Yes, they do nothing wrong. They walk in his ways.
You have commanded your precepts, that we should fully obey them.
Oh that my ways were steadfast to obey your statutes!
Then I wouldn’t be disappointed, when I consider all of your commandments.
I will give thanks to you with uprightness of heart, when I learn your righteous judgments.
I will observe your statutes. Don’t utterly forsake me.
How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word.
With my whole heart, I have sought you. Don’t let me wander from your commandments.
I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
Blessed are you, Yahweh. Teach me your statutes.
With my lips, I have declared all the ordinances of your mouth.
I have rejoiced in the way of your testimonies, as much as in all riches.
I will meditate on your precepts, and consider your ways.
I will delight myself in your statutes. I will not forget your word.
Do good to your servant. I will live and I will obey your word.
Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things out of your law.
I am a stranger on the earth. Don’t hide your commandments from me.
My soul is consumed with longing for your ordinances at all times.
You have rebuked the proud who are cursed, who wander from your commandments.
Take reproach and contempt away from me, for I have kept your statutes.
Though princes sit and slander me, your servant will meditate on your statutes.
Indeed your statutes are my delight, and my counselors.
My soul is laid low in the dust. Revive me according to your word!
I declared my ways, and you answered me. Teach me your statutes.
Let me understand the teaching of your precepts! Then I will meditate on your wondrous works.
My soul is weary with sorrow: strengthen me according to your word.
Keep me from the way of deceit. Grant me your law graciously!
I have chosen the way of truth. I have set your ordinances before me.
I cling to your statutes, Yahweh. Don’t let me be disappointed.
I run in the path of your commandments, for you have set my heart free.
Teach me, Yahweh, the way of your statutes. I will keep them to the end.
Give me understanding, and I will keep your law. Yes, I will obey it with my whole heart.
Direct me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in them.
Turn my heart toward your statutes, not toward selfish gain.
Turn my eyes away from looking at worthless things. Revive me in your ways.
Fulfill your promise to your servant, that you may be feared.
Take away my disgrace that I dread, for your ordinances are good.
Behold, I long for your precepts! Revive me in your righteousness.
Let your loving kindness also come to me, Yahweh, your salvation, according to your word.
So I will have an answer for him who reproaches me, for I trust in your word.
Don’t snatch the word of truth out of my mouth, for I put my hope in your ordinances.
So I will obey your law continually, forever and ever.
I will walk in liberty, for I have sought your precepts.
I will also speak of your statutes before kings, and will not be disappointed.
I will delight myself in your commandments, because I love them.
I reach out my hands for your commandments, which I love. I will meditate on your statutes.
Remember your word to your servant, because you gave me hope.
This is my comfort in my affliction, for your word has revived me.
The arrogant mock me excessively, but I don’t swerve from your law.
I remember your ordinances of old, Yahweh, and have comforted myself.
Indignation has taken hold on me, because of the wicked who forsake your law.
Your statutes have been my songs in the house where I live.
I have remembered your name, Yahweh, in the night, and I obey your law.
This is my way, that I keep your precepts.
Yahweh is my portion. I promised to obey your words.
I sought your favor with my whole heart. Be merciful to me according to your word.
I considered my ways, and turned my steps to your statutes.
I will hurry, and not delay, to obey your commandments.
The ropes of the wicked bind me, but I won’t forget your law.
At midnight I will rise to give thanks to you, because of your righteous ordinances.
I am a friend of all those who fear you, of those who observe your precepts.
The earth is full of your loving kindness, Yahweh. Teach me your statutes.
Do good to your servant, according to your word, Yahweh.
Teach me good judgment and knowledge, for I believe in your commandments.
Before I was afflicted, I went astray; but now I observe your word.
You are good, and do good. Teach me your statutes.
The proud have smeared a lie upon me. With my whole heart, I will keep your precepts.
Their heart is as callous as the fat, but I delight in your law.
It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn your statutes.
The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of pieces of gold and silver.
Your hands have made me and formed me. Give me understanding, that I may learn your commandments.
Those who fear you will see me and be glad, because I have put my hope in your word.
Yahweh, I know that your judgments are righteous, that in faithfulness you have afflicted me.
Please let your loving kindness be for my comfort, according to your word to your servant.
Let your tender mercies come to me, that I may live; for your law is my delight.
Let the proud be disappointed, for they have overthrown me wrongfully. I will meditate on your precepts.
Let those who fear you turn to me. They will know your statutes.
Let my heart be blameless toward your decrees, that I may not be disappointed.
My soul faints for your salvation. I hope in your word.
My eyes fail for your word. I say, “When will you comfort me?”
For I have become like a wineskin in the smoke. I don’t forget your statutes.
How many are the days of your servant? When will you execute judgment on those who persecute me?
The proud have dug pits for me, contrary to your law.
All of your commandments are faithful. They persecute me wrongfully. Help me!
They had almost wiped me from the earth, but I didn’t forsake your precepts.
Preserve my life according to your loving kindness, so I will obey the statutes of your mouth.
Yahweh, your word is settled in heaven forever.
Your faithfulness is to all generations. You have established the earth, and it remains.
Your laws remain to this day, for all things serve you.
Unless your law had been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction.
I will never forget your precepts, for with them, you have revived me.
I am yours. Save me, for I have sought your precepts.
The wicked have waited for me, to destroy me. I will consider your statutes.
I have seen a limit to all perfection, but your commands are boundless.
How I love your law! It is my meditation all day.
Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, for your commandments are always with me.
I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation.
I understand more than the aged, because I have kept your precepts.
I have kept my feet from every evil way, that I might observe your word.
I have not turned away from your ordinances, for you have taught me.
How sweet are your promises to my taste, more than honey to my mouth!
Through your precepts, I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.
Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light for my path.
I have sworn, and have confirmed it, that I will obey your righteous ordinances.
I am afflicted very much. Revive me, Yahweh, according to your word.
Accept, I beg you, the willing offerings of my mouth. Yahweh, teach me your ordinances.
My soul is continually in my hand, yet I won’t forget your law.
The wicked have laid a snare for me, yet I haven’t gone astray from your precepts.
I have taken your testimonies as a heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart.
I have set my heart to perform your statutes forever, even to the end.
I hate double-minded men, but I love your law.
You are my hiding place and my shield. I hope in your word.
Depart from me, you evildoers, that I may keep the commandments of my God.
Uphold me according to your word, that I may live. Let me not be ashamed of my hope.
Hold me up, and I will be safe, and will have respect for your statutes continually.
You reject all those who stray from your statutes, for their deceit is in vain.
You put away all the wicked of the earth like dross. Therefore I love your testimonies.
My flesh trembles for fear of you. I am afraid of your judgments.
I have done what is just and righteous. Don’t leave me to my oppressors.
Ensure your servant’s well-being. Don’t let the proud oppress me.
My eyes fail looking for your salvation, for your righteous word.
Deal with your servant according to your loving kindness. Teach me your statutes.
I am your servant. Give me understanding, that I may know your testimonies.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 22, 24, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 49, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 69, 71, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 96, 97, 98, 101, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125 3. Surely they do not work iniquity The statement,…
3. Surely they do not work iniquity The statement, that they who follow God as their guide do not work iniquity, may seem to be a mere common-place, and universally admitted truth. The prophet has two reasons for making it; first, to teach us that our life must be entirely under the direction of God; and, secondly, that we may more diligently and carefully attend to his doctrine. It is acknowledged by every one, that those who render obedience to God are in no danger of going astray, and yet every one is found turning aside to his own ways. Does not such licentiousness or presumption palpably demonstrate that they have a greater regard for their own devices than for the unerring law of God? And after all, as often as a man happens to fall, is not the plea of inadvertence instantly alleged, as if none ever sinned knowingly and voluntarily; or as if the law of God, which is an antidote to all delinquencies, because it keeps all our vicious propensities in check, did not furnish us with sufficient wisdom to put us upon our guard? The prophet, therefore, very justly declares, that those who are instructed in the law of God, cannot set up the plea of ignorance when they fall into sin, seeing they are willfully blind. Were they to attend carefully to God’s voice, they would be well fortified against all the snares of Satan. To strike them with terror, he informs them in the fourth verse, that God demands a rigid observance of the law; from which it may be gathered, that he will not suffer the contemners of it to escape with impunity. Besides, by speaking to God in the second person, he places him before our eyes as a Judge.
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 On vv3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11, 14, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 26, 28, 29, 32, 33, 34, 36, 37, 39, 40, 41, 42, 45, 46, 49, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 59, 61, 63, 64, 65, 67, 70, 71, 73, 74, 75, 77, 79, 81, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 89, 91, 94, 96, 97, 99, 102, 105, 106, 108, 109, 111, 113, 115, 117, 118, 119, 120, 122, 124 For they are ruled by God’s Spirit and embrace…
For they are ruled by God’s Spirit and embrace no doctrine but his.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv3–125 Psa 119:3 They also do no iniquity: they walk…
Psa 119:3 They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways.
Ver. 3. They also do no iniqaity] i.e. No wilful wickedness; as do those workers of iniquity, whose whole trade it is, and whose whole life is nothing else but one continued web of wickedness, spun out and made up by the hands of the devil and the flesh, an evil spinner, and a worse weaver.
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They walk in his ways] Without cessation or cespitation.
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 On vv3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 108, 109, 111, 112, 113, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124 Do no iniquity; or, are not workers of iniquity,…
Do no iniquity; or, are not workers of iniquity, i.e. do not knowingly, and resolvedly, and industriously, and customarily continue in sinful courses. So this phrase is understood Job 31:3; 34:8; Psa 5:5; 6:8; 125:5; Pro 10:29; Luk 13:27; otherwise there is not a just man upon earth that sinneth not, Ecc 7:20.
They walk: this is their constant practice, and the general course of their lives, which is commonly signified by walking, as Psa 1:1, and every where.
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In his ways; in the paths which God hath prescribed to them.
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 On vv4, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 30, 33, 35, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 43, 45, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 57, 58, 59, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 67, 68, 69, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 78, 80, 81, 83, 84, 85, 88, 89, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 101, 102, 103, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 111, 113, 114, 115, 116, 118, 121, 123, 124 We are here taught, 1. To own ourselves under…
We are here taught, 1. To own ourselves under the highest obligations to walk in God's law. The tempter would possess men with an opinion that they are at their liberty whether they will make the word of God their rule or no, that, though it may be good, yet it is not so necessary as they are made to believe it is. He taught our first parents to question the command: Hath God said, You shall not eat? And therefore we are concerned to be well established in this (Psa 119:4): Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts, to make religion our rule; and to keep them diligently, to make religion our business and to mind it carefully and constantly. We are bound, and must obey at our peril. 2. To look up to God for wisdom and grace to do so (Psa 119:5): O that my ways were directed accordingly! not only that all events concerning us may be so ordered and disposed by the providence of God as not to be in any thing a hindrance to us, but a furtherance rather, in the service of God, but that our hearts may be so guided and influenced by the Spirit of God that we may not in any thing transgress God's commandments - not only that our eyes may be directed to behold God's statutes, but our hearts directed to keep them. See how the desire and prayer of a good man exactly agree with the will and command of a good God: "Thou wouldest have me keep thy precepts, and, Lord, I fain would keep them." This is the will of God, even our sanctification; and it should be our will. 3. To encourage ourselves in the way of our duty with a prospect of the comfort we shall find in it, Psa 119:6. Note, (1.) It is the undoubted character of every good man that he has a respect to all God's commandments. He has a respect to the command, eyes it as his copy, aims to conform to it, is sorry wherein he comes short; and what he does in religion he does with a conscientious regard to the command, because it is his duty. He has respect to all the commandments, one as well as another, because they are all backed with the same authority (Jam 2:10, Jam 2:11) and all levelled at the same end, the glorifying of God in our happiness. Those who have a sincere respect to any command will have a general respect to every command, to the commands of both testaments and both tables, to the prohibitions and the precepts, to those that concern both the inward and the outward man, both the head and the heart, to those that forbid the most pleasant and gainful sins and to those that require the most difficult and hazardous duties. (2.) Those who have a sincere respect to all God's commandments shall not be ashamed, not only they will thereby be kept from doing that which will turn to their shame, but they shall have confidence towards God and boldness of access to the throne of his grace, Jo1 3:21. They shall have credit before men; their honesty will be their honour. And they shall have clearness and courage in their own souls; they shall not be ashamed to retire into themselves, nor to reflect upon themselves, for their hearts shall not condemn them. David speaks this with application to himself. Those that are upright may take the comfort of their uprightness. "As, if I be wicked, woe to me; so, if I be sincere, it is well with me."
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 On vv3–125 They also do no iniquity,.... Not that they are…
They also do no iniquity,.... Not that they are free from indwelling sin, nor from the acts of sin, nor that what they do are not sins; but they do not make a trade of sinning, it is not the course of their lives; nor do they do iniquity with that ease and pleasure, without reluctance and remorse, as others do: or rather as new creatures, as born again, they do not and cannot commit sin; for the new man is pure, spiritual, and holy; and nothing can come out of that, or be done by it, which is the contrary. This is a distinct I from the old man, or corrupt nature, to which all the actions of sin are to be ascribed; see Jo1 3:9;
they walk in his ways; in the ways of God and Christ, into which they are guided and directed, and where they are kept, and in which they find both pleasure and profit. Here end the descriptive characters of good and happy men.
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 On vv6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 32, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 43, 45, 48, 49, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 59, 61, 66, 70, 74, 75, 79, 80, 81, 83, 84, 85, 86, 89, 91, 96, 100, 102, 108, 109, 118, 121, 122, 123 Respect - A due respect, which implies hearty affection,…
Respect - A due respect, which implies hearty affection, diligent study, and constant practice. To all - So as not to allow myself in any known sin, or in the neglect of any known duty.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 125 Verse 3. They also do no iniquity] They avoid…
Verse 3. They also do no iniquity] They avoid all idolatry, injustice, and wrong; and they walk in God's ways, not in those ways to which an evil heart might entice them, nor those in which the thoughtless and the profligate tread.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv4, 7, 9, 10, 13, 17, 19, 21, 22, 25, 26, 28, 29, 31, 32, 33, 36, 37, 39, 41, 45, 49, 51, 53, 54, 57, 59, 62, 66, 67, 69, 71, 73, 74, 75, 78, 80, 81, 85, 89, 92, 96, 97, 101, 103, 105, 109, 111, 113, 116, 118, 121 Psa 119:4-6. Thou hast commanded us, &c. — Nor…
Psa 119:4-6. Thou hast commanded us, &c. — Nor is it strange that thy people do so exactly and diligently observe thy precepts, because they are commanded so to do by thee, their sovereign Lord. O that my ways were directed — Hebrew, יכנו, established, namely, by thy grace and Holy Spirit, for the direction of God’s word he had already. Then shall I not be ashamed — Either of my actions, or of my hope and confidence in thy favour, but shall lift up my head with courage and boldness, both before men, when they accuse or persecute me, and even before God in the day of judgment, as is said 1Jn 4:17. When I have respect — A due respect, which implies hearty affection, diligent study, and constant practice; unto all thy commandments — So as not to be partial in my obedience, nor to allow myself in the commission of any known sin, nor in the neglect of any known duty.
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 On vv3–125 They also do no iniquity - See the notes…
They also do no iniquity - See the notes at 1Jo 3:9. The meaning is, that they are righteous; their character is that they do that which is right. It cannot mean that all persons who are religious are actually and absolutely perfect - for no man would hold this opinion; no one does hold it. It is general language such as is commonly used to describe an upright or righteous man. The declaration is true of all who are the friends of God - or, who are truly; religious - in the following senses:
(1) That they are habitually and characteristically righteous;
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(2) That they intend to do right - for a man who deliberately purposes to do wrong - to lead a life of sin and disobedience, cannot be a pious man.
(3) That when they do err, it is not the result of intention, or the design of their life, but because they are tempted; are overcome with passion; are led by the power of their native corruption of heart to act contrary to their better judgment and their true character.
See Rom 7:14-17. On the other hand, it is true that a man who is not characteristically righteous; who is not an upright man in his dealings; who is not true, and honest, and temperate, and just, and benevolent, cannot be a child of God and heir of heaven. No exactness of orthodoxy, and no fervour of emotion, and no zeal in the cause of religion, can constitute true piety without this.
They walk in his ways - Habitually; constantly; characteristically. They are not merely honest, upright, and just in their dealings with men, but they walk in the ways of God; they are religious.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv9, 17, 25, 33, 41, 49, 57, 65, 73, 81, 89, 97, 105, 113, 121 ב, Beth.
ב, Beth.
9-16. After the general preliminary given in “Aleph,” the value of the divine word, as the guide of early life, is considered. The youthful lack of experience is compensated by its lessons, and the buoyancy of youthful spirits is sustained by its rich, joyous sympathies.
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“Religion never was designed To make our pleasures less.”
Have I hid—Meaning, not only I have learned it by heart, but I have hoarded it as my choice treasure. “One practises self-control,” says a Greek philosopher, “as long as he remembers thought-regulating words.” Such words are thy statutes.
I will delight myself—Here is expressed the glad resolve of a young heart. The writer may have been no longer young, but he speaks from the standpoint of youth, and utters an early covenant.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32, 33, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 61, 62, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 94, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124 3. ’Imrâh, ‘saying,’ or collectively ‘sayings,’ LXX λόγιον (19…
3. ’Imrâh, ‘saying,’ or collectively ‘sayings,’ LXX λόγιον (19 times), is a poetical synonym for dâbâr, rare in prose, but found in Isa_5:24 in parallelism with tôrâh. Cp. Deu_33:9.
3. This verse is to be connected with the preceding one:
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Yea, have wrought no unrighteousness,
Have walked in his ways.
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 On vv5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 32, 33, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 42, 45, 46, 48, 50, 53, 54, 56, 57, 58, 59, 61, 62, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 78, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 87, 89, 91, 96, 98, 99, 100, 105, 106, 108, 109, 113, 114, 115, 118, 119, 120, 122, 123 (5) Directed . . .—So LXX. and Vulg. The…
(5) Directed . . .—So LXX. and Vulg. The He brew is perhaps slightly different, established, or settled. (See Pro_4:26.)
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 On vv3–125 They also do no iniquity: they walk in his…
They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways. Positive righteousness includes negative. Those who walk always in God"s Law (ver. 1) will, a fortiori, keep clear of all iniquity.
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 On vv3–125 Ver. 3. They also do no iniquity. Blessed indeed…
Ver. 3. They also do no iniquity. Blessed indeed would those men be of whom this could be asserted without reserve and without explanation: we shall have reached the region of pure blessedness when we altogether cease from sin. Those who follow the word of God do no iniquity, the rule is perfect, and if it be constantly followed no fault will arise. Life, to the outward observer, at any rate, lies much in doing, and he who in his doings never swerves from equity, both towards God and man, has hit upon the way of perfection, and we may be sure that his heart is right. See how a whole heart leads to the avoidance of evil, for the Psalmist says, "That seek him with the whole heart. They also do no iniquity." We fear that no man can claim to be absolutely without sin, and yet we trust there are many who do not designedly, wilfully, knowingly, and continuously do anything that is wicked, ungodly, or unjust. Grace keeps the life righteous as to act even when the Christian has to bemoan the transgressions of the heart. Judged as men should be judged by their fellows, according to such just rules as men make for men, the true people of God do no iniquity: they are honest, upright, and chaste, and touching justice and morality they are blameless. Therefore are they happy.
They walk in his ways. They attend not only to the great main highway of the law, but to the smaller paths of the particular precepts. As they will perpetrate no sin of commission, so do they labour to be free from every sin of omission. It is not enough to them to be blameless, they wish also to be actively righteous. A hermit may escape into solitude that he may do no iniquity, but a saint lives in society that he may serve his God by walking in his ways. We must be positively as well as negatively right: we shall not long keep the second unless we attend to the first, for men will be walking one way or another, and if they do not follow the path of God's law they will soon do iniquity. The surest way to abstain from evil is to be fully occupied in doing good. This verse describes believers as they exist among us: although they have their faults and infirmities, yet they hate evil, and will not permit themselves to do it; they love the ways of truth, right and true godliness, and habitually they walk therein. They do not claim to be absolutely perfect except in their desires, and there they are pure indeed, for they pant to be kept from all sin, and to be led into all holiness.
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Ver. 3. They also do no iniquity. If it be demanded here, How is it that they who walk in God's ways work no iniquity? Is there any man who lives, and sins not? And if they be not without sin, how then are they to be blessed? The answer is, as the apostle says of our knowledge, "We know but in part": so is it true of our felicity on earth, we are blessed but in a part. It is the happiness of angels that they never sinned; it is the happiness of triumphant saints, that albeit they have been sinners, yet now they sin no more; but the happiness of saints militant is, that our sins are forgiven us; and that albeit sin remains in us, yet it reigns not over us; it is done in us, but not by our allowance: "I do the evil which I would not." "Not I, but sin that dwells in me, "Ro 7:17.
To the doing of iniquity, these three things must concur; first, a purpose to do it; next, a delight in doing it; thirdly, a continuance in it; which three in God's children never concur; for in sins done in them by the old man, the new man makes his exceptions and protestations against them. It is not I, says he; and so far is he from delighting in them, that rather his soul is grieved with them; even as Lot, dwelling among the Sodomites, was vexed by hearing and seeing their unrighteous deeds. In a word, the children of God are rather sufferers of sin against their wills than actors of it with their wills: like men spiritually oppressed by the power of their enemy; for which they sigh and cry unto God. "Miserable man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" And in this sense it is that the apostle saith, "He who is born of God sinneth not" (1Jo 3:9). William Cowper.
Ver. 3. They also do no iniquity. The blessedness of those who walk in the law: they do or have done no wickedness: but walk or have always walked in his ways. Throughout the Psalm it may be noticed that sometimes the present tense is employed indicating present action: sometimes the perfect to indicate past and present time: Ps 119:10-11, 13-14, 21, 51-61, 101-102, 131, 145, 147. The Speaker's Commentary, 1873.
Ver. 3. They also do no iniquity. That is, they make not a trade and common practice thereof. Slip they do, through the infirmity of the flesh, and subtlety of Satan, and the allurements of the world; but they do not ordinarily and customably go forward in unlawful and sinful courses. In that the Psalmist setteth down this as a part (and not the least part neither) of blessedness, that they work none iniquity, which walk in his ways:the doctrine to be learned here is this, that it is a marvellous great prerogative to be freed from the bondage of sin. Richard Greenham.
Ver. 3. They do no iniquity. All such as are renewed by grace, and reconciled to God by Christ Jesus; to these God imputeth no sin to condemnation, and in his account they do no iniquity. Notable is that which is said of David, "He kept my commandments, and followed me with all his heart, and did that only which was right in mine eyes" (1Ki 14:8). How can that be? We may trace David by his failings, they are upon record everywhere in the word; yet here a veil is drawn upon them; God laid them not to his charge. There is a double reason why their failings are not laid to their charge. Partly, because of their general state, they are in Christ, taken into favour through him, and "there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ" (Ro 8:1), therefore particular errors and escapes do not alter their condition; which is not to be understood as if a man should not be humbled, and ask God pardon for his infirmities; no, for then they prove iniquities and they will lie upon record against him. It was a gross fancy of the Valentinians, who held that they were not defiled with sin, whatsoever they committed; though base and obscene persons, yet still they were as gold in the dirt. No, no, we are to recover ourselves by repentance, to sue out the favour of God. When David humbled himself, and had repented, then saith Nathan, "The Lord hath put away thy sin" (2Sa 12:13). Partly, too, because their bent and habitual inclination is to do otherwise. They set themselves to comply with God's will, to seek and serve the Lord, though they are clogged with many infirmities. A wicked man sinneth with deliberation and delight, his bent is to do evil, he makes "provision for lusts" (Ro 13:14), and "serves" them by a voluntary subjection (Tit 3:3). But those that are renewed by grace are not "debtors" to the flesh, they have taken another debt and obligation, which is to serve the Lord (Ro 8:12).
Partly, too, because their general course and way is to do otherwise. Everything works according to its form; the constant actions of nature are according to the kind. So the new creature, his constant operations are according to grace. A man is known by his custom, and the course of his endeavours shows what is his business. If a man be constantly, easily, frequently carried away to sin, it discovers the habit of his soul, and the temper of his heart. Meadows may be overflowed, but marsh ground is drowned with every return of the tide. A child of God may be occasionally carried away, and act contrary to the inclination of the new nature; but when men are drowned and overcome by the return of every temptation, it argues a habit of sin.
And partly, because sin never carries sway completely, but it is opposed by dislikes and resistances of the new nature. The children of God make it their business to avoid all sin, by watching, praying, mortifying: "I said I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue" (Ps 39:1), and thus there is a resistance of the sin. God hath planted graces in their hearts, the fear of his Majesty, that works a resistance; and therefore there is not a full allowance of what they do. This resistance sometimes is more strong, then the temptation is overcome: "How can I do this wickedness, and sin against God?" (Ge 39:9). Sometimes it is more weak, and then sin carries it, though against the will of the holy man: "The evil which I hate, that do I" (Ro 7:15, 18). It is the evil which they hate; they protest against it; they are like men which are oppressed by the power of the enemy. And then there is a remorse after the sin: David's heart smote him. It grieves and shames them that they do evil. Tenderness goes with the new nature: Peter sinned foully, but he went out and wept bitterly. Thomas Manton.
Ver. 3. They that have mortified their sins live in the contrary graces. Hence it is that the Psalmist saith, that they work no iniquity, but walk in thy paths. First, they crucify all their sins, "they do no iniquity": secondly, as they do no iniquity, so they follow all the ways of God, contrary to that iniquity: as they give up all the ways of sin, so they take up all the ways of grace. It is a rule in divinity, that grace takes not away nature that is, grace comes not to take away a man's affections, but to take them up. William Fenner, 1600-1640.
Ver. 3. They walk in his ways. It reproves those that rest in negatives. As it was said of a certain emperor, he was rather not vicious than virtuous. Many men, all their religion runs upon nots:"I am not as this publican" (Lu 18:11). That ground is naught, though it brings not forth briars and thorns, if it yields not good increase. Not only the unruly servant is cast into hell, that beat his fellow servant, that ate and drank with the drunken; but the idle servant that wrapped up his talent in a napkin. Meroz is cursed, not for opposing and fighting, but for not helping (Jud 5:23). Dives did not take away food from Lazarus, but he did not give him of his crumbs. Many will say, I set up no other gods; aye, but dost thou love, reverence, and obey the true God? For if not, thou dost fail in the first commandment. As to the second, thou sayest, I abhor idols; but dost thou delight in ordinances? I do not swear and rend the name of God by cursed oaths; aye, but dost thou glorify God, and honour him? I do not profane the Sabbath; but dost thou sanctify it? Thou dost not plough and dance; but thou art idle, and toyest away the Sabbath. Thou dost not wrong thy parents; but dost thou reverence them? Thou dost not murder; but dost thou do good to thy neighbour? Thou art no adulterer; but dost thou study temperance and a holy sobriety in all things? Thou art no slanderer; but art thou tender of thy neighbour's honour and credit, as of thy own? Usually men cut off half their bill, as the unjust steward bade his lord's debtor set down fifty when he owed a hundred. We do not think of sins of omission. If we are not drunkards, adulterers, and profane persons, we do not think what it is to omit respect to God, and reverence for his holy Majesty. Thomas Manton.
Ver. 3. They walk in his ways. Not in those of his enemies, nor even in their own. Joseph Addison Alexander, 1860.
Ver. 3. They walk in his ways. Habitually, constantly, characteristically. They are not merely honest, upright, and just in their dealings with men; but they walk in the ways of God; they are religious. Albert Barnes, 1798-1870.
Ver. 3. They also do no iniquity. They work no iniquity
1. Purpose of heart;
2. Delight;
3. Perseverance;
4. Nor at all when heart is fully sanctified unto God; Christ dwelling in it by faith casting out sin. Adam Clarke.
Ver. 3. The relation between negative and positive virtue. Or with God the best preventive of iniquity.
Psalms 119:4*
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 On vv4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 36, 37, 38, 39, 41, 42, 44, 45, 46, 47, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 57, 58, 59, 60, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 77, 80, 81, 83, 84, 87, 88, 89, 91, 92, 94, 96, 97, 99, 103, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 120, 121, 124 Thou hast commanded us to keep Thy precepts diligently.
Psa_119:4
Thou hast commanded us to keep Thy precepts diligently.
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Reasons for diligence in obeying God
In worldly affairs no weighty thing can be done without diligence; far less in spiritual. For three causes should we keep the commandments of the Lord with diligence: first, because our adversary, that seeks to snare us by the transgression of them, is diligent in tempting; next, because we ourselves are weak and infirm; by the greater diligence have we need to take heed to ourselves; thirdly, because of the great loss we sustain by every advantage Satan gets over us. For we find by experience that as a wound is sooner made than it is healed, so guiltiness of conscience is easily contracted, but not so easily done away. (Bishop Cowper.)
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 On vv9, 11, 19, 64
Psalms
A CLEANSED WAY
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Psa 119:9.
There are many questions about the future with which it is natural for you young people to occupy yourselves; but I am afraid that the most of you ask more anxiously ‘How shall I make my way?’ than ‘How shall I cleanse it?’ It is needful carefully to ponder the questions: ‘How shall I get on in the world-be happy, fortunate?’ and the like, and I suppose that that is the consideration which presses with special force upon a great many of you. Now I want you to think of another question: ‘How shall I cleanse my way?’ For purity is the best thing; and to be good is a wiser as well as a nobler object of ambition than any other. So my object is just to try and urge upon my dear young friends before me the serious consideration for a while of this grave question of my text, and the answers which are given to it.
If I can get you once to be smitten with a passion for purity, all but everything is gained. But I shall not be content if even that is the issue of my pleading with you now, for I want to have you all Christians. And that is why I have asked you to listen to what I have to say to you on this occasion.
I. So, first, we have here the great practical problem for life: ‘Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?’ Or, in other words, ‘How may I live a pure and a noble life?’ It is a question, of course, for everybody: it is the question for everybody, but it is more especially one for you young people. And I wish to urge it upon you for two or three reasons, which I very briefly specify.
First, I desire to press upon you this question, because, as I have said, you are under special temptations not to ask it. There are so many other points in your future unresolved, that you are only too apt to put aside the consideration of this one in favour of those which seem to be of more pressing and immediate importance. And you have the other temptation, common to us all, but especially attending you as young people, of living without any plan of life at all. The sin and the misery of half the world are that they live from hand to mouth, knowing why they do each single action at the moment, but never looking a dozen inches beyond their noses to see where all the actions taken together tend; and so being just like weathercocks, whirled round by every wind of temptation that comes to them. If they are good or pure they are so by accident, by impulse, or because they have never been tempted. They have no definite plan or theory of life which they could put into words if anybody asked them on what principles, and for what end, and towards what objects they were living. And as everybody is tempted into such an unreflecting way of life, so you especially are tempted to it, because at your age judgment and experience are not so strong as inclination and passion; and everything has got the fresh gloss of novelty upon it, and it seems to be sometimes sufficient delight to live and get hold of the new joys that are flooding in upon you. And therefore I want you to stop and for a moment think whether you have any plan of life that bears being put into words, whether you can tell God and your own consciences what you are living for.
And I urge this question upon you for another reason-because it is worth while for you to ask it. For you have still the prerogative that some of us have lost, of determining the shape that your life’s course is to take. The path that you are going to tread lies all unmarked out across the plain of life. You may be pretty nearly what you like. Life is before you, with great blessed possibilities; it is behind some of us. All the long years which you may probably have are all plastic in your hands yet; they are moulded into a rigid shape for men like me. We have made our beds, and we must lie on them. You have your life in your own hands; therefore, I beseech you, while you have not to ask this question with the bitter meaning with which old men that have made their paths, and made them filthy, have to ask it-’How shall an old man cleanse his way, and get rid of the filth?’-consider how you may secure that your way in the untrodden future shall be clean, and do not rest till you get an answer.
And I press it upon you for another reason, because you have special temptations to make your ways unclean. It is a fearful ordeal that every young man and woman has to face, as he or she steps across the dividing boundary between childhood and youth, when parental authority is weakened, and the leading-strings are loosened, and the young swimmer is as it were cut away from the buoys, and has to battle with the waves alone. There are hundreds of young men in Manchester, there are many of them here now, who have come up into this great city from quiet country homes where they were shielded by the safeguards of a father’s and a mother’s love and care, and have been flung into this place, with its every street swarming with temptation, and companions on the benches of the university, at the desks, in the warehouses, and the workshops, leading them away into evil and teaching them the devil’s alphabet-young men with their evenings vacant and with no home. Am I speaking to any such standing in slippery places? Oh, my young friend! there is nothing in all these temptations, the fascinations of which you are beginning to find out, there is nothing in them all worth soiling your fingers for; there is nothing in them all that will pay you for the loss of your innocence. There is nothing in them all except a fair outside with poison at the core. You see the ‘primrose path’; you do not see, to use Shakespeare’s solemn words, ‘the everlasting burnings’ to which it leads. And so I plead with you all, young men and women, to lay this question to heart; and I beseech you to credit me when I say to you that you have not yet touched the gravest and the most pressing problem of life unless you have asked yourselves in a serious mood of deep reflection, ‘Wherewithal shall I cleanse my way?’
II. So much for the first point to which I ask your attention. Now, secondly, look at this answer, which tells us that we can only make our way clean on condition of constant watchfulness. ‘By taking heed thereto.’
That seems a very plain, simple, common-sense answer. The best made road wants looking after if it is to be kept in repair. What would become of a railway that had no surfacemen and platelayers going along the line and noticing whether anything was amiss? I remember once seeing a bit of an old Roman road; the lava blocks were there, but for want of care, here a young sapling had grown up between two of them and had driven them apart; there they were split by the frost, here was a great ugly gap full of mud; and the whole thing ended in a jungle. How shall a man keep his road in repair? ‘By taking heed thereto.’ Things that are left to go anyhow in this world have a strange knack of going one how. You do not need anything else than negligence to ensure that things will come to grief.
And so, at first sight, my text simply seems to preach the plain truth: if you want to keep your road right, look after it. But if you look at your Bibles, you will see that the word ‘thereto’ is a supplement, and that all that the Psalmist really says is ‘by taking heed.’ And perhaps it is to himself rather than to his ‘way’ that a man is exhorted to ‘take heed.’ ‘Take heed to thyself’ is the only condition of a pure and noble life.
That such a condition is necessary, will appear very plain from two considerations. First, it is clear that there must be constant watchfulness, if we consider what sort of a world this is that we have got into And it is also plain, if we consider what sort of creatures we are that have got into it.
First, it is plain if we consider what sort of a world this is that we have got into. It is a world a great deal fuller of inducements to do wrong than of inducements to do right; a world in which there are a great many bad things that have a deceptive appearance of pleasure; a great many circumstances in which it seems far easier to follow the worse than to follow the better course. And so, unless a man has learned the great art of saying ‘No!’ ‘So did not I because of the fear of the Lord’; he will come to rack and ruin without a doubt. There are more things round about you that will tempt you downwards than will draw you upwards, and your only security is constant watchfulness. As George Herbert says:-
‘Who keeps no guard upon himself is slack,
And rots to nothing at the next great thaw.’
And that is what will happen to you, as sure as you are living, in spite of all your good resolutions, unless you back up those resolutions with perpetual jealous watchfulness over yourselves. ‘Keep thy heart with all diligence.’
And the same lesson is pealed out to us if we consider what sort of creatures we are that have got into this world all full of wickedness. We are creatures evidently made for self-government. Our whole nature is like a monarchy. There are things in each of us that are never meant to rule, but to be kept well down under control, such as strong passions, desires rooted in the flesh which are not meant to get the mastery of a man, and there are parts of our nature which are as obviously intended to be supreme and sovereign: the reason, the conscience, the will.
There is a deal of pestilent talk which one sometimes hears, amongst young men especially, about ‘following nature.’ Yes! I say, ‘Follow nature!’ and nature says, ‘Let the man govern the animal!’ and ‘Do not set beggars on horseback,’ nor allow your passions to guide you, but keep a tight hand on them, suppress them, scourge them, rule them by your reason, by your conscience, and by your will.
Suppose a man were to say about a steamship, ‘The structure of this vessel shows that it is meant that we should get a roaring fire up in the furnaces, and set the engines going at full speed, and let her go as she will.’ Would he not have left out of account that there was a steering apparatus, which was as plainly meant to guide as are the engines to drive? What are the rudder and the wheel for?-do they not imply a pilot? and is not the make of our souls as plainly suggestive of subordination and control? Doth not nature itself teach you that you do not follow, but outrage, nature, when you let your passions rule, and that you only then follow nature when you bow the whole man under the dominion of the conscience, and when conscience stands waiting for the voice of God?
‘Unless above himself he can erect
Himself, how mean a thing is man!’
You are called upon by the very world that you have come into, and by the very sort of person that you yourself are, to exercise that perpetual watchfulness which is the only condition of cleansing your way. There must be a strong guard on the frontier, which shall examine all the thoughts and purposes and desires that would pass out, and all the temptations and seductions that would pass in; and take care that none shall pass which cannot bring the King’s warrant, ‘Keep thy heart with diligence.’ ‘Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto.’
III. This constant watchfulness, to be of any use, must be regulated by God’s Word. ‘Taking heed thereto, according to Thy word.’
The guard on the frontier who is to keep the path must have instructions from headquarters, and not choose and decide according to their own phantasy, but according to the King’s orders. Or to use another metaphor, it is no use having a guard unless the guard has a lantern, and the lantern and light is the Word of God.
That brings me to say, and only in a word or two, how inadequate for the task of regulating our own lives our own watchfulness is. Conscience is the captain of the guard, and there is only one judgment in which conscience is always and infallibly right, and that is when it says, ‘It is right to do right; and it is wrong to do wrong.’ But when you begin to ask conscience, ‘And, pray, what is right and what is wrong?’ it is by no means invariably to be trusted; for you can educate conscience up or down to almost anything; and you can warp conscience, and you can bribe conscience, and you can stifle conscience. And so it is not enough that we should exercise the most watchful care over our course, and decide upon the right and the wrong of it by our own judgments; we may be fearfully wrong notwithstanding it all. It is not enough for a man to have a good watch in his pocket unless now and then he can get Greenwich time by which he can set it, and unless that has been secured by taking an observation of the sun. And so you cannot trust to anything in yourselves for the guidance of your own way or for the determination of your duty, but you must look to that higher Wisdom that has condescended to speak to us, and give us in this Book the revelation of its will. Men rebel against the moral law of the Bible, and speak of it as if it were a restraint and a sharp taskmaster. Ah, no! It is one of the greatest tokens of God’s infinite love to us that He has not left us to grope our way amidst the illusions of our own judgments, and the questionable shapes of human conceptions of right and wrong, but that He has declared to us His own character for the standard of all perfection, and given us in the human life of the Son of His love the all-sufficient pattern for every life.
So I need not dwell at any length upon the thought that in that word of God, in its whole sweep, and eminently and especially in Christ, who is the Incarnate Word, we have an all-sufficient Guide. A guide of conduct must be plain-and whatever doubts and difficulties there may be about the doctrines of Christianity there is none about its morality. A guide of conduct must be decisive-and there is no faltering in the utterance of the Book as to right and wrong. A guide of conduct must be capable of application to the wide diversities of character, age, circumstance-and the morality of the New Testament especially, and of the Old in a measure, secures that, because it does not trouble itself about minute details, but deals with large principles. The morality of the Gospel, if I may so say, is a morality of centres, not of circumferences; of germinal principles, not of special prescriptions. A guide for morals must be far in advance of the followers, and it has taken generations and centuries to work into men’s consciences, and to work out in men’s practice, a portion of the morality of that Book. People tell us that Christianity is worn out. Ah! it will not be worn out until all its moral teaching has become part of the practice of the world, and that will not be for a year or two! The men that care least about Christian doctrines are foremost to admit that the Sermon on the Mount is the noblest code of morality that has ever been promulgated. If the world kept the commandments of the New Testament, the world would be in the Millennium; and all the sin and crime, and ninety-nine-hundredths of all the sorrow, of earth would have vanished like an ugly dream. Here is the guide for you, and if you take it you will not err.
My dear young friend! did you ever try to measure one day’s actions by the standard of this Book? Let me press upon you this: Cultivate the habit-the habit of bringing all that you do side by side with this light; as a scholar in some school of art will take his feeble copy, and hold it by the side of the masterpiece, and compare line for line, and tint for tint. Take your life, and put it by the side of the Great Life, and you will begin to find out how ‘according to Thy word’ is the only standard by which to set your lives.
IV. And now I have one last thing to say. All this can only be done effectually if you are a Christian. My psalm does not go to the bottom; it goes as far as the measure of revelation granted to its author admitted; but if a person had no more to say than that, it would be a weary business. It is no use to tell a man, ‘Guard yourself, guard yourself,’ nor even to tell him, ‘Guard yourself according to God’s word,’ if God’s word is only a law.
The fatal defect of all attempts at keeping my heart by my own watchfulness is that keeper and kept are one and the same, and so there may be mutiny in the garrison, and the very forces that ought to subdue the rebellion may have gone over to the rebels. You want a power outside of you to steady you. The only way to haul a boat up the rapids is to have some fixed point on the shore to which a man may fasten a rope and pull at that. You get that eternal guard and fixed point by which to hold in Jesus Christ, the dear Son of God’s love, who has died for you.
You want another motive to be brought to bear upon your conduct, and upon your convictions and your will mightier than any that now influence them; and you get that if you will yield yourself to the love that has come down from heaven to save you, and says to you, ‘If you love Me, keep My commandments.’ You want for keeping yourself and cleansing your way reinforcements to your own inward vigour, and you will get these if you will trust to Jesus Christ, who will breathe into you the Spirit of His own life, which will make you ‘free from the law of sin and death.’
You want, if your path is to be cleansed-the youngest of you, the most tenderly nurtured, the purest, the most innocent wants-forgiveness for a past path, which is in some measure stained and foul, as well as strength for the future, to deliver you from the dreadful influence of the habit of evil. And you get all these, dear friends! in the blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses from all sin.
So, standing as you do in the place where two ways meet, and with your choice yet in your power, I beseech you, turn away from the broad, easy road that slopes pleasantly downwards, and choose the narrow, steep path that climbs. Better rocks than mud, better the painful life of self-restraint and self-denial than the life of pleasing self.
Oh! choose the better portion, choose Christ for your Leader, your Law, your Lord! Trust yourselves to that great sacrifice which He made on the Cross, that all the past for you may be cleansed, and the future may be swept clear; and, so trusting, be sure He will be with you, to keep you and to guide you into the path which His own hand has raised above the filth of the world; the path of holiness, along which you may walk with feet and garments unstained till you come to Zion, ‘with songs and everlasting joy upon your heads,’ and bless Him there for all the way by which He led you home.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv38, 42, 63, 74 (See Scofield "Psa 19:9").
fear
(See Scofield "Psa 19:9").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv9, 17, 25, 33, 41, 49, 65, 73, 81, 89, 97, 113, 121 Beth. Of the Distinguishing Signs of an Irreproachable Life.…
Beth. Of the Distinguishing Signs of an Irreproachable Life. —
v. 9. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? When will it be possible for a young person, surrounded with the many temptations of youth, 2Ti 2:22, to be and remain clean in his conduct? By taking heed thereto according to Thy Word, by watching carefully over every step and applying the rule of God’s Word to every situation with which he is confronted. The state of mind of such an earnest seeker after truth and holiness is now described.
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v. 10. With my whole heart have I sought Thee, earnestly desiring the closest fellowship with the Lord; O let me not wander from Thy commandments, so as to lose sight of the fundamental directions for conduct.
v. 11. Thy Word, all that God had said in revealing Himself and His holy will to men, have I hid in mine heart, like a precious treasure which fills his entire inner life, that I might not sin against Thee, for sin cannot gain a foothold in a heart filled with the knowledge of God and with love for His Word.
v. 12. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, the object of the believer’s joyful praise; teach me Thy statutes, for the more a Christian knows of the precepts of God’s holy will, the more he desires to learn the way of sanctification. At the same time he exercises himself in confession.
v. 13. With my lips have I declared, he will solemnly proclaim, all the judgments of Thy mouth, especially those decisions of God’s justice which approve of a righteous life and act as a constant spur to the faithful.
v. 14. I have rejoiced in the way of Thy testimonies, in the manner in which God has revealed Himself and all His attributes, as much as in all riches, for therein the true wealth of the faithful consists, in the active possession and in the constant use of the Word of God.
v. 15. I will meditate in Thy precepts, pondering them, mulling over them, trying to penetrate ever more deeply into their divine meaning, and have respect unto Thy ways, ever on the lookout for the paths which God’s Word prescribes.
v. 16. I will delight myself, find the greatest joy, full happiness, in Thy statutes, studying the rules of God’s holy will in their relation to the conduct of every person in the world; I will not forget Thy Word. It is this rallying around the Bible which makes the individual and whole church organizations a power in the Lord.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, 31, 33, 35, 37, 39, 41, 43, 45, 47, 49, 51, 53, 55, 57, 59, 61, 63, 65, 67, 69, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, 83, 85, 87, 89, 91, 93, 95, 97, 99, 101, 103, 105, 107, 109, 111, 113, 115, 117, 119, 121, 123, 125 General Information:
General Information:
Most of this psalm is addressed to God, and the words "you" and "your" almost always refer to him.
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They do no wrong
They do not disobey Yahweh.
they walk in his ways
"they walk in Yahweh's ways." Here their behavior is spoken of as "walking," and the way God wants them to behave is spoken of as "his ways." AT: "they behave as Yahweh wants them to"
keep your instructions
"obey all the things that you have declared that we should do"
carefully observe them
This is to carefully know and understand the commandments and to obey those commandments.
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 On vv4, 9, 10, 14, 15, 17, 20, 23, 25, 29, 33, 36, 41, 44, 47, 49, 52, 57, 61, 64, 65, 73, 81, 85, 89, 95, 96, 97, 103, 105, 108, 113, 121, 125 119:4 To keep God’s commandments means to guard them…
119:4 To keep God’s commandments means to guard them by obeying them.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.