Psalms 119:120

The "judgments" are those on the wicked (Ps 119:119). Joyful hope goes hand in hand with fear (Hab 3:16-18).

But the disobedient and rebellious will be visited by God's wrath, which impresses the pious with wholesome fear and awe. their deceit is falsehood--that is, all their cunning deceit, wherewith they seek to entrap the godly, is in vain.

"My flesh trembleth for fear of thee." Such was his awe in the presence of the Judge of all the earth, whose judgment he had just now been considering, that he did exceedingly fear and quake. Even the grosser part of his being,—his flesh, felt a solemn dread at the thought of offending one so good and great, who would so effectually sever the wicked from among the just. Alas, poor flesh, this is the highest thing to which thou canst attain! "And I am afraid of thy judgments." God's words of judgment are solemn, and his deeds of judgment are terrible; they may well make us afraid. At the thought of the Judge of all,—his piercing eye, his books of record, his day of assize, and the operations of his justice,—we may well cry for cleansed thoughts, and hearts, and ways, lest his judgments should light on us. When we see the great Refiner separating the precious from the vile, we may well feel a godly fear, lest we should be put away by him, and left to be trodden under his feet. Love in the previous verse is quite consistent with fear in this verse: the fear which hath torment is cast out, but not the filial fear which leads to reverence and obedience.

"My flesh trembleth for fear of thee." Such was his awe in the presence of the Judge of all the earth, whose judgment he had just now been considering, that he did exceedingly fear and quake. Even the grosser part of his being,—his flesh, felt a solemn dread at the thought of offending one so good and great, who would so effectually sever the wicked from among the just. Alas, poor flesh, this is the highest thing to which thou canst attain! "And I am afraid of thy judgments."

My flesh trembleth for fear of thee - I know thou art a just and holy God: I know thou requirest truth in the inner parts. I know that thou art a Spirit, and that they who worship thee must worship thee in spirit and in truth; and I am often alarmed lest I fall short. It is only an assurance of my interest in thy mercy that can save me from distressing fears and harassing doubts. It is our privilege to know we are in God’s favor; and it is not less so to maintain a continual filial fear of offending him. A true conception of God’s justice and mercy begets reverence.

My flesh trembleth for fear of thee - I stand in awe of thee. I shudder at the consciousness of thy presence. See Hab 3:16; Heb 12:21; Joe 2:10; Nah 1:5. There is nothing unaccountable in this. Any man would tremble, should God manifest himself to him as he might do; and it is possible that the mind may have such an overpowering sense of the presence and majesty of God, that the body shall be agitated, lose its strength, and with the deepest alarm fall to the earth. Compare Dan 10:8; Rev 1:17. No man could meet one of the departed dead, or a good angel, without this fear; how much less could he meet God! And I am afraid of thy judgments - Of thy laws or commands. My mind is filled with awe at the strictness, the spirituality, the severity of thy law. Reverence - awe - is one of the essential elements of all true religion.