Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 119:120
My flesh trembleth for fear of thee; and I am afraid of thy judgments.
120. trembleth for fear of thee ] Shudders for awe of thee, lit. of the hair standing on end with fright: horrescit.
thy judgments ] Either acts of judgement, punishments inflicted upon the wicked, or the laws and ordinances in accordance with which they are punished. Reverent fear is the right complement of holy love. “The flesh is to be awed by Divine judgements, though the higher and surer part of the soul is strongly and freely tied with the cords of love” (Leighton).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
My flesh trembleth for fear of thee – I stand in awe of thee. I shudder at the consciousness of thy presence. See Hab 3:16; Heb 12:21; Joe 2:10; Nah 1:5. There is nothing unaccountable in this. Any man would tremble, should God manifest himself to him as he might do; and it is possible that the mind may have such an overpowering sense of the presence and majesty of God, that the body shall be agitated, lose its strength, and with the deepest alarm fall to the earth. Compare Dan 10:8; Rev 1:17. No man could meet one of the departed dead, or a good angel, without this fear; how much less could he meet God!
And I am afraid of thy judgments – Of thy laws or commands. My mind is filled with awe at the strictness, the spirituality, the severity of thy law. Reverence – awe – is one of the essential elements of all true religion.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 119:120
My flesh trembleth for fear of Thee; and I am afraid of Thy judgments.
The trembling flesh
I. The psalmist, in this section, contemplates Gods wrath against sinners (verses 118, 119). Then apparently his thought goes on to his own case, and what is likely to be his own sentence. He is disturbed by the contemplation of that sharp judgment which he must undergo in the day when his soul shall go forth from the body.
II. The expression which he uses is a very remarkable one. My flesh trembleth for fear of Thee. When a mans body reveals his fright it has quite mastered him.
III. Is not this a servile fear, unbecoming the Christian who has given himself up to be our Lords disciple?
1. There are, however, among professing Christians those who, by weakly continuing in some evil habit, have reduced themselves to the condition of servility.
2. There are professing Christians who have no very especial besetting sin of the mortal type, who yet go on without fervour and without making any progress in the spiritual life. They know that they have many faults, small faults in the worlds eyes, yet which, when tolerated, make the life thoroughly un-Christlike. They acquiesce in these. It does not make much difference what the defect of character may be, the grievous thing about it is that there is no faithful persistent effort to conquer it. Wherever there is found a soul like that it may well be permeated with servile fear as it contemplates the judgment, for that sort of offenders will not find mercy in the day of their sentence.
3. There are many more who ought to feel a servile fear of the wrath of God when they contemplate their lives seriously because they are not doing all that they can to put away their sins.
IV. Those who are most in earnest in seeking to prepare themselves for the judgment of the last day are the ones who tremble most at the thought of that judgment. And with very earnest souls it ceases to be a servile fear because they trust themselves more and more unreservedly to the Divine mercy. The secret of perfect trust is perfect self-distrust. And there is nothing which helps more to a realization of ones unworthiness than the contemplation of the just judgment of God as He reveals it in Holy Writ. (Arthur Ritchie.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 120. My flesh trembleth for fear of thee] I know thou art a just and holy God: I know thou requirest truth in the inner parts. I know that thou art a Spirit, and that they who worship thee must worship thee in spirit and in truth; and I am often alarmed lest I fall short. It is only an assurance of my interest in thy mercy that can save me from distressing fears and harassing doubts. It is our privilege to know we are in God’s favour; and it is not less so to maintain a continual filial fear of offending him. A true conception of God’s justice and mercy begets reverence.
ANALYSIS OF LETTER SAMECH. – Fifteenth Division
In this section the psalmist –
I. Declares his hatred to wickedness, and his detestation of wicked men.
II. Expresses his love to God’s law.
III. Prays for grace to sustain him in the observance of it.
IV. Foretells the destruction of the wicked.
I. “I hate vain thoughts;” not only evil itself, but the thought that leads to it.
II. 1. “Thy law do I love:” I strive to keep every affection exercised on its proper object.
2. This is my privilege: for thou art, 1. “My hiding-place,” that public evils may not reach me; and 2. “My shield,” to ward off the fiery darts of the wicked one.
3. To God, therefore, and his word, he would adhere in all extremities; and would have no communion with the wicked. 1. These he would drive away as the pests of piety: “Depart from me.” 2. Because he would “keep the commandments of God,” while the others were bent on breaking them.
III. He prays for the grace of God to sustain him.
1. “Uphold me:” if thou do not, I fall.
2. “Hold thou me up:” for I am falling. One part of this prayer is against the occurrence of evil; the other, against evil as actually taking place.
IV. He foretells the destruction of wicked men.
1. “Thou hast trodden down:” they who tread thy commandments under their feet shall be trodden down under thy feet. The first treading shall bring on the second.
2. They deceive themselves in supposing thou wilt not resent this. This is a deception, and a dangerous one too, for it is against the most positive declarations of thy truth, therefore it is falsehood.
3. This is most certain, for “thou puttest away all the wicked of the earth like dross;” they are utterly vile, and of no account in thy sight.
4. “Therefore I love thy testimonies.” And for this, among others reasons, that I may avoid their judgments.
5. Foreseeing the judgments to fall on the wicked, it was necessary that he should be filled with a salutary fear. 1. “My flesh trembleth.” Happy is he who by other men’s harms learns to be wise. 2. We should work out our salvation with fear and trembling. God is holy and just as well as merciful; therefore we should fear before him. 3. Because he saw those judgments coming on the wicked, he desired to be established in God’s holy fear. In all cases the old proverb is true: “Too much familiarity breeds contempt.”
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The observation of thy terrible judgments against ungodly men, and the conscience of my own infirmity and manifold sins, makes me fear lest thou shouldst punish me also, as thou mightest justly do, if thou shouldst be strict to mark what is amiss in me; or lest I should partake with them in their sins, and consequently in their plagues.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
120. The “judgments”are those on the wicked (Ps119:119). Joyful hope goes hand in hand with fear (Hab3:16-18).
AIN.(Ps 119:121-128).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
My flesh trembleth for fear of thee,…. Not for fear of the wrath of God coming down upon himself, nor for fear of eternal damnation; but for fear of what was coming upon the wicked, for their sins and transgressions. The word n used signifies such a dread and horror, which seizes a man to such a degree, that it makes the hair of his flesh to stand up; as Jarchi and Kimchi observe; see Ps 119:53 Job 4:14;
and I am afraid of thy judgments; not of their coming down upon him, but upon the wicked; the thought of which is more awful to good men than to the wicked themselves; and especially when under any darkness, doubts, and fears; lest, being conscious to themselves of their own weakness, they should be left to join with the wicked in their sins, and so be partakers of their plagues.
n , Symmachus in Drusius; “horripilavit”, Cajetanus apud Gejerum.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
120. My flesh hath trembled for fear of thee. (441) At first sight the prophet seems to contradict himself. He had just now said, that, by God’s severity, he was gently drawn to love his testimonies; now he declares, that he was seized with terror. But although these two effects differ widely from each other, yet, if we consider by what kind of discipline God forms us to reverence his law, we will perceive that they entirely harmonize. We require to be subdued by fear that we may desire and seek after the favor of God. Since fear, then, is the beginning of love, the prophet testifies, that he was awakened by a heart-felt fear of God to look well to himself. Nor is the mortification of the flesh so easy a matter, as that every one should consent to enter upon it, without the constraint of violent means; and, therefore, it is not wonderful if God struck his servant with terror, that, in this way, he might bend his mind to a holy fear of him. It is an evidence of no common wisdom to tremble before God when he executes his judgments, of which the majority of mankind take no notice. We are then taught by these words of the prophet, that we ought to consider attentively the judgments of God, that they may not only gently instruct us, but that they may also strike us with such terror as will lead us to true repentance.
(441) The verb סמר, samar, rendered hath trembled, denotes being seized with horror, so that the hair stands on end. It occurs in Piel in Job 4:15. This state of horror was produced on the mind of the Psalmist by a contemplation of the divine judgments executed on the wicked, who are rejected like dross; and he was thus brought to fear God.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(120) Trembleth.The original is far stronger. Better, as in Job. 4:15, the hair of my flesh stands up. So Symmachus.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 119:120 My flesh trembleth for fear of thee; and I am afraid of thy judgments.
Ver. 120. My flesh trembleth ] Horripilatur, Job 4:15 . In the saints is a mixture of contrary passions, fear and great joy, as was in those holy women, Mat 28:8 , and the one makes way for the other.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
My flesh trembleth: or, My flesh creeps (as we say). Compare Job 4:15, i.e. at the judgment executed on the wicked.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
My flesh: Psa 119:53, Lev 10:1-3, 1Sa 6:20, 2Sa 6:8, 2Sa 6:9, 1Ch 24:16, 1Ch 24:17, 1Ch 24:30, 2Ch 34:21, 2Ch 34:27, Isa 66:2, Dan 10:8-11, Hab 3:16, Phi 2:12, Heb 12:21, Heb 12:28, Heb 12:29, Rev 1:17, Rev 1:18
Reciprocal: Gen 3:10 – and I was Exo 14:31 – feared Exo 15:11 – fearful Lev 10:3 – I will be 1Ki 13:26 – the man 2Ki 22:19 – thine heart 1Ch 13:12 – afraid of God 1Ch 21:30 – he was afraid 2Ch 27:2 – he entered not Ezr 10:3 – of those that Job 4:14 – Fear Job 9:28 – afraid Job 13:11 – Shall Job 13:21 – let not Job 21:6 – Even when Job 23:15 – General Job 31:23 – destruction Job 37:1 – General Psa 2:11 – rejoice Psa 52:6 – and fear Psa 55:5 – Fearfulness Psa 119:43 – for I have Pro 14:16 – feareth Jer 5:22 – Fear ye not Eze 11:13 – Then Dan 6:26 – tremble Hos 6:5 – and thy judgments are as Hos 11:10 – shall tremble Joe 2:1 – let Hab 3:2 – I have Mat 10:28 – him Act 5:5 – great Act 16:29 – and came Act 24:25 – Felix 2Co 7:15 – with 1Jo 4:18 – fear hath
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
119:120 My flesh {f} trembleth for fear of thee; and I am afraid of thy judgments.
(f) Your judgments not only teach me obedience, but cause me to fear, considering my own weakness which fear causes repentance.