- Verses 1–3
- Verses 4–6
- Verses 7–8
- Verse 9
- Verse 10
- Verse 11
- Verse 12
- Verses 13–16
- Verse 17
- Verse 18
- Verse 19
- Verse 20
- Verse 21
- Verse 22
- Verse 23
- Verse 24
- Verse 25
- Verses 26–27
- Verses 28–29
- Verses 30–32
- Verses 33–34
- Verses 35–36
- Verse 37
- Verse 38
- Verse 39
- Verse 40
- Verses 41–42
- Verses 43–44
- Verses 45–48
- Verse 49
- Verse 50
- Verse 51
- Verse 52
- Verse 53
- Verse 54
- Verses 55–56
- Verse 57
- Verse 58
- Verses 59–60
- Verse 61
- Verse 62
- Verse 63
- Verse 64
- Verses 65–66
- Verse 67
- Verse 68
- Verses 69–70
- Verse 71
- Verse 72
- Verse 73
- Verse 74
- Verse 75
- Verses 76–77
- Verses 78–79
- Verse 80
- Verses 81–82
- Verse 83
- Verse 84
- Verses 85–87
- Verse 88
- Verses 89–91
- Verse 92
- Verse 93
- Verse 94
- Verse 95
- Verse 96
- Verse 97
- Verses 98–100
- Verse 101
- Verse 102
- Verses 103–104
- Verse 105
- Verse 106
- Verse 107
- Verse 108
- Verses 109–110
- Verses 111–112
- Verse 113
- Verse 114
- Verse 115
- Verses 116–117
- Verses 118–120
- Verses 121–122
- Verse 123
- Verses 124–125
- Verse 126
- Verses 127–128
- Verse 129
- Verse 130
- Verse 131
- Verse 132
- Verse 133
- Verse 134
- Verse 135
- Verse 136
- Verses 137–138
- Verse 139
- Verse 140
- Verse 141
- Verse 142
- Verses 143–144
- Verses 145–146
- Verses 147–148
- Verse 149
- Verses 150–151
- Verse 152
- Verses 153–154
- Verse 155
- Verse 156
- Verse 157
- Verse 158
- Verse 159
- Verse 160
- Verse 161
- Verse 162
- Verse 163
- Verse 164
- Verse 165
- Verse 166
- Verses 167–168
- Verses 169–170
- Verse 171
- Verse 172
- Verses 173–174
- Verse 175
- Verse 176
This is a psalm by itself, like none of the rest; it excels them all, and shines brightest in this constellation. It is much longer than any of them more than twice as long as any of them. It is not making long prayers that Christ censurers, but making them for a pretence, which intimates that they are in themselves good and commendable. It seems to me to be a collection of David’s pious and devout ejaculations, the short and sudden breathings and elevations of his soul to God, which he wrote down as they occurred, and, towards the latter end of his time, gathered out of his day-book where they lay scattered, added to them many like words, and digested them into this psalm, in which there is seldom any coherence between the verses, but, like Solomon’s proverbs, it is a chest of gold rings, not a chain of gold links. And we may not only learn, by the psalmist’s example, to accustom ourselves to such pious ejaculations, which are an excellent means of maintaining constant communion with God, and keeping the heart in frame for the more solemn exercises of religion, but we must make use of the psalmist’s words, both for the exciting and for the expressing of our devout affections; what some have said of this psalm is true, “He that shall read it considerately, it will either warm him or shame him.” The composition of it is singular and very exact. It is divided into twenty-two parts, according to the number of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, and each part consists of eight verses, all the verses of the first part beginning with Aleph, all the verses of the second with Beth, and so on, without any flaw throughout the whole psalm. Archbishop Tillotson says, It seems to have more of poetical skill and number in it than we at this distance can easily understand. Some have called it the saints’ alphabet; and it were to be wished we had it as ready in our memories as the very letters of our alphabet, as ready as our A B C. Perhaps the penman found it of use to himself to observe this method, as it obliged him to seek for thoughts, and search for them, that he might fill up the quota of every part; and the letter he was to begin with might lead him to a word which might suggest a good sentence; and all little enough to raise any thing that is good in the barren soil of our hearts. However, it would be of use to the learners, a help to them both in committing it to memory and in calling it to mind upon occasion; by the letter the first word would be got, and that would bring in the whole verse; thus young people would the more easily learn it by heart and retain it the better even in old age. If any censure it as childish and trifling, because acrostics are now quite out of fashion, let them know that the royal psalmist despises their censure; he is a teacher of babes, and, if this method may be beneficial to them, he can easily stoop to it; if this to be vile, he will be yet more vile.
II. The general scope and design of it is to magnify the law, and make it honourable; to set forth the excellency and usefulness of divine revelation, and to recommend it to us, not only for the entertainment, but for the government, of ourselves, by the psalmist’s own example, who speaks by experience of the benefit of it, and of the good impressions made upon him by it, for which he praises God, and earnestly prays, from first to last, for the continuance of God’s grace with him, to direct and quicken him in the way of his duty. There are ten different words by which divine revelation is called in this psalm, and they are synonymous, each of them expressive of the whole compass of it (both that which tells us what God expects from us and that which tells us that we may expect from him) and of the system of religion which is founded upon it and guided by it. The things contained in the scripture, and drawn from it, are here called, 1. God’s law, because they are enacted by him as our Sovereign. 2. His way, because they are the rule both of his providence and of our obedience. 3. His testimonies, because they are solemnly declared to the world and attested beyond contradiction. 4. His commandments, because given with authority, and (as the word signifies) lodged with us as a trust. 5. His precepts, because prescribed to us and not left indifferent. 6. His word, or saying, because it is the declaration of his mind, and Christ, the essential eternal Word, is all in all in it. 7. His judgments, because framed in infinite wisdom, and because by them we must both judge and be judged. 8. His righteousness, because it is all holy, just, and good, and the rule and standard of righteousness. 9. His statutes, because they are fixed and determined, and of perpetual obligation. His truth, or faithfulness, because the principles upon which the divine law is built are eternal truths. And I think there is but one verse (it is Ps. 119:122) in all this long psalm in which there is not one or other of these ten words; only in three or four they are used concerning God’s providence or David’s practice (as Ps. 119:75, 84, 121), and Ps. 119:132 they are called God’s name. The great esteem and affection David had for the word of God is the more admirable considering how little he had of it, in comparison with what we have, no more perhaps in writing than the first books of Moses, which were but the dawning of this day, which may shame us who enjoy the full discoveries of divine revelation and yet are so cold towards it. In singing this psalm there is work for all the devout affections of a sanctified soul, so copious, so various, is the matter of it. We here find that in which we must give glory to God both as our ruler and great benefactor, that in which we are to teach and admonish ourselves and one another (so many are the instructions which we here find about a religious life), and that in which we are to comfort and encourage ourselves and one another, so many are the sweet experiences of one that lived such a life. Here is something or other to suit the case of every Christian. Isa. any afflicted? Isa. any merry? Each will find that here which is proper for him. And it is so far from being a tedious repetition of the same thing, as may seem to those who look over it cursorily, that, if we duly meditate upon it, we shall find almost every verse has a new thought and something in it very lively. And this, as many other of David’s psalms, teaches us to be sententious in our devotions, both alone and when others join with us; for, ordinarily, the affections, especially of weaker Christians, are more likely to be raised and kept by short expressions, the sense of which lies in a little compass, than by long and laboured periods.