Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 119:79
Let those that fear thee turn unto me, and those that have known thy testimonies.
79. and those that have known &c.] Even those who know. So the Q’r, with LXX, Syr., Jer. The K’thbh has and they shall know, or, that they may know, with the Targ. This gives the best sense. Let my experience of Thy mercy shew the godly the blessedness of keeping Thy testimonies.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Let those that fear thee turn unto me – Let thy friends be my friends. Let them show me favor, and count me among their companions. If the great and the powerful turn away from me; if they persecute me, and do me wrong; if they cast out my name as evil, and are unwilling to associate with me, yet let thy friends, however poor and humble, regard me with kindness, and reckon me among their number, and I shall be satisfied.
And those that have known thy testimonies – Thy law. Those who can see and appreciate the beauty of thy commandments. This is the ground of true friendship in religion – the common love of God, of his law, and of his service. This is a permanent ground of affection. All friendship founded on earthly distinctions; all derived from titled birth – from rank – from affluence – from civil, military, or naval renown – from beauty, strength, or nobleness of form – must be temporary; but that which is founded on attachment to God, to his law, and to the Saviour, will abide forever.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 79. Let those that fear thee] The truly pious.
Turn unto me] Seeing thy work upon me, they shall acknowledge me as a brand plucked from the burning.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Turn unto me; either,
1. Turn their eyes to me as a spectacle of Gods wonderful mercy; or rather,
2. Turn their hearts and affections to me, which have been alienated from me, either by the artifices and calumnies of my adversaries, or by my sore and long distresses, which made them prone to think that either I had deceived them with false pretences, or that God for my sins had utterly forsaken me; which doubtless was a very grievous burden to David, who had a far greater esteem and affection for such persons than for all other men, and desired above all things to stand right in their opinions.
Known, i.e. loved and practised them; as words of knowledge are oft used.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
79, 80. Those who may havethought his afflictions an evidence of God’s rejection will then beled to return to Him; as the friends of Job did on his restoration,having been previously led through his afflictions to doubt thereality of his religion.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Let those that fear thee turn unto me,…. Whose companion he was fond of being, Ps 119:63; There were some good men, it seems, that turned from him, took the part of his enemies, and sided with them against him, which was matter of grief to him. Some think this refers to the affair of Bathsheba; when some that feared the Lord, that had been familiar with him, did not choose to keep company with him, but abstained from his conversation, having so foully sinned, and brought forth dishonour to God and on his ways. Jarchi and Kimchi both make mention of this. Now this grieved David; and he desires of all things that they would turn to him again, and favour him with their company; who were the excellent in the earth, in whom was all his delight. The Targum is,
“turn to my doctrine;”
to hear it, receive it, profess it, and abide by it;
and those that have known thy testimonies; as such as fear the Lord do: they know them, and have a spiritual understanding of what they testify of; they know them, and love them, and delight in them; they know them, and own, acknowledge, and profess them; they know them, and keep, and observe them; and an excellent character this is.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
79. Let such as fear thee turn unto me. In this verse, which is connected with the preceding, the Psalmist affirms, that the deliverance which he obtained would afford common instruction to all the godly. My condition, as if he had said, may, for a time, have disheartened the righteous, as well as increased the insolence of my enemies; but now, taking courage, they will turn their eyes to this joyful spectacle. Moreover, let us learn from the two marks, by which he distinguishes true believers, what is the nature of genuine godliness. He puts the fear, or the reverence of God, in the first, place; but he immediately joins to it the knowledge of Divine truth, to teach us that these two things are inseparably connected. The superstitious, indeed, exhibit a fear of God of a certain kind, but it is a mere show, which quickly vanishes. Besides, they weary themselves in their own inventions to no purpose; for God will take no account of any other services, but those which are performed in obedience to his commandments. True religion, then, and the worship of God, have their origin in faith — in the faith of what he has enjoined; so that no person can serve God aright, but he who has been taught in His school.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
Psa 119:79. Let those that fear thee, &c. The sense of this is much the same with that of the 74th verse; that good men, seeing what God had done for them, should turn themselves to him, take encouragement from him, and recognize the righteousness of God’s laws, which protected his friends.
CAPH.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Psa 119:79 Let those that fear thee turn unto me, and those that have known thy testimonies.
Ver. 79. Let those that fear thee ] These are fitly opposed to those proud ones, as Mal 3:13 ; Mal 3:16 .
Turn unto me
And those that have known thy testimonies
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
those that have known. Some codices read “and they shall know”.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Let those: Psa 119:63, Psa 119:74, Psa 7:7, Psa 142:7
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
119:79 Let those that fear thee {d} turn unto me, and those that have {e} known thy testimonies.
(d) That is, be comforted by my example.
(e) He shows that there can be no true fear of God without the knowledge of his word.