Psalms 119:8

I will keep thy statutes,.... This is a resolution taken up in the strength of divine grace, to answer the end of learning the judgments of God; which he did, not merely to have a notional knowledge

I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly. I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly.

I will keep thy statutes; it is my full purpose to do so, whatsoever it cost me. Forsake me not utterly; not totally and finally; for then I shall fall into the foulest sins and greatest mischief. Not that he was contented to be forsaken in the least degree, but this he more especially deprecates, as he had great reason to do.

Psalms 119:8 I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly.Ver. 8. I will keep thy statutes] Yea, and that very much, or with vehemence, as some read it, usque valde; this he had said before was God’ s command, Psalms 119:4, and he would do it. Iussa sequi tam velle mihi quam posse necesse est (Lucan). O forsake me not] Or if at all (as thou mayest without breach of promise), yet not very much; not usque valde; not utterly. Christ, saith Greenham, was forsaken for a few hours, David for a few months, and Job for a few years; seven years, saith Suidas, for the trial and exercise of his faith and patience. This might seem to them usque valde but it was not usquequaque sive semper aut perpetuo. Leave them God did to their thinking, but forsake them he did not; forsake them he did in regard of vision, but not in regard of union; non deserit etiamsi deserat, saith Austin.

Verse 8. O forsake me not utterly.] עד מאד ad meod, "to utter dereliction;" never leave me to my own strength, nor to my own heart! ANALYSIS OF LETTER ALEPH. - First Division I. In this first octonary the prophet commends to us the law of God, and persuades us to practise it by two arguments: 1. Happiness, Psalms 119:1-2. 2. The excellence of the Lawgiver, Psalms 119:4. II. He shows his affection to this law, desiring grace to keep it, Psalms 119:5. On which he knew there would follow two effects: 1. Peace of conscience: "He should not be ashamed," c. 2. Thankfulness to God for his teaching, Psalms 119:7. "Blessed are they who are undefiled in the way," c. "Blessed are they who keep his testimonies," &c. "They also do no iniquity," &c. I. The first argument used by the prophet to persuade men to obedience is blessedness. He that would be happy must be obedient and his obedience, if true, may be thus discerned: - 1. "He must be undefiled in the way." Keep himself from sin. 2. "He must walk in the law of the Lord," c. Which is the rule of our faith, life, and worship. 3. "He must keep his testimonies." Search them out in God's word. 4. "He must seek him with a whole heart." With sincerity search his law to the utmost, both what it bids, and what it forbids, in order to know the mind of the Lawgiver. 5. "They also do no iniquity." They work no iniquity with 1. Purpose of heart 2. Delight 3. With perseverance; 4. Nor at all, when the heart is fully sanctified unto God; Christ dwelling in it by faith. 6. They walk in his way, which the wicked do not: but the righteous have taken it for their path through life; and should they at any time swerve from it, they come back by repentance and confession to God. The prophet's second argument to persuade to obedience is the authority of the Lawgiver. All disobedience proceeds either from contempt of God's laws, or rebellion against them: but David brings to our mind the authority of the Lawgiver, from a consideration of who he is who commands our obedience as his servants: "Thou hast commanded that we keep,' c. 1. Thou, who knowest when we err, and wilt punish us. 2. Hast commanded - absolutely enjoined. 3. That we keep, c. - they cannot be dispensed with. 4. Diligently, &c. Not negligently or lazily, or Satan will take advantage of us. II. The blessedness promised to the keepers of God's law moved the prophet to send forth this ardent prayer, "O that my ways," &c. 1. David was a great king, and yet desires to be obedient. 2. He answers God's command by a prayer, to be enabled to perform it by his grace. 3. "O that my ways," &c. My counsels, actions, &c., were conformable to the straitness and regularity of thy law. 4.

8. I will keep] R.V. I will observe, as in Psalms 119:4-5. thy statutes] Ceremonies in P.B.V. is a curiously misleading rendering, taken from Münster’s caerimonias tuas. Coverdale’s version of 1535 has statutes. O forsake me not utterly] As Israel in the Exile had been for a time forsaken by Jehovah as the punishment of its sin (Isaiah 49:14; Isaiah 54:7; cp. Deuteronomy 31:17).

I will keep thy statutes - Thy commands; thy laws. This expresses the firm purpose of the psalmist, He meant to keep the law of God; he could confidently say that he would do it - yet coupled with

à, Aleph.1-8. Blessed are the undefiled—This, the first division, contains a general declaration of the blessing of faithfulness to the divine law.