain, and of loss, if it does that for us. And disastrous and accursed is the ministry of joy and success if it does not.
III. The peace of an obedient life. When once we have taken it (and faithfully adhere to the choice) as our supreme desire to do Gods will, we are delivered from almost all the things that distract and disturb us. Away go all the storms of passion, and we are no more at the mercy of vagrant inclinations. And as thus we may be delivered from all the agitations and cross-currents of conflicting wishes, inclinations, aims, which otherwise would make a jumble and a chaos of our lives, so, on the other hand, if for us the supreme desire is to obey God, then we are delivered from the other great enemy to tranquillity--namely, anxious forecasting of possible consequences of our actions, which robs so many of us of so many quiet days. I do the little I can do, said Faber, and leave the rest with Thee. And that will bring peace.
IV. The peace of freedom from temptations. Nothing shall offend them. The higher love casts out the lower. Which is best, to overcome our temptations, or to live away up in the high regions to which the malaria of the swamps never climbs, and where no disease-germs can ever reach? That elevation is possible for us, if only we keep in close touch with God, and love the law because our hearts are knit to the Law-giver. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Of the inward peace and pleasure which attends religion
I. Religion is apt to remove the chief causes of inward trouble and disquiet.
1. Doubt and anxiety of mind.
2. Guilt of conscience.
II. Religion ministers to us all the true causes of peace and tranquillity of mind. Whoever lives according to the rules of religion, lays these three great foundations of peace and comfort to himself:--
1. He is satisfied that in being religious he doth that which is most reasonable.
2. That he secures himself against the greatest mischiefs and dangers by making God his friend.
3. That upon the whole matter he does in all respects most effectually consult and promote his own interest and happiness.
III. The reflection upon a religious and virtuous course of life doth afterwards yield a mighty pleasure and satisfaction. (Abp. Tillotson.)
Love of Gods law a source of peace
I. The character of those whom the psalmist describes. They love Gods law. At the outset of religion our thoughts are generally fixed on God as a God of mercy and compassion. We almost lose sight of His other perfections: but this cannot last. And when we come to survey Him as the Just One, the Holy One, the Faithful One, as well as the Merciful One; the more we consider God as a combination of perfections--oh, we shall presently see that there is no safety for us unless and until those perfections are all and each on our side. But when this feeling is engendered, and we are brought naturally to love the law just as we do the redemption, we satisfy the law. The law is not merely admired, not merely reverenced, the law is loved--loved as what it was worthy of God to give--what it was worthy of Christ to fulfil, and what Christ has fulfilled by a Suretyship which leaves not one jot to be exacted from the sinner. And why have they great peace? Because there is no attribute of God to which they who love the law cannot find themselves reconciled.
II. Take the character thus deciphered, and examine why it happens that there are not stumbling-blocks to those who possess it. Suppose we take certain of the hindrances which men meet with in following Christ, and endeavour to show you in each how, through loving the law, the obstacle is surmounted. For instance, the unequal distribution both of good and of evil in this life is often a perplexing thing to the righteous. But now observe--he who loves the law is exactly equipped for surmounting this offence. In being brought to love the law, a man has been brought into acquaintance with each and every attribute of God. Therefore he is quite assured of the justice of God; he is quite assured of the faithfulness of God. Again, when afflictions come thick on the godly man, they have a tendency to stagger him, or to serve as a stumbling-block. But it will certainly be the man who loves Gods law who is best prepared to meet such impediments; for it is required by the terms of the law that we should know Gods attributes, and take delight in them all. Knowing each attribute, loving each attribute, he will be meekly confident that the issue must be right, though the process may be dark. And there are other kinds of offence, or stumbling-blocks, which may be met with by the Christian. Living, as we all must live, in some considerable degree, in association with our fellow-men, we are necessarily exposed to an influence, direct or indirect, excited by their conduct; for you can scarcely find the man of whom it can be truly said, that he is independent of the behaviour of others; that is, in the sense that his own moral character is not likely to be either advantaged or prejudiced by the deportment of those about him. Look, for example, at the faults and inconsistencies of religious professors. The faults of any one religious professor--covetousness, for example--ambition--the love of show--the ready association with the world--the facility in keeping piety out of sight, when it is likely to keep him out of favour--all these inconsistencies, put forth in the name of one professor of godliness, are calculated to damp the ardour of a hundred others, and bring into disrepute all those realities of religion, which, being removed, there remains nothing but the skeleton of Christianity. Who, we want to know, is best prepared to meet this offence? He who is a lover of the law. If I have reached the point of loving the law, if I love God because He hates sin, if I love God because He will punish sin, if I love God because He requires holiness in the inward parts--and all this, yea, and a vast deal more is love of Gods law--then I have such an acquaintance with God as puts me far beyond the reach of accidents or contingencies. I know God--if the expression may be allowed--thoroughly; I know Him too well, under those very aspects with which the generality of Christians are least familiar, to render it necessary that I should infer His properties from what is done by others, or from what happens to others; and thus my love of the law gives me practically independence on the conduct or intercourse of my fellow-Christians; and I can overleap the obstacles which their failures may have thrown in my way; and thus I can verify the assertion Nothing shall offend those who love the law of their God. (H. Melvill, B. D.)
Peace amid troubles
I. A possession.
1. There may be peace without great peace. But Christians have great peace. It appertains to a great subject, the soul; it eases great anxieties, those which have to do with our relation to God, and it has an abiding greatness of power, for no man taketh it away.
2. This peace is connected with obedience. The renewed spirit is under the law of the spirit of life. A living Christ rules as truly as a code! He says, thou shelf not more successfully. Take the spirit of true love. If I really love, shall I injure in thought, word, look, deed? Not
I. The law will rule me everywhere; it will be the law of the spirit of life.
3. Love will be the affectional bond. Here is the strength of the Christian man l Sin becomes distasteful to him--its bread bitter, its waters brackish. In fact, duty is like drawing a triumphal ear; and wearing the thorn-crown is like bearing some insignia of highest order.
II. An exemption. Nothing shall offend them.
1. Circumstances do not hurt them, or are not a stumbling-block to them. They are not too careless to despise them, or too heartless, in a human sense, to refuse to extract all the honey out of lifes flowers that they can. Things present, as well as things to come, are theirs.
2. Temptations do not hurt them. Arrows glance harmlessly aside from the impenetrable shield of the Christ-filled soul.
3. Death does not hurt them. How can it? They surely have been meetening for it. It is not always longed for, but it is prepared for. (W. M. Statham.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain
Psalms
SUBMISSION AND PEACE
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Psa 119:165.
The marginal note says ‘they shall have no stumbling block.’
We do great injustice to this psalm-so exuberant in its praises of ‘the law of the Lord’-if we suppose that that expression means nothing more than the Mosaic or Jewish revelation. It does mean that, of course, but the psalm itself shows that the writer uses the expression and its various synonyms as including a great deal more than any one method by which God’s will is made known to man. For he speaks, for instance, in one part of the psalm of God’s ‘word,’ as being settled for ever in the heavens, and of the heavens and earth as continuing to this day, ‘according to Thine ordinances.’
So we are warranted in giving to the thought of our text the wider extension of taking the divine ‘law’ to include not only that directory of conduct contained in Scripture, but the expressed will of God, involving duties for us, in whatever way it is made known. The love of that uttered will, the Psalmist declares, will always bring peace. Such an understanding of the text does not exclude the narrower reference, which is often taken to be the only thought in the Psalmist’s mind, nor does it obliterate the distinction between the written law of God and the disclosures of His will which we collect by the exercise of our faculties on events around and facts within us. But it widens the horizon of our contemplations, and bases the promised peace on its true foundation, the submission of the human to the divine will.
Let us then consider how true love to the will of God, however it is made known to us, either in the Book or in our consciousness, or in daily providences, or by other people’s hints, is the talisman that brings to us, in all circumstances, and in every part of our nature, a tranquillity which nothing can disturb.
Of course, by ‘love’ here is meant, not only delight in the expression of, but the submission of the whole being to, God’s will; and we love the law only when, and because, we love the Lawgiver.
I. Thus loving the law of God, not only with delight in the vehicle of its expression, but with inward submission to its behests, we shall have, first of all, the peacefulness of a restful heart.
Such a heart has found an adequate and worthy object for the outgoings of its affections. Base things loved always disturb. Noble things loved always tranquillise. And he to whom his judgment declares that the best of all things is God’s manifested will, and whose affections and emotions and actions follow the dictate of his judgment, has a love which grasps whatsoever things are noble and fair and of good report, and is lifted to a level corresponding with the loftiness of its objects. For our hearts are like the creatures in some river, of which they tell us that they change their colour according to the hue of the bed of the stream in which they float and of the food of which they partake. The heart that lives on the will of God will be calm and steadfast, and ennobled into reposeful tranquillity like that which it grasps and grapples.
Little boats which are made fast to the sides of a ship rise and fall with the tide, as does that to which they are attached. And our hearts, if they be roped to the fleeting, the visible, the creatural, the finite, partake of the fluctuations, and finally are involved in the destruction, of that which they have made their supreme good. And contrariwise, they who love that which is eternal shine with a light thrown by reflection from the object of their love, and ‘he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever,’ like the will which he doeth. ‘Great peace’-the peace of a restful heart-’have they that love Thy law.’
II. Then again, such love brings the calm of a submitted will.
Brethren! it is not sorrow that troubles us so much as resistance to sorrow. It is not pain that lacerates; it cuts, and cuts clean when we keep ourselves still and let it do its merciful ministry upon us. But it is the plunging and struggling under the knife that makes the wounds jagged and hard to heal. The man who bows his will to the Supreme, in quiet acceptance of that which He sends, is never disturbed. Resistance distracts and agitates; acquiescence brings a great calm. Submission is peace. And when we have learned to bend our wills, and let God break them, if that be His will, in order to bend them, then ‘nothing shall by any means hurt us’; and nothing shall by any means trouble us.
If you were ever on board a sailing-ship you know the difference between its motion when it is beating up against the wind and when it is running before it. In the one case all is agitation and uneasiness, in the other all is smooth and frictionless and delicious. So, when we go with the great stream, in not ignoble surrender, then we go quietly. It is God’s great intention, in all that befalls us in this life, to bring our wills into conformity with His. Blessed is the ministry of sorrow and of pain and of loss, if it does that for us, and disastrous and accursed is the ministry of joy and success if it does not. There is no joy but calm, and there is no calm but in-not the annihilation, but-the intensest activity of will, in the act of submitting to that higher will, which is discerned to be ‘good,’ and is gratefully taken as ‘acceptable,’ and will one day be seen to have been ‘perfect.’ The joy and peace of a submitted will are the secret of all true tranquillity.
III. Then again, there comes by such a love the peace of an obedient life.
When once we have taken it {and faithfully adhere to the choice} as our supreme desire to do God’s will, we are delivered from almost all the things that distract and disturb us. Away go all the storms of passion, and we are no more at the mercy of vagrant inclinations. We are no longer agitated by having to consult our own desires, and seeking to find in them compass and guide for our lives-a hopeless attempt! All these sources of agitation are dried up, and the man who has only this desire, to do his duty because God has made it such, has an ever powerful charm, which makes him tranquil whatever befalls.
And as thus we may be delivered from all the agitations and cross-currents of conflicting wishes, inclinations, aims, which otherwise would make a jumble and a chaos of our lives, so, on the other hand, if for us the supreme desire is to obey God, then we are delivered from the other great enemy to tranquillity-namely, anxious forecasting of possible consequences of our actions, which robs so many of us of so many quiet days. ‘I do the little I can do,’ said Faber, ‘and leave the rest with Thee,’ and that will bring peace. Instead of wondering what is to come of this step and that, whether our plans will turn out as we hope, and so being at the mercy of contingencies impossible to be forecasted, we cast all upon Him and say, ‘I have nothing to do with the far end of my actions. Thou givest them a body as it has pleased Thee. I have to do with this end of my actions-their motive; and I will make that right, and then it is Thy business to make the rest right.’ And so, ‘great peace have they which love Thy law.’
An obedient life not only delivers us from the distractions of miscellaneous desires, and from the anxiety of unforeseen results, but it contributes to tranquillity in another way. The thing that makes us most uneasy is either sin done or duty neglected. Either of these, however small it may appear, is like a horse-hair upon the sheets of a bed, or a little wrinkle in that on which a man lies, disturbing all his repose. No man is really at rest unless his conscience is clear. ‘The wicked is like the troubled sea, which cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.’ But if the uttered will of the Lord is our supreme object, then in this direction, too, tranquillity is ours.
IV. Lastly, such a love gives the peace of freedom from temptations.
‘Nothing shall offend them.’ ‘There shall be no stumbling-block to them.’ The higher love casts out the lower. It is well, when, by reinforcing conscience by considerations of duty, or even sometimes by the lower thoughts of consequences, a man is able to pass by a temptation which appeals to him, and conquers the inclination to go wrong. But it is far better-and it is possible-to be lifted up into such a region as that the temptation does not appeal to him any more.
To take a very homely illustration, whether is it better for a man to steel himself, and walk past the door of a public-house, though the fumes appeal to his sense, and stir his inclinations; or to go past, and never know any attraction to enter? Which is best, to overcome our temptations, or to live away up in the high regions to which the malaria of the swamps never climbs, and where no disease-germs can ever reach?
That elevation is possible for us, if only we keep in close touch with God, and love the law because our hearts are knit to the Law-giver. ‘There shall be no occasion of stumbling in him,’ as the Apostle John varies the expression of my text. Within, there will be no traitors to surrender the camp to the enemy without. So Paul in the letter to the Philippians attributes to ‘the peace of God which passeth understanding’ a military function, and says that it will ‘garrison the heart and mind,’ and keep them ‘in Christ Jesus,’ which is but the Christian way of saying, ‘Great peace have they which love Thy law; and there is no occasion of stumbling in them.’
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 nothing makes them stumble
nothing makes them stumble
Possible meanings are 1) "nothing makes them do wrong" or 2) "nothing causes them trouble."
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translationWords
peace
stumble
save
obey
command
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.