Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 119:151
Thou [art] near, O LORD; and all thy commandments [are] truth.
Thou art near, O Lord – God was present with him; he was ready to hear his cry; he was at hand to save him. Compare Psa 145:18. The psalmist had the assurance, springing from deep feeling, and the conscious presence of God, which the people of God often have, that God is very near to them; that he is ready to hear them; that their prayers are answered; that they are in the presence of a heavenly Friend. Such are among the precious experiences of the life of a religious man.
And all thy commandments are truth – All that thou hast ordained; all that thou hast promised. The psalmist felt this. He was experiencing the truth of what God had assured him of. Not a doubt came into his mind – for God was near him. This conviction that God is near us – this manifestation of God to the soul as a present God – is one of the most certain assurances to our own minds of the truth of religion, and of our acceptance with him.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 119:151
Thou art near, O Lord.
The nearness of God
I. God is near us in the hour of human desertion. We are never in reality alone, never in reality deserted. On our right hand and on our left the Invisible walks.
II. God is near us in the hour of temptation. When an army goes forth to battle, a true leader goes forth with it. In the supreme moment of his destiny, whether of downfall or triumph, God always stands by a follower.
III. The nearness of god to us is seen in the various experiences of our life and growth. Now it is hard to analyze the sources and causes of growth. Ask the rose how it grows. Say to it, Whence came your sweetness and the royal colour of your leaves? and the rising volume of its fragrance is your only answer. It cannot say how much it owes to the sun, how much to the shower, how much to the cloud, nor whether day or night brought most of perfume and beauty to it. So it is with the soul. You ask some aged Christian whence came her purity, her patience, her calm reliance and that hope of hers,–and can she tell you? No! She only knows that she is as she is through the grace of God. You may grope in darkness or walk in light, but He unto whom the light and darkness are one is over with you. (W. H. H. Murray.)
The nearness of God
I. The momentous import of the solemn fact. I hear people speaking of loneliness, and saying how chill is life, how bitter is their lot! What an implied insult to a God who is ever so near!
II. A few of the consequences which this important fact involves.
1. Then God knows all about us.
2. He not only knows us, but sees much to abhor.
3. He can also appreciate the good. The presence of God, then, should excite two vast opposing influences. It is deterrent to the bad, it is a help to the good. (Homilist.)
Nearer, my God, to Thee
Even in view of our folly and our failure, we who love the Lord will still rejoice that God sees us. We cannot hide our secret sins from Him, and I do not think we wish to.
I. In what senses is God near to His people?
1. He draws near to them by virtue of the sacrifice of Christ.
2. Moreover, through the indwelling of the Spirit the Lord is near to us, not merely above us and about us, behind us and beneath us, compassing us about with songs of deliverance, but dwelling in the human heart.
II. To whom does God thus specially approach?
1. To the lowly.
2. To the prayerful.
3. To those who are in trouble.
4. To the broken-hearted.
III. What is the result of this Divine proximity?
1. Recognizing this, we shall feel strong. If the Lord is near, it matters little who else is near, friend or foe.
2. His presence should make us very watchful.
3. If we know that God is near, we shall begin to want Him to be nearer still. (T. Spurgeon.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 151. Thou art near] As they are near to destroy, so art thou near to save. When the enemy comes in as a flood, the Spirit of the Lord lifts up a standard against him.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Thou art near to me. Thou art as ready and present to succour me as they are to molest me.
Thy commandments; considered with the promises and threatenings, which are frequently annexed to them. Or, the promises, as this word seems to be used, Psa 111:7, and elsewhere in this Psalm. And God is said to command not only his precepts, or the observation thereof, but also his covenant, Psa 105:8; 111:9, which is a collection or body of the promises; and his loving-kindness, Psa 42:8, which is the fountain of the promises; and his blessing, Psa 133:3, which is the fruit of his promises; and deliverances, Psa 44:4, which are the things promised. And therefore it is not strange if he promises be sometimes called commandments.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Thou [art] near, O Lord,…. This was the comfort of the psalmist, that though his enemies drew nigh with a mischievous design upon him, yet his God was also near, and nearer than they; he was near as to relation to him, being his God and Father; near as to union, the bond of which is his everlasting love, which can never be dissolved; near as to communion, which he admits all his people to at one time or another; so that they are said to be “a people near unto the Lord”;
Ps 148:14; and near as to his gracious presence, and the divine assistance he affords; he is a present help in time of need; he is nigh to all that call on him in truth, and in all things in which they do call upon him for, Ps 145:18;
and all thy commandments [are] truth; not only the precepts of the word of God, but his covenant, and the promises of it; the word which he has commanded to a thousand generations, Ps 105:8; and even the whole word of God, doctrines and duties; see Joh 17:17.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
151. Thou, O Jehovah! art near. He encourages himself from the consolatory consideration, that God, when he sees his own people sore pressed, comes forward, seasonably to afford them succor; even as Paul on this subject says,
“
Be not over-careful, the Lord is at hand, let your moderation be known to all men ” (Phi 4:5)
The concluding sentence of the verse is to this effect, That God never forsakes nor disappoints his people in their necessity, because he is true to his promises; and in them he assures us, that the welfare of his people will always be the object of his care. That therefore we may be fully persuaded that the hand of God is always ready to repulse the assaults of our enemies, let us retain a settled belief of the truth, that he does not in vain promise in his word to be the guardian of our welfare.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
Psa 119:151 Thou [art] near, O LORD; and all thy commandments [are] truth.
Ver. 151. Thou art near, O Lord ] To counterwork and control the enemy; as also to safeguard and support thy people.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
near: Psa 46:1, Psa 75:1, Psa 139:2, Psa 145:18, Deu 4:7, Mat 1:23
all: Psa 119:138, Psa 119:142
Reciprocal: Psa 34:18 – is nigh Psa 111:7 – all his Psa 119:86 – All thy Joh 17:17 – word
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 119:151-152. Thou art near, O Lord Namely, to me. Thou art as ready and present to succour me, as they are to molest me. And all thy commandments are truth Considered with the promises and threatenings which belong to them, and are always either expressed or implied. Concerning thy testimonies, I have known of old By my own long experience, ever since I arrived at any knowledge in those matters; that thou hast founded them for ever Thou hast established them upon everlasting foundations. They are as unalterable as the attributes of their great Author, and can never fail those who rely upon them, in time or in eternity.