Psalms 119:149
in Psalms 119Hear my voice, O LORD, according to Your loving devotion; give me life according to Your justice.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Hear my voice according unto thy lovingkindness: Quicken me, O Jehovah, according to thine ordinances.
KJV
Hear my voice according unto thy lovingkindness: O Lord, quicken me according to thy judgment.
⋯
This verse in Psalms 119
Commentary
8 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
I call with all my heart
on Psalms 119:145-152
The praying runs from before dawn into the night watches. Verse 150 has those who follow wickedness drawing near, and verse 151 has the LORD near with all His commandments true. Verse 152 says the testimonies were established long ago.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"Hear my voice, O Lord, according to Thy loving-mercy; and quicken Thou me according to Thy judgment" (ver. 149). For first God according to His loving-mercy taketh away punishment from sinners, and will give them life afterwards, when righteous, according to His judgment; for it is not without a meaning that it is said unto Him, "My song shall be of mercy and judgment: unto Thee, O Lord;" in this order of the terms: although the season of mercy itself be not without judgment, whereof the Apostle saith, "If we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged of the Lord." ...And the final season of judgment shall not be without mercy, since as the Psalm saith, "He crowneth thee with mercy and loving-kindness." But "judgment shall be without mercy," but "unto those" on the left, "who have not dealt mercy."
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Hear my voice according unto thy lovingkindness,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
quicken me--revive my heart according to those principles of justice, founded on Thine own nature, and revealed in Thy law, which specially set forth Thy mercy to the humble as well as justice to the wicked (compare Ps 119:30).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
An intelligent devotion is led by divine promises and is directed to an increase of gracious affections, arising from a contemplation of revealed truth.
"Hear my voice according unto thy lovingkindness." Men find it very helpful to use their voices in prayer; it is difficult long to maintain the intensity of devotion unless we hear ourselves speak; hence David at length broke through his silence, arose from his quiet meditations, and began crying with voice as well as heart unto the Lord his God. Note, that he does not plead his own deservings, nor for a moment appeal for payment of a debt on account of merit; he takes the free-grace way, and puts it, "according unto thy lovingkindness."
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
"Hear my voice according unto thy lovingkindness." Men find it very helpful to use their voices in prayer; it is difficult long to maintain the intensity of devotion unless we hear ourselves speak; hence David at length broke through his silence, arose from his quiet meditations, and began crying with voice as well as heart unto the Lord his God. Note, that he does not plead his own deservings, nor for a moment appeal for payment of a debt on account of merit; he takes the free-grace way, and puts it, "according unto thy lovingkindness." When God hears prayer according to his lovingkindness he overlooks all the imperfections of the prayer, he forgets the sinfulness of the offerer, and in pitying love he grants the desire though the suppliant be unworthy. It is according to God's lovingkindness to answer speedily, to answer frequently, to answer abundantly, yea, exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or even think. Lovingkindness is one of the sweetest words in our language. Kindness has much in it that is most precious, but loving kindness is doubly dear; it is the cream of kindness. "O Lord, quicken me according to thy judgment." This is another of David's wise and ardent prayers. He first cried, "Save me;" then, "Hear me;" and now, "Quicken me." This is often the very best way of delivering us from trouble,—to give us more life that we may escape from death; and to add more strength to that life that we may not be overloaded with its burdens. Observe, that he asks to receive quickening according to God's judgment, that is, in such a way as should be consistent with infinite wisdom and prudence.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Hear my voice, according unto thy loving-kindness - According to thy mercy; thy goodness. Let that be the rule in answering me; not my deserts, or even the fervour of my prayers. We can desire no better rule in answer to our prayers. O Lord, quicken me - Give me life; cause me truly to live. See the notes at Psa 119:40. According to thy judgment - Thy law as a rule of judgment; thy revealed truth, with all its gracious promises.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ק֭וֹלִי | koli | voice my | H6963 → | 506 times |
| שִׁמְעָ֣ה | shimah | hear ! | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| כְחַסְדֶּ֑ךָ | khechasdekha | according to covenant loyalty your | H2617 → | 247 times |
| יְ֝הוָ֗ה | yahweh | O Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| כְּֽמִשְׁפָּטֶ֥ךָ | kemishpatekha | according to judgments your | H4941 → | 422 times |
| חַיֵּֽנִי׃ | chaiyeni | preserve alive me | H2421 → | 282 times |
ק֭וֹלִיvoice my
koliH6963 →506 times
שִׁמְעָ֣הhear !
shimahH8085 →1159 times
כְחַסְדֶּ֑ךָaccording to covenant loyalty your
khechasdekhaH2617 →247 times
יְ֝הוָ֗הO Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
כְּֽמִשְׁפָּטֶ֥ךָaccording to judgments your
kemishpatekhaH4941 →422 times
חַיֵּֽנִי׃preserve alive me
chaiyeniH2421 →282 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 51:1Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your loving devotion; according to Your great compassion, blot out my transgressions.
it leads to
- Acts 3:19
Repent, then, and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped away,
- Isaiah 44:22
I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like a mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.
- Isaiah 43:25
I, yes I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake and remembers your sins no more.
- Psalms 51:9
Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities.
- Colossians 2:14
having canceled the debt ascribed to us in the decrees that stood against us. He took it away, nailing it to the cross!
- Acts 3:19
Through
Psalms 119:40How I long for Your precepts! Revive me in Your righteousness.
it leads to
- Psalms 119:20
My soul is consumed with longing for Your judgments at all times.
- John 10:10
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it in all its fullness.
- Psalms 119:20
Through
Psalms 55:2Attend to me and answer me. I am restless in my complaint, and distraught
it leads to
- 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.”
- Isaiah 38:14
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; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 6; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).