Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 119:5
O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!
5. Chuqqm, 21 times, once chuqqth, ‘statutes,’ LXX , lit. something engraved or inscribed, so what is prescribed or enacted. Frequently in Deut. (Psa 4:1 &c.).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
5. Oh that my ways were established
To observe thy statutes! (R.V.)
The thought of God’s Will expressed in Psa 119:4 naturally evokes a prayer that in his whole life and conduct he may fulfil God’s Will, not fitfully and uncertainly, but constantly and consistently. For established cp. Pro 4:26.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
O that my ways were directed … – Indicating the desire of the pious heart. That desire – a prevailing, constant, uniform desire – is to keep the law of God. It is the aim of the life; it is the supreme purpose of the soul; it is the ruling wish of the man, thus to keep the law of God. He in whose bosom this is not the constant wish cannot be a pious man. The Hebrew particle used here, and rendered O that, is a particle denoting a wish, or an earnest desire. The word ways denotes the course of life. The whole is expressive of an earnest desire to live in accordance with the law of God. It implies also a sense of dependence on God.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 119:5
O that my ways were directed to keep Thy statutes!
Virtuous solicitude
A solicitude to perform our duty, to practise holiness at all times, and to make a constant progress in it, is an essential ingredient in a virtuous temper, a necessary qualification of our obedience, and a powerful means of our becoming active and steadfast in it.
It implies–
1. A lively sense of the supreme importance of holiness.
2. A settled love of goodness, and hatred of iniquity.
3. A vigorous, constant, and prevailing desire to keep Gods statutes.
4. A firm resolution to keep them.
5. A prevailing bias of the whole soul towards virtuous practice.
6. Fervent desire of Gods assistance in the practice of holiness. (A. Gerard, D. D.)
The temporal lot of a good man subservient to the advancement of his personal religion
I. A truly good man will be concerned to keep the statutes of God. He is as much concerned to avoid secret as open sins; he seeks intently a temper devout and spiritual; he finds an unutterable pleasure in striving, and watching, and praying that not a single particular in the Christian temper or conduct may be found absent from him.
II. A good man will at some periods be especially concerned to keep the statutes of God.
1. Perhaps an extensive and an affecting sight of the Divine holiness is instrumental in producing this improvement.
2. A fixed and an admiring contemplation of the grace of the Gospel is sometimes productive of a similar effect.
3. Affliction is sometimes the forerunner of this enlarged concern.
III. When a good man is thus especially concerned to keep the statutes of God, his temporal lot will be rendered subservient to the promotion of his personal religion. O that my ways, my general circumstances, and the daily and hourly incidents which occur, were directed to keep Thy statutes, to advance my personal religion.
IV. In order to the temporal lot of a good man becoming thus subservient to the advancement of his personal religion, he must be aided by a Divine interposition.
1. In the form of a wise and benevolent appointment.
2. In the form of a gracious influence. (Essex Remembrancer.)
Longings
A longing after the good, after anything higher and better than the sinner has, what is it but the beginning of the new life, its first pulsation, its first and feeblest cry? It is the confession of sin and want. This need may give expression to itself in the quiet, trustful prayer of childhood, saying to God, My Father, wilt Thou not from henceforth be the guide of my youth? This need may be spoken with a heavy heart and a downcast face by the young prodigal, as he stands in presence of the shame and poverty which his own sin has created. This need may be spoken by the philosopher who, having sought for rest for heart and intellect in every theory of the universe and in every method of life but the Divine, and sought in vain, turns at last to the Fountain of living waters. It is a longing which may be quickened by very diverse things, or it may move of itself, as we think; yet in all is there the presence and power of the Spirit of God. Nor when the soul has come to the knowledge of God, when its first longing has been spoken and has been met by the bestowal of a heavenly gift, is there an end of longing and desiring. In fact, it may be said that longings do but then begin. By giving pardon and cleansing, God does but open the door to the demand for a perfect righteousness. The soul sees above it an ever higher ideal than it has yet attained to, and, therefore, longs and prays for it. Our longings are like the wings of the soul upon which it is borne, if only for a moment, into a purer and heavenlier clime. They set us in motion Godward. Call not the wishes of the heart vain and useless; for they are the spirit of our prayers, they turn our wills and fix our resolutions; they are the beginnings of the kingdom of heaven. Impalpable, and coming even upon him who has them as the breeze comes upon the still lake and stirs it with life and motion, these yearnings and longings anticipate and determine a mans destiny. When a man says, I wish to pray; I wish to know God; I wish to be a new man, he speaks weightier words than when kings or statesmen issue manifestoes and proclamations. That is the opening up of his case with his Father and Saviour. Sir, we would see Jesus, said some Greeks to Philip, who had come up to the feast to worship, and that wish of theirs caused a response on the part of Jesus, the effect of which is felt in the words of Jesus in multitudes of souls to-day, and shall be for ever and ever. (J. P. Gladstone.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 5. O that my ways were directed] “I wish that my way may be confirmed to keep thy statutes.” Without thee I can do nothing; my soul is unstable and fickle; and it will continue weak and uncertain till thou strengthen and establish it.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
My desires answer thy commands.
Directed, or established, to wit, by thy grace and Holy Spirit; for the direction of Gods word he had already.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!] The psalmist, sensible of his own inability, as every good man is, to keep the commands of God, prays for grace, direction, and assistance in it; that the ways of his mind, his thoughts, affections, and inclinations, might be directed to an observance of the divine precepts; knowing he could not command his thoughts, raise his affections, dispose his mind, and incline his heart thereunto; and finding a backwardness to religious exercises and spiritual duties, and that the ways and actions of his life might be guided to the same; being sensible he could not take one step aright without God and Christ; that the way of man is not in himself, and that it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps; that a good man’s steps are ordered by the Lord, and he directs his paths: besides the direction of the word, there is need of the Spirit and grace of God, to cause a person to walk in his statutes, and to keep his judgments, and do them; see Jer 10:23.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
5 I wish that my ways may be directed The original word כון, kun, is sometimes rendered to establish, and, accordingly, it may seem as if the prophet were soliciting for himself the virtue of perseverance. I am rather inclined to understand it as signifying to direct; for, although God’s plainly instructing us in his law, the obtuseness of our understanding, and the perversity of our hearts, constantly need the direction of his Spirit. Our main desire, therefore, ought to be for an understanding wisely regulated by the law of God, and also for a docile and obedient heart. Next, he adds, if a man carefully observe the law of God, he need be under no apprehension that he will ever regret what he has done or undertaken to do. The word respect intimates, that we must not be influenced by our own designs, nor decide, according to Carnal reason, what we are to do, but must at once come to the determination, that they who turn not aside, either to the right hand or the left, from the observance of God’s commandments, are indeed in the right path. They who reverently respect his law, may not escape the censure of the great bulk of mankind, yet the prophet declares, that They shall not be ashamed, because they have a good conscience in the presence of God and the angels, and, with the approval of this celestial assembly, they are well satisfied and contented; for if they depended upon the opinion of the world, their courage would presently fail. He says, all thy precepts, intimating, that among the snares of Satan, amid such thick darkness and so great insensibility as ours, the utmost vigilance and caution are necessary, if we would aim at being entirely exempted from blame. Wherefore, in all that we do, we must endeavor to have the law before us, to keep us from falling.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(5) Directed . . .So LXX. and Vulg. The He brew is perhaps slightly different, established, or settled. (See Pro. 4:26.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 119:5-6. O that my ways The word here principally signifies, the motions and inclinations of the mind and heart, upon which all our actions depend. When I have respect unto, in the next verse, is rendered by Mudge, When I keep my eye upon. The original imports a strong application of the mind and heart to the word of God, as opposed to a light and momentary regard, which is only the effect of curiosity, or of mere custom. See Jam 1:25.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Here again, we cannot possibly conceive that the word statutes hath a reference to the statutes of Moses. The law (saith an apostle) having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually, make the comers thereunto perfect, Heb 10:1 . But if we explain the word, as the original will allow, as referring to the design and will of Jehovah in the gracious plan of salvation in the one ordinance of Christ; then it will be evident, that the sacred writer desireth above all things, to have his whole mind directed to Jesus, and to be kept in those statutes which proclaim salvation wholly in and by him.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 119:5 O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!
Ver. 5. O that my ways were directed, &c. ] David can wish well to that perfection which he cannot attain unto. The whole life of a good Christian is a holy desire, saith Austin; and this is always seconded with endeavour; without the which, affection is like Rachel, beautiful but barren.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
statutes. The ninth in order of the ten words. See App-73.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Psa 119:32, Psa 119:36, Psa 119:44, Psa 119:45, Psa 119:131, Psa 119:159, Psa 119:173, Psa 51:10, Jer 31:33, Rom 7:22-24, 2Th 3:5, Heb 13:21
Reciprocal: Deu 4:45 – statutes Neh 1:7 – the commandments Psa 10:2 – The wicked Psa 119:29 – grant me Psa 119:40 – I have Psa 143:10 – Teach Pro 11:23 – desire Pro 14:8 – wisdom Eze 11:20 – they may Mat 26:41 – the spirit Rom 7:18 – for to will Gal 5:17 – the flesh Phi 3:12 – I had
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
119:5 {c} O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!
(c) David acknowledges his imperfection, desiring God to reform it, that his life may be conformable to God’s word.