Psalm 119:172

My tongue shall speak of thy word: for all thy commandments are righteousness.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(172) My tongue shall speak of Thy word.—Rather, My tongue shall make response to Thy word, that all Thy commandments are true.

Benson Commentary

TAU.

Psalm 119:172-175. My tongue shall speak of — Shall freely and abundantly, like a fountain, pour forth, as תעןsignifies; thy word — The truths, precepts, and other contents of it. For all thy commandments are righteousness — Even those which, to men of corrupt minds, seem severe and unjust. Let thy hand help me — Let thy divine power, therefore, succour me in this weak and distressed condition wherein I am. For I have chosen, &c. — For I rely on it alone, having resolved to be guided wholly by thy precepts. I have longed for thy salvation — That thou wouldest save me completely, not only from my troubles, but also from my sins, and from all inclination to decline from thy ways, and that at last thou wouldest crown me with eternal salvation in thy kingdom. Let my soul live — That is, let my natural life be prolonged, that I may live to thy glory. Or, let my soul possess spiritual life in union and communion with thee; and it shall praise thee — Shall have both inclination and power so to do, with fervency and delight. Let thy judgments help me — Thy providential dispensations, whereby thou rulest and judgest the world, punishing the wicked, and protecting and delivering the godly: or rather, thy ordinances and testimonies, (as the word judgments commonly signifies in this Psalm,) which are the only ground of my confiding in thee for help.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

119:169-176 The psalmist desired grace and strength to lift up his prayers, and that the Lord would receive and notice them. He desired to know more of God in Christ; to know more of the doctrines of the word, and the duties of religion. He had a deep sense of unworthiness, and holy fear that his prayer should not come before God; Lord, what I pray for is, what thou hast promised. We have learned nothing to purpose, if we have not learned to praise God. We should always make the word of God the rule of our discourse, so as never to transgress it by sinful speaking, or sinful silence. His own hands are not sufficient, nor can any creature lend him help; therefore he looks up to God, that the hand that had made him may help him. He had made religion his deliberate choice. There is an eternal salvation all the saints long for, and therefore they pray that God would help their way to it. Let thy judgments help me; let all ordinances and all providences, (both are God's judgments,) further me in glorifying God; let them help me for that work. He often looks back with shame and gratitude to his lost estate. He still prays for the tender care of Him who purchased his flock with his own blood, that he may receive from him the gift of eternal life. Seek me, that is, Find me; for God never seeks in vain. Turn me, and I shall be turned. Let this psalm be a touchstone by which to try our hearts, and our lives. Do our hearts, cleansed in Christ's blood, make these prayers, resolutions and confessions our own? Is God's word the standard of our faith, and the law of our practice? Do we use it as pleas with Christ for what we need? Happy those who live in such delightful exercises.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

My tongue shall speak of thy word - It shall speak of it in the language of praise; it shall speak of it in making it known to others.

For all thy commandments are righteousness - I see this; I feel it; and, therefore, I will speak of it. My impression that thy commandments are all righteous is so deep, that I cannot but speak of them. I must vindicate them; I must praise thee for them.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

172. My tongue shall speak of thy word—literally, "answer Thy Word," that is, with praise, respond to Thy word. Every expression in which we praise God and His Word is a response, or acknowledgment, corresponding to the perfections of Him whom we praise.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Ver. 172. Shall speak, Heb. shall pour forth, freely and abundantly, like a fountain. Of thy word; in praise of it, for its righteousness, as it here follows, its truth, and purity, and other excellencies.

Thy commandments; even those which to men of corrupted minds seem harsh and unjust.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

My tongue shall speak of thy word,.... Of the word of God in general; of the truth of it, which he knew by certain experience; of the purity of it, tending to promote holiness of heart and life; of the power and efficacy of it, enlightening his mind, and working effectually in him; of the profit of it, to his learning, to his instruction, comfort, and refreshment; of the preciousness of it, being of more worth than thousands of gold and silver; and of the pleasantness of it, being sweeter than the honey or honeycomb, and more to be esteemed than one's necessary food; and of the promises of it in particular, of the worth and value of them, of their suitableness and use, and of the faithful fulfilment of them; and of the doctrines of the word, especially those which relate to the grace of God, and salvation by the Messiah; and also of the precepts of the word, as follows:

for all thy commandments are righteousness; not only righteous, but righteousness itself, being strictly just and equitable in the highest sense; and not only some of them, but all of them; see Psalm 119:128. Aben Ezra's paraphrase of the words is,

"I will teach the children of men thy word, that they may know that thy commandments are righteousness;''

which is not amiss: and to the same sense is Kimchi's note, who observes, that author of the Masorah interprets it of praise; as if he had said, My tongue shall praise thy word, because all of it is righteousness.

Geneva Study Bible

My tongue shall speak of thy word: for all thy commandments are righteousness.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 172. - My tongue shall speak of thy Word; or, "let my tongue respond to thy promise " - return praise, i.e., for the fulfillment of thy promise. For all thy commandments are righteousness. And therefore are worthy objects of praise. Psalm 119:172

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The eightfold Tav. May God answer this his supplication as He has heard his praise, and interest Himself on behalf of His servant, the sheep that is exposed to great danger. The petitions "give me understanding" and "deliver me" go hand-in-hand, because the poet is one who is persecuted for the sake of his faith, and is just as much in need of the fortifying of his faith as of deliverance from the outward restraint that is put upon him. רנּה is a shrill audible prayer; תּחנּה, a fervent and urgent prayer. ענה, prop. to answer, signifies in Psalm 119:172 to begin, strike up, attune (as does ἀποκρίνεσθαι also sometimes). According to the rule in Psalm 50:23 the poet bases his petition for help upon the purpose of thankful praise of God and of His word. Knowing how to value rightly what he possesses, he is warranted in further supplicating and hoping for the good that he does not as yet possess. The "salvation" for which he longs (תּאב as in Psalm 119:40, Psalm 119:20) is redemption from the evil world, in which the life of his own soul is imperilled. May then God's judgments (defective plural, as in Psalm 119:43, Psalm 119:149, which the Syriac only takes a singular) succour him (יעזּרני, not יעזרני). God's hand, Psalm 119:173, and God's word afford him succour; the two are involved in one another, the word is the medium of His hand. After this relationship of the poet to God's word, which is attested a hundredfold in the Psalm, it may seem strange that he can say of himself תּעיתי כּשׂה אבד; and perhaps the accentuation is correct when it does not allow itself to be determined by Isaiah 53:6, but interprets: If I have gone astray - seek Thou like a lost sheep Thy servant. שׂה אבד is a sheep that is lost (cf. אבדים as an appellation of the dispersion, Isaiah 27:13) and in imminent danger of total destruction (cf. Psalm 31:13 with Leviticus 26:38). In connection with that interpretation which is followed by the interpunction, Psalm 119:176 is also more easily connected with what precedes: his going astray is no apostasy; his home, to which he longs to return when he has been betrayed into by-ways, is beside the Lord.