More on Psalm 119 words by Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry on Psalm 119 Introduction  as found on Bible Study at

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+119%3A3&version=NLT

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.

10. 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.