Psalms 119:9

b, BETH.--The Second Part. Ver. 9. BETH. Wherewith shall a young man cleanse his way?.... Some think David means himself, and that he was a young man when he wrote this psalm; and which they think is

Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?

BETH Young man; or, any man. But he names the young man, because such are commonly void of wisdom and experience, heady and wilful, and impatient of admonition, full of violent passions and strong lusts, and exposed to many and great temptations. Cleanse his way; reform his life, or purge himself from all filthiness of flesh and spirit. By taking heed thereto according to thy word; by a diligent and circumspect watch over himself, and the examination and regulation of all his actions by the rules of thy word.

Psalms 119:9 BETH. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed [thereto] according to thy word.Ver. 9. Wherewithal shall a young man] Semipuer, a lad, a stripling, who hath his name in Hebrew of tossing to and fro; confer Ephesians 4:14, and the same word signifieth youth and tow, Isaiah 1:31, or rather the shreds that fall from tow and flax, when whiffied; to note the vanity of youth, and its aptness to be enkindled, when once affections begin to boil within them. The Greek word for a youth comes from another that signifieth to be hot, and to boil up, or scald, ηιθεος of αιθω, and αιζηος of ζεω. Such a one, therefore, had need (if ever he think to be blessed, as Psalms 119:1) to cleanse his ways by cleaving to the word; since an impure heart and an undefiled inheritance will not stand together. Cleanse his way] Mandabit, id est emendabit. The Hebrew word signifieth the cleansing of glass, which though it be very clean, yet will it gather filth even in the sunbeams, and of itself; which noteth the great corruption of this slippery age, and what care must be taken that it may shine as picked glass, or clearest crystal. By taking heed thereto according to thy word] Which is of a purifying property, John 15:3; John 17:17, and can cleanse the heart of a young man also, where lusts are strong, stains deep, and will not out without fuller’ s soap. There is a sharpness in these wholesome (or healing) words, that maketh us sound in the faith, and sincere in practice; as it did Mr Paul Bains, whose conversation, when he came first to Cambridge, was so irregular, that his father, being grieved at it before his death, left with a friend forty pounds by the year, desiring that his son might have it if he amended his manners; else not. He did so, and had it (Mr Clark’ s Lives). When a child is come to be thirteen years and a day old, the Jews account him a man, and call him Barmitsuah, a child of the commandments; because bound to live by the law (Leo Modena of Jewish rites).

BETH. (9) Wherewithal.—There can be little question that the right rendering of this verse is By what means can a young man purify his way, so as to keep it according to Thy word? but from Joshua 6:18 we might render keep himself. The English rendering, which follows the LXX. and Vulg. is, of course, possible, but the other is more natural and more in accordance with the general drift of the psalm. The answer is supposed, or rather left to be inferred, from the whole tenor of the psalm, which is that men, and especially-young men, whose passions and temptations are strong in proportion to their inexperience, can do nothing of themselves, but are dependent on the grace of God. The omission of a direct answer rather strengthens than impairs the impression on the reader. We must not, from the mention of youth, conclude that this psalm was written in that period of life. Perhaps, on the contrary, it is one who, like Browning’s Rabbi ben Ezra, while seeking how best to spend old age, looks back on youth, not with remonstrance at its follies, but with the satisfaction that even then he aimed at the best he knew.

LETTER: ב BETH - Second Division Verse 9. A young man cleanse his way] ארח orach, which we translate way here, signifies a track, a rut, such as is made by the wheel of a cart or chariot. A young sinner has no broad beaten path; he has his private ways of offence, his secret pollutions: and how shall he be cleansed from these? how can he be saved from what will destroy mind, body, and soul? Let him hear what follows; the description is from God. 1. He is to consider that his way is impure; and how abominable this must make him appear in the sight of God. 2. He must examine it according to God's word, and carefully hear what God has said concerning him and it. 3. He must take heed to it, לשמר lishmor, to keep guard, and preserve his way-his general course of life, from all defilement.

9–16. Beth. Love for God’s law the safeguard and the joy of life.

Wherewithal - This begins the second portion of the psalm, extending to Psalms 119:16, in which all the verses begin with the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet (ב b), indicated in our translation by the word Beth.

á, Beth.9-16. After the general preliminary given in “Aleph,” the value of the divine word, as the guide of early life, is considered.