Psalms 119:124
in Psalms 119Deal with Your servant according to Your loving devotion, and teach me Your statutes.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Deal with thy servant according unto thy lovingkindness, And teach me thy statutes.
KJV
Deal with thy servant according unto thy mercy, and teach me thy statutes.
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This verse in Psalms 119
Commentary
7 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
In connection with this he goes on to say, "O deal with Your servant according to Your loving mercy" [Psalm 119:124]; not according to my righteousness. "And teach me," he says, "Your righteousnesses;" those beyond doubt, whereby God renders men righteous, not they themselves.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Deal with thy servant according unto thy mercy,....
The Nineteenth Century3 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.
"Deal with thy servant according unto thy mercy." Here he recollects himself: although before men he was so clear that he could challenge the word of righteousness, yet before the Lord, as his servant, he felt that he must appeal to mercy. We feel safest here. Our heart has more rest in the cry, "God be merciful to me," than in appealing to justice. It is well to be able to say, "I have done judgment and justice," and then to add in all lowliness, yet "deal with thy servant according unto thy mercy."
"Deal with thy servant according unto thy mercy." Here he recollects himself: although before men he was so clear that he could challenge the word of righteousness, yet before the Lord, as his servant, he felt that he must appeal to mercy. We feel safest here. Our heart has more rest in the cry, "God be merciful to me," than in appealing to justice. It is well to be able to say, "I have done judgment and justice," and then to add in all lowliness, yet "deal with thy servant according unto thy mercy." The title of servant covers a plea; a master should clear the character of his servant if he be falsely accused, and rescue him from those who would oppress him; and, moreover, the master should show mercy to a servant, even if he deal severely with a stranger. The Lord condescendingly deals, or has communications with his servants, not spurning them, but communing with them; and this he does in a tender and merciful way, for in any other form of dealing we should be crushed into the dust. "And teach me thy statutes." This will be one way of dealing with us in mercy. We may expect a master to teach his own servant the meaning of his own orders. Yet since our ignorance arises from our own sinful stupidity, it is great mercy on God's part that he condescends to instruct us in his commands. For our ruler to become our teacher is an act of great grace, for which we cannot be too grateful. Among our mercies this is one of the choicest.
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
Deal with thy servant according unto thy mercy - Not according to justice - for, sinners as we are, we can never urge that as a plea before God. No man who knows himself could ask of God to deal with him according to the strict and stern principles of justice. But we may ask him to deal with us according to mercy - for mercy is our only plea, and the mercy of God - vast and boundless - constitutes such a ground of appeal as we need. No man can have any other; no man need desire any other. And teach me thy statutes - See the notes at Psa 119:12. Show thy mercy to me in teaching me thy law.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עֲשֵׂ֖ה | ʾaseh | do | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| עִם־ | ʾim- | with | H5973 → | 1050 times |
| עַבְדְּךָ֥ | ʾavdekha | servant your | H5650 → | 799 times |
| כְחַסְדֶּ֗ךָ | khechasdekha | according to covenant loyalty your | H2617 → | 247 times |
| וְחֻקֶּ֥יךָ | vechukeicha | and decrees your | H2706 → | 127 times |
| לַמְּדֵֽנִי׃ | lamedeni | teach me | H3925 → | 85 times |
עֲשֵׂ֖הdo
ʾasehH6213 →2628 times
עִם־with
ʾim-H5973 →1050 times
עַבְדְּךָ֥servant your
ʾavdekhaH5650 →799 times
כְחַסְדֶּ֗ךָaccording to covenant loyalty your
khechasdekhaH2617 →247 times
וְחֻקֶּ֥יךָand decrees your
vechukeichaH2706 →127 times
לַמְּדֵֽנִי׃teach me
lamedeniH3925 →85 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 103:10He has not dealt with us according to our sins or repaid us according to our iniquities.
it leads to
- Ezra 9:13
After all that has come upon us because of our evil deeds and our great guilt (though You, our God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserve and have given us such a…
- Nehemiah 9:31
But in Your great compassion, You did not put an end to them; nor did You forsake them, for You are a gracious and compassionate God.
- Lamentations 3:22
Because of the loving devotion of the LORD we are not consumed, for His mercies never fail.
- Psalms 130:3
If You, O LORD, kept track of iniquities, then who, O Lord, could stand?
- Job 11:6
and disclose to you the secrets of wisdom, for true wisdom has two sides. Know then that God exacts from you less than your iniquity deserves.
- Ezra 9:13
Through
Psalms 130:7O Israel, put your hope in the LORD, for with the LORD is loving devotion, and with Him is redemption in abundance.
it leads to
- Ephesians 1:7–8
In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace
- Psalms 40:3
He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD.
- Revelation 5:9
And they sang a new song: “Worthy are You to take the scroll and open its seals, because You were slain, and by Your blood You purchased for God those from every tribe and…
- Ephesians 1:7–8
Where this verse is studied
About Psalms
This page draws on 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) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.