119:89-96 The settling of God's word in heaven, is opposed to the changes and revolutions of the earth. And the engagements of God's covenant are established more firmly than the earth itself. All the creatures answer the ends of their creation: shall man, who alone is endued with reason, be the only unprofitable burden of the earth? We may make the Bible a pleasant companion at any time. But the word, without the grace of God, would not quicken us. See the best help for bad memories, namely, good affections; and though the exact words be lost, if the meaning remain, that is well. I am thine, not my own, not the world's; save me from sin, save me from ruin. The Lord will keep the man in peace, whose mind is stayed on him. It is poor perfection which one sees and end of. Such are all things in this world, which pass for perfections. The glory of man is but as the flower of the grass. The psalmist had seen the fulness of the word of God, and its sufficiency. The word of the Lord reaches to all cases, to all times. It will take us from all confidence in man, or in our own wisdom, strength, and righteousness. Thus shall we seek comfort and happiness from Christ alone.

Verse 91. - They continue this day according to thine ordinances. Heaven and earth continue to observe the ordinances given them by God at the first (comp. Jeremiah 31:35, 36; Jeremiah 33:25). For all are thy servants; rather, all things, or all creatures.

They continue this day according to thine ordinances,.... That is, the heavens and the earth do, before mentioned, just as they were from the beginning of the creation. The heavenly bodies have the same motion, magnitude, distance, and influence; the sun rises and sets as it did; the moon keeps her appointed seasons of full and change, of increase and decrease; the fixed stars retain their place, and the planets have their exact revolutions: and on earth things are as they were; seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night; thus they are at this day, and will continue, according to the wise order and appointment of God. Aben Ezra and Kimchi interpret it,

"they stand or continue unto this day to do the will of God; to execute his judgments and decrees, or observe his order and ordinances.''

for all are thy servants; or "they", or "these all" (a); the heavens and earth, and all that is in them, all the works of God; he called them into being, and they rose up at his command; he calls them to service, and they stand up as obedient ones to do his will; he "commandeth the sun, and it riseth not" before its time; and "he sealeth up the stars", that they shine not when he pleases; once he commanded the sun to stand still on Gibeon, and the moon in the valley of Ajalon, and they obeyed him; see Isaiah 48:13. Hence it appears that the hosts of heaven, the sun, moon, and stars, ought not to be served and worshipped; but the Lord, the Maker of them, only, since they are his servants; and that men ought surely to serve the Lord, if these do, and especially such who are his chosen, redeemed, and called ones.

(a) "illa omnia", Junius & Tremellius; "universa haec", Gejerus.

91. They—the heaven (Ps 119:89) and the earth (Ps 119:90). Hengstenberg translates, "They stand for thy judgment," that is, ready, as obedient servants, to execute them. The usage of this Psalm favors this view. But see Jer 33:25.

Psalm 119:91 Parallel Commentaries

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