Psalms 119:128
in Psalms 119Therefore I admire all Your precepts and hate every false way.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; And I hate every false way. פ PE.
KJV
Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way.
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This verse in Psalms 119
Commentary
8 notes on this verseAll thy precepts concerning all things to be right - There are too many supplied words here to leave the text unsuspected. All the ancient versions, except the Chaldee, seem to have omitted the second כל col, All and read the text thus: “Therefore I have walked straight in all thy precepts.” I go straight on in all thy precepts, hating every false way. I neither turn to the right hand nor to the left; the false ways are crooked; thy way is straight. I am going to heaven, and that way lies straight before me. To walk in the way of falsity I cannot, because I hate it; and I hate such ways because God hates them.
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
"Therefore," he saith, "was I made straight unto all Thy commandments" (ver. 128). I was made straight, doubtless, because I loved them; and I clung by love to them, which were straight, that I might also myself become straight. Then what he addeth, naturally follows: "and every unrighteous way I utterly abhor." For how could it be that he who loved the straight could do aught save abhor an unrighteous way? For as, if he loved gold and precious stones, he would abhor all that might bring loss of such property: thus, since he loved the commandments of God, he abhorred the path of iniquity, as one of the most savage rocks in the sailor's track, whereon he must needs suffer shipwreck of things so precious. That this may not be his lot, he who saileth on the wood of the Cross with the divine commandments as his freight, steereth far from thence.
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
BonaventureCollationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 3 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
Third, we ought to speak of the commandments of God, that we may hate iniquity. Therefore it is said in the Psalm: "Therefore I was directed toward all thy commandments; every wicked way I have hated." For when a man begins to know iniquity or …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
"Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right." Because the ungodly found fault with the precepts of God, therefore David was all the more sure of their being right. The censure of the wicked is a certificate of merit; that which they sanction we may justly suspect, but that which they abominate we may ardently, admire. The good man's delight in God's law is unreserved, he believes in all God's precepts concerning all things. "And I hate every false way." Love to truth begat hatred of falsehood.
"Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right." Because the ungodly found fault with the precepts of God, therefore David was all the more sure of their being right. The censure of the wicked is a certificate of merit; that which they sanction we may justly suspect, but that which they abominate we may ardently, admire. The good man's delight in God's law is unreserved, he believes in all God's precepts concerning all things. "And I hate every false way." Love to truth begat hatred of falsehood. This godly man was not indifferent to anything, but that which he did not love he hated. He was no chip in the porridge without flavour; he was a good lover or a good hater, but he was never a waverer. He knew what he felt, and expressed it. He was no Gallio, caring for none of the things. His detestation was as unreserved as his affection; he had not a good word for any practice which would not bear the light of truth. The fact that such large multitudes follow the broad road had no influence upon this holy mail, except to make him more determined to avoid every form of error and sin. May the Holy Spirit so rule in our hearts that our affections may be in the same decided condition towards the precepts of the word.
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
Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right - literally, “Therefore all the commandments of all I regard as right.” The idea seems to be, that he regarded as right and just all the commandments of God pertaining to “every” thing and “every” person; all, considered in every way; all, wherever the law extended, and whomsoever it embraced; all the law pertaining to duty toward God and toward man. He saw in the “violation” of the laws of God Psa 119:126 a reason for approving “all” law; all that would restrain people from sin, and that would bind them to duty and to virtue. The effect had been to lead him to reflect on the worth of law as law, and he had come to the conclusion that all the laws of God were to be approved and loved, inasmuch as they would, in their observance, prevent the wrongs and sorrows which he saw to be consequent on their violation. And I hate every false way - Every course of life not based on truth, or on a right view of things. All just law is based on a perception of what is true; on the reality of things; on what is required in the nature of the case; on what will tend to promote the best interests of society. Compare the notes at Psa 119:104.
The words behind it
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עַל־ | ʾal- | there- | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כֵּ֤ן׀ | ken | -fore | H3651 → | 771 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| פִּקּ֣וּדֵי | pikudei | [the] precepts of | H6490 → | 24 times |
| כֹ֣ל | khol | everything | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| יִשָּׁ֑רְתִּי | yishareti | I approve | H3474 → | |
| כָּל־ | kol- | every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| אֹ֖רַח | ʾorach | path of | H734 → | 58 times |
| שֶׁ֣קֶר | sheker | falsehood | H8267 → | 113 times |
| שָׂנֵֽאתִי׃ | saneti | I hate | H8130 → | 146 times |
עַל־there-
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
כֵּ֤ן׀-fore
kenH3651 →771 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
פִּקּ֣וּדֵי[the] precepts of
pikudeiH6490 →24 times
כֹ֣לeverything
kholH3605 →5413 times
יִשָּׁ֑רְתִּיI approve
yisharetiH3474 →
כָּל־every
kol-H3605 →5413 times
אֹ֖רַחpath of
ʾorachH734 →58 times
שֶׁ֣קֶרfalsehood
shekerH8267 →113 times
שָׂנֵֽאתִי׃I hate
sanetiH8130 →146 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
Proverbs 30:5Every word of God is flawless; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.
it leads to
- Psalms 18:30
As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless. He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.
- Psalms 12:6
The words of the LORD are flawless, like silver refined in a furnace, like gold purified sevenfold.
- James 3:17
But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peace-loving, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere.
- Psalms 84:11
For the LORD God is a sun and a shield; the LORD gives grace and glory; He withholds no good thing from those who walk with integrity.
- Psalms 3:3
But You, O LORD, are a shield around me, my glory, and the One who lifts my head.
- Psalms 18:30
Through
Romans 7:22For in my inner being I delight in God’s law.
it leads to
- Psalms 1:2
But his delight is in the Law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night.
- Psalms 40:8
I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your law is within my heart.”
- Psalms 119:35
Direct me in the path of Your commandments, for there I find delight.
- Psalms 1:2
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; Bonaventure, Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 3; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 6; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.