Behold, I long for your precepts! Revive me in your righteousness.
Parallel Translations
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Behold, I long for your precepts! Revive me in your righteousness.
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Behold, I have longed after thy precepts: quicken me in thy righteousness.
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Behold, I have longed after Thy precepts; quicken me in Thy righteousness.
Cross-references (20)
Passages linked to Psalms 119:40 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 119:20 My soul is consumed with longing for your ordinances at all times.
- John 10:10 The thief only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.
- Psalms 119:159 Consider how I love your precepts. Revive me, Yahweh, according to your loving kindness.
- 2 Corinthians 7:1 Having therefore these promises, beloved, let’s cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
- Philippians 3:13-14 Brothers, I don’t regard myself as yet having taken hold, but one thing I do: forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
- Psalms 119:25 My soul is laid low in the dust. Revive me according to your word!
- Psalms 119:37 Turn my eyes away from looking at worthless things. Revive me in your ways.
- Psalms 119:88 Preserve my life according to your loving kindness, so I will obey the statutes of your mouth.
- Psalms 119:107 I am afflicted very much. Revive me, Yahweh, according to your word.
- Psalms 119:149 Hear my voice according to your loving kindness. Revive me, Yahweh, according to your ordinances.
- Psalms 119:156 Great are your tender mercies, Yahweh. Revive me according to your ordinances.
- Matthew 26:41 Watch and pray, that you don’t enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
- 1 Corinthians 15:45 So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
- Galatians 5:17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, that you may not do the things that you desire.
- Ephesians 2:5 even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
- Psalms 119:5 Oh that my ways were steadfast to obey your statutes!
- Mark 9:24 Immediately the father of the child cried out with tears, “I believe. Help my unbelief!”
- John 5:21 For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom he desires.
- Romans 7:24 What a wretched man I am! Who will deliver me out of the body of this death?
- 3 John 1:2 Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be healthy, even as your soul prospers.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 40. Behold, I have a desire to thy precepts…
40. Behold, I have a desire to thy precepts This is a repetition of what he declared a little before, with regard to his pious affection, and his love of righteousness; and that nothing was wanting but God to complete the work which he had commenced. If this interpretation be admitted, then, to be quickened in the righteousness of God, will be tantamount to being quickened in the way. The term righteousness is often put in this psalm for the law of God, or the rule of a righteous life. This view tends to make the two parts of the verse accord with one another. “Lord, this is now a remarkable kindness thou hast done me, in having inspired me with a holy desire to keep thy law; one thing is still necessary, that this same virtue pervade my whole life.” But as the word righteousness is ambiguous, my readers may, if they choose, understand it thus: Restore, defend, and maintain me for the sake of thy goodness, which thou art wont to show to all thy people. I have already pointed out the exposition which I prefer.
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 Give me strength to continue in thy word even…
Give me strength to continue in thy word even to the end.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 119:40 Behold, I have longed after thy precepts:…
Psa 119:40 Behold, I have longed after thy precepts: quicken me in thy righteousness.
Ver. 40. Behold, I have longed after thy precepts] This he could boldly and safely say to God, offering himself to his trial for the truth of his desires. See Heb 13:18.
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Quicken me in thy righteousness] His desires and affections were not so large and lively but that he needed to be yet farther quickened Nemo est ex omni parte beatus. No one is from evert parted blessed.
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 After thy precepts; after a more solid knowledge and…
After thy precepts; after a more solid knowledge and constant performance of thy precepts.
Quicken me; do thou preserve and maintain both my natural and spiritual life.
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In thy righteousness; according to thy justice or faithfulness, which obligeth thee to make good thy promises.
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, 1. David professes the ardent affection he had…
Here, 1. David professes the ardent affection he had to the word of God: "I have longed after thy precepts, not only loved them, and delighted in what I have already attained, but I have earnestly desired to know them more and do them better, and am still pressing forward towards perfection." Tastes of the sweetness of God's precepts will but set us a longing after a more intimate acquaintance with them. He appeals to God concerning this passionate desire after his precepts: "Behold, I have thus loved, thus longed; thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I am thus affected." 2. He prays for grace to enable him to answer this profession. "Thou hast wrought in me this languishing desire, put life into me, that I may prosecute it; quicken me in thy righteousness, in thy righteous ways, according to thy righteous promise." Where God has wrought to will he will work to do, and where he has wrought to desire he will satisfy the desire.
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 So shall I have wherewith to answer him that…
So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproacheth me,.... Saying there is no help and salvation for him in God; asking where is his God, in whom he trusted? and where is the promise of salvation, on which he depended? To which an easy and ready answer might be given, when the mercies and salvation of God came unto him, and he clearly appeared to be interested in them; see Psa 3:2;
for I trust in thy word: in Christ the essential Word, the object of trust and confidence; or in the written word, it being divinely inspired and dictated by the Spirit of God, and so to be depended on as true and faithful; or rather God's word of promise concerning mercy, grace, and salvation, which God that has made is faithful and able to perform, as may be believed.
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 Longed - After a more solid knowledge and constant…
Longed - After a more solid knowledge and constant performance of them. In - According to thy faithfulness.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 40. Behold, I have longed] Thou searchest the…
Verse 40. Behold, I have longed] Thou searchest the heart; thou knowest that I have long desired thy salvation; thou seest that this desire still remains. Behold it! it is thy work; and through thy mercy I breathe after thy mercy.
Quicken me] I am dying; O give me the spirit of life in Christ Jesus!
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ANALYSIS OF LETTER HE. - Fifth Division
In this part, which is wholly precatory, the psalmist prays, -
I. That God would illuminate his mind.
II. That he would remove all those hinderances which might prevent him from doing his duty.
I. 1. The first petition is for illumination: "Teach me;" point me out what I am to learn, and how I am to learn it.
2. The second is, "Give me understanding." Let me comprehend, that I may profit by this teaching.
3. The end for which he asks, - that he "may keep the law."
He specifies the manner: 1. He will be no temporizer; he will keep it "to the end." 2. He will be no hypocrite; he will keep it "with his whole heart."
1. He prays for power: "Make me to go." Without thy Spirit's help I can do nothing: I do not know the way without thy teaching; I cannot walk in it without thy help.
2. He wishes to go in the path; the way in which all God's followers have walked.
3. It is a path, not a public road; a path where no beast goes, and men seldom.
4. He gives a reason why his petition should be granted: "Therein do I delight."
II. He prays to have all impediments removed.
1. "Incline my heart." Bind it down to a willing obedience.
2. "Not to covetousness." Keep me from the love of money, the world, the creature.
3. He prays against the desire of the eye: "Turn away mine eyes." Let the eye of my body be turned away from vanity; the eye of my mind turned away to thee.
4. Let me find the benefit of this turning: "Stablish thy word," - make good thy word; give me grace to stand.
5. For which he gives this reason: "I am thy servant, and am devoted to thy fear."
6. He is afraid of the consequences if he be not faithful: "Turn away my reproach." Let it not be said, at the day of judgment, "I was hungry, and you gave me no meat," c.
7. He knows if God condemns it must be justly: "For thy judgments are good." Man may condemn where thou approvest he may approve where thou condemnest. Thy judgments alone are good.
8. He concludes, desiring the Lord to look on the state of his heart: "Behold!" 1. Is not my heart right before thee? 2. If so, quicken me; make me alive, and keep me alive! Without the latter, the former will answer no end.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Behold, I have longed after thy precepts - I…
Behold, I have longed after thy precepts - I have earnestly desired them. See the notes at Psa 119:20.
Quicken me in thy righteousness - Make me to live; to live in obedience to thy righteous laws. See Psa 119:25, note; Psa 119:37, note.
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 40. His will is good; but he needs fresh…
40. His will is good; but he needs fresh strength, and for this he prays on the ground of God’s righteousness, that attribute in virtue of which He must needs be true to His covenant-promises. Cp. Psa_5:8, note.
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 (40) Quicken me in thy righteousness—i.e., Let the sense…
(40) Quicken me in thy righteousness—i.e., Let the sense of thy eternal justice give me vigour and life. Or the thought may be of the invigorating influence of a complete surrender to a righteous law, as in Wordsworth’s Ode to Duty;—
“I myself commend
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Unto thy guidance from this hour.
Oh let my weakness have an end!
Give unto me, made lowly, wise,
The spirit of self-sacrifice.
The confidence of reason give,
And in the light of truth thy bondsman let me live.”
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 Behold, I have longed after thy precepts (comp. vers.…
Behold, I have longed after thy precepts (comp. vers. 20 and 131). There are those few, it may be, but truly blessed who "hunger and thirst after righteousness". (Mat_5:6) Quicken me in thy righteousness (comp. ver. 37). Help my efforts to walk in thy righteous ways.
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. 40. Behold, I have longed after thy precepts.…
Ver. 40. Behold, I have longed after thy precepts. He can at least claim sincerity. He is deeply bowed down by a sense of his weakness and need of grace; but he does desire to be in all things conformed to the divine will. Where our longings are, there are we in the sight of God. If we have not attained perfection, it is something to have hungered after it. He who has given us to desire, will also grant us to obtain. The precepts are grievous to the ungodly, and therefore when we are so changed as to long for them we have clear evidence of conversion, and we may safely conclude that he who has begun the good work will carry it on.
Quicken me in thy righteousness. Give me more life wherewith to follow thy righteous law; or give me more life because thou hast promised to hear prayer, and it is according to thy righteousness to keep thy word. How often does David plead for quickening! But never once too often. We need quickening every hour of the day, for we are so sadly apt to become slow and languid in the ways of God. It is the Holy Spirit who can pour new life into us; let us not cease crying to him. Let the life we already possess show itself by longing for more.
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The last verses of the octaves have generally exhibited an onward look of resolve, hope, and prayer. Here past fruits of grace are made the plea for further blessing. Onward in the heavenly life is the cry of this verse.
Ver. 40. Behold, I have longed after, etc. This is given as a more intense form of the statement which he had just made, that he esteemed the judgments to be good. They were so good that he longed after them. Blot only so, but he desired to long after them even more. Thus he prays for even more life and rigour in pursuing the path which they pointed out Quicken me in thy righteousness. He who really longs after divine truth, mourns that he does not long more. When the heart has no love, thee mind has no light, and can only judge the precepts erroneously. "The pure in heart" see better with the mind than can the impure. "Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness." Love so enlarges discernment that he who really loves often finds that his judgment of the blessedness of truth has outstripped even his longing for it. Hence it is the quick who cry, "Quicken me"; it is those who have living desires who pray for yet more life in the way of righteousness.
Ver. 40. I have longed after thy precepts. We are sometimes unconsciously led to "long" after the promises, more than "after the precepts" of God; forgetting that it is our privilege and safety to have an equal regard to both to obey his precepts in dependence on his promises, and to expect the accomplishment of the promises in the way of obedience to the precepts. Charles Bridges.
Ver. 40. Precepts, from a word which means to place in trust, mean something entrusted to man, "that which is committed to thee"; appointments of God, which consequently have to do with the conscience, for which man is responsible, as an intelligent being. The precepts are not so obviously apprehended as the law and the testimonies. They must be sought out. "Behold, my desire is for thy precepts" (Ps 119:40). "Thy precepts I seek" (Ps 119:45). "Thy precepts I have sought" (Ps 119:94)... They are a law of liberty: "And I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts" (Ps 119:45). John Jebb.
Ver. 40. Quicken me in thy righteousness. He said before, "Quicken me in thy word, "here, "in thy righteousness"; all is one; for the word of God is the righteousness of God, in which is set down the will of righteousness. In this the prophet desires to be quickened, that is, to be confirmed, that in cheerfulness and gladness of spirit he might rely upon the word of God. Richard Greenham.
Ver. 40. Quicken me in thy righteousness. The petition is for liveliness in the knowledge and practice of holiness, according to the tenor of God's word and by its operation on the heart. If any prefer by "righteousness" to understand the faithfulness or justice of God, whereby he has bound himself to give grace to those who trust in him, there is no objection to such an interpretation. It is in fact implied in the others. Whoever can truly use the language of this verse is regenerate. Before renewing grace the law was a dead letter. It was more; it was a hated letter. The carnal mind is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. A sinner desires no restraint from the divine precepts. William S. Plumer.
Ver. 40.
1. Gracious longings experienced.
2. Great necessity felt more life needed.
3. Wise petition offered.
Psalms 119:41*
In these verses holy fear is apparent and prominent. The man of God trembles lest in any way or degree the Lord should remove his favour from him. The eight verses are one continued pleading for the abiding of grace in his soul, and it is supported by such holy arguments as would only suggest themselves to a spirit burning with love to God.
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.