Psalms 119:163-176

Context

119:163 I hate and despise deceit;

I love your law.

119:164 Seven¹ times a day I praise you

because of your just regulations.

119:165 Those who love your law are completely secure;²

nothing causes them to stumble.³

119:166 I hope for your deliverance, O Lord,

and I obey⁴ your commands.

119:167 I keep your rules;

I love them greatly.

119:168 I keep your precepts and rules,

for you are aware of everything I do.⁵

ת (Tav)

119:169 Listen to my cry for help,⁶ O Lord!

Give me insight by your word!

119:170 Listen to my appeal for mercy!⁷

Deliver me, as you promised.⁸

119:171 May praise flow freely from my lips,

for you teach me your statutes.

119:172 May my tongue sing about your instructions,⁹

for all your commands are just.

119:173 May your hand help me,

for I choose to obey¹⁰ your precepts.

119:174 I long for your deliverance, O Lord;

I find delight in your law.

119:175 May I¹¹ live and praise you!

May your regulations help me!¹²

119:176 I have wandered off like a lost sheep.¹³

Come looking for your servant,

for I do not forget your commands.

[119:164] ¹tn The number “seven” is use rhetorically to suggest thoroughness.

[119:165] ¹tn Heb “great peace [is] to the lovers of your law.”

[119:165] ²tn Heb “and there is no stumbling to them.”

[119:166] ¹tn Heb “do.”

[119:168] ¹tn Heb “for all my ways [are] before you.”

[119:169] ¹tn Heb “may my cry approach before you.”

[119:170] ¹tn Heb “may my appeal for mercy come before you.”

[119:170] ²tn Heb “according to your speech.”

[119:172] ¹tn Heb “your word.”

[119:173] ¹tn The words “to obey” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and for clarity.

[119:175] ¹tn Heb “my life.”

[119:175] ²tn God’s regulations will “help” the psalmist by giving him moral and ethical guidance.

[119:176] ¹tn Heb “I stray like a lost sheep.” It is possible that the point of the metaphor is vulnerability: The psalmist, who is threatened by his enemies, feels as vulnerable as a straying, lost sheep. This would not suggest, however, that he has wandered from God’s path (see the second half of the verse, as well as v. 110).