Spurgeon's Treasury of David
“Depart from me, ye evildoers.” Those who make a conscience of their thoughts are not likely to tolerate evil company. If we fly to God from vain thoughts, much more shall we avoid vain men. Kings are all too apt to be surrounded by a class of men who flatter them, and at the same time take liberty to break the laws of God: David purged his palace of such parasites; he would not harbour them beneath his roof. No doubt they would have brought upon him an ill name, for their doings would have been imputed to him, since the acts of courtiers are generally set down as acts of the court itself; therefore the king sent them packing bag and baggage, saying,-“Depart from me.” Herein he anticipated the sentence of the last great day, when the Son of David shall say, “Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity.” We cannot thus send all malefactors out of our houses, but it will often become a duty to do so where there is right and reason for it. A house is all the better for being rid of liars, pilferers, lewd talkers, and slanderers. We are bound at all hazards to keep ourselves clear of such companions as come to us by our own choice if we have any reason to believe that their character is vicious. Evildoers make evil counsellors. Those who say unto God, “Depart from us,” ought to hear the immediate echo of their words from the mouths of God’s children, “Depart from us. We cannot eat bread with traitors.”
“For I will keep the commandments of my God.” Since he found it hard to keep the commandments in the company of the ungodly, he gave them their marching orders. He must keep the commandments, but he did not need to keep their company. What a beautiful title for the Lord this verse contains! The word God only occurs in this one place in all this lengthened psalm, and then it is attended by the personal word “my”-“my God.”
“My God! how charming is the sound!
How pleasant to repeat!
Well may that heart with pleasure bound,
Where God hath fix’d his seat.”
Because Jehovah is our God therefore we resolve to obey him, and to chase out of our sight those who would hinder us in his service. It is a grand thing for the mind to have come to a point, and to be steadfastly fixed in the holy determination,-“I will keep the commandments.” God’s law is our pleasure when the God of the law is our God.
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John Gill
On Psalms 119:115
Depart from me, ye evildoers,.... The same with the evil thinkers, Psalm 119:113; According to Aben Ezra, they that think evil commonly do it; as they devise it, they commit it. This describes such persons whose course of life is, and who make it their constant business to do, iniquity; such the psalmist desires to depart his presence, to keep at a distance from him, as being very disagreeable to him; and who would be a great hinderance to him in keeping the commandments of God, as follows: these same words will be spoken by David's son and antitype, at the great day of account, Matthew 7:23;
for I will keep the commandments of my God; of God who has a fight to command, and not of men, especially when opposed to the commands of God; of God, who is the covenant God and Father of his people; and whose covenant, grace, and favour, in choosing, redeeming, regenerating, and adopting them, lay them under greater obligations still to keep his commandments; and whose commandments are not grievous: and though they cannot be perfectly kept by good men, yet they are desirous of keeping them as well as they can, and determine in the strength of divine grace so to do; and which they do out of love to God, and with a view to his glory, without any selfish or mercenary ends. The Syriac version renders it, "that I may keep", &c. to which end he desires to be rid of the company of wicked men; who are both a nuisance to good men, and an hinderance in religious duties.
Keil & Delitzsch
On Psalms 119:113-120
The eightfold Samech. His hope rests on God's word, without allowing itself to be led astray by doubters and apostates. סעפים (the form of nouns which indicate defects or failings) are those inwardly divided, halting between two opinions (סעפּים), Kg1 18:21, who do homage partly to the worship of Jahve, partly to heathenism, and therefore are trying to combine faith and naturalism. In contrast to such, the poet's love, faith, and hope are devoted entirely to the God of revelation; and to all those who are desirous of drawing him away he addresses in Psa 119:115 (cf. Psa 6:9) an indignant "depart." He, however, stands in need of grace in order to persevere and to conquer. For this he prays in Psa 119:116-117. The מן in משּׁברי is the same as in בּושׁ מן. The ah of ואשׁעה is the intentional ah (Ew. 228, c), as in Isa 41:23. The statement of the ground of the סלית, vilipendis, does not mean: unsuccessful is their deceit (Hengstenberg, Olshausen), but falsehood without the consistency of truth is their self-deceptive and seductive tendency. The lxx and Syriac read תּרעיתם, "their sentiment;" but this is an Aramaic word that is unintelligible in Hebrew, which the old translators have conjured into the text only on account of an apparent tautology. The reading השּׁבתּ or חשׁבתּ (Aquila, Symmachus, and Jerome; lxx ἐλογισάμην, therefore חשׁבתי) instead of חשׁבתּ might more readily be justified in Psa 119:119; but the former gives too narrow a meaning, and the reading rests on a mistaking of the construction of השׁבית with an accusative of the object and of the effect: all the wicked, as many of them as are on the earth, dost Thou put away as dross (סגים( ssor). Accordingly משׁפטיך in Psa 119:120 are God's punitive judgments, or rather (cf. Psa 119:91) God's laws (judgments) according to which He judges. What is meant are sentences of punishment, as in Lev. 26, Deut. 28. Of these the poet is afraid, for omnipotence can change words into deeds forthwith. In fear of the God who has attested Himself in Exo 34:7 and elsewhere, his skin shudders and his hair stands on end.
Matthew Henry
On Psalms 119:115
Here is, 1. David's firm and fixed resolution to live a holy life: I will keep the commandments of my God. Bravely resolved! like a saint, like a soldier; for true courage consists in a steady resolution against all sin and for all duty. Those that would keep God's commandments must be often renewing their resolutions to do so: "I will keep them. Whatever others do, this I will do; though I be singular, though all about me be evil-doers, and desert me; whatever I have done hitherto, I will for the future walk closely with God. They are the commandments of God, of my God, and therefore I will keep them. He is God and may command me, my God and will command me nothing but what is for my good." 2. His farewell to bad company, pursuant to this resolution: Depart from me, you evil-doers. Though David, as a good magistrate, was a terror to evil-doers, yet there were many such, even about court, intruding near his person; these he here abdicates, and resolves to have no conversation with them. Note, Those that resolve to keep the commandments of God must have no society with evil-doers; for bad company is a great hindrance to a holy life. We must not choose wicked people for our companions, nor be intimate with them; we must not do as they do nor do as they would have us do, Psa 1:1; Eph 5:11.
Spurgeon's Treasury of David
“Depart from me, ye evildoers.” Those who make a conscience of their thoughts are not likely to tolerate evil company. If we fly to God from vain thoughts, much more shall we avoid vain men. Kings are all too apt to be surrounded by a class of men who flatter them, and at the same time take liberty to break the laws of God: David purged his palace of such parasites; he would not harbour them beneath his roof. No doubt they would have brought upon him an ill name, for their doings would have been imputed to him, since the acts of courtiers are generally set down as acts of the court itself; therefore the king sent them packing bag and baggage, saying,-“Depart from me.” Herein he anticipated the sentence of the last great day, when the Son of David shall say, “Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity.” We cannot thus send all malefactors out of our houses, but it will often become a duty to do so where there is right and reason for it. A house is all the better for being rid of liars, pilferers, lewd talkers, and slanderers. We are bound at all hazards to keep ourselves clear of such companions as come to us by our own choice if we have any reason to believe that their character is vicious. Evildoers make evil counsellors. Those who say unto God, “Depart from us,” ought to hear the immediate echo of their words from the mouths of God’s children, “Depart from us. We cannot eat bread with traitors.”
“For I will keep the commandments of my God.” Since he found it hard to keep the commandments in the company of the ungodly, he gave them their marching orders. He must keep the commandments, but he did not need to keep their company. What a beautiful title for the Lord this verse contains! The word God only occurs in this one place in all this lengthened psalm, and then it is attended by the personal word “my”-“my God.”
“My God! how charming is the sound!
How pleasant to repeat!
Well may that heart with pleasure bound,
Where God hath fix’d his seat.”
Because Jehovah is our God therefore we resolve to obey him, and to chase out of our sight those who would hinder us in his service. It is a grand thing for the mind to have come to a point, and to be steadfastly fixed in the holy determination,-“I will keep the commandments.” God’s law is our pleasure when the God of the law is our God.
Tyndale Study Notes
On Psalms 119:113-120
119:113-120 Samekh (ס): The psalmist declares his hatred of evil and his love for God and his ways.
119:113 The godly hate the wicked and their deeds (5:4-6; cp. Ezek 33:11).
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