Psalms 119:123
in Psalms 119My eyes fail, looking for Your salvation, and for Your righteous promise.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Mine eyes fail for thy salvation, And for thy righteous word.
KJV
Mine eyes fail for thy salvation, and for the word of thy righteousness.
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This verse in Psalms 119
Commentary
9 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
I have done what is just and right
on Psalms 119:121-128
He pleads on the ground of his own conduct, having done what is just and right, and asks to be kept from his oppressors. Verse 126 says the time has come for the LORD to act, because they have broken His law. He admires all the precepts and hates every false way.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
...To prefigure His Cross, Moses by the merciful command of God raised aloft on a pole the image of a serpent in the desert, that the likeness of sinful flesh which must be crucified in Christ might be prefigured? By gazing upon this healing Cross, we cast out all the poison of the scandals of the proud: the Cross, which the Psalmist intently looking upon, saith, "My eyes have failed for Thy salvation, and for the words of Thy righteousness" (ver. 123). For God made Christ Himself "to be sin for us, on account of the likeness of sinful flesh, that we may be made the righteousness of God in Him." For His utterance of the righteousness of God he therefore saith that his eyes have failed, from gazing ardently and eagerly, while, remembering human infirmity, he longeth for divine grace in Christ.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The word - For the performance of thy faithful or merciful promise.
Mine eyes fail for that salvation,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
On the grounds of his integrity, desire for God's word, and covenant relation to Him, the servant of God may plead for His protecting care against the wicked, gracious guidance to the knowledge of truth, and His effective vindication of the righteous and their cause, which is also His own.
"Mine eyes fail for thy salvation." He wept, waited, and watched for God's saving hand, and these exercises tried the eyes of his faith till they were almost ready to give out. He looked to God alone, he looked eagerly, he looked long, he looked till his eyes ached. The mercy is, that if our eyes fail, God does not fail, nor do his eyes fail. Eyes are tender things, and so are our faith, hope and expectancy: the Lord will not try them above what they are able to bear. "And for the word of thy righteousness:" a word that would silence the unrighteous words of his oppressors. His eyes as well as his ears waited for the Lord's word: he looked to see the divine word come forth as a fiat for his deliverance. He was "waiting for the verdict"— the verdict of righteousness itself. How happy are we if we have righteousness on our side; for then that which is the sinners' terror is our hope, that which the proud dread is our expectation and desire. David left his reputation entirely in the Lord's hand, and was eager to be cleared by the word of the Judge rather than by any defence of his own. He knew that he had done right, and, therefore, instead of avoiding the supreme court, he begged for the sentence which he knew would work out his deliverance. He even watched with eager eyes for the judgment and the deliverance, the word of righteousness from God which meant salvation to himself.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
"Mine eyes fail for thy salvation." He wept, waited, and watched for God's saving hand, and these exercises tried the eyes of his faith till they were almost ready to give out. He looked to God alone, he looked eagerly, he looked long, he looked till his eyes ached. The mercy is, that if our eyes fail, God does not fail, nor do his eyes fail. Eyes are tender things, and so are our faith, hope and expectancy: the Lord will not try them above what they are able to bear.
Mine eyes fail - See on Psa 119:82 (note).
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Mine eyes fail for thy salvation - See the notes at Psa 119:81-82. And for the word of thy righteousness - Thy righteous word - that it may be made known to me, and that I may see its beauty and enjoy it.
The words behind it
5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עֵ֭ינַי | ʾeinai | eyes my | H5869 → | 887 times |
| כָּל֣וּ | kalu | they are exhausted | H3615 → | 208 times |
| לִֽישׁוּעָתֶ֑ךָ | lishuatekha | for deliverance your | H3444 → | 78 times |
| וּלְאִמְרַ֥ת | uleimrat | and for [the] word of | H565 → | 37 times |
| צִדְקֶֽךָ׃ | tzidkecha | righteousness your | H6664 → | 119 times |
עֵ֭ינַיeyes my
ʾeinaiH5869 →887 times
כָּל֣וּthey are exhausted
kaluH3615 →208 times
לִֽישׁוּעָתֶ֑ךָfor deliverance your
lishuatekhaH3444 →78 times
וּלְאִמְרַ֥תand for [the] word of
uleimratH565 →37 times
צִדְקֶֽךָ׃righteousness your
tzidkechaH6664 →119 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
Psalms 143:7Answer me quickly, O LORD; my spirit fails. Do not hide Your face from me, or I will be like those who descend to the Pit.
it leads to
- Psalms 69:17
Hide not Your face from Your servant, for I am in distress. Answer me quickly!
- Psalms 28:1
To You, O LORD, I call; be not deaf to me, O my Rock. For if You remain silent, I will be like those descending to the Pit.
- Psalms 27:9
Hide not Your face from me, nor turn away Your servant in anger. You have been my helper; do not leave me or forsake me, O God of my salvation.
- Psalms 69:17
Through
Psalms 130:6My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning— more than watchmen wait for the morning.
it leads to
- Psalms 63:6
When I remember You on my bed, I think of You through the watches of the night.
- Psalms 119:147
I rise before dawn and cry for help; in Your word I have put my hope.
- Psalms 63:6
Through
Psalms 69:3I am weary from my crying; my throat is parched. My eyes fail, looking for my God.
it leads to
- Psalms 6:6
I am weary from groaning; all night I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears.
- Isaiah 38:14
I chirp like a swallow or crane; I moan like a dove. My eyes grow weak as I look upward. O Lord, I am oppressed; be my security.”
- Psalms 119:82
My eyes fail, looking for Your promise; I ask, “When will You comfort me?”
- Psalms 6:6
Where this verse is studied
About Psalms

This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Psalms; 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, Vol. 6; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
