Your laws remain to this day, for all things serve you.
Parallel Translations
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Your laws remain to this day, for all things serve you.
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They continue this day according to thine ordinances: for all are thy servants.
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They stand this day according to Thine ordinances; for all things are Thy servants.
Cross-references (7)
Passages linked to Psalms 119:91 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 148:5-6 Let them praise Yahweh’s name, for he commanded, and they were created. He has also established them forever and ever. He has made a decree which will not pass away.
- Isaiah 48:13 Yes, my hand has laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand has spread out the heavens. when I call to them, they stand up together.
- Jeremiah 33:25 Yahweh says: “If my covenant of day and night fails, if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth;
- Matthew 8:9 For I am also a man under authority, having under myself soldiers. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and tell another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and tell my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
- Genesis 8:22 While the earth remains, seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night will not cease.”
- Matthew 5:45 that you may be children of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust.
- Judges 5:20 From the sky the stars fought. From their courses, they fought against Sisera.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (14 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 91. By thy judgments they continue to this day.…
91. By thy judgments they continue to this day. The word, היום, hayom, which, following other interpreters, I have translated to this days might not improperly rendered daily, or every day. In that case, however, the sense would be substantially the same; for the prophet means, that the whole order of nature depends solely upon the commandment or decree of God. In using the term judgments, he makes an allusion to the law, intimating, that the same regard to rectitude which is exhibited in the law is brightly displayed in every part; of God’s procedure. From this it follows, that men are very perverse, when, by their unbelief, they do what they can to shake and impair the faithfulness of God, upon which all creatures repose; and, moreover, when by their rebellion they impeach his righteousness, and deny the authority of his commands, upon which the stability of the whole world depends. It is a harsh manner of expression to say, that all the elements are God’s servants; but it expresses more than if it had been said, that all things are ready to yield obedience to him. How can we account for it, that the air, which is so thin, does not consume itself by blowing incessantly? How can we account for it, that the waters do not waste away by flowing, but on the principle that these elements obey the secret command of God? By faith, it is true, we perceive that the continued existence of the world is owing to the fiat of God; but all who have the smallest pretensions to understanding are led to the same conclusion, from the manifest and undoubted proofs of this truth, which every where meet their eye. Let it then be thoroughly impressed upon our minds, that all things are so governed and maintained by the secret operation of God, as that their continuing in the same state is owing to their obeying his commandment or word. We must always remember the point which the prophet aims at; which is, that God’s faithfulness, which shines forth in his external works, may gradually conduct us higher, until we attain such a persuasion of the truth of heavenly doctrine as is entirely free from doubt.
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 Seeing the earth and all creatures remain in that…
Seeing the earth and all creatures remain in that estate wherein thou hast created them, much more thy truth remaineth constant and unchangeable.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 119:91 They continue this day according to thine…
Psa 119:91 They continue this day according to thine ordinances: for all [are] thy servants.
Ver. 91. They continue this day] God never brake promise with them, Jer 33:20; Jer 33:25, much less will he with his people, for whose use he made them.
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For all are thy servants] All creatures are at God’s beck and check, except evil angels and men, those great heteroclites {a}, who yet do God’s will, though against their own wills.
{a} A thing or person that deviates from the ordinary rule; an "anomaly".
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 They continue; the heaven and the earth last mentioned.
They continue; the heaven and the earth last mentioned.
According to thine ordinances; as thou hast appointed, and by virtue of thine appointment.
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All are thy servants; all things are subject to thy power and pleasure, and none can resist thy will or word.
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 The wicked have waited for me to destroy me,....…
The wicked have waited for me to destroy me,.... This is another reason why he desires the Lord would save him; because wicked men, such who feared not God, nor regarded men, sons of Belial; such as Saul's courtiers and the conspirators with Absalom were, had laid wait and were waiting an opportunity, and were hoping and expecting to have one, that they might take away his life; destroy him out of the world, as Kimchi; or eternally, as Aben Ezra thinks; by endeavouring to draw him out of the right ways of religion and godliness, into the ways of sin and wickedness, and so ruin him for ever;
but I will consider thy testimonies; the word of God, which testified of his power and providence, employed in the protection of his people, and so an encouragement to put trust and confidence in him; and of his mind and will, with respect to the way in which he should walk; and so making these his counsellors, as he did, Psa 119:24; and well weighing and considering in his mind what they dictated to him, he was preserved from the attempts of his enemies to destroy him, either temporally or spiritually.
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 They - The heaven and the earth. Ordinances -…
They - The heaven and the earth. Ordinances - As thou hast appointed. For - All things are subject to thy power and pleasure.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 91. They continue this day] This verse should…
Verse 91. They continue this day] This verse should be thus read: All are thy servants; therefore, they continue this day according to thy ordinances. "All the celestial bodies are governed by thy power. Thou hast given an ordinance or appointment to each, and each fulfils thy will in the place thou hast assigned 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 They continue this day according to thine ordinances -…
They continue this day according to thine ordinances - According to thy judgments (Hebrew); that is, thy commands. They “stand” (Hebrew) as thou hast appointed; they are what thou didst design them to be. The original purpose in their creation is carried out, and they thus furnish an illustration of the stability of thy government and the permanency of thy law.
For all are thy servants - All worlds obey thy commands; all are under thy control. They show that they are thy servants by the conformity of their movements to the laws which thou hast impressed on them.
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 91. This verse may be rendered,
91. This verse may be rendered,
According to thine ordinances [judgements] they abide [stand] this day,
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For all things are thy servants.
The thought of the preceding verses is developed. Heaven and earth obey and subserve the ordinances of God. His Will is the universal law of Nature.
A slightly different rendering however agrees better with the second line: For thy judgements they (heaven and earth) stand ready this day; they are constantly prepared to perform Thy behests, for all things subserve Thy Will.
Either of these renderings is preferable to that of R.V. marg., As for thy judgements, they abide this day.
this day] i.e. unto this day.
“From the ministering of the Archangel to the labour of the insect, from the poising of the planets to the gravitation of a grain of dust, the power and glory of all creatures, and all matter, consist in their obedience, not in their freedom.” Ruskin, The Two Paths, Lect. v., quoted by Kay.
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 (91) They (the heavens and the earth) continue to…
(91) They (the heavens and the earth) continue to this day according to Thine ordinances: for all (i.e., all creation) are Thy servants.—In Hebrew the all, i.e., the universe. The parallelism is in this way preserved, while in the alternative, “as for Thy judgments, Thy,” &c., it is lost.
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 They continue this day according to thine ordinances. Heaven…
They continue this day according to thine ordinances. Heaven and earth continue to observe the ordinances given them by God at the first. (comp. Jer_31:35, 36 33:25) For all are thy servants; rather, all things, or all creatures.
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. 91. They continue this day according to thine…
Ver. 91. They continue this day according to thine ordinances. Because the Lord has bid the universe abide, therefore it stands, and all its laws continue to operate with precision and power. Because the might of God is ever present to maintain them, therefore do all things continue. The word which spake all things into existence has supported them till now, and still supports them both in being and in well being. God's ordinance is the reason for the continued existence of creation. What important forces these ordinances are! "For all are thy servants." Created by thy word they obey that word, thus answering the purpose of their existence, and working out the design of their Creator. Both great things and small pay homage to the Lord. No atom escapes his rule, no world avoids his government. Shall we wish to be free of the Lord's sway and become lords unto ourselves? If we were so, we should be dreadful exceptions to a law which secures the well being of the universe. Rather while we read concerning all things else they continue and they serve, let us continue to serve, and to serve more perfectly as our lives are continued. By that word which is settled may we be settled; by that voice which establishes the earth may we be established; and by that command which all created things obey may we be made the servants of the Lord God Almighty.
Ver. 91. They continue this day according to thine ordinances, etc. Which of the works of God are not pervaded by a beautiful order? Think of the succession of day and night. Think of the revolution of the seasons. Think of the stars as they walk in their majestic courses, one great law of harmony "binding the sweet influence of the Pleiades, ...and guiding Arcturus with his sons": Job 38:31-32. Look upwards, amid the magnificence of might, to that crowded concave, worlds piled on worlds, and yet see the calm grandeur of that stately march; not a discordant note there to mar the harmony, though wheeling at an Inconceivable velocity in their intricate and devious orbits! These heavenly sentinels all keep their appointed watch towers. These Levites in the upper firmament, light their altar fires "at the time of the evening incense, "and quench them again, when the sun, who is appointed to rule the day, walks forth from his chamber. "These wait all upon thee": Ps 104:27. "They continue this day according to thine ordinances: for all are thy servants." J.R. Macduff, in "Sunsets on the Hebrew Mountains, "1862.
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Ver. 91. They continue this day according to thine ordinances. Man may destroy a plant, but he is powerless to force it into disobedience to the laws given it by the common Creator. "If, "says one, "man would employ it for his use, he must carefully pay attention to its wants and ways, and bow his own proud will to the humblest grass at his feet. Man may forcibly obstruct the path of a growing twig, but it turns quietly aside, and moves patiently and irresistibly on its appointed way.". Do what he may, turf wilt not grow in tile tropics, nor the palm bear its fruit in a cold climate. Rice refuses to thrive out of watery swamps, or cotton to form its fleece of snowy fibres where the rain can reach them. Some of the handsomest flowers in the world, and stranger still, some of the most juicy and succulent plants with which we are acquainted, adorn the arid and desolate sands of the Cape of Good Hope, and wilt not flourish elsewhere. If you twist the branch of a tree so as to turn the under surface of its leaves towards the sky, in a very little while all those leaves will turn down and assume their appointed position. This process will be performed sooner or later, according to the heat of the sun and the flexibility of the leaves, but none the less it will surely take place. You cannot induce the Sorrowful tree of India to bloom by day, or cause it to cease all the year round from loading the night air with the rich perfume of its orange like flowers. The philosopher need not go far to find the secret of this. The Psalmist declares it when, speaking of universal nature, he traces the true cause of its immutable order. God, he says, "hath established them for ever and ever: He hath made a decree which shall not pass; "or, as it is in the Prayer book version, "hath given them a law which shall not be broken": Ps 148:6. Truly is it said in another Ps 114:91, "They continue this day according to thine ordinances: for all are thy servants." Wilful man may dare to defy his Maker, and set at nought his wise and merciful commands; but not so all nature besides. Well, indeed, is it for us that his other works have not erred after the pattern of our rebellion; that seed time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, with all their accompanying provision, have not ceased! To the precepts imposed upon vegetation when first called into being on creation's third day, it stilt yields implicit submission, and the most tender plant will die rather than transgress. What an awful contrast to this is the conduct of man, God's noblest work, endowed with reason and a never dying soul, yet too often ruining his health, wasting and destroying his mental power, defiling his immortal spirit, and, in a word, madly endeavouring to frustrate every purpose for which he was framed. James Neil, in "Rays from the Realms of Nature, "1879.
Ver. 91. All creatures punctually observe the law he hath implanted on their nature, and in their several capacities acknowledge him their sovereign; they move according to the inclinations he imprinted on them. The sea contains itself in its bounds, and the sun steps not out of his sphere; the stars march in their order: "They continue this day according to thine ordinances: for all are thy servants." If he orders things contrary to their primitive nature they obey him. When he speaks the word, the devouring fire becomes gentle, and toucheth not the hair of the children he will preserve; the hunger starved lions suspend their ravenous nature when so good a morsel as Daniel is set before them; and the sun, which had been in perpetual motion since its creation, obeys the writ of ease God sent in Joshua's time, and stands still. Stephen Charnock.
Ver. 91. All are thy servants. We should consider how great is that perversity by which man only, formed in the image of God, together with reprobate angels, has fallen away from obedience to God; so that what is said of all other creatures cannot be said of him, unless renewed by singular grace. Wolfgang Musculus.
Ver. 91. All are thy servants. Since all creatures must serve God, therefore we ought neither to use them for any other purpose, nor turn them to the service of sin. The creature by the sin of our first parents has been made subject to vanity, and groans, and longs to be delivered, Romans 8: Christians, therefore, who use the creature and the world, should use as not abusing, 1 Corinthians 7; but enjoy them with praise of the divine majesty and goodness, 1 Timothy 4. Solomon Gesner.
Ver. 91. All are thy servants.
Say not, my soul, "From whence
Can God relieve my care?
Remember that Omnipotence
Has servants everywhere." Thomas T. Lynch, 1855.
Ver. 91. Our starry monitors. They teach us,
1. To serve: though we cannot shine with their brightness.
2. To do all with strict regard to God's will.
3. To "continue" "according to thine ordinances." W.B.H.
Ver. 91. The service of nature.
1. Universal: "all are thy servants."
2. Obedient: "according to thy ordinances."
3. Perpetual: "they continue."
4. Derived: "thou hast established the earth."
Psalms 119:92*
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 All are Thy servants.
Psa_119:91
All are Thy servants.
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All things are Thy servants
The psalmist finds Gods Word in nature, in the whole physical universe. To him the universal order spoke of One who ordered all things according to the good pleasure of His will. Behind all forces and laws he saw a Hand which still governed them, and a Heart which could still feel for those who suffered under the iron necessities of nature. Having found God in the outer world of nature he finds Him also in the inner world of providence. As life can only spring from life, so he believed that our life could only have come from the Living One. And human life is guided through its whole course, from generation to generation, and amid all the changes of time, by the true and faithful will in which it had its origin. If this is too large an inference to draw from the words, Thy faithfulness is unto all generations, it is amply warranted by these other words, All things are Thy servants, and the application of them which the psalmist makes to his own conditions and prospects. What is most difficult for us to grasp is the practical conclusion at which the psalmist arrives. We find much in nature which is friendly; we also find much that seems cruel and inimical to us. The evidence is not all on one side; and hence our verdict often hangs in doubt. It would be an unspeakable comfort to us to believe that all things serve God, and therefore serve us; but how can we believe it in the teeth of the cruel and sorrowful facts with which experience daily confronts us? If it was not impossible for him to believe in the truth and goodness of God, even when God hid Himself from him in clouds so dense and dark as these, it should not be impossible for us to know God better than he did, and have much more reason to trust Him. What else can we do? As we stand before the frowning mysteries of time and change, only one alternative is before us. Either we must understand them all ourselves, or hope to understand them, or we must confide in One who does understand them, though we do not. Therefore our only hope of rest and peace lies in trusting Him from whom nothing is hid, in believing that, because all things serve Him, all must serve us. Is such a faith impossible, or even unreasonable? Not if we believe in God at all, and in the Word of God. Faith is inevitable to those who know as little as we do. The only question is, what we shall believe, in whom we shall put our trust. (Samuel Cox, D. D.)
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 all things are your servants
all things are your servants
All created things are spoken of as if they were persons who can serve God. AT: "all things serve you" or "all things obey your commands" (See: Personification)
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translationWords
righteous
decree
servant
law
delight
perish
afflicted
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.