Psalms 119:55
in Psalms 119In the night, O LORD, I remember Your name, that I may keep Your law.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I have remembered thy name, O Jehovah, in the night, And have observed thy law.
KJV
I have remembered thy name, O Lord, in the night, and have kept thy law.
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This verse in Psalms 119
Commentary
8 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
Remember Your word to Your servant
on Psalms 119:49-56
The asking starts with God's own memory, that He remember the word He gave. The comfort named in verse 50 is that the promise gave him life, and the statutes in verse 54 are songs he sings in the house of his pilgrimage. In the night he remembers the name of the LORD.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"I have thought upon Thy Name, O Lord, in the night-season, and have kept Thy law" (ver. 55). Night is that low estate wherein is the trouble of mortality; night is in the proud who deal exceeding wickedly; night is the fear for the ungodly who forsake the law of the Lord; night is, lastly, the house of this pilgrimage, "until the Lord come, and bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts, and then shall every man have praise of God." In this night, therefore, man ought to remember the Name of the Lord; "So that he who glorieth, may glory in the Lord."
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
I have remembered thy name, O Lord, in the night,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The pious take comfort, when harassed and distressed by wickedness of men who forsake God's law, in remembering that the great principles of God's truth will still abide; and also God's judgments of old--that is, His past interpositions in behalf of His people are a pledge that He will again interpose to deliver them; and they become the theme of constant and delightful meditation.
"I have remembered thy name, O LORD, in the night." When others slept I woke to think of thee, thy person, thy actions, thy covenant, thy name, under which last term he comprehends the divine character as far as it is revealed. He was so earnest after the living God that he woke up at dead of night to think upon him. These were David's Night Thoughts. If they were not Sunny Memories they were memories of the Sun of Righteousness. It is well when our memory furnishes us with consolation, so that we can say with the Psalmist,—Having early been taught to know thee, I had only to remember the lessons of thy grace, and my heart was comforted. This verse shows not only that the man of God had remembered, but that he still remembered the Lord his God. We are to hallow the name of God, and we cannot do so if it slips from our memory. "And have kept thy law." He found sanctification through meditation; by the thoughts of the night he ruled the actions of the day. As the actions of the day often create the dreams of the night, so do the thoughts of the night produce the deeds of the day. If we do not keep the name of God in our memory we shall not keep the law of God in our conduct. Forgetfulness of mind leads up to forgetfulness of life. When we hear the night songs of revellers we have in them sure evidence that they do not keep God's law; but the quiet musings of gracious men are proof positive that the name of the Lord is dear to them. We may judge of nations by their songs, and so we may of men; and in the case of the righteous, their singing and their thinking are both indications of their love to God: whether they lift up their voices, or sit in silence, they are still the Lord's. Blessed are the men whose "night-thoughts" are memories of the eternal light; they shall be remembered of their Lord when the night of death comes on.
"I have remembered thy name, O LORD, in the night." When others slept I woke to think of thee, thy person, thy actions, thy covenant, thy name, under which last term he comprehends the divine character as far as it is revealed. He was so earnest after the living God that he woke up at dead of night to think upon him. These were David's Night Thoughts. If they were not Sunny Memories they were memories of the Sun of Righteousness.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
I have remembered thy name - Thou art Jehovah; and as our God thou hast made thyself known unto us. In the deepest night of our affliction this has consoled me.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
I have remembered thy name, O Lord, in the night ... - I have thought on thee in the night, when on my bed; I have done it in the night of calamity and sorrow. See the notes at Psa 63:6.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| זָ֘כַ֤רְתִּי | zakharti | I have remembered | H2142 → | 230 times |
| בַלַּ֣יְלָה | valaylah | in the night | H3915 → | 233 times |
| שִׁמְךָ֣ | shimkha | name your | H8034 → | 864 times |
| יְהוָ֑ה | yahweh | O Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וָֽ֝אֶשְׁמְרָ֗ה | vaeshmerah | and I have kept ! | H8104 → | 468 times |
| תּוֹרָתֶֽךָ׃ | toratekha | law your | H8451 → | 219 times |
זָ֘כַ֤רְתִּיI have remembered
zakhartiH2142 →230 times
בַלַּ֣יְלָהin the night
valaylahH3915 →233 times
שִׁמְךָ֣name your
shimkhaH8034 →864 times
יְהוָ֑הO Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
וָֽ֝אֶשְׁמְרָ֗הand I have kept !
vaeshmerahH8104 →468 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
Acts 16:25About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.
it leads to
- Psalms 119:62
At midnight I rise to give You thanks for Your righteous judgments.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:16–18
Rejoice at all times.
- James 1:2
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of many kinds,
- 1 Peter 1:6–8
In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in various trials
- Romans 5:3
Not only that, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;
- Psalms 119:62
Through
Psalms 63:6When I remember You on my bed, I think of You through the watches of the night.
it leads to
- Psalms 149:5
Let the saints exult in glory; let them shout for joy upon their beds.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 42:8
The LORD decrees His loving devotion by day, and at night His song is with me as a prayer to the God of my life.
- Psalms 149:5
Through
Isaiah 26:9My soul longs for You in the night; indeed, my spirit seeks You at dawn. For when Your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness.
it leads to
- Matthew 6:33
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.
- Matthew 6:33
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; 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).