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.

The psalmist here shows that godly people are happy people; they are, and shall be, blessed indeed. Felicity is the thing we all pretend to aim at and pursue.

We are here taught, 1. To own ourselves under the highest obligations to walk in God’s law. The tempter would possess men with an opinion that they are at their liberty whether they will make the word of God their rule or no, that, though it may be good, yet it is not so necessary as they are made…

Here is, I. David’s endeavour to perfect himself in his religion, and to make himself (as we say) master of his business. He hopes to learn God’s righteous judgments.

Here is, 1. A weighty question asked. By what means may the next generation be made better than this? Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? Cleansing implies that it is polluted.

Here is, 1. David’s experience of a good work God had wrought in him, which he takes the comfort of and pleads with God: ” I have sought thee, sought to thee as my oracle, sought after thee as my happiness, sought thee as my God; for should not a people seek unto their God? If I have not yet found…

Here is, 1. The close application which David made of the word of God to himself: He hid it in his heart, laid it up there, that it might be ready to him whenever he had occasion to use it; he laid it up as that which he valued highly, and had a warm regard for, and which he was afraid of losing…

Here, 1. David gives glory to God: ” Blessed art thou, O Lord! Thou art infinitely happy in the enjoyment of thyself and hast no need of me or my services; yet thou art pleased to reckon thyself honoured by them; assist me therefore, and then accept me.” In all our prayers we should intermix…

Here, I. David looks back with comfort upon the respect he had paid to the word of God. He had the testimony of his conscience for him, 1. That he had edified others with what he had been taught out of the word of God : With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth.

We are here taught, 1. That we owe our lives to God’s mercy. David prays, Deal bountifully with me, that I may live. It was God’s bounty that gave us life, that gave us this life; and the same bounty that gave it continues it, and gives all the supports and comforts of it; if these be withheld, we…

Observe here, 1. That there are wondrous things in God’s law, which we are all concerned, and should covet, to behold, not only strange things, which are very surprising and unexpected, but excellent things, which are to be highly esteemed and valued, and things which were long hidden from the wise…

Here we have, 1. The acknowledgment which David makes of his own condition: I am a stranger in the earth. We all are so, and all good people confess themselves to be so; for heaven is their home, and the world is but their inn, the land of their pilgrimage.

David had prayed that God would open his eyes and open the law ; now here he pleads the earnestness of his desire for knowledge and grace, for it is the fervent prayer that avails much. 1.

Here is, 1. The wretched character of wicked people. The temper of their minds is bad. They are proud; they magnify themselves above others. And yet that is not all: they magnify themselves against God, and set up their wills in competition with and opposition to the will of God, as if their…

Here, 1. David prays against the reproach and contempt of men, that they might be removed, or (as the word is) rolled, from off him. This intimates that they lay upon him, and that neither his greatness nor his goodness could secure him from being libelled and lampooned.

See here, 1. How David was abused even by great men, who should have known better his character and his case, and have been more generous: Princes did sit, sit in council, sit in judgment, and speak against me.

Here David explains his meditating in God’s statutes , which was of such use to him when princes sat and spoke against him. 1. Did the affliction make him sad? The word of God comforted him, and was his delight, more his delight than any of the pleasures either of court or camp, of city or country.

Here is, I. David’s complaint. We should have thought his soul soaring to heaven; but he says himself, My soul not only rolls in the dust, but cleaves to the dust, which is a complaint either, 1.

We have here, 1. The great intimacy and freedom that had been between David and his God. David had opened his case, opened his very heart to God: ” I have declared my ways, and acknowledged thee in them all, have taken thee along with me in all my designs and enterprises.” Thus Jephthah uttered all…

Here is, 1. David’s representation of his own griefs: My soul melteth for heaviness, which is to the same purport with Ps. 119:25, My soul cleaveth to the dust. Heaviness in the heart of man makes it to melt, to drop away like a candle that wastes.

Observe, I. That those who will make anything to purpose of their religion must first make it their serious and deliberate choice; so David did: I have chosen the way of truth. Note, 1.

Here, I. David prays earnestly that God himself would be his teacher; he had prophets, and wise men, and priests, about him, and was himself well instructed in the law of God, yet he begs to be taught of God, as knowing that none teaches like him, Job 36:22. Observe here, 1.

He had before prayed to God to enlighten his understanding, that he might know his duty, and not mistake concerning it; here he prays to God to bow his will, and quicken the active powers of his soul, that he might do his duty; for it is God that works in us both to will and to do, as well as to…

Here, 1. David prays for restraining grace, that he might be prevented and kept back from that which would hinder him in the way of his duty: Turn away my eyes from beholding vanity.

Here is 1. The character of a good man, which is the work of God’s grace in him; he is God’s servant, subject to his law and employed in his work, that is, devoted to his fear, given up to his direction and disposal, and taken up with high thoughts of him and all those acts of devotion which have a…

Here, 1. David prays against reproach, as before, Ps. 119:22. David was conscious to himself that he had done that which might give occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, which would blemish his own reputation and turn to the dishonour of his family; now he prays that God, who has all…

Here, 1. David professes the ardent affection he had to the word of God: ” I have longed after thy precepts, not only loved them, and delighted in what I have already attained, but I have earnestly desired to know them more and do them better, and am still pressing forward towards perfection.”…

Here is, 1. David’s prayer for the salvation of the Lord. “Lord, thou art my Saviour; I am miserable in myself, and thou only canst make me happy; let thy salvation come to me.

Here is, 1. David’s humble petition for the tongue of the learned, that he might know how to speak a word in season for the glory of God: Take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth.

We may observe in these verses, 1. What David experienced of an affection to the law of God: ” I seek thy precepts, Ps. 119:45. I desire to know and do my duty, and consult thy word accordingly; I do all I can to understand what the will of the Lord is and to discover the intimations of his mind.

Two things David here pleads with God in prayer for that mercy and grace which he hoped for, according to the word, by which his requests were guided:—1.

Here is David’s experience of benefit by the word. 1. As a means of his sanctification: ” Thy word has quickened me. It made me alive when I was dead in sin; it has many a time made me lively when I was dead in duty; it has quickened me to that which is good when I was backward and averse to it,…

David here tells us, and it will be of use to us to know it, 1. That he had been jeered for his religion. Though he was a man of honour, a man of great prudence, and had done eminent services to his country, yet, because he was a devout conscientious man, the proud had him greatly in derision; they…

When David was derided for his godliness he not only held fast his integrity, but, 1. He comforted himself. He not only bore reproach, but bore it cheerfully. It did not disturb his peace, nor break in upon the repose of his spirit in God.

Here is, 1. The character of wicked people; he means those that are openly and grossly wicked: They forsake thy law. Every sin is a transgression of the law, but a course and way of wilful and avowed sin is downright forsaking it and throwing it off. 2.

Here is, 1. David’s state and condition; he was in the house of his pilgrimage, which may be understood either as his peculiar trouble (he was often tossed and hurried, and forced to fly) or as his lot in common with all.

Here is, 1. The converse David had with the word of God; he kept it in mind, and upon every occasion he called it to mind. God’s name is the discovery he has made of himself to us in and by his word.

We may hence gather the character of a godly man. 1. He makes the favour of God his felicity: Thou art my portion, O Lord! Others place their happiness in the wealth and honours of this world.

David, having in the foregoing verse reflected upon his covenants with God, here reflects upon his prayers to God, and renews his petition. Observe, 1. What he prayed for.

David had said he would keep God’s word , and it was well said; now here he tells us how and in what method he pursued that resolution. 1. He thought on his ways. He thought beforehand what he should do, pondering the path of his feet , that he might walk surely, and not at all adventures.

Here is, 1. The malice of David’s enemies against him. They were wicked men, who hated him for his godliness. There were bands or troops of them confederate against him.

Though David is, in this psalm, much in prayer, yet he did not neglect the duty of thanksgiving; for those that pray much will have much to give thanks for. See, 1. How much God’s hand was eyed in his thanksgivings.

David had often expressed the great love he had to God; here he expresses the great love he had to the people of God; and observe, 1. Why he loved them; not so much because they were his best friends, most firm to his interest and most forward to serve him, but because they were such as feared God…

Here, 1. David pleads that God is good to all the creatures according to their necessities and capacities; as the heaven is full of God’s glory, so the earth is full of his mercy, full of the instances of his pity and bounty.

Here, 1. David makes a thankful acknowledgment of God’s gracious dealings with him all along: Thou hast dealt well with thy servant. However God has dealt with us, we must own he has dealt well with us, better than we deserve, and all in love and with design to work for our good.

David here tells us what he had experienced, 1. Of the temptations of a prosperous condition: ” Before I was afflicted, while I lived in peace and plenty, and knew no sorrow, I went astray from God and my duty.” Sin is going astray; and we are most apt to wander from God when we are easy and think…

Here, 1. David praises God’s goodness and gives him the glory of it: Thou art good and doest good. All who have any knowledge of God and dealings with him wilt own that he does good, and therefore will conclude that he is good.

David here tells us how he was affected as to the proud and wicked people that were about him. 1. He did not fear their malice, nor was he by it deterred from his duty: They have forged a lie against me. Thus they aimed to take away his good name.

See here, 1. That it has been the lot of the best saints to be afflicted. The proud and the wicked lived in pomp and pleasure, while David, though he kept close to God and his duty, was still in affliction. Waters of a full cup are wrung out to God’s people, Ps. 73:10. 2.

This is a reason why David reckoned that when by his afflictions he learned God’s statutes, and the profit did so much counterbalance the loss, he was really a gainer by them; for God’s law, which he got acquaintance with by his affliction, was better to him than all the gold and silver which he…

Here, 1. David adores God as the God of nature and the author of his being: Thy hands have made me and fashioned me, Job 10:8. Every man is as truly the work of God’s hands as the first man was, Ps. 139:15–16.

Here is, 1. The confidence of this good man in the hope of God’s salvation: ” I have hoped in thy word; and I have not found it in vain to do so; it has not failed me, nor have I been disappointed in my expectations from it.

Still David is in affliction, and being so he owns, 1. That his sin was justly corrected: I know, O Lord! that thy judgments are right, are righteousness itself.

Here is, 1. An earnest petition to God for his favour. Those that own the justice of God in their afflictions (as David had done, Ps. 119:75) may, in faith, and with humble boldness, be earnest for the mercy of God, and the tokens and fruits of that mercy, in their affliction.

Here David shows, I. How little he valued the will—will of sinners. There were those that dealt perversely with him, that were peevish and ill-conditioned towards him, that sought advantages against him, and misconstrued all he said and did.

Here is, 1. David’s prayer for sincerity, that his heart might be brought to God’s statutes, and that it might be sound in them, not rotten and deceitful, that he might not rest in the form of godliness, but be acquainted with the subject to the power of it,—that he might be hearty and constant in…

Here we have the psalmist, I. Longing for help from heaven: My soul faints; my eyes fail. He longs for the salvation of the Lord and for his word, that is, salvation according to the word.

David begs God would make haste to comfort him, 1. Because his affliction was great, and therefore he was an object of God’s pity: Lord, make haste to help me, for I have become like a bottle in the smoke, a leathern bottle, which, if it hung any while in the smoke, was not only blackened with…

Here, I. David prays against the instruments of his troubles, that God would make haste to execute judgment on those that persecuted him. He prays not for power to avenge himself (he bore no malice to any), but that God would take to himself the vengeance that belonged to him, and would repay , as…

David’s state was herein a type and figure of the state both of Christ and Christians that he was grievously persecuted; as there are many of his psalms, so there are many of the verses of this psalm, which complain of this, as those here. Here observe, I.

Here is, 1. David in care to be found in the way of his duty. His constant desire and design are to keep the testimony of God’s mouth, to keep to it as his rule and to keep hold of it as his confidence and portion for ever. This we must keep, whatever we lose. 2.

Here, 1. The psalmist acknowledges the unchangeableness of the word of God and of all his counsels: ” For ever, O Lord! thy word is settled. Thou art for ever thyself (so some read it); thou art the same, and with thee there is no variableness, and this is a proof of it.

Here is, 1. The great distress that David was in. He was in affliction, and ready to perish in his affliction, not likely to die, so much as likely to despair; he was ready to give up all for gone, and to look upon himself as cut off from God’s sight; he therefore admires the goodness of God to…

Here is, 1. A very good resolution: ” I will never forget thy precepts, but will always retain a remembrance of and regard to thy word as my rule.” It is a resolution for perpetuity, never to be altered. Note, The best evidence of our love to the word of God is never to forget it.

Here, 1. David claims relation to God: ” I am thine, devoted to thee and owned by thee, thine in covenant.” He does not say, Thou art mine (as Dr. Manton observes), though that follows of course, because that were a higher challenge; but, I am thine, expressing himself in a more humble and dutiful…

Here, 1. David complains of the malice of his enemies: The wicked (and none but such would be enemies to so good a man) have waited for me to destroy me.

Here we have David’s testimony from his own experience, 1. Of the vanity of the world and its insufficiency to make us happy: I have seen an end of all perfection. Poor perfection which one sees an end of! Yet such are all those things in this world which pass for perfections.

Here is, 1. David’s inexpressible love to the word of God: O how love I thy law! He protests his affection to the word of God with a holy vehemency; he found that love to it in his heart which, considering the corruption of his nature and the temptations of the world, he could not but wonder at,…

We have here an account of David’s learning, not that of the Egyptians, but of the Israelites indeed. I. The good method by which he got it. In his youth he minded business in the country as a shepherd; from his youth he minded business in the court and camp.

Here is, 1. David’s care to avoid the ways of sin: ” I have refrained my feet from the evil ways they were ready to step aside into. I checked myself and drew back as soon as I was aware that I was entering into temptation.” Though it was a broad way, a green way, a pleasant way, and a way that…

Here is, 1. David’s constancy in his religion. He had not departed from God’s judgments; he had not chosen any other rule than the word of God, nor had he wilfully deviated from that rule. A constant adherence to the ways of God in trying times will be a good evidence of our integrity. 2.

Here is, 1. The wonderful pleasure and delight which David took in the word of God; it was sweet to his taste, sweeter than honey. There is such a thing as a spiritual taste, an inward savour and relish of divine things, such an evidence of them to ourselves, by experience, as we cannot give to…

Observe here, 1. The nature of the word of God, and the great intention of giving it to the world; it is a lamp and a light. It discovers to us, concerning God and ourselves, that which otherwise we could not have known; it shows us what is amiss, and will be dangerous; it directs us in our work…

Here is, 1. The notion David had of religion; it is keeping God’s righteous judgments. God’s commands are his judgments, the dictates of infinite wisdom. They are righteous judgments, consonant to the eternal rules of equity, and it is our duty to keep them carefully. 2.

Here is, 1. The representation David makes of the sorrowful condition he was in: I am afflicted very much, afflicted in spirit; he seems to mean that especially. He laboured under many discouragements; without were fightings, within were fears.

Two things we are here taught to pray for, in reference to our religious performances:—1. Acceptance of them. This we must aim at in all we do in religion, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of the Lord.

Here is, 1. David in danger of losing his life. There is but a step between him and death, for the wicked have laid a snare for him; Saul did so many a time, because he hated him for his piety.

The psalmist here in a most affectionate manner, like an Israelite indeed, resolves to stick to the word of God and to live and die by it. I. He resolves to portion himself in it, and there to seek his happiness, nay, there to enjoy it; ” Thy testimonies (the truths, the promises, of thy word) have…

Here we have, 1. David’s dread of the risings of sin, and the first beginnings of it: I hate vain thoughts. He does not mean that he hated them in others, for there he could not discern them, but he hated them in his own heart.

Here is, 1. God’s care of David to protect and defend him, which he comforted himself with when his enemies were very malicious against him: Thou art my hiding-place and my shield.

Here is, 1. David’s firm and fixed resolution to live a holy life: I will keep the commandments of my God. Bravely resolved! like a saint, like a soldier; for true courage consists in a steady resolution against all sin and for all duty.

Here, 1. David prays for sustaining grace; for this grace sufficient he besought the Lord twice: Uphold me; and again, Hold thou me up. He sees himself not only unable to go on in his duty by any strength of his own, but in danger of falling into sin unless he was prevented by divine grace; and…

Here is, I. God’s judgment on wicked people, on those that wander from his statutes, that take their measures from other rules and will not have God to reign over them. All departure from God’s statutes is certainly an error, and will prove a fatal one.

David here appeals to God, 1. As his witness that he had not done wrong; he could truly say, ” I have done judgment and justice, that is, I have made conscience of rendering to all their due, and have not by force or fraud hindered any of their right.” Take him as a king, he executed judgment and…

David, being oppressed, is here waiting and wishing for the salvation of the Lord, which would make him easy. 1. He cannot but think that it comes slowly: My eyes fail for thy salvation. His eyes were towards it and had been long so.

Here is, 1. David’s petition for divine instruction: ” Teach me thy statutes; give me to know all my duty; when I am in doubt, and know not for certain what is my duty, direct me, and make it plain to me; now that I am afflicted, oppressed, and my eyes are ready to fail for thy salvation, let me…

Here is, 1. A complaint of the daring impiety of the wicked. David, having in himself a holy indignation at it, humbly represents it to God: “Lord, there are those that have made void thy law, have set thee and thy government at defiance, and have done what in them lay to cancel and vacate the…

David here, as often in this psalm, professes the great love he had to the word and law of God; and, to evidence the sincerity of it, observe, 1. The degree of his love. He loved his Bible better than he loved his money— above gold, yea, above fine gold.

See here how David was affected towards the word of God. 1. He admired it, as most excellent in itself: Thy testimonies are wonderful. The word of God gives us admirable discoveries of God, and Christ, and another world; admirable proofs of divine love and grace.

Here is, 1. The great use for which the word of God was intended, to give light, that is, to give understanding, to give us to understand that which will be of use to us in our travels through this world; and it is the outward and ordinary means by which the Spirit of God enlightens the…

Here is, 1. The desire David had towards the word of God: I longed for thy commandments. When he was under a forced absence from God’s ordinances he longed to be restored to them again; when he enjoyed ordinances he greedily sucked in the word of God, as new-born babes desire the milk.

Here is, 1. David’s request for God’s favour to himself: ” Look graciously upon me; let me have thy smiles, and the light of thy countenance. Take cognizance of me and my affairs, and be merciful to me; let me taste the sweetness of thy mercy and receive the gifts of thy mercy.” See how humble his…

Here David prays for two great spiritual blessings, and is, in this verse, as earnest for the good work of God in him as, in the verse before, for the good-will of God towards him. He prays, 1.

Here, 1. David prays that he might live a quiet and peaceable life, and might not be harassed and discomposed by those that studied to be vexatious: ” Deliver me from the oppression of man —man, whom God can control, and whose power is limited.

David here, as often as elsewhere, writes himself God’s servant, a title he gloried in, though he was a king; now here, as became a good servant, 1. He is very ambitious of his Master’s favour, accounting that his happiness and chief good.

Here we have David in sorrow. 1. It is a great sorrow, to such a degree that he weeps rivers of tears. Commonly, where there is a gracious heart, there is a weeping eye, in conformity to Christ, who was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

Here is, 1. The righteousness of God, the infinite rectitude and perfection of his nature. As he is what he is, so he is what he should be, and in every thing acts as becomes him; there is nothing wanting, nothing amiss, in God; his will is the eternal rule of equity, and he is righteous, for he…

Here is, 1. The great contempt which wicked men put upon religion: My enemies have forgotten thy words. They have often heard them, but so little did they heed them that they soon forgot them, they willingly forgot them, not only through carelessness let them slip out of their minds, but contrived…

Here is, 1. David’s great affection for the word of God: Thy servant loves it. Every good man, being a servant of God, loves the word of God, because it lets him know his Master’s will and directs him in his Master’s work. Wherever there is grace there is a warm attachment to the word of God. 2.

Here is, 1. David pious and yet poor. He was a man after God’s own heart, one whom the King of kings did delight to honour, and yet small and despised in his own account and in the account of many others.

Observe, 1. That God’s word is righteousness, and it is an everlasting righteousness. It is the rule of God’s judgment, and it is consonant to his counsels from eternity and will direct his sentence for eternity.

These two verses are almost a repetition of the two foregoing verses, but with improvement. 1. David again professes his constant adherence to God and his duty, notwithstanding the many difficulties and discouragements he met with. He had said , I am small and despised, and yet adhere to my duty.

Here we have, I. David’s good prayers, by which he sought to God for mercy; these he mentions here, not as boasting of them, or trusting to any merit in them, but reflecting upon them with comfort, that he had taken the appointed way to comfort. Observe here, 1.

David goes on here to relate how he had abounded in the duty of prayer, much to his comfort and advantage: he cried unto God, that is, offered up to him his pious and devout affections with all seriousness. Observe, I. The handmaids of his devotion.

Here, 1. David applies to God for grace and comfort with much solemnity. He begs of God to hear his voice: “Lord, I have something to say to thee; shall I obtain a gracious audience?” Well, what has he to say? What is his petition and what is his request? It is not long, but it has much in a…

Here is, I. The apprehension David was in of danger from his enemies. 1. They were very malicious, and industrious in prosecuting their malicious designs: They follow after mischief, any mischief they could do to David or his friends; they would let slip no opportunity nor let fall any pursuit that…

This confirms what he had said in the close of the foregoing verses, All thy commandments are truth; he means the covenant, the word which God has commanded to a thousand generations. This is firm, as true as truth itself. For, 1. God has founded it so; he has framed it for a perpetuity.

Here, I. David prays for succour in distress. Is any afflicted? let him pray; let him pray as David does here. 1. He has an eye to God’s pity, and prays, ” Consider my affliction; take it into thy thoughts, and all the circumstances of it, and sit not by as one unconcerned.” God is never unmindful…

Here is, 1. The description of wicked men. They do not only do God’s statutes, but they do not so much as seek them; they do not acquaint themselves with them, nor so much as desire to know their duty, nor in the least endeavour to do it.

Here, 1. David admires God’s grace: Great are thy tender mercies, O Lord! The goodness of God’s nature, as it is his glory, so it is the joy of all the saints. His mercies are tender, for he is full of compassion; they are many, they are great, a fountain that can never be exhausted.

Here is, 1. David surrounded with difficulties and dangers: Many are my persecutors and my enemies. When Saul the king was his persecutor and enemy no marvel that many more were so: multitudes will follow the pernicious ways of abused authority.

Here is, 1. David’s sorrow for the wickedness of the wicked. Though he conversed much at home, yet sometimes he looked abroad, and could not but see the wicked walking on every side.

Here is, 1. David’s appeal to God concerning his love to his precepts: “Lord, thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I love them; consider it then, and deal with me as thou usest to deal with those that love thy word, which thou hast magnified above all thy name.” He does not say, “Consider how…

David here comforts himself with the faithfulness of God’s word, for the encouragement of himself and others to rely upon it. 1. It has always been found faithful hitherto, and never failed any that ventured upon it; It is true from the beginning.

David here lets us know, 1. How he was discouraged in his duty by the fear of man: Princes persecuted him. They looked upon him as a traitor and an enemy to the government, and under that notion sought his life, and bade him go serve other gods, 1 Sam. 26:19.

Here is, 1. The pleasure David took in the word of God. He rejoiced at it, rejoiced that God had made such a discovery of his mind, that Israel was blessed with that light when other nations sat in darkness, that he was himself let into the understanding of it and had had experience of the power of…

Love and hatred are the leading affections of the soul; if those be fixed aright, the rest move accordingly. Here we have them fixed aright in David. 1.

David, in this psalm, is full of complaints, yet those did neither jostle out his praises nor put him out of tune for them; whatever condition a child of God is in he does not want matter for praise and therefore should not want a heart. See here, 1.

Here is an account of the happiness of good men, who are governed by a principle of love to the word of God, who make it their rule and are ruled by it. 2.

Here is the whole duty of man; for we are taught, 1. To keep our eye upon God’s favour as our end: ” Lord, I have hoped for thy salvation, not only temporal but eternal salvation.

David’s conscience here witnesses for him, I. That his practices were good. 1. He loved God’s testimonies, he loved them exceedingly. Our love to the word of God must be a superlative love (we must love it better than the wealth and pleasure of this world), and it must be a victorious love, such as…

Here we have, I. A general petition for audience repeated: Let my cry come near before thee; and again, Let my supplication come before thee. He calls his prayer his cry, which denotes the fervency and vehemence of it, and his supplication, which denotes the humility of it.

Here is, 1. A great favour which David expects from God, that he will teach him his statutes. This he had often prayed for in this psalm, and urged his petition for it with various arguments; and now that he is drawing towards the close of the psalm he speaks of it as taken for granted.

Observe here, 1. The good knowledge David had of the word of God; he knew it so well that he was ready to own, with the utmost satisfaction, that all God’s commandments are not only righteous, but righteousness itself, the rule and standard of righteousness. 2.

Here, 1. David prays that divine grace would work for him: Let thy hand help me. He finds his own hands are not sufficient for him, nor can any creature lend him a helping hand to any purpose; therefore he looks up to God in hopes that the hand that had made him would help him; for, if the Lord do…

David’s heart is still upon praising God; and therefore, 1. He prays that God would give him time to praise him: ” Let my soul live, and it shall praise thee, that is, let my life be prolonged, that I may live to thy glory.” The reason why a good man desires to live is that he may praise God in the…

Here is, 1. A penitent confession: I have gone astray, or wander up and down, like a lost sheep. As unconverted sinners are like lost sheep , so weak unsteady saints are like lost sheep, Matt. 18:12–13.