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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comKeil and Delitzsch Commentary - Psalms 119:1 - 119:1
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The eightfold Aleph. Blessed are those who act according to the word of God; the poet wishes to be one of these. The alphabetical Psalm on the largest scale begins appropriately, not merely with a simple (Psa 112:1), but with a twofold ashrê. It refers principally to those integri viae (vitae). In Psa 119:3 the description of those who are accounted blessed is carried further. Perfects,a s denoting that which is habitual, alternate with futures used as presents. In Psa 119:4 לִשְׁמֹר expresses the purpose of the enjoining, as in Psa 119:5 the goal of the directing. אַֽחֲלַי (whence אֲֽחֲלֵי, 2Ki 5:3) is compounded of אָח (vid., supra, p. 273) and לַי (לְוַי), and consequently signifies o si. On יִכֹּנוּ cf. Pro 4:26 (lxx κατευθυνθείησαν). The retrospective אָז is expanded anew in Psa 119:6: then, when I namely. “Judgment of Thy righteousness” are the decisions concerning right and wrong which give expression to and put in execution the righteousness of God.
(Note: The word “judgments” of our English authorized version is retained in the text as being the most convenient word; it must, however, be borne in mind that in this Psalm it belongs to the “chain of synonyms,” and does not mean God's acts of judgment, its more usual meaning in the Old Testament Scriptures, but is used as defined above, and is the equivalent here of the German Rechte, not Gerichte. - Tr.)
בְּלָמְדִי refers to Scripture in comparison with history.