Psalms 119:126
in Psalms 119It is time for the LORD to act, for they have broken Your law.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
It is time for Jehovah to work; For they have made void thy law.
KJV
It is time for thee, Lord, to work: for they have made void thy law.
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This verse in Psalms 119
Commentary
8 notes on this verseIt is time for thee, Lord, to work,.... To send the Messiah, to work righteousness; to fulfil the law, and vindicate the honour of it, broken by men. It was always a notion of the Jews that the time of the Messiah's coming would be when it was a time of great wickedness in the earth; and which seems to agree with the word of God, and was true in fact; see Mal 2:
This 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
"It is time," he says, "for the Lord to lay to His hand" [Psalm 119:126]. For this is the reading of most copies: not as some have, "O Lord." Now what is this, save the grace which was revealed in Christ at its own time? Of which season the Apostle says, "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent His Son." [Galatians 4:4] ...But wherefore is it that, seemingly anxious to show the Lord that it was time to lay to His hand, he has subjoined, "They have scattered Your law;" as if it were the season for the Lord to act, because the proud scattered His law. For what means this? In the wickedness of transgression, they have not guarded its integrity. It was needful therefore that the Law should be given to the proud and those presuming in the freedom of their own will, after a transgression of which whosoever were contrite and humbled, might run no longer by the Law, but by faith, to aiding grace. When the Law therefore was scattered, it was time that mercy should be sent through the only-begotten Son of God.
The Nineteenth Century4 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.
"It is time for thee, Lord, to work: For they have made void thy law." David was a servant, and therefore it was always his time to work: but being oppressed by a sight of man's ungodly behaviour, he feels that his Master's hand is wanted, and therefore he appeals to him to work against the working of evil. Men make void the law of God by denying it to be his law, by promulgating commands and doctrines in opposition to it, by setting up tradition in its place, or by utterly disregarding and scorning the authority of the lawgiver. Then sin becomes fashionable, and a holy walk is regarded as a contemptible puritanism; vice is styled pleasure, and vanity bears the bell. Then the saints sigh for the presence and power of their God: Oh for an hour of the King upon the throne and the rod of iron! Oh for another Pentecost with all its wonders, to reveal the energy of God to gain sayers, and make them see that there is a God in Israel! Man's extremity, whether of need or sin, is God's opportunity. When the earth was without form and void, the Spirit came and moved upon the face of the waters; should he not come when society is returning to a like chaos? When Israel in Egypt were reduced to the lowest point, and it seemed that the covenant would be void, then Moses appeared and wrought mighty miracles; so, too, when the church of God is trampled down, and her message is derided, we may expect to see the hand of the Lord stretched out for the revival of religion, the defence of the truth, and the glorifying of the divine name. The Lord can work either by judgments which hurl down the ramparts of the foe; or by revivals which build up the walls of his own Jerusalem. How heartily may we pray the Lord to raise up new evangelists, to quicken those we all early have, to set his whole church on fire, and to bring the world to his feet.
"It is time for thee, Lord, to work: For they have made void thy law." David was a servant, and therefore it was always his time to work: but being oppressed by a sight of man's ungodly behaviour, he feels that his Master's hand is wanted, and therefore he appeals to him to work against the working of evil. Men make void the law of God by denying it to be his law, by promulgating commands and doctrines in opposition to it, by setting up tradition in its place, or by utterly disregarding and scorning the authority of the lawgiver.
It is time for thee, Lord, to work - The time is fulfilled in which thou hast promised deliverance to thy people. They - the Babylonians, Have made void thy law - They have filled up the measure of their iniquities.
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
It is time for thee, Lord, to work - literally, “Time to do for Yahweh;” and the construction might be either that it is time to do (something) for Yahweh; or, that it is time for Yahweh himself to do (something). The direct address to the Lord in the latter part of the sentence would seem, however, to show that the latter is the true interpretation: to wit, that since people make void the law of God, it is time for him to work, that is, to interpose by his power and restrain them; to bring them to repentance; to assert his own authority; to vindicate his cause. Thus understood, it is an appropriate prayer to be used when iniquity abounds, and when some special form of sin has an ascendancy among a people. The other interpretation, however, “It is time (for us) to do (something), since people make void thy law,” suggests a truth of great importance. Then is the time when the people of God should arouse themselves to efforts to stay the tide of wickedness, and to secure the ascendancy of religion, of virtue, and of law. For they have made void thy law - They have broken it. They have set it at defiance. They regard and treat it as if it had no claim to obedience; as if it were a thing of nought. This the psalmist urges as a reason for the putting forth of power to arrest the evil; to bring people to repentance; to secure the salvation of souls. By all the evil done when the law of God is set at nought, by all the desirableness that the law should be obeyed, by all the danger to the souls of people from its violation, this prayer may now and at all times be offered, and that with earnestness. Compare Psa 119:136.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עֵ֭ת | ʾet | a time | H6256 → | 296 times |
| לַעֲשׂ֣וֹת | laasot | to act | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| לַיהוָ֑ה | layahweh | [belongs] to Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| הֵ֝פֵ֗רוּ | heferu | people have broken | H6565 → | 50 times |
| תּוֹרָתֶֽךָ׃ | toratekha | law your | H8451 → | 219 times |
עֵ֭תa time
ʾetH6256 →296 times
לַעֲשׂ֣וֹתto act
laasotH6213 →2628 times
לַיהוָ֑ה[belongs] to Yahweh
layahwehH3068 →6520 times
הֵ֝פֵ֗רוּpeople have broken
heferuH6565 →50 times
תּוֹרָתֶֽךָ׃law your
toratekhaH8451 →219 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
Malachi 2:8But you have departed from the way, and your instruction has caused many to stumble. You have violated the covenant of Levi,” says the LORD of Hosts.
it leads to
- Nehemiah 13:29
Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and of the Levites.
- Nehemiah 13:29
Through
Jeremiah 8:8How can you say, ‘We are wise, and the Law of the LORD is with us,’ when in fact the lying pen of the scribes has produced a deception?
it leads to
- John 9:41
“If you were blind,” Jesus replied, “you would not be guilty of sin. But since you claim you can see, your guilt remains.”
- Isaiah 10:1–2
Woe to those who enact unjust statutes and issue oppressive decrees,
- Job 5:12–13
He thwarts the schemes of the crafty, so that their hands find no success.
- Romans 1:22
Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools,
- John 9:41
Through
Habakkuk 1:4Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted.
it leads to
- Psalms 94:20–21
Can a corrupt throne be Your ally— one devising mischief by decree?
- Job 21:7
Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power?
- Isaiah 1:21–23
See how the faithful city has become a harlot! She once was full of justice; righteousness resided within her, but now only murderers!
- Psalms 94:20–21
Where this verse is studied
About Psalms
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) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.