Spurgeon's Treasury of David
On Psalms 119:49-56
This octrain deals with the comfort of the word. It begins by seeking the main consolation, namely, the Lord’s fulfilment of his promise, and then it shows how the word sustains us under affliction, and makes us so impervious to ridicule that we are moved by the harsh conduct of the wicked rather to horror of their sin than to any submission to their temptations. We are then shown how the Scripture furnishes songs for pilgrims, and memories for night-watchers; and the psalm concludes by the general statement that the whole of this happiness and comfort arises out of keeping the statutes of the Lord.
Spurgeon's Treasury of David
“This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me.” He means,-Thy word is my comfort, or the fact that thy word has brought quickening to me is my comfort. Or he means that the hope which God had given him was his comfort, for God had quickened him thereby. Whatever may be the exact sense, it is clear that the Psalmist had affliction,-affliction peculiar to himself, which he calls “my affliction”; that he had comfort in it,-comfort specially his own, for he styles it “my comfort”; and that he knew what the comfort was, and where it came from, for he exclaims-“this is my comfort.” The worldling clutches his money-bag, and says, “this is my comfort”; the spendthrift points to his gaiety, and shouts, “this is my comfort”; the drunkard lifts his glass, and sings, “this is my comfort”; but the man whose hope comes from God feels the life-giving power of the word of the Lord, and he testifies, “this is my comfort.” Paul said, “I know whom I have believed.” Comfort is desirable at all times; but comfort in affliction is like a lamp in a dark place. Some are unable to find comfort at such times; but it is not so with believers, for their Saviour has said to them, “I will not leave you comfortless.” Some have comfort and no affliction, others have affliction and no comfort; but the saints have comfort in their affliction.
The word frequently comforts us by increasing the force of our inner life: “this is my comfort; thy word hath quickened me.” To quicken the heart is to cheer the whole man. Often the near way to consolation is sanctification and invigoration. If we cannot clear away the fog, it may be better to rise to a higher level, and so to get above it. Troubles which weigh us down while we are half dead become mere trifles when we are full of life. Thus have we often been raised in spirit by quickening grace, and the same thing will happen again, for the Comforter is still with us, the Consolation of Israel ever liveth, and the very God of peace is evermore our Father. On looking back upon our past life there is one ground of comfort as to our state-the word of God has made us alive, and kept us so. We were dead, but we are dead no longer. From this we gladly infer that if the Lord had meant to destroy he would not have quickened us. If we were only hypocrites worthy of derision, as the proud ones say, he would not have revived us by his grace. An experience of quickening is a fountain of good cheer.
See how this verse is turned into a prayer in verse 107. “Quicken me, O Lord, according unto thy word.” Experience teaches us how to pray, and furnishes arguments in prayer.
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John Gill
On Psalms 119:50
This is my comfort in my affliction,.... David had his afflictions, and so has every good man; none are without; it is the will and pleasure of God that so it should be; and many are their afflictions, inward and outward: the word of God is often their comfort under them, the written word, heard or read; and especially a word of promise, powerfully applied: this is putting underneath everlasting arms, and making their bed in sickness. This either respects what goes before, concerning the word of promise hoped in, or what follows:
for thy word hath quickened me; not only had been the means of quickening him when dead in am, as it often is the means of quickening dead sinners, being the savour of life unto life; but of reviving his drooping spirits, when in affliction and distress; and of quickening the graces of the Spirit of God in him, and him to the exercise of them, when they seemed ready to die; and to the fervent and diligent discharge of duty, when listless and backward to it.
Keil & Delitzsch
On Psalms 119:49-56
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 Psa 119:49 the expression is not דּברך but דּבר, it is not to be interpreted according to Psa 98:3; Psa 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, Gen 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 (Pro 21:24). משׁפּטיך, Psa 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., Psa 11:6, and on the subject-matter, Psa 119:21, Psa 119:104. The poet calls his earthly life "the house of his pilgrimage;" for it is true the earth is man's (Psa 115:16), but he has no abiding resting-place there (Ch1 29:15), his בּית עולם (Ecc 12:5) is elsewhere (vid., supra, Psa 119:19, Psa 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. Psa 3:6, and to be distinguished from ואשׁמרה, Psa 119:44). Just this, that he keeps (observat) God's precepts, has fallen to his lot. To others something else is allotted (Psa 4:8), to him this one most needful thing.
Matthew Henry
On Psalms 119:50
Here is David's experience of benefit by the word. 1. As a means of his sanctification: "Thy word has quickened me. It made me alive when I was dead in sin; it has many a time made me lively when I was dead in duty; it has quickened me to that which is good when I was backward and averse to it, and it has quickened me in that which is good when I was cold and indifferent." 2. Therefore as a means of his consolation when he was in affliction and needed something to support him: "Because thy word has quickened my at other times, it has comforted me then." The word of God has much in it that speaks comfort in affliction; but those only may apply it to themselves who have experienced in some measure the quickening power of the word. If through grace it make us holy, there is enough in it to make us easy, in all conditions, under all events.
Spurgeon's Treasury of David
On Psalms 119:49-56
This octrain deals with the comfort of the word. It begins by seeking the main consolation, namely, the Lord’s fulfilment of his promise, and then it shows how the word sustains us under affliction, and makes us so impervious to ridicule that we are moved by the harsh conduct of the wicked rather to horror of their sin than to any submission to their temptations. We are then shown how the Scripture furnishes songs for pilgrims, and memories for night-watchers; and the psalm concludes by the general statement that the whole of this happiness and comfort arises out of keeping the statutes of the Lord.
Spurgeon's Treasury of David
“This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me.” He means,-Thy word is my comfort, or the fact that thy word has brought quickening to me is my comfort. Or he means that the hope which God had given him was his comfort, for God had quickened him thereby. Whatever may be the exact sense, it is clear that the Psalmist had affliction,-affliction peculiar to himself, which he calls “my affliction”; that he had comfort in it,-comfort specially his own, for he styles it “my comfort”; and that he knew what the comfort was, and where it came from, for he exclaims-“this is my comfort.” The worldling clutches his money-bag, and says, “this is my comfort”; the spendthrift points to his gaiety, and shouts, “this is my comfort”; the drunkard lifts his glass, and sings, “this is my comfort”; but the man whose hope comes from God feels the life-giving power of the word of the Lord, and he testifies, “this is my comfort.” Paul said, “I know whom I have believed.” Comfort is desirable at all times; but comfort in affliction is like a lamp in a dark place. Some are unable to find comfort at such times; but it is not so with believers, for their Saviour has said to them, “I will not leave you comfortless.” Some have comfort and no affliction, others have affliction and no comfort; but the saints have comfort in their affliction.
The word frequently comforts us by increasing the force of our inner life: “this is my comfort; thy word hath quickened me.” To quicken the heart is to cheer the whole man. Often the near way to consolation is sanctification and invigoration. If we cannot clear away the fog, it may be better to rise to a higher level, and so to get above it. Troubles which weigh us down while we are half dead become mere trifles when we are full of life. Thus have we often been raised in spirit by quickening grace, and the same thing will happen again, for the Comforter is still with us, the Consolation of Israel ever liveth, and the very God of peace is evermore our Father. On looking back upon our past life there is one ground of comfort as to our state-the word of God has made us alive, and kept us so. We were dead, but we are dead no longer. From this we gladly infer that if the Lord had meant to destroy he would not have quickened us. If we were only hypocrites worthy of derision, as the proud ones say, he would not have revived us by his grace. An experience of quickening is a fountain of good cheer.
See how this verse is turned into a prayer in verse 107. “Quicken me, O Lord, according unto thy word.” Experience teaches us how to pray, and furnishes arguments in prayer.
Tyndale Study Notes
On Psalms 119:49-51
119:49-56 Zayin (ז): The psalmist asks God to remember his word as the psalmist also remembers God’s word and his name. Remembrance expresses devotion.
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