Psalms 119:88

119:81-88 The psalmist sought deliverance from his sins, his foes, and his fears. Hope deferred made him faint; his eyes failed by looking out for this expected salvation. But when the eyes fail, yet faith must not. His affliction was great. He was become like a leathern bottle, which, if hung up in the smoke, is dried and shrivelled up. We must ever be mindful of God's statutes. The days of the believer's mourning shall be ended; they are but for a moment, compared with eternal happiness. His enemies used craft as well as power for his ruin, in contempt of the law of God. The commandments of God are true and faithful guides in the path of peace and safety. We may best expect help from God when, like our Master, we do well and suffer for it. Wicked men may almost consume the believer upon earth, but he would sooner forsake all than forsake the word of the Lord. We should depend upon the grace of God for strength to do every good work. The surest token of God's good-will toward us, is his good work in us.

Quicken me after thy lovingkindness,.... According to it, and with it; let me have some discoveries of it, and of interest in it; and that will quicken me, revive and comfort me, under all the reproaches, ill usage, and persecutions of men. The love of God shed abroad in the heart comforts and supports under all sorts of afflictions; it quickens the graces of the Spirit, and brings them forth into lively exercise, as faith, hope, and love; and to a diligent and fervent discharge of every duty: it constrains to love the Lord, and live to him, to his glory, in obedience to his will; so shall I keep the testimony of thy mouth; the word of God, which comes out of his mouth, testifies of him, and of his mind and will; and which is to be received and observed, as being greater than the testimony of men, 1 John 5:9.

Verse 88. - Quicken me after thy loving-kindness (comp. vers. 25, 37, 44, 107, 149, 156, 159). So shall I keep the testimony of thy mouth (compare "the law of thy mouth," in ver. 72). It is God's "quickening" - i . e . his life-giving grace - which alone enables his servants to observe and keep his commandments. Psalm 119:88

87. consumed me upon earth—Hengstenberg translates, "in the land"; understanding "me" of the nation Israel, of which but a small remnant was left. But English Version is simpler; either, "They have consumed me so as to leave almost nothing of me on earth"; or, "They have almost destroyed and prostrated me on the earth" [Maurer]. I forsook not—Whatever else I am forsaken of, I forsake not Thy precepts, and so am not mistaken of Thee (Ps 39:5, 13; 2Co 4:8, 9), and the injuries and insults of the wicked increase the need for it. But, however they act regardless of God's law, the pious, adhering to its teaching, receive quickening grace, and are sustained steadfast.

Quicken me - Cause me to live; revive me. See Psalm 71:20 , note; Ephesians 2:1 , note. Compare Psalm 80:18 ; Romans 8:11 ; 1 Peter 3:18 ; John 6:63 . After thy loving-kindness - Thy mercy; thy grace; thy compassion. That is, Let the measure of the grace given to me be thine own benevolent nature, and not my deserts. That is all I ask; that is all I could desire. So shall I keep the testimony of thy mouth - Which proceeds out of thy mouth. His hope of being able to keep it was founded on the grace and mercy which he besought God to bestow upon him.

The eightfold Kaph. This strengthening according to God's promise is his earnest desire (כּלה) now, when within a very little his enemies have compassed his ruin (כּלּה). His soul and eyes languish (כּלה as in Psalm 69:4 ; Psalm 84:3 , cf. Job 19:27 ) for God's salvation, that it may be unto him according to God's word or promise, that this word may be fulfilled. In Psalm 119:83 כּי is hypothetical, as in Psalm 21:12 and frequently; here, as perhaps also in Psalm 27:10 , in the sense of "although" (Ew. ֗362, b). He does not suffer anything to drive God's word out of his mind, although he is already become like a leathern bottle blackened and shrivelled up in the smoke. The custom of the ancients of placing jars with wine over the smoke in order to make the wine prematurely old, i.e., to mellow it (vid., Rosenm׬ller), does not yield anything towards the understanding of this passage: the skin-bottle that is not intended for present use is hung up on high; and the fact that it had to withstand the upward ascending smoke is intelligible, notwithstanding the absence of any mention of the chimney.

The point of comparison, in which we agree for the most part with Hitzig, is the removal of him who in his dungeon is continually exposed to the drudgery of his persecutors. כּמּה in Psalm 119:84 is equivalent to "how few." Our life here below is short, so also is the period within which the divine righteousness can reveal itself. שׁיחות (instead of which the lxx erroneously reads שׂיחות), pits, is an old word, Psalm 57:7 . The relative clause, Psalm 119:85 , describes the "proud" as being a contradiction to the revealed law; for there was no necessity for saying that to dig a pit for others is not in accordance with this law. All God's commandments are an emanation of His faithfulness, and therefore too demand faithfulness; but it is just this faithfulness that makes the poet an object of deadly hatred. They have already almost destroyed him"in the land." It is generally rendered "on earth;" but "in heaven" at the beginning of the following octonary is too far removed to be an antithesis to it, nor does it sound like one (cf. on the other hand ἐν τοῖς ouranoi's, Matthew 5:12 ). It is therefore: in the land (cf. Psalm 58:3 ; Psalm 73:9 ), where they think they are the only ones who have any right there, they have almost destroyed him, without shaking the constancy of his faith. But he stands in need of fresh grace in order that he may not, however, at last succumb.

[Bible] 118:76. O! let thy mercy be for my comfort, according to thy word unto thy servant. 118:77. Let thy tender mercies come unto me, and I shall live: for thy law is my meditation. 118:78. Let the proud be ashamed, because they have done unjustly towards me: but I will be employed in thy commandments. 118:79. Let them that fear thee turn to me: and they that know thy testimonies. 118:80. Let my heart be undefiled in thy justifications, that I may not be confounded. CAPH. 118:81. My soul hath fainted after thy salvation: and in thy word I have very much hoped. 118:82. My eyes have failed for thy word, saying: When wilt thou comfort me? 118:83. For I am become like a bottle in the frost: I have not forgotten thy justifications. 118:84. How many are the days of thy servant: when wilt thou execute judgment on them that persecute me? 118:85. The wicked have told me fables: but not as thy law. 118:86. All thy statutes are truth: they have persecuted me unjustly, do thou help me. 118:87. They had almost made an end of me upon earth: but I have not forsaken thy commandments. 118:88. Quicken thou me according to thy mercy: and I shall keep the testimonies of thy mouth. LAMED. 118:89. For ever, O Lord, thy word standeth firm in heaven. 118:90. Thy truth unto all generations: thou hast founded the earth, and it continueth. 118:91. By thy ordinance the day goeth on: for all things serve thee. 118:92. Unless thy law had been my meditation, I had then perhaps perished in my abjection. 118:93. Thy justifications I will never forget: for by them thou hast given me life. 118:94. I am thine, save thou me: for I have sought thy justifications. 118:95. The wicked have waited for me to destroy me: but I have understood thy testimonies. 118:96. I have seen an end of all perfection: thy commandment is exceeding broad. MEM. 118:97. O how have I loved thy law, O Lord! it is my meditation all the day. 118:98. Through thy commandment, thou hast made me wiser than my enemies: for it is ever with me.

[Reformed Biblical] (g) To invigorate our memories (Psalms 119:93). (h) Consider (as a motive to seek this quickening) the terrible consequences of losing spiritual life; or, in other words, lacking it in its manifest display. 3. Some of the ways in which the quickening may be brought to us. (a) It must be by the Lord himself. "Quicken me, O Lord." (b) By the turning of the eyes (Psalms 119:37). (c) By the word (Psalms 119:50). (d) By the precepts (Psalms 119:93). (e) By affliction (Psalms 119:107). (f) By divine comforts. 4. Enquire where are our pleas when we come before God to ask for quickening. (a) Our necessity (Psalms 119:107, etc.). (b) Our earnest desire (Psalms 119:40). (c) Appeal to God's righteousness (Psalms 119:40). (d) To his lovingkindness (Psalms 119:88; Psalms 119:149; Psalms 119:156). (e) The plea in the text: "according to thy word" (Psalms 119:28; Psalms 119:107). See "Spurgeon's Sermons, "No. 1350: "Enlivening and Invigorating." Psalms 119:26* EXPOSITION. Ver. 26. I have declared my ways. Open confession is good for the soul. Nothing brings more ease and more life to a man than a frank acknowledgment of the evil which has caused the sorrow and the lethargy. Such a declaration proves that the man knows his own condition, and is no longer blinded by pride. Our confessions are not meant to make God know our sins, but to make us know them. And thou heardest me. His confession had been accepted; it was not lost labour; God had drawn near to him in it.