Psalm 119:49-56 ZAIN
- Gleanings from Historical CommentariesCollectedby
Jack Kettler
Psalm 119:49-56
introductory observations from The
Treasury of David:
“Remember the word unto thy
servant.” He asks for no new promise, but to
have the old word fulfilled. He is grateful
that he has received so good a word, he
embraces it with all his heart and now
entreats the Lord to deal with him according
to it. He does not say, “remember my service
to thee,” but “thy word to me.” The words of
masters to servants are not always, such that
servants wish their lords to remember them;
for they usually observe the faults and
failings of the work done, inasmuch as it does
not tally with the word of command. But we who
serve the best of masters are not anxious to
have one of his words fall to the ground,
since the Lord will so kindly remember his
word of command as to give us grace wherewith
we may obey, and he will couple with it a
remembrance of his word of promise, so that
our hearts shall be comforted. If God's word
to us as his servants is so precious, what
shall we say of his word to us as his sons?
The Psalmist does not fear a
failure in the Lord's memory, but he makes use
of the promise as a plea, and this is the form
in which he speaks, after the manner of men
when they plead with one another. When the
Lord remembers the sins of his servant, and
brings them before his conscience, the
penitent cries, Lord, remember thy word of
pardon, and therefore remember my sins and
iniquities no more. There is a world of
meaning in that word “remember,” as it is
addressed to God; it is used in Scripture in
the tenderest sense, and suits the sorrowing
and the depressed. Tim Psalmist cried, “Lord,
remember David, and all his afflictions”: Job
also prayed that the Lord would appoint him a
set time, and remember him. In the present
instance the prayer is as personal as the
“Remember me” of the thief, for its essence
lies in the words – “unto thy servant” It
would be all in vain for us if the promise
were remembered to all others if it did not
come true to ourselves; but there is no fear,
for the Lord has never forgotten a single
promise to a single believer.
“Upon which thou hast caused
me to hope.” The argument is that God, having
given grace to hope in the promise, would
surely never disappoint that hope. He cannot
have caused us to hope without cause. If we
hope upon his word, we have a sure basis: our
gracious Lord would never mock us by exciting
false hopes. Hope deferred maketh the heart
sick, hence the petition for immediate
remembrance of the cheering word. Moreover, it
is the hope of a servant, and it is not
possible that a great and good master would
disappoint his dependent; if such a master's
word were not kept, it could only be through
an oversight, hence the anxious cry,
“Remember.” Our great Master will not forget
his own servants, nor disappoint the
expectation, which he himself has raised.
because we are the Lord's, and endeavour to
remember his word by obeying it, we may be
sure that he will think upon his own servants,
and remember his own promise by making it
good.
This verse is the prayer of
love fearing to be forgotten, of humility
conscious of insignificance and anxious not to
be overlooked, of penitence trembling lest the
evil of its sin should overshadow the promise,
of eager desire longing for the blessing, and
of holy confidence, which feels that all that
is wanted is comprehended in the word. Let but
the Lord remember his promise, and the
promised act is as good as done.” (1)
49 Remember the word unto thy
servant, upon which thou hast caused me to
hope.
From Gill's
Exposition of the Entire Bible:
ZAIN.--The Seventh Part.
“ZAIN. Remember the word unto
thy servant,.... The word of promise made unto
him, concerning establishing his house and
kingdom for ever; which he desires God would
show himself mindful of in fulfilling it, and
renew and confirm his faith in it, and give
him some fresh assurance of the performance of
it, 2 Samuel 7:16. Not that God ever forgets
his promise, or is unmindful of his word; but
so it seems when he delays the accomplishment
of it; and when unbelief prevails and doubts
arise, and faith is not in lively exercise;
and he has not so clear a view of the promise,
and comfortable assurance of its being
performed;
upon which thou hast caused
me to hope; which, when first made, he
received in faith, and hoped and waited for
the accomplishment of. A word of promise is a
good ground of hope, let it be on what account
it will; whether it relates to interest in
God, as a covenant God and Father; or to
pardon of sin; or to salvation by Christ; or
to fresh supplies of grace and strength from
him; or to eternal life through him: and the
hope which is exercised on the promise is not
of a man's self; it is the gift of God, a good
hope through grace; which the Lord, by his
Spirit and power, produces, and causes to
abound in, or to exercise in a comfortable
manner.” (2)
Gleanings from Strong's
Lexicon:
Remember
זְכֹר־ (zə·ḵōr-)
Verb - Qal -
Imperative - masculine singular
Strong's Hebrew 2142: 1) to
remember, recall, call to mind 1a) (Qal)
to remember, recall 1b) (Niphal)
to be brought to remembrance, be remembered,
be thought of, be brought to mind 1c) (Hiphil)
1c1) to cause to remember, remind 1c2) to
cause to be remembered, keep in remembrance
1c3) to mention 1c4) to record 1c5) to make a
memorial, make remembrance
Your word
דָּבָ֥ר (dā·ḇār)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's Hebrew 1697: 1)
speech, word, speaking, thing 1a) speech 1b)
saying, utterance 1c) word, words 1d)
business, occupation, acts, matter, case,
something, manner (by extension)
Cross-References for verse
49: Psalm 119:43; Psalm 119:48; Psalm 119:50
50 This is my comfort in my
affliction: for thy word hath quickened me.
From The
Pulpit Commentary:
“Verse 50. - This is my
comfort in my affliction. Nekhamah,
“comfort,” occurs only here and in Job 6:10;
but the meaning is well ascertained. For thy
Word hath quickened me; or, “thy promise.” The
“word,” whatever it was, referred to in ver.
49. This had given the psalmist new life.” (3)
Gleanings from Strong's
Lexicon:
Your promise
אִמְרָתְךָ֣ (’im·rā·ṯə·ḵā)
Noun - feminine singular
construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's Hebrew 565: 1)
utterance, speech, word 1a) word of God, the
Torah
51 The proud have had me
greatly in derision: yet have I not declined
from thy law.
From Barnes'
Notes on the Bible:
“The proud have had me
greatly in derision - Those of rank; those in
high life: perhaps, as we should say, the
frivolous and fashionable world. They have
ridiculed me; they have held me up to contempt
for my scruples, my seriousness, my
conscientiousness, my unwillingness to mingle
with them in the pursuits, the pastimes, the
frivolities of life. It is now no new thing to
be held in contempt by the ‘proud1 and the
frivolous, on account of serious piety; to be
thus held in contempt has been rather the rule
than the exception in the treatment which the
friends of religion have received from the
world.” (4)
Yet have I not declined from
thy law - I have not been deterred from the
avowal of my religious belief; I have not
turned away from the duties of piety on
account of the ridicule and scorn to which I
have been exposed. Compare Psalm 44:17-19.
Gleanings from Strong's
Lexicon:
From Your law.
מִ֝תּֽוֹרָתְךָ֗ (mit·tō·w·rā·ṯə·ḵā)
Preposition-m | Noun -
feminine singular construct | second person
masculine singular
Strong's Hebrew 8451: 1) law,
direction, instruction 1a) instruction,
direction (human or divine) 1a1) body of
prophetic teaching 1a2) instruction in
Messianic age 1a3) body of priestly direction
or instruction 1a4) body of legal directives
1b) law 1b1) law of the burnt offering 1b2) of
special law, codes of law 1c) custom, manner
1d) the Deuteronomic or Mosaic Law
52 I remembered thy judgments
of old, O Lord; and have comforted myself.
From Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
Bible Commentary:
“52-56. The pious take
comfort, when harassed and distressed by
wickedness of men who forsake God's law, in
remembering that the great principles of God's
truth will still abide; and also God's
judgments of old—that is, His
past interpositions in behalf of His people
are a pledge that He will again interpose to
deliver them; and they become the theme of
constant and delightful meditation. The more
we keep the more we love the law of God.” (5)
Gleanings from Strong's
Lexicon:
I remember
זָ֘כַ֤רְתִּי (zā·ḵar·tî)
Verb - Qal -
Perfect - first person common singular
Strong's Hebrew 2142: 1) to
remember, recall, call to mind 1a) (Qal) to
remember, recall 1b) (Niphal)
to be brought to remembrance, be remembered,
be thought of, be brought to mind 1c) (Hiphil)
1c1) to cause to remember, remind 1c2) to
cause to be remembered, keep in remembrance
1c3) to mention 1c4) to record 1c5) to make a
memorial, make remembrance
Cross-References for verse
52: Psalm 103:18; Psalm 119:53
53 Horror hath taken hold
upon me because of the wicked that forsake thy
law.
From Matthew
Poole's Commentary:
“Horror; a mixed passion made
up of indignation at their persons as sinful,
and abhorrency of their sins, and dread and
sorrow at the consideration of the judgments
of God coming upon them.
Because of the wicked that
forsake thy law; for the dishonour which they
bring to God, the scandal and mischief to
others, and their own certain ruin.” (6)
Gleanings from Strong's
Lexicon:
Who reject
עֹ֝זְבֵ֗י (‘ō·zə·ḇê)
Verb - Qal -
Participle - masculine plural construct
Strong's Hebrew 5800: 1) to
leave, loose, forsake 1a) (Qal)
to leave 1a1) to depart from, leave behind,
leave, let alone 1a2) to leave, abandon,
forsake, neglect, apostatise 1a3) to let
loose, set free, let go, free 1b) (Niphal)
1b1) to be left to 1b2) to be forsaken 1c) (Pual)
to be deserted 2) to restore, repair 2a) (Qal)
to repair
Your law.
תּוֹרָתֶֽךָ׃ (tō·w·rā·ṯe·ḵā)
Noun - feminine singular
construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's Hebrew 8451: 1) law,
direction, instruction 1a) instruction,
direction (human or divine) 1a1) body of
prophetic teaching 1a2) instruction in
Messianic age 1a3) body of priestly direction
or instruction 1a4) body of legal directives
1b) law 1b1) law of the burnt offering 1b2) of
special law, codes of law 1c) custom, manner
1d) the Deuteronomic or Mosaic Law
54 Thy statutes have been my
songs in the house of my pilgrimage.
From the Pulpit Commentary:
“Verse 54. - Thy statutes
have been my songs in the house of my
pilgrimage; literally, songs have thy statutes
been to me in the house of my sojournings. I
have made thy statutes the theme of my songs,
as they are of this present one. “The house of
my sojournings” is either this present world,
where all men are “strangers and pilgrims”
(Hebrews 11:13), or perhaps some foreign land
in which the writer had been a sojourner.” (7)
Gleanings from Strong's
Lexicon:
Songs
זְ֭מִרוֹת (zə·mi·rō·wṯ)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's Hebrew 2158: 1)
song, psalm
Cross-References for verse
54: Genesis 47:9; Psalm 119:19
55 I have remembered thy
name, O Lord, in the night, and have kept thy
law.
From Keil
and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the
Old Testament:
“The eightfold Zajin.
God's word is his hope and his trust amidst
all derision; and when he burns with
indignation at the apostates, God's word is
his solace. Since in Psalm 119:49 the
expression is not דּברך
but דּבר,
it is not to be interpreted according to Psalm
98:3; Psalm 106:45, but: remember the word
addressed to Thy servant, because Thou hast
made me hope (Piel
causat. as e.g., נשּׁה,
to cause to forget, Genesis 41:51), i.e., hast
comforted me by promising me a blessed issue,
and hast directed my expectation thereunto.
This is his comfort in his dejected condition,
that God's promissory declaration has
quickened him and proved its reviving power in
his case. In הליצוּני
(הליצוּני),
ludificantur,
it is implied that the זדים eht
taht d are just לצים,
frivolous persons, libertines, free-thinkers
(Proverbs 21:24). משׁפּטיך,
Psalm 119:52 are the valid, verified decisions
(judgments) of God revealed from the veriest
olden times. In the remembrance of these,
which determine the lot of a man according to
the relation he holds towards them, the poet
found comfort. It can be rendered: then I
comforted myself; or according to a later
usage of the Hithpa. I was comforted.
Concerning זלעפה,
aestus,
vid., Psalm 11:6, and on the subject-matter,
Psalm 119:21, Psalm 119:104. The poet calls
his earthly life “the house of his
pilgrimage;” for it is true the earth is man's
(Psalm 115:16), but he has no abiding
resting-place there (1Chronicles 29:15), his בּית עולם
(Ecclesiastes 12:5) is elsewhere (vid., supra,
Psalm 119:19, Psalm 39:13). God's statutes are
here his "songs," which give him spiritual
refreshing, sweeten the hardships of the
pilgrimage, and measure and hasten his steps.
The Name of God has been in his mind hitherto,
not merely by day, but also by night; and in
consequence of this he has kept God's law (ואשׁמרה,
as five times besides in this Psalm, cf. Psalm
3:6, and to be distinguished from ואשׁמרה,
Psalm 119:44). Just this, that he keeps
(observat) God's precepts, has fallen to his
lot. To others something else is allotted
(Psalm 4:8), to him this one most needful
thing.” (8)
Gleanings from Strong's
Lexicon:
I remember
זָ֘כַ֤רְתִּי (zā·ḵar·tî)
Verb - Qal -
Perfect - first person common singular
Strong's Hebrew 2142: 1) to
remember, recall, call to mind 1a) (Qal)
to remember, recall 1b) (Niphal)
to be brought to remembrance, be remembered,
be thought of, be brought to mind 1c) (Hiphil)
1c1) to cause to remember, remind 1c2) to
cause to be remembered, keep in remembrance
1c3) to mention 1c4) to record 1c5) to make a
memorial, make remembrance
Your name,
שִׁמְךָ֣ (šim·ḵā)
Noun - masculine singular
construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's Hebrew 8034: 1) name
1a) name 1b) reputation, fame, glory 1c) the
Name (as designation of God) 1d) memorial,
monument
“This I had, this comfortable
and profitable remembrance and contemplation
of thy name and statutes, of which he spoke
Psalm 119:54,55, because I kept thy precepts;
which if I had wilfully and wickedly broken,
the remembrance of these things would have
been sad and frightful to me, as now it is
comfortable, because I kept them.” (9)
Gleanings from Strong's
Lexicon:
Is my practice
הָֽיְתָה־ (hā·yə·ṯāh-)
Verb - Qal -
Perfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's Hebrew 1961: 1) to
be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall
out 1a) (Qal)
1a1) ----- 1a1a) to happen, fall out, occur,
take place, come about, come to pass 1a1b) to
come about, come to pass 1a2) to come into
being, become 1a2a) to arise, appear, come
1a2b) to become 1a2b1) to become 1a2b2) to
become like 1a2b3) to be instituted, be
established 1a3) to be 1a3a) to exist, be in
existence 1a3b) to abide, remain, continue
(with word of place or time) 1a3c) to stand,
lie, be in, be at, be situated (with word of
locality) 1a3d) to accompany, be with 1b) (Niphal)
1b1) to occur, come to pass, be done, be
brought about 1b2) to be done, be finished, be
gone
Cross-References for verse
56: Psalm 119:22; Psalm 119:69; Psalm 119:100
Concluding summary from Matthew
Henry’s Bible Concise Commentary Psalm
119:49-56:
“119:49-56 Those that make
God's promises their portion, may with humble
boldness make them their plea. He that by his
Spirit works faith in us, will work for us.
The word of God speaks comfort in affliction.
If, through grace, it makes us holy, there is
enough in it to make us easy, in all
conditions. Let us be certain we have the
Divine law for what we believe, and then let
not scoffers prevail upon us to decline from
it. God's judgments of old comfort and
encourage us, for he is still the same. Sin is
horrible in the eyes of all that are
sanctified. Ere long the believer will be
absent from the body, and present with the
Lord. In the mean time, the statutes of the
Lord supply subjects for grateful praise. In
the season of affliction, and in the silent
hours of the night, he remembers the name of
the Lord, and is stirred up to keep the law.
All who have made religion the first thing,
will own that they have been unspeakable
gainers by it.” (10)
Notes on Psalm 119:49-56 Zain:
C. H. Spurgeon,
The
Treasury of David, Vol. II,
(Nashville, Tennessee, Thomas Nelson), p.
239-240.
2.John Gill, Exposition
of the Old and New Testaments, Psalms, 9
Volumes, (Grace Works, Multi-Media Labs),
2011, p. 1391-1392.
3.H. D. M. Spence and
Joseph S. Exell, The
Pulpit Commentary, Psalms, Vol.8.,
(Grand Rapids, Michigan, Eerdmans Publishing
Company reprint 1978), p. 106.
4.Albert Barnes, THE AGES
DIGITAL LIBRARYCOMMENTARY, Barnes’
Notes on the Bible, Psalms, Vol. 5
p.1811.
5.Jamieson, Fausset and
Brown, Commentary
on the Whole Bible, (Grand Rapids,
Michigan, Zondervan, 1977) p. 450.
Matthew Poole's Commentary
on the Holy Bible, vol. 2, (Peabody,
Massachusetts, Hendrickson Publishers, 1985)
p. 185.
7.H. D. M. Spence and
Joseph S. Exell, The
Pulpit Commentary, Psalms, Vol.8.,
(Grand Rapids, Michigan, Eerdmans Publishing
Company reprint 1978), p. 106.
8.Keil-Delitzsch, Commentary
on the Old Testament, Psalms, vol. 5,
(Grand Rapids, Michigan, William B. Eerdmans
Publishing Company, Reprinted 1985), p. 250-
251.
9.Matthew Poole's Commentary
on the Holy Bible, vol. 2, (Peabody,
Massachusetts, Hendrickson Publishers, 1985)
p. 185.
Matthew Henry, Concise
Commentary, Psalms, (Nashville,
Tennessee, Thomas Nelson), p. 958.
Mr.
Kettler
has previously published articles in the Chalcedon
Report and Contra Mundum. He and
his wife Marea attend the Westminster, CO, RPCNA
Church. Mr. Kettler is the author of the book
defending the Reformed Faith against attacks,
titled: The Religion That Started in a
Hat. Available at:
www.TheReligionThatStartedInAHat.com