Psalms 119:16
in Psalms 119I will delight in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word. ג GIMEL.
KJV
I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.
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This verse in Psalms 119
Commentary
9 notes on this verseI will delight myself - The word is very emphatical: אשתעשע eshtaasha, I will skip about and jump for joy. 14. He must exult in God’s word as his treasure, live in the spirit of obedience as his work, and ever glory in God, who has called him to such a state of salvation. 15. He must never forget what God has done for him, done in him, and promised farther to do; and he must not forget the promises he had made, and the vows of the Lord that are upon him. Any young man who attends to these fifteen particulars will get his impure way cleansed; victory over his sin; and, if he abide faithful to the Lord that bought him, an eternal heaven at last among them that are sanctified.
This site's exposition
How can a young man keep his way pure
on Psalms 119:9-16
The question is how a young man keeps his way pure, and the answer given is guarding it by the word. Verse 11 puts the word inside the man, hidden in the heart. Around it stand the practices: proclaiming, rejoicing, meditating, delighting, and never forgetting.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Through this sweet exercise is gained also what he subjoineth: "My meditation shall be in Thy statutes, and I will not forget Thy word" (ver. 16). "My meditation" shall be therein, that I may not forget them. Thus the blessed man in the first Psalm "shall meditate in the law" of the Lord "day and night."
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
I will delight myself in thy statutes,.... In looking over them; in meditating on them; in obeying them, and walking according to them; as every good man does delight in the law of the Lord, after the inward man, Rom 7:22; see Psa 119:24; I will not forget thy word: he took all proper methods to fix it in his memory; he laid it up in his mind; he meditated upon it in his heart, and he talked of it with his lips, Psa 119:11.
If there were wonders in the law, much more in the gospel, where Christ is all in all, whose name is Wonderful. Well may we, who are so nearly interested, desire to behold these wondrous things, when the angels themselves reach to look into them, 1 Pet. i.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
We must carefully treasure up the word of God, declare it to others, meditate on it, and heartily delight in it; and then by His grace we shall act according to it.
"I will delight myself in thy statutes." In this verse delight follows meditation, of which it is the true flower and outgrowth. When we have no other solace, but are quite alone, it will be a glad thing for the heart to turn upon itself, and sweetly whisper, "I will delight myself. What if no minstrel sings in the hall, I will delight myself. If the time of the singing of birds has not yet arrived, and the voice of the turtle is not heard in our land, yet I will delight myself."
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
"I will delight myself in thy statutes." In this verse delight follows meditation, of which it is the true flower and outgrowth. When we have no other solace, but are quite alone, it will be a glad thing for the heart to turn upon itself, and sweetly whisper, "I will delight myself. What if no minstrel sings in the hall, I will delight myself. If the time of the singing of birds has not yet arrived, and the voice of the turtle is not heard in our land, yet I will delight myself." This is the choicest and noblest of all rejoicing; in fact, it is the good part which can never be taken from us; but there is no delighting ourselves with anything below that which God intended to be the soul's eternal satisfaction. The statute book is intended to be the joy of every loyal subject. When the believer once peruses the sacred pages his soul burns within him as he turns first to one and then to another of the royal words of the great King, words full and firm, immutable and divine. "I will not forget thy word." Men do not readily forget that which they have treasured up, that which they have meditated on (Psa 119:15), and that which they have often spoken of (Psa 119:13). Yet since we have treacherous memories it is well to bind them well with the knotted cord of "I will not forget." Note how two "I wills" follow upon two "I haves." We may not promise for the future if we have altogether failed in the past; but where grace has enabled us to accomplish something, we may hopefully expect that it will enable us to do more. It is curious to observe how this verse is moulded upon Psa 119:8 : the changes are rung on the same words, but the meaning is quite different, and there is no suspicion of a vain repetition. The same thought is never given over again in this Psalm; they are dullards who think so.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
I will delight myself in thy statutes - I will find my happiness in thy laws. See Psa 1:2, note; Psa 112:1, note. I will not forget thy word - I will not allow the world to crowd it out of my mind.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בְּחֻקֹּתֶ֥יךָ | bechukoteicha | in statutes your | H2708 → | 104 times |
| אֶֽשְׁתַּעֲשָׁ֑ע | ʾeshtaasha' | I will delight myself | H8173 → | 9 times |
| לֹ֭א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| אֶשְׁכַּ֣ח | ʾeshkach | I will forget | H7911 → | 102 times |
| דְּבָרֶֽךָ׃ | devarekha | word your | H1697 → | 1440 times |
בְּחֻקֹּתֶ֥יךָin statutes your
bechukoteichaH2708 →104 times
אֶֽשְׁתַּעֲשָׁ֑עI will delight myself
ʾeshtaasha'H8173 →9 times
לֹ֭אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
אֶשְׁכַּ֣חI will forget
ʾeshkachH7911 →102 times
דְּבָרֶֽךָ׃word your
devarekhaH1697 →1440 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
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 119:47–48
I delight in Your commandments because I love them.
- Psalms 1:2
Through
Proverbs 3:1My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments;
it leads to
- John 14:21–24
Whoever has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me. The one who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and reveal Myself to him.”
- Proverbs 4:5
Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or turn from them.
- Deuteronomy 6:6–9
These words I am commanding you today are to be upon your hearts.
- Proverbs 1:8
Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction, and do not forsake the teaching of your mother.
- John 14:21–24
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; 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.