A Commentary on the Book of Psalms: Psalm 118 — Of the Excellence of Virtue Consisting in the Love and Observance of the Commandments of God
51 The life and vigor infused into me by your promise caused me “not to decline from thy law,” even though “the proud did iniquitously altogether;” doing all in their power, through their jeerings at me, to deter me from its observance.
52 While I was thus humbled and scoffed at, “I remembered the judgments of old,” by virtue of which, from time immemorial, you exalted the humble, and depressed the proud; conferring great rewards on those who observed your law, and inflicting signal punishment on those who transgressed it; and from such reflections I derived the greatest consolation in my affliction; “I was comforted.”
53 The same hope of so great a reward caused me to have the greatest feeling for those sinners, who, by the dereliction of your law, are deprived of so much happiness; and such was the effect of it upon me that it actually induced fits of fainting. Great must have been the love that caused one to faint on beholding the pitiable condition of another.
54 The wicked transgressed the law, deeming it an unpleasant thing to observe it; but to me, aware, as I was, of the rewards in store for those who observe it, “thy justifications” were as agreeable as so many sweet and pleasant songs.
55 The happy hope of such promises not only supported me through the day; but even “in the night I have remembered thy name;” and, through my affection for it, I persevered, and have thus “kept thy law.”
56 “This,” that is to say, my having reflected on God’s promises, and drawn so much hope from them, and the other advantages that followed, “happened to me, because I sought after thy justifications;” for the prophet wishes, in this Psalm, which is entirely devoted to praising the law, to attribute everything to a diligent study and love of the law, that he may thus stimulate man to reflect on it, and to observe it.
Heth
57 In the commencement of these eight verses, he lays down the proposition, “the Lord is my portion;” and argues from that that he should have the desire of observing his law most faithfully, and that he must constantly pray to God for grace thereto, in spite of all obstacles. “O Lord, my portion;” as he says in Psalm 15, “The Lord is the part of my inheritance;” and in Psalm 72, “God that is my portion forever;” and in Lam. 3, “The Lord is my portion.” Happy soul that could say from his heart, “The Lord is my portion,” or, in other words, I renounce all things created, I seek for no right in them; let who will have them, you, O Lord, suffice for me; I seek for nothing else now, nor will I ever seek for anything else; and, with the view of getting possession of you at one time or other, I have determined to study your will alone; I, therefore, “have said,” I resolved, I firmly proposed, “to keep your law” because I know you will not stoop to be the portion of those who will not observe it.
58 He said he was determined to observe God’s law; but, as man cannot do so without God’s assistance, he, therefore, “entreats the face of the Lord with all his heart,” and says, “Have mercy on me according to thy word;” as you promised it, “have mercy on me,” that, through your assistance, I may accomplish what I have decided on through your inspiration.
59 It won’t do to pray to God; we must cooperate with his grace; and, therefore, the prophet, having prayed to God, adds, “I have thought on my ways,” as to whether they were right or wrong, whether they were agreeable to God’s laws or not; and, “I turned my feet unto thy testimonies;” I turned my affections from the law of the flesh and of sin to your law, O Lord, it being exclusively the right way.
60 I not only determined to observe your law, but “I am ready” to make a beginning in the good work, and “no trouble” will retard me in prosecuting it.
61 Many a one, however, sought to keep me back and to confuse me, for “the cords of the wicked,” the snares, or the nets of various temptations, usually set by sinners, or by the evil spirits “have encompassed me;” but “I have not forgotten thy law;” all the temptations could not make me forget your law, or prevent me from obeying it.
62 As you are my portion, O Lord, I devoted myself to the consideration of your law, not only by day, but even by night; nay, even in the very dead of the night, when silence reigns profound; for “I rose at midnight to give praise to thee;” to praise you for “the judgments of thy justification,” for your most just and wise commandments.
63 This, too, follows from the proposition he laid down originally, “The Lord is my portion;” for all who fear God and keep his commandments are united as living members in one body, by a bond of love that cries out, “the Lord is my portion;” and thus, each member “is partaker with all,” for love makes all things common; and, thus, “If one member suffer anything, all the members suffer with it; or if one member glory, all the members rejoice with it.” 1 Cor. 12.
64 I am, certainly, “a partaker with all them that fear thee,” but, as all the inhabitants of the earth, good and bad, men and beasts, animate and inanimate things, are also partakers of your mercy, have mercy, then, on me, that you may “teach me thy justifications,” for the height of misery is the not knowing your law as they do who observe it. May your mercy ward off this misery from me, it being the only thing I covet, the only object of my desire, and that, by reason of your being “my portion, O Lord.”
Teth
65–66 In these eight verses the prophet asks for three gifts necessary for observing the precepts of the Lord, and proves the necessity of them from their effects; first saying, by way of a preface, “Thou hast done well with thy servant, O Lord;” you have shown much sweetness, mildness, and kindness to your servant, “according to thy word;” agreeable to your promise. He then asks, “Teach me goodness, and discipline, and knowledge;” as well as you have displayed your goodness in my regard, teach me the same goodness or sweetness to my neighbor, that I may not wish to hurt, deceive, or defraud anyone; teach me also “discipline,” that is, prudence, to guard against the deceiver and the fraudulent, so that I may have the sweetness and the mildness of the dove, without being devoid of the counsel and the prudence of the serpent. Next to them I ask for “knowledge,” that I may know the mysteries of your law; which knowledge, when not accompanied by goodness and discipline, only inflates, but when savored by them, is of the greatest value; “For I have delivered thy commandments,” firmly believed in your promises; or believed your commands to be divine, and therefore deserving of the strictest observance. How many seek for knowledge and for discipline, caring very little for goodness; not so with the prophet, guided by the Holy Spirit, who asks first for goodness, then for the others.
67–68 He explains the necessity of the three gifts aforesaid, stating he had good reason for asking for them, inasmuch as it was through the want of them he transgressed, and for his transgressions was humbled by God in his justice. “Before I was humbled,” by being visited with tribulations, “I offended,” through ignorance; “therefore have I kept thy word,” the promise I made of thenceforward observing your law more attentively; but do “thou who art good,” that is, sweet and kind, “in thy goodness,” in conformity with your mildness, “teach me thy justifications,” that I may sin no more.
69–70 He now explains the necessity of the second gift, discipline, or prudence. “The iniquity of the proud hath been multiplied;” proud sinners told me lies without end, to try and make me break your law; hence the necessity for prudence, through which “I will seek thy commandments with my whole heart.” “Their heart is curdled like milk;” those proud sinners have a heart hard as cheese formed of curdled milk, and I, therefore, dismissed them, and “have meditated on thy law.”
71–72 From the abundance of the first gift that had been conferred on him, he now declares, “It is good for me that thou hast humbled me,” no one but one truly meek and humble of heart, and thus truly good, and who from experience could form an opinion of what is good, could give expression to such a sentiment. For he that is truly good looks upon any humiliation, arising from tribulation, as a great good, inasmuch as it leads to a better observance of God’s law, the value of which he expresses, when he says, “The law of thy mouth is good to me above thousands of gold and silver,” and so it is, because through the observance of the law we acquire life everlasting, to which no treasures can be compared.
Jod
73 In the next eight verses he assigns many reasons for asking the grace to observe the law; and first, from the fact of his being one of God’s creatures, and, therefore, owing him implicit obedience. “Thy hands have made me and formed me.” Thy power and wisdom, like a pair of hands, “made me,” when I had no existence, “and formed me,” by working, out of the shapeless mass, my members and my senses, or made me as to my soul, and formed me as to my body. Being thus entirely yours, and owing you the most profound obedience, I ask you “to give me understanding and I will learn thy commandments,” that I may not only know them but practice them.
74 The second reason, derived from the edification of the neighbor, “they that fear thee shall see me” keeping your commandments, “and shall be glad,” because they shall see that I have “greatly hoped in thy words,” in the promises contained in your law.
75 Reason the third, his having confessed his faults. “I know, O Lord, that thy judgments are equity,” that your judgments are essentially just, and if “you have humbled me,” by depriving me of your grace, I know you have done so “in truth,” because I deserved it, I therefore complain not of your justice, but I throw myself on your mercy, saying—