Psalms 119:102
in Psalms 119I have not departed from Your ordinances, for You Yourself have taught me.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I have not turned aside from thine ordinances; For thou hast taught me.
KJV
I have not departed from thy judgments: for thou hast taught me.
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This verse in Psalms 119
Commentary
7 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
Oh, how I love Your law
on Psalms 119:97-104
Three comparisons stand together: wiser than his enemies, more insight than his teachers, more discernment than the elders. The reason given each time is the word kept and meditated on. Verse 103 moves to taste, the words sweeter than honey.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"I have not shrunk," he says, "from Your judgments: for You have laid down a law for me" [Psalm 119:102]. He has stated what made him fear, so that he refrained his feet from every evil way....Thou, more inward than my inmost self, You have laid down a law within my heart by Your Spirit, as it were by Your fingers, that I might not fear it as a slave without love, but might love it with a chaste fear as a son, and fear it with a chaste love.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
I have not departed from thy judgments,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Avoidance of sinful courses is both the effect and means of increasing in divine knowledge (compare Ps 19:10).
"I have not departed from thy judgments: for thou hast taught me." They are well taught whom God teaches. What we learn from the Lord we never forget. God's instruction has a practical effect—we follow his way when he teaches us; and it has an abiding effect,—we do not depart from holiness. Read this verse in connection with the preceding and you get the believer's "I have," and his "I have not:" he is good both positively and negatively.
"I have not departed from thy judgments: for thou hast taught me." They are well taught whom God teaches. What we learn from the Lord we never forget. God's instruction has a practical effect—we follow his way when he teaches us; and it has an abiding effect,—we do not depart from holiness. Read this verse in connection with the preceding and you get the believer's "I have," and his "I have not:" he is good both positively and negatively. What he did, namely, "refrained his feet," preserved him from doing that which otherwise he might have done, namely, "departed from thy judgments." He who is careful not to go an inch aside will not leave the road. He who never touches the intoxicating cup will never be drunk. He who never utters an idle word will never be profane. If we begin to depart a little we can never tell where we shall end. The Lord brings us to persevere in holiness by abstinence from the beginning of sin; but whatever be the method he is the worker of our perseverance, and to him be all the glory.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
I have not departed from thy judgments - Thy law; thy commands. This cannot mean that he had never done this, but that as a great rule of life he had not done it. The character and aim of his life had been obedience, not disobedience. A man may honestly say this, though he may be conscious of much imperfection, and may feel that he has not perfectly carried out such an aim and purpose. No one can be a truly pious man, or have evidence of personal religion, who cannot say in sincerity that he has “not departed in this sense, “from the judgments” (the commands) of God; who cannot look back on his life and say that his course - his aim - his character - since he became a professor of religion - has been, one of obedience to God. Compare 1Jn 3:7-9. For thou hast taught me - Not to himself was this to be traced, but to God; not to any wisdom of his own, but to that which was given him from on high.
The words behind it
6 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מִמִּשְׁפָּטֶ֥יךָ | mimishpateikha | from judgments your | H4941 → | 422 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| סָ֑רְתִּי | sareti | I have turned aside | H5493 → | 299 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אַ֝תָּ֗ה | ʾatah | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| הוֹרֵתָֽנִי׃ | horetani | you have taught me | H3384 → | 80 times |
מִמִּשְׁפָּטֶ֥יךָfrom judgments your
mimishpateikhaH4941 →422 times
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
סָ֑רְתִּיI have turned aside
saretiH5493 →299 times
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
אַ֝תָּ֗הyou
ʾatahH859 →1094 times
הוֹרֵתָֽנִי׃you have taught me
horetaniH3384 →80 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 John 2:27And as for you, the anointing you received from Him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But just as His true and genuine anointing teaches you about all…
it leads to
- John 14:26
But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have told you.
- 1 John 2:20–21
You, however, have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.
- 1 Corinthians 2:13
And this is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.
- John 16:13
However, when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak what He hears, and He will declare to…
- Jeremiah 31:33–34
“But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD. I will put My law in their minds and inscribe it on their hearts. And…
- John 14:26
Through
1 Thessalonians 2:13And we continually thank God because, when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as the true word of God—the…
it leads to
- Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it pierces even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
- Romans 10:17
Consequently, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
- 1 Peter 1:23
For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.
- Hebrews 4:12
Where this verse is studied
About Psalms
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 119; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 6; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).