Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 119:173
Let thine hand help me; for I have chosen thy precepts.
173. Let thine hand be ready to help me (R.V.).
for &c.] Psa 119:174 is best taken in close connexion with Psa 119:173 b. He pleads three reasons for an answer to his prayers: he has deliberately resolved to obey God’s precepts (cp. Psa 119:30; Deu 30:19); he has long been waiting eagerly for deliverance from the hindrances to obedience which surround him (cp. Psa 119:40 ; Psa 119:166); his devotion has been no grudging service, but his constant delight ( Psa 119:24 &c.).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Let thine hand help me – Do thou help me – the hand being that by which we accomplish anything.
For I have chosen that precepts – I have chosen them as my comforters and my guide. I have resolved to obey them, and I pray that thou wilt help me to accomplish the purpose of my heart.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 119:173-175
Let Thine hand help me; for I have chosen Thy precepts.
The character and requests of a truly godly man
I. His character.
1. His choice is the precepts of God.
2. His object of desire is Gods salvation. With respect to earthly things, nature is contented with a little, and grace with less. Not so in spiritual things. Here grace is insatiable; the more it has received, the more it desires.
3. His source of joy is Gods law. Here he chooses the term law for denoting the whole revelation of Gods will, to remind us of the inseparable connection between privilege and duty, faith and obedience, holiness and comfort; and to teach us that we ought to be thankful to God for the direction tie hath given us in the road to heaven, no less than for the promises by which we are assured of the possession of it.
II. His leading requests. He prays–
1. For strengthening and upholding grace. Let Thine hand help me.
2. For quickening grace. Let my soul live. This was the life for which David prayed; a confirmed sense of pardoning mercy, larger measures of sanctifying grace, communion with his God in a present world, and the full and everlasting enjoyment of Him in heaven. The life for which he prays is no other than the salvation for which he longed. He had tasted of its sweetness, and he thirsted for more. Let my soul live, saith he; to which he subjoins, and it shall praise Thee.
III. The ultimate end for which David was so earnest in his requests for help and life, and the improvement he proposed to make of both. He prayed for upholding and quickening grace, that he might be better qualified for the service of his God, to whom he had devoted himself and his all. Thus he prays (Psa 51:12; Psa 51:18; Psa 51:15). And the principal reason for which he was desirous to obtain Divine consolation appears from the use he intended to make of it (verse 32). (R. Walker.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 173. Let thine hand help me] Exert thy power in my defence.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
For my guide and companion, and chief joy and treasure.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
173, 174. (Compare Psa 119:77;Psa 119:81; Psa 119:92).
I have choseninpreference to all other objects of delight.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Let thine hand help me,…. Let thine hand of power help me against mine enemies, and deliver me from them; and let thine hand of providence and grace communicate to me, and supply me with and help me to everything needful for me, for body and soul; for time and eternity, all grace here, and glory hereafter; let thy right hand help me on in my way, hold and uphold me, keep and preserve me safe to heaven and happiness;
for I have chosen thy precepts; not only the good part, which shall not be taken away, and the way of truth, Ps 119:30; but even the commandments of God, which he preferred to the commandments of men, and choose rather to obey the one than the other; having a most ardent affection for them, an high esteem of them, and a strong attachment to them; see Ps 119:127.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
173 Let thine hand help me; for I have chosen thy precepts. 174 I have longed for thy salvation, O LORD; and thy law is my delight.
Here, 1. David prays that divine grace would work for him: Let thy hand help me. He finds his own hands are not sufficient for him, nor can any creature lend him a helping hand to any purpose; therefore he looks up to God in hopes that the hand that had made him would help him; for, if the Lord do not help us, whence can any creature help us? All our help must be expected from God’s hand, from his power and his bounty. 2. He pleads what divine grace had already wrought in him as a pledge of further mercy, being a qualification for it. Three things he pleads:– (1.) That he had made religion his serious and deliberate choice: “I have chosen thy precepts. I took them for my rule, not because I knew no other, but because, upon trial, I knew no better.” Those are good, and do good indeed, who are good and do good, not by chance, but from choice; and those who have thus chosen God’s precepts may depend upon God’s helping hand in all their services and under all their sufferings. (2.) That his heart was upon heaven: I have longed for thy salvation. David, when he had got to the throne, met with enough in the world to court his stay, and to make him say, “It is good to be here;” but still he was looking further, and longing for something better in another world. There is an eternal salvation which all the saints are longing for, and therefore pray that God’s hand would help them forward in their way to it. (3.) That he took pleasure in doing his duty: “Thy law is my delight. Not only I delight in it, but it is my delight, the greatest delight I have in this world.” Those that are cheerful in their obedience may in faith beg help of God to carry them on in their obedience; and those that expect God’s salvation must take delight in his law and their hopes must increase their delight.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
173. Let thy hand be to succor me. As he had devoted himself to the doctrine of the law, David requests that the hand of God may be stretched forth for his aid. Farther, by these words he declares, that those who yield themselves to God to be governed by His word have continually need of His help. The more sincerely any individual studies to be a good man, so much the more numerous are the ways in which Satan troubles him, and so much the more are the enemies multiplied who molest him on all sides. But when God sees those who once embraced the truth of his word remaining steadfast in their resolution, he is so much the more inclined to aid them. By the word choose in the second clause, the Psalmist has expressed that nothing had hindered him from devoting himself to the law of God. No man will apply this mind to the love of the law without a great struggle, since the thoughts of every man are drawn away to a variety of objects, by the depraved affections of the flesh. This choosing then spoken of shows that it is not through ignorance or an inconsiderate zeal that the children of God desire above all things heavenly doctrine; but as they partake of the flexibility or pliancy of mind common to men, and feel the various impulses of the flesh, they purposely subdue their minds to the obedience of God.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
Psa 119:173 Let thine hand help me; for I have chosen thy precepts.
Ver. 173. Let thy hand help me ] To do what I have promised.
For I have chosen thy precepts
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
hand. Figure of speech Anthropopatheia (App-6); “hand” put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Cause), App-6, for power exercised by it.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Let: Psa 119:94, Psa 119:117, Isa 41:10-14, Mar 9:24, 2Co 12:9, Eph 6:10-20, Phi 4:13
for: Psa 119:30, Psa 119:35, Psa 119:40, Psa 119:111, Deu 30:19, Jos 24:15, Jos 24:22, 1Ki 3:11, 1Ki 3:12, Pro 1:29, Luk 10:42
Reciprocal: 1Ch 4:10 – thine hand Psa 119:5 – General Pro 1:30 – General Rom 7:18 – for to will Phi 3:12 – I had