Oh that my ways were steadfast to obey your statutes!
Parallel Translations
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Oh that my ways were steadfast to obey your statutes!
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O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!
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Oh that my ways were directed to observe Thy statutes!
Cross-references (11)
Passages linked to Psalms 119:5 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me.
- 2 Thessalonians 3:5 May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love, and into the perseverance of Christ.
- Hebrews 13:21 make you complete in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
- Jeremiah 31:33 “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” says Yahweh: “I will put my law in their inward parts, and I will write it in their heart. I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
- Psalms 119:36 Turn my heart toward your statutes, not toward selfish gain.
- Romans 7:22-24 For I delight in God’s law after the inward man, but I see a different law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity under the law of sin which is in my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will deliver me out of the body of this death?
- Psalms 119:32 I run in the path of your commandments, for you have set my heart free.
- Psalms 119:173 Let your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen your precepts.
- Psalms 119:159 Consider how I love your precepts. Revive me, Yahweh, according to your loving kindness.
- Psalms 119:44-45 So I will obey your law continually, forever and ever. I will walk in liberty, for I have sought your precepts.
- Psalms 119:131 I opened my mouth wide and panted, for I longed for your commandments.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 5 I wish that my ways may be directed…
5 I wish that my ways may be directed The original word כון, kun, is sometimes rendered to establish, and, accordingly, it may seem as if the prophet were soliciting for himself the virtue of perseverance. I am rather inclined to understand it as signifying to direct; for, although God’s plainly instructing us in his law, the obtuseness of our understanding, and the perversity of our hearts, constantly need the direction of his Spirit. Our main desire, therefore, ought to be for an understanding wisely regulated by the law of God, and also for a docile and obedient heart. Next, he adds, if a man carefully observe the law of God, he need be under no apprehension that he will ever regret what he has done or undertaken to do. The word respect intimates, that we must not be influenced by our own designs, nor decide, according to Carnal reason, what we are to do, but must at once come to the determination, that they who turn not aside, either to the right hand or the left, from the observance of God’s commandments, are indeed in the right path. They who reverently respect his law, may not escape the censure of the great bulk of mankind, yet the prophet declares, that They shall not be ashamed, because they have a good conscience in the presence of God and the angels, and, with the approval of this celestial assembly, they are well satisfied and contented; for if they depended upon the opinion of the world, their courage would presently fail. He says, all thy precepts, intimating, that among the snares of Satan, amid such thick darkness and so great insensibility as ours, the utmost vigilance and caution are necessary, if we would aim at being entirely exempted from blame. Wherefore, in all that we do, we must endeavor to have the law before us, to keep us from falling.
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 David acknowledgeth his imperfection, desiring God to reform it,…
David acknowledgeth his imperfection, desiring God to reform it, that his life may be conformable to God’s word.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 119:5 O that my ways were directed to…
Psa 119:5 O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!
Ver. 5. O that my ways were directed, &c.] David can wish well to that perfection which he cannot attain unto. The whole life of a good Christian is a holy desire, saith Austin; and this is always seconded with endeavour; without the which, affection is like Rachel, beautiful but barren.
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 My desires answer thy commands.
My desires answer thy commands.
Directed, or established, to wit, by thy grace and Holy Spirit; for the direction of God’s word he had already.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Then shall I not be ashamed,.... Of hope in…
Then shall I not be ashamed,.... Of hope in God, of a profession of faith in him, and of a conversation agreeable to it before men; nor of appearing before God in his house, worshipping him there; nor at the throne of his grace, nor at the day of judgment, and before Christ at his coming;
when I have respect unto all thy commandments; or "look" (n) at them constantly, as the rule of walk and conversation; and to copy after, as a scholar looks at his copy to write after; and affectionately esteem all his precepts concerning all things to be right, and none of his commandments grievous; and practically, not in the theory only; but observing them in order to practise them, and diligently attending to them, and steadfastly continuing in them; impartially regarding them, one as another; and especially as beholding them fulfilled perfectly in Christ, who is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes.
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(n) "quum intuebor", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Gejerus, Michaelis.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 5. O that my ways were directed] "I…
Verse 5. O that my ways were directed] "I wish that my way may be confirmed to keep thy statutes." Without thee I can do nothing; my soul is unstable and fickle; and it will continue weak and uncertain till thou strengthen and establish it.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain O that my ways were directed ... - Indicating…
O that my ways were directed ... - Indicating the desire of the pious heart. That desire - a prevailing, constant, uniform desire - is to keep the law of God. It is the aim of the life; it is the supreme purpose of the soul; it is the ruling wish of the man, thus to keep the law of God. He in whose bosom this is not the constant wish cannot be a pious man. The Hebrew particle used here, and rendered “O that,” is a particle denoting a wish, or an earnest desire. The word “ways” denotes the course of life. The whole is expressive of an earnest desire to live in accordance with the law of God. It implies also a sense of dependence on God.
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 5. Chuqqîm, 21 times, once chuqqôth, ‘statutes,’ LXX δικαιώματα,…
5. Chuqqîm, 21 times, once chuqqôth, ‘statutes,’ LXX δικαιώματα, lit. something engraved or inscribed, so what is prescribed or enacted. Frequently in Deut. (Psa_4:1 &c.).
5. Oh that my ways were established
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To observe thy statutes! (R.V.)
The thought of God’s Will expressed in Psa_119:4 naturally evokes a prayer that in his whole life and conduct he may fulfil God’s Will, not fitfully and uncertainly, but constantly and consistently. For established cp. Pro_4:26.
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 (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 Oh that my ways were directed to keep thy…
Oh that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes! The first four verses of the stanza are concerned with the Law in itself; the last four treat of the writer"s relation to it. He begins by expressing the wish that he, at any rate, may always observe it.
Longing after holiness.
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I THE PRAYER OF OUR TEXT RISES UP FROM MANY HEARTS.
1. From even the careless and the worldling. They, not seldom, have to eat of the fruit of their own ways, and it is nauseous to their taste. They often realize how wrong they are, and then there rises up from their hearts such prayer as this. Only, alas! these desires fade away so soon.
2. From the beginner in the Divine Life the newly regenerate. This is the holy, healthy appetite of such a soul. Not alone desire for being saved from hell or admitted to heaven, but to be made like God, and so, well-pleasing to him.
3. The backslider. No more miserable soul can live on the earth than the backslider. Again and again is he made conscious of his wretched folly in leaving the ways of God, and he mourns and yearns for the better way. It is God who will not lightly let them go: it is his call; let such listen to it and obey, and that at once. Then this good desire may be as the slender thread which draws up the cord to the prisoner in the dungeon, and that the trusty rope whereby escape is gained. So this desire, if well used, may draw to you other gifts of God"s grace, and they yet more, and so, blessed deliverance shall be yours.
4. The earnest believer. For he sees defects in himself where others do not, and is conscious of failure where others only praise his goodness. But he has an ideal, a vision of God, after which he is forever punting, and hence this prayer, "Oh that my ways were directed," etc.!
II THE REASON OF THIS.
1. It is the way in which Christ walked. Every place where he has been is invested with a charm and delight to those who love him. "Those holy fields, Over whose acres walked those blessed feet. How many love to walk there likewise! But it is not many who can do this literally; yet in the holy ways of love to God, and obedience and faith, in which he ever walked, we may walk if we will.
2. It is the way for which we were designed. Nothing works well in that for which it was not intended. The delicate instruments of the mathematician will not serve for the coarse work of the artisan. And so with man"s nature it is made for God, and in his obedience finds its real welfare.
3. It is the way of peace.
4. And of eternal life.
III BUT FOR THIS WE NEED GOD"S DIRECTION. S.C.
Good habits confirming goodness.
"Oh that my ways were established to observe thy statutes!" The importance of settling good habits in the religious life is seldom dealt with in public teaching, and yet there are few subjects of more directly practical importance. It is quite true that perils attach to the fixing of habits; they are chiefly
(1) the disposition to judge others by our own ways; and
(2) the loss of spiritual force through the routine character of our doings. But we need never depreciate good things because it is possible to misuse them and make mischief out of them. In a thousand things of daily life we prove the usefulness of good habits. We do things again and again, or do things at the same time and in the same way day after day, until they become not so much easy to do as a joy to the doer. They make up the life, and provide the pleasure of the life. Let, then, any one purpose to live the godly life, and he must take due account of the helpfulness of well-formed habits. The subject may be illustrated in connection with both the culture and the expression of the religious life.
I GOOD HABITS IN RELATION TO THE CULTURE OF GOODNESS. The gardener knows well the importance of regular habits in the tending of plants. The godly life is cultured by the Word of God, prayer, and pious conversation; and in each of these the formation of good habits early in life is singularly helpful. The custom of devoting some time daily to Bible-reading may become a mere routine, and even to the liveliest Christian it is at times a formality; but its helpfulness is clearly seen when the negligences of those who have formed no such habit is duly contrasted. The best of us are constantly needing to be carried over our wilfulness"s and indispositions, as only good habits can carry us.
II GOOD HABITS IN RELATION TO THE EXPRESSION OF GOODNESS. We have no right to permit any divorce between the cultured heart and the devoted life. If we have soul-life, it must find fitting expression in daily service. These may be classed under acts of worship and acts of ministry. Habits very materially aid in maintaining family worship, and in meeting the obligations of God"s house; and they exert an important influence on our acts of charity and ministry. We all need to have our ways established," that we may thus be helped in "observing God"s statutes. 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. 5. O that my ways were directed to…
Ver. 5. O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes! Divine commands should direct us in the subject of our prayers. We cannot of ourselves keep God's statutes as he would have them kept, and yet we long to do so: what resort have we but prayer? We must ask the Lord to work our works in us, or we shall never work out his commandments. This verse is a sigh of regret because the Psalmist feels that he has not kept the precepts diligently, it is a cry of weakness appealing for help to one who can aid, it is a request of bewilderment from one who has lost his way and would fain be directed in it, and it is a petition of faith from one who loves God and trusts in him for grace.
Our ways are by nature opposed to the way of God, and must be turned by the Lord's direction in another direction from that which they originally take or they will lead us down to destruction. God can direct the mind and will without violating our free agency, and he will do so in answer to prayer; in fact, he has begun the work already in those who are heartily praying after the fashion of this verse. It is for present holiness that the desire arises in the heart. O that it were so now with me: but future persevering holiness is also meant, for he longs for grace to keep henceforth and for ever the statutes of the Lord.
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The sigh of the text is really a prayer, though it does not exactly take that form. Desires and longings are of the essence of supplication, and it little matters what shape they take. "O that" is as acceptable a prayer as "Our Father."
One would hardly have expected a prayer for direction; rather should we have looked for a petition for enabling. Can we not direct ourselves? What if we cannot row, we can steer. The Psalmist herein confesses that even for the smallest part of his duty he felt unable without grace. He longed for the Lord to influence his will, as well as to strengthen his hands. We want a rod to point out the way as much as a staff to support us in it.
The longing of the text is prompted by admiration of the blessedness of holiness, by a contemplation of the righteous man's beauty of character, and by a reverent awe of the command of God. It is a personal application to the writer's own case of the truths which he had been considering. "O that my ways, "etc. It were well if all who hear and read the word would copy this example and turn all that they hear into prayer. We should have more keepers of the statutes if we had more who sighed and cried after the grace to do so.
Ver. 5. In tracing the connection of this verse with the preceding, we cannot forbear to remark how accurately the middle path is preserved, as keeping us at an equal: distance from the idea of self sufficiency to keep the Lord's statutes, and self justification in neglecting them. The first attempt to render spiritual obedience will quickly convince us of our utter helplessness. We might as soon create a world as create m our hearts one pulse of spiritual life. And yet our inability does not cancel our obligation. It is the weakness of a heart that "cannot be subject to the law of God, "for no other reason than because it is "carnal, "and therefore "enmity against God." Our inability is our sin, our guilt, our condemnation, and instead of excusing our condition, stops our mouth, and leaves us destitute of any plea of defence before God. Thus our obligation remains in full force. We are bound to obey the commands of God, whether we can or not. What, then, remains for us, but to return the mandate to heaven, accompanied with an earnest prayer, that the Lord would write upon our hearts those statutes to which he requires obedience in his word? Thou hast commanded us to keep thy statutes diligently. We acknowledge, Lord, our obligation, but we feel our impotency. Lord, help us; we look unto thee. O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes. Charles Bridges, 1849.
Ver. 5. O that, etc. In the former verse the prophet David observes the charge which God gives, and that is, that his commandments be diligently kept: here, then, he observes his own weakness and insufficiency to discharge that great duty, and therefore, as one by the spirit desirous to discharge it, and yet by the flesh not able to discharge it, he breaketh out into these words, O that my ways were directed, etc. Much like unto a child that being commanded to take up some great weight from the ground, is willing to do it, though not able to do it: or a sick patient advised to walk many turns in his chamber, finds a desire in his heart, though inability in his body to do that which he is directed unto. Richard Greenham.
Ver. 5. O that my ways, etc. It is the use and duty of the people of God to turn precepts into prayers. That this is the practice of God's children appeareth: "Turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the Lord my God" (Jer 31:18). God had said, "Turn you, and you shall live, "and they ask it of God, "Turn us, "as he required it of them. It was Austin's prayer, Da quod jubes, et jube quod vis, "Give what thou requirest, and require what thou wilt." It is the duty of the saints; for, 1st, It suits with the Gospel covenant, where precepts and promises go hand in hand; where God giveth what he commandeth, and worketh all our works in us and for us. They are not conditions of the covenant only, but a part of it. What God hath required at our hands, that we may desire at his hands. God is no Pharaoh, to require brick where he giveth no straw. Lex jubet, gracia juvat. The articles of the new covenant are not only put into the form of precepts, but promises. The law giveth no strength to perform anything, but the Gospel offereth grace. Secondly, Because, by this means, the ends of God are fulfilled. Why doth God require what we cannot perform by our own strength? He doth it, (1.) To keep up his right. (2.) To convince us of our impotency, and that, upon a trial, without his grace we cannot do his work. (3.) That the creature may express his readiness to obey. (4.) To bring us to lie at his feet for grace. Thomas Manton.
Ver. 5. O that, etc. The whole life of a good Christian is an holy desire, saith Augustine; and this is always seconded with endeavour, without the which, affection is like Rachel, beautiful, but barren. John Trapp.
Ver. 5. O that my ways were directed, etc. The original word Nwk, kun, is sometimes rendered to establish, and, accordingly, it may seem as if the prophet were soliciting for himself the virtue of perseverance. I am rather inclined to understand it as signifying to direct for, although God is plainly instructing us in his law, the obtuseness of our understanding and the perversity of our hearts constantly need the direction of his Spirit. John Calvin.
Ver. 5. The prayer of the gracious.
1. Suggested by each preceding clause of blessing.
2. By a consciousness of failure.
3. By a loving clinging to the Lord.
Ver. 5.
1. The end desired: "To keep thy statutes." Not to be safe merely, or happy, but holy.
2. The help implored.
(a) To understand the divine precepts.
(b) To keep them. G. R.
Ver. 5. Longing to obey.
1. It is a noble aspiration. There is nothing grander than the desire to do this except the doing of it.
2. It is a spiritual aspiration. Not the offspring of our carnal nature. It is the heart of God in the new creature.
3. It is a practicable aspiration. We sometimes sigh for the impossible. But this may be attained by divine grace.
4. It is an intense aspiration. It is the "Oh!" of a burning wish.
5. It is an influential aspiration. It does not evaporate in sighs. It is a mighty incentive implanted by grace which will not let us rest without holiness. W. J.
Psalms 119:6*
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 O that my ways were directed to keep Thy…
Psa_119:5
O that my ways were directed to keep Thy statutes!
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Virtuous solicitude
A solicitude to perform our duty, to practise holiness at all times, and to make a constant progress in it, is an essential ingredient in a virtuous temper, a necessary qualification of our obedience, and a powerful means of our becoming active and steadfast in it.
It implies--
1. A lively sense of the supreme importance of holiness.
2. A settled love of goodness, and hatred of iniquity.
3. A vigorous, constant, and prevailing desire to keep Gods statutes.
4. A firm resolution to keep them.
5. A prevailing bias of the whole soul towards virtuous practice.
6. Fervent desire of Gods assistance in the practice of holiness. (A. Gerard, D. D.)
The temporal lot of a good man subservient to the advancement of his personal religion
I. A truly good man will be concerned to keep the statutes of God. He is as much concerned to avoid secret as open sins; he seeks intently a temper devout and spiritual; he finds an unutterable pleasure in striving, and watching, and praying that not a single particular in the Christian temper or conduct may be found absent from him.
II. A good man will at some periods be especially concerned to keep the statutes of God.
1. Perhaps an extensive and an affecting sight of the Divine holiness is instrumental in producing this improvement.
2. A fixed and an admiring contemplation of the grace of the Gospel is sometimes productive of a similar effect.
3. Affliction is sometimes the forerunner of this enlarged concern.
III. When a good man is thus especially concerned to keep the statutes of God, his temporal lot will be rendered subservient to the promotion of his personal religion. O that my ways, my general circumstances, and the daily and hourly incidents which occur, were directed to keep Thy statutes, to advance my personal religion.
IV. In order to the temporal lot of a good man becoming thus subservient to the advancement of his personal religion, he must be aided by a Divine interposition.
1. In the form of a wise and benevolent appointment.
2. In the form of a gracious influence. (Essex Remembrancer.)
Longings
A longing after the good, after anything higher and better than the sinner has, what is it but the beginning of the new life, its first pulsation, its first and feeblest cry? It is the confession of sin and want. This need may give expression to itself in the quiet, trustful prayer of childhood, saying to God, My Father, wilt Thou not from henceforth be the guide of my youth? This need may be spoken with a heavy heart and a downcast face by the young prodigal, as he stands in presence of the shame and poverty which his own sin has created. This need may be spoken by the philosopher who, having sought for rest for heart and intellect in every theory of the universe and in every method of life but the Divine, and sought in vain, turns at last to the Fountain of living waters. It is a longing which may be quickened by very diverse things, or it may move of itself, as we think; yet in all is there the presence and power of the Spirit of God. Nor when the soul has come to the knowledge of God, when its first longing has been spoken and has been met by the bestowal of a heavenly gift, is there an end of longing and desiring. In fact, it may be said that longings do but then begin. By giving pardon and cleansing, God does but open the door to the demand for a perfect righteousness. The soul sees above it an ever higher ideal than it has yet attained to, and, therefore, longs and prays for it. Our longings are like the wings of the soul upon which it is borne, if only for a moment, into a purer and heavenlier clime. They set us in motion Godward. Call not the wishes of the heart vain and useless; for they are the spirit of our prayers, they turn our wills and fix our resolutions; they are the beginnings of the kingdom of heaven. Impalpable, and coming even upon him who has them as the breeze comes upon the still lake and stirs it with life and motion, these yearnings and longings anticipate and determine a mans destiny. When a man says, I wish to pray; I wish to know God; I wish to be a new man, he speaks weightier words than when kings or statesmen issue manifestoes and proclamations. That is the opening up of his case with his Father and Saviour. Sir, we would see Jesus, said some Greeks to Philip, who had come up to the feast to worship, and that wish of theirs caused a response on the part of Jesus, the effect of which is felt in the words of Jesus in multitudes of souls to-day, and shall be for ever and ever. (J. P. Gladstone.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 I would be firmly established
I would be firmly established
The writer speaks of being established in God's commandments as if no one could physically make him move. (See: Metaphor)
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observance of your statutes
"in obeying your statutes"
I would not be put to shame
The writer does not want to be ashamed when he is in God's presence.
all your commandments
"all that you have commanded us"
translationWords
statute
shame
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.