Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 119:150
They draw nigh that follow after mischief: they are far from thy law.
150, 151. They draw nigh that maliciously persecute me,
That have gone far from thy law.
Thou art nigh, Jehovah &c.
These two verses are closely connected. When my persecutors draw near to assail me, Thou art near to defend (Psa 69:18; Psa 34:18; Deu 4:7); though they have abandoned Thy law, I know the truth of all its commandments, and will not be tempted to join them in apostasy. The reading of LXX, Symm., Syr., Jer., my persecutors in malice seems preferable to that of the Mass. text that follow after malice. The difference is one of vocalisation only.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
They draw nigh – They follow me; they press hard upon me.
That follow after mischief – That seek to do me wrong.
They are far from thy law – They yield no obedience to it; they are not influenced by it in their conduct toward me.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 150. They draw nigh] They are just at hand who seek to destroy me.
They are far from thy law.] They are near to all evil, but far from thee.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
They draw nigh, to wit, to me, or against me, as Psa 27:2; they are at hand, and ready to seize upon me.
They are far from thy law; they cast away far from them all thoughts of and respect to thy law, which forbids such wicked practices.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
150-152. Though the wicked arenear to injure, because far from God’s law, He is nearto help, and faithful to His word, which abides for ever.
RESH.(Ps 119:153-160).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
They draw nigh that follow after mischief,…. Or “evil” c; that which is sinful in itself, and injurious to others. Some cannot sleep unless they do mischief; they are bent upon it, and proceed from evil to evil: they are eager in their pursuit of it, as the huntsman after his sport, to which the allusion is; though it is to their ruin, even to their death, Pr 11:19; These the psalmist says “draw nigh”; not unto God, unless feignedly and with their mouths only; but to him they drew nigh, to David, in an hostile way they pursued after him, in order to take away his life, and they had very nearly overtaken him, and were just ready to seize him; his life drew nigh to those destroyers, and those destroyers drew nigh to that, so that he was in great danger; and the more as these were abandoned creatures, that neither feared God nor regarded man, as follows:
they are far from thy law; from the knowledge of it, of its equity and purity; and especially of its spirituality, and of its power and influence upon their minds; and so far from subjection and obedience to it; so far from it, that they treat it with the utmost contempt, cast it away from them and despise it, Ro 8:7.
c “iniquitati”, V. L. “scelus”, Tigurine version; so Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Michaelis.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
150 They draw nigh that follow after mischief: they are far from thy law. 151 Thou art near, O LORD; and all thy commandments are truth.
Here is, I. The apprehension David was in of danger from his enemies. 1. They were very malicious, and industrious in prosecuting their malicious designs: They follow after mischief, any mischief they could do to David or his friends; they would let slip no opportunity nor let fall any pursuit that might be to his hurt. 2. They were very impious, and had no fear of God before their eyes: They are far from thy law, setting themselves as far as they can out of the reach of its convictions and commands. The persecutors of God’s people are such as make light of God himself; we may therefore be sure that God will take his people’s part against them. 3. They followed him closely and he was just ready to fall into their hands: They draw nigh, nigher than they were; so that they got ground of him. They were at his heels, just upon his back. God sometimes suffers persecutors to prevail very far against his people, so that, as David said (1 Sam. xx. 3), There is but a step between them and death. Perhaps this comes in here as a reason why David was so earnest in prayer, v. 149. God brings us into imminent perils, as he did Jacob, that, like him, we may wrestle for a blessing.
II. The assurance David had of protection with God: “They draw nigh to destroy me, but thou art near, O Lord! to save me, not only mightier than they and therefore able to help me against them, but nearer than they and therefore ready to help.” It is the happiness of the saints that, when trouble is near, God is near, and no trouble can separate between them and him. He is never far to seek, but he is within our call, and means are within his call, Deut. iv. 7. All thy commandments are truth. The enemies thought to defeat the promises God had made to David, but he was sure it was out of their power; they were inviolably true, and would be infallibly performed.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
150. The pursuers of malice have drawn near. As the Hebrew word רודפי rodphee, translated the pursuers of, is put in the construct state, that is to say, as it is so related to the word זמה, zimmah, rendered wickedness, that in Latin the latter would be put in the genitive ease, I expound the clause as denoting that they draw near to do mischief. I wonder what could move interpreters to translate — The pursuers have approached, or drawn near to wickedness; which the idiom of the language will not admit, to say nothing of the fact that זמה, zimmah, signifies rather perversity or malice, than wickedness. David therefore says, that those who are vehemently bent on malice are pursuing him close behind, and that they rush upon him with such violence in order to do him mischief, as plainly to indicate that they are far off from God’s law, since they east far from them all regard to uprightness and equity. It was a most wretched condition for him to be in, to behold his enemies, who had shaken off all fear of God and reverence for his law, ready with uplifted hand to smite him to death, had not God been near to defend him, as he adds in the subsequent verse —
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(150, 151) Near.Notice the antithesis. They, the wicked, are near with their temptation to sin and their hindrances to virtue. Thou art near with the aid and support of Thy law.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 119:150. They draw nigh, &c. They draw near that pursue me with malicious subtlety: Men far removed from thy law.Ver. 151. Do thou draw near, O Lord, since all, &c.
RESH.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Psa 119:150 They draw nigh that follow after mischief: they are far from thy law.
Ver. 150. They draw nigh that follow after mischief ] Those scelerum assidui sectatores prompti sunt ac parati.
They are far from thy law
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
after mischief. Some codices, with Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate, read “after me maliciously”.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
draw nigh: Psa 22:11-13, Psa 22:16, Psa 27:2, 1Sa 23:16, 2Sa 17:16, Mat 26:46, Mat 26:47, for from, Psa 50:17, Job 21:14, Pro 1:7, Pro 1:22, Pro 28:9, Eph 2:13, Eph 2:14
Reciprocal: Isa 46:12 – that Jer 44:23 – nor walked
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
119:150 They draw nigh that follow after {c} mischief: they are far from thy law.
(c) He shows the nature of the wicked to be to persecute against their conscience.