Psalms 119:167
in Psalms 119I obey Your testimonies and love them greatly.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
My soul hath observed thy testimonies; And I love them exceedingly.
KJV
My soul hath kept thy testimonies; and I love them exceedingly.
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This verse in Psalms 119
Commentary
8 notes on this verseObtain the same thing for yourself and strive to advance toward it; for it is able to raise you from earth to heaven. You will not advance in it without preparation or [solely] by chance. First cleanse your soul of every passion and wipe it as clean of every evil as a newly cleansed mirror. Remove far from you every recollection of wrong and anger, which most of all prevents our daily prayers from reaching God. Also remove from your heart the offenses of everyone who has ever sinned against you.
This site's exposition
Rulers persecute me without cause
on Psalms 119:161-168
Rulers persecute him without cause, and his heart fears only the word. Joy comes like plunder found, seven times a day he praises, and peace belongs to those who love the law. Verse 168 says all his ways are before God.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"My soul hath kept Thy testimonies, and I have loved them exceedingly:" or, as some copies read, "hath loved them," understanding, "my soul" (ver. 167). The testimonies of God are kept, while they are not denied. This is the office of Martyrs, for testimonies are called Martyria in Greek. But since it profiteth nothing, even to be burnt with flames without charity, he addeth, "and I have loved them exceedingly." ...For he who loveth, keepeth them in the Spirit of truth and faithfulness. But generally, while the commandments of God are kept, they against whose will they are kept become our foes: then, indeed, His testimonies also must be kept courageously, lest they be denied when the enemy persecuteth.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
My soul hath kept thy testimonies,.... The word of God, which he kept cordially and heartily; and in his heart, laid it up there; and with his whole soul observed the doctrines and kept the precepts of it; and I love them exceedingly; and kept them from a principle of love, and not with mercenary and selfish views; and this love was exceeding great, not cold nor lukewarm, but ardent and fervent, love in the superlative degree.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
"My soul hath kept thy testimonies." My outward life has kept thy precepts, and my inward life—my soul, has kept thy testimonies. God has borne testimony to many sacred truths, and these we hold fast as for life itself. The gracious man stores up the truth of God within his heart as a treasure exceedingly dear and precious—he keeps it. His secret soul, his inmost self, becomes the guardian of these divine teachings which are his sole authority in soul matters. "And I love them exceedingly."
"My soul hath kept thy testimonies." My outward life has kept thy precepts, and my inward life—my soul, has kept thy testimonies. God has borne testimony to many sacred truths, and these we hold fast as for life itself. The gracious man stores up the truth of God within his heart as a treasure exceedingly dear and precious—he keeps it. His secret soul, his inmost self, becomes the guardian of these divine teachings which are his sole authority in soul matters. "And I love them exceedingly." This was why he kept them, and having kept them this was the result of the keeping. He did not merely store up revealed truth by way of duty, but because of a deep, unutterable affection for it. He felt that he could sooner die than give up any part of the revelation of God. The more we store our minds with heavenly truth, the more deeply shall we be in love with it: the more we see the exceeding riches of the Bible the more will our love exceed measure, and exceed expression.
My soul hath kept - I have not attended to the latter merely, but my spirit has entered into the spirit and design of thy testimonies.
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
My soul hath kept thy testimonies, and I love them exeeedingly - I am conscious of loving them; I feel an inward assurance that I do love them.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| שָֽׁמְרָ֣ה | shamerah | it keeps | H8104 → | 468 times |
| נַ֭פְשִׁי | nafshi | self my | H5315 → | 754 times |
| עֵדֹתֶ֑יךָ | ʾedoteikha | testimonies your | H5713 → | 26 times |
| וָאֹהֲבֵ֥ם | vaohavem | and I have loved them | H157 → | 211 times |
| מְאֹֽד׃ | meod | exceedingly | H3966 → | 300 times |
שָֽׁמְרָ֣הit keeps
shamerahH8104 →468 times
נַ֭פְשִׁיself my
nafshiH5315 →754 times
עֵדֹתֶ֑יךָtestimonies your
ʾedoteikhaH5713 →26 times
וָאֹהֲבֵ֥םand I have loved them
vaohavemH157 →211 times
מְאֹֽד׃exceedingly
meodH3966 →300 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
Hebrews 10:16“This is the covenant I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord. I will put My laws in their hearts and inscribe them on their minds.”
it leads to
- Jeremiah 31:33–34
“But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD. I will put My law in their minds and inscribe it on their hearts. And…
- Hebrews 8:8–12
But God found fault with the people and said: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of…
- Romans 11:27
And this is My covenant with them when I take away their sins.”
- Jeremiah 31:33–34
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.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 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
Through
Psalms 40:8I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your law is within my heart.”
it leads to
- Romans 7:22
For in my inner being I delight in God’s law.
- John 4:34
Jesus explained, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work.
- Romans 7:22
Where this verse is studied
About Psalms
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, On the Psalms, Psalm 119; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 6; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; John Damascene, BARLAAM AND JOSEPH 20:175-76; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).