Psalms 119:132

Psa 119:132 Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me, as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name.

Ver. 132. Look thou upon me, &c.] Face about towards me, and give me a glimpse at least of thy grace; for full fruition I expect not in this present life. Brevis hora, parva mora.

As thou usest to do unto those, &c.] Common mercies satisfy not a saint; he must have peculiar favours, spiritual blessings in heavenly things, even the sure mercies of David. He pleads for a child’s part.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Psa_119:132-135

Look Thou upon me, and be merciful unto me.

Prayer for mercies vouchsafed to the good

I. Direction in the right way. We are all travellers on an unknown road, and we want direction. Order my footsteps.

II. Defence against our foes. The dominion of evil is the greatest curse. There is a danger of having this dominion established. God alone can prevent it.

III. Deliverance against malignant foes. Man oppresses man everywhere. Who but God can deliver from the oppression under which humanity groans?

IV. THE favour of Almighty God (verse 135). Gods approval is mans heaven. (Homilist.)

A page from a royal diary

I. Davids brief petition. Look Thou upon me.

1. His own eyes had failed him (verse 123).

2. Mans eye had misjudged him (verse 134).

3. He knew that Gods eye perceives what His servant needs.

4. He leaves all with God.

5. Gods look will be a sign of Divine favour.

6. Gods look would prepare him for future obedience.

II. Davids humble confession. Be merciful unto me.

1. His prayer grew out of this confession.

2. By this petition he evidently sought forgiveness.

3. Upon this ground alone he sought for the blessing he desired.

III. Davids tacit profession. As Thou usest to do, etc. David hardly dares to say that he does love Gods Name, but he does practically say it by praying that God will treat him as He treats those who do love His Name. Some of those who love God best are not the loudest in proclaiming their love. The true child of God does love His Lords Name. This includes--

1. The person of God.

2. The character of God.

3. Gods revelation.

4. The glory of God.

IV. Davids gracious aspiration.

1. He would be dealt with as saints have always been dealt with. Well, you know what He used to do to those who loved His Name; He used to come and visit them. For instance, there were Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. These all had visits from the Lord, as did Moses, when God was in the burning bush. God not only used to visit those who loved His Name, but He used to instruct them What teachings they had from Him! What revelations and manifestations of Himself! Lord, teach me as Thou usest to teach those who loved Thy Name! How patient also He was with them! They had many faults and failings, and they grieved His Holy Spirit; but He forgave them, and went on teaching them; and when they fell and wandered from Him, He restored them, and brought them back again. Then you know the Lord was always faithful to those who loved His Name. When He made them a promise, He always kept it. But notice this also, the Lord used to whip them when they needed it; those who loved His Name were chastened. Asaph said, All the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning. Well, suppose you should have the same treatment, you can thank God that He is doing to you as He used to do to those who loved His Name.

2. I think also that, when using these words, David meant that he was quite willing that God should deal with him in His usual way, in His regular order. He did not want to have some special railway thrown up for him, in which he could ride first-class to glory; but he was willing to go the old way, the way the holy prophets went, and the saints, and martyrs, and confessors of God; that is to say, he did not want salvation without holiness, he did not want justification without sanctification, he did not want pardon without regeneration. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Fellowship with the righteous

I. There are some who love Gods Name. His Name means His perfections, His nature, His being, Himself; and they who love His Name mean those who love Himself.

II. His mercy is the source of all the goodness they experience.

III. The Lord has been always accustomed to deal mercifully with them. He was merciful to them when He frowned, as well as when He smiled; when He denied, as well as when He indulged; when He took away, as well as when He gave. What use ought we to make of this?

IV. His mercy towards them should encourage us to implore mercy for ourselves. Beggars naturally love to go to a door where others have been successful, especially where none have ever been sent empty away. This, indeed, is never the case among men. No earthly benefactor, however disposed, can afford universal relief. But we have everything to inspire our application at a throne of grace. In what He has done through every age, we see His resources and His bounty. And we know that He is unchangeably the same.

V. We should be anxious to secure the mercy that is peculiar to them; and not be satisfied with His common kindness.

VI. We should be content if God deals with us as He has always dealt with His people. While he could not be satisfied with anything less than their portion, David asks for nothing better; he implores no singular dispensation in his favour, no deviation from the accustomed methods of His grace. (W. Jay.)

The plea of use and wont

The psalmist employs the great plea of use and wont; for, says he, As Thou usest to do unto those that love Thy Name. Use and wont generally have great weight in a court of law. A friend said to me, How will such a suit go? The case has never been before a court until now. I answered, Are you sure that what was done is according to universal and long-established custom? for, if so, though there be no law, the custom of the trade will stand. Custom among men reaching far back holds good in court; how much shall the custom of the eternally unchanging God decide His future acts? The psalmist pleads the Lords own custom; and this is a grand plea with him, because He is unchanging. If you think it a good plea, urge it at the throne. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Psa 119:132-133. Look thou upon me — Favourably, as the next clause explains it; and be merciful unto me — Let me taste the sweetness, and receive the gifts of thy mercy; let me have thy smiles, and the light of thy countenance; as thou usest to do, &c. — As thou hast been wont to do unto thy people in all former ages. Do not deny me the common privilege of all the faithful. Order my steps in thy word — By thy grace direct and govern all my affections and actions in the way prescribed in thy word. Let thy Spirit accompany thy word, and ingraft it in me, so that I may be guided and ruled by it. And let not any iniquity have dominion over me: let not the law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, lead me captive to the law of sin: but, though the flesh may lust against the spirit, let the spirit oppose the desires of the flesh, and overcome and subdue them. The dominion of sin is to be dreaded and deprecated by every one of us; and if in sincerity we pray against it, we shall receive, as an answer of our prayers, the accomplishment of that promise, Rom 6:14, Sin shall not have dominion over you.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

132. (Psa 119:132) Turn to me, and be gracious to me, as (is) due to the lovers of thy name. The first verb does not mean to return or come back, but to turn round to or towards an object from which the looks have been averted. See above, on Psa 102:17. Be gracious or merciful, shew favour to or favour me. As is due to, or according to the right of, the lovers, etc. The Hebrew word has here the meaning of the Latin jus, as in Psa 81:4. For the meaning of the lovers of thy name, see above, on Psa 5:11.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Psalms Translated and Explained (1850) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Here is, 1. David's request for God's favour to himself: "Look graciously upon me; let me have thy smiles, and the light of thy countenance. Take cognizance of me and my affairs, and be merciful to me; let me taste the sweetness of thy mercy and receive the gifts of thy mercy." See how humble his petition is. He asks not for the operations of God's hand, only for the smiles of his face; a good look is enough; and for that he does not plead merit, but implores mercy. 2. His acknowledgment of his favour to all his people: As thou usest to do unto those that love thy name. This is either, (1.) A plea for mercy: "Lord, I am one of those that love thy name, love thee and thy word, and thou usest to be kind to those that do so; and wilt thou be worse to me than to others of thy people?" Or, (2.) A description of the favour and mercy he desired - "that which thou usest to bestow on those that love thy name, which thou bearest to thy chosen," Psa 106:4, Psa 106:5. He desires no more, no better, than neighbour's fare, and he will take up with no less; common looks and common mercies will not serve, but such as are reserved for those that love him, which are such as eye has not seen, Co1 2:9. Note, The dealings of God with those that love him are such that a man needs not desire to be any better dealt with, for he will make them truly and eternally happy. And as long as God deals with us no otherwise than as he uses to deal with those that love him we have no reason to complain, Co1 10:13.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 132. As thou usest to do] Treat me as thy mercy has induced thee to treat others in my circumstances. Deal with me as thou dealest with thy friends.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

132. Look upon me, and be merciful to me. In this verse he beseeches God to have a regard to him: as he is accustomed always to look to those who are his people. The Hebrew word משפט mishpat, translated judgment, signifies in this passage, as in many others, a common rule, or ordinary usage. “According to the custom, or usual mode of acting. So Luther — as thou art accustomed to do, etc. In Genesis 40:13 — ‘Thou shalt deliver the cup, כמשפט, according to custom.’”— Phillips.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(132) As . . . name.—See margin. But the absence of the suffix is against this correction, as it is against the Authorised Version itself. Rather, according to the right of. It was not only theirs by custom, but by right of the covenant.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

132. Look &c.] Turn unto me and be gracious unto me. So Psa_25:16; Psa_86:16.

as thou usest to do &c.] Better, as is the right of those that love thy name. The plea is a bold one, but not too bold. The covenant gives those who love Jehovah’s revelation of Himself (Psa_5:11; Psa_69:36) the right to claim His grace. Cp. Heb_6:10. The word for right is mishpâṭ, usually rendered judgement.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rivers of waters run down mine eyes,.... That is, "out of" them; as the Syriac version: or, "mine eyes let down rivers of waters" (t); see Lam 3:48; that is, an abundance of tears, which flowed like a river; an hyperbolical expression, setting forth the excessiveness of grief. The reason follows,

because they keep not thy law; the persons are not mentioned, but must be understood of wicked men; whose open and impudent transgression of the law in innumerable instances, and in the most flagrant manner, gave the psalmist great distress, as it does all good men; because the law of God is despised, his authority is trampled on, his name is dishonoured, and he has not the glory which is due unto him. The gloss of Arama is,

"because Adam and Eve kept not thy law;''

which transgression brought ruin on all mankind. The Septuagint and Arabic versions very wrongly read, "because I have not kept thy law": as if his grief was on account of his own sins: and so Kimchi indeed interprets it; and both he and Ben Melech by "they" understand his eyes, from whence his tears flowed in such abundance; because they were the caterers for sin, and the cause and occasion of the transgressions of the law of God by him: and this sense is made mention of by Aben Ezra.

(t) "oculi mei deduxerunt", V. L. "rivos aquarum demittunt oculi mei", Gejerus.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Look thou upon me - Turn not away from me. Regard me with thy favor.

And be merciful unto me, as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name - Margin, “According to the custom toward those,” etc. The Hebrew word is “judgment:” “according to the judgment to the lovers of thy name.” The word seems here to be used in the sense of “right;” of what is due; or, of what is usually determined: that is, as God usually determines, judges, acts toward those who love him. The idea is, Treat me according to the rules which regulate the treatment of thy people. Let me be regarded as one of them, and be dealt with accordingly. On the sentiment in this passage, see the notes at Psa 106:4.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Look thou upon me, to wit, favourably, as the next clause explains it, and as this phrase is commonly used; whereby also he implies that God at present did hide his face and favour from him.

As thou usest to do unto those that love thy name; as thou hast done in all former ages. Do not deny me the common privilege of all the faithful.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ver. 132. Look thou upon me. A godly man cannot long be without prayer. During the previous verses he had been expressing his love to God's word, but here he is upon his knees again. This prayer is specially short, but exceedingly sententious, "Look thou upon me." While he stood with open mouth panting for the commandments, he besought the Lord to look upon him, and let his condition and his unexpressed longings plead for him. He desires to be known of God, and daily observed by him. He wishes also to be favoured with the divine smile which is included in the word "look." If a look from us to God has saving efficacy in it, what may we not expect from a look from God to us.

And be merciful unto me. Christ's look at Peter was a look of mercy, and all the looks of the heavenly Father are of the same kind. If he looked in stern justice his eyes would not endure us, but looking in mercy he spares and blesses us. If God looks and sees us panting, he will not fail to be merciful to us.

As thou usest to do unto those that love thy name. Look on me as thou lookest on those who love thee; be merciful to me as thou art accustomed to be towards those who truly serve thee. There is a use and wont which God observes towards them that love him, and David craved that he might experience it. He would not have the Lord deal either better or worse with him than he was accustomed to deal with his saints worse would not save him, better could not be. In effect he prays, "I am thy servant; treat me as you treat thy servants. I am thy child; deal with me as with a son." Especially is it clear from the context that he desired such an entering in of the word, and such a clear understanding of it as God usually gives to his own, according to the promise, "All thy children shall be taught of the Lord."

Reader, do you love the name of the Lord? Is his character most honourable in your sight? Most dear to your heart? This is a sure mark of grace, for no soul ever loved the Lord except as the result of love received from the Lord himself.

Ver. 132. Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me, etc. "Look upon me" stripped by thieves of my virtues, and then wounded with sins, and "be merciful unto me, "showing compassion on me, taking care of me in the inn of the Church universal, that I fall not again among thieves, nor be harmed by the wolves which howl about this fold, but dare not enter in. "Look upon me, "no longer worthy to be called thy son, and "be merciful unto me, "not as the jealous elder brother would treat me, but let me join the glad song and banquet of them that love thy name. Look upon me the publican, standing afar off in thy temple the Church, and be merciful unto me, not after the Pharisee's judgment, but "as thou usest to do unto them that love thy name, " which is the gracious God. Look on me as on weeping Peter, and be merciful unto me as thou wast to him, who so loved thy name as by his triple confession of love to wash out his threefold denial, saying, "Lord, thou knowest that I love thee." "Look upon me, "as on the sinful woman, penitent and weeping, and be merciful unto me, not according to the judgment of the Pharisee who murmured at her, as Judas who was indignant at her, but forgiving me as thou didst her, "because she loved much, "telling me also, "Thy faith hath saved thee, go in peace." Neale and Littledale.

Ver. 132. Look thou upon me. Lord! since our looks to thee are often so slight, so cold, so distant, that no impression is made upon our hearts, do thou condescend continually to look upon us with mercy and with power. Vouchsafe us such a look, as may bring us to ourselves and touch us with tenderness and contrition in the remembrance of that sin, unbelief, and disobedience, which pierced the hands, the feet, the heart of our dearest Lord and Saviour. Comp. Lu 22:61. Charles Bridges.

Ver. 132. As thou usest to do, etc. David would not lose any privilege that God hath by promise settled on his children. Do with me, saith he, "as thou usest to do." This is no more than family fare, what you promise to do for all that love thee; and let me not go worse clad than the rest of my brethren. William Gurnall.

Ver. 132. As thou usest to do unto those, etc. We should be content if God deals with us as he has always dealt with his people. While he could not be satisfied with anything less than their portion, David asks for nothing better; he implores no singular dispensation in his favour, no deviation from the accustomed methods of his grace...It is always a good proof that your convictions and desires are from the operation of the Spirit when you are willing to conform to God's order. What is this order? It is to dispense his blessings connectedly. It is never to justify without sanctifying; never to give a title to heaven without a meetness for it. Now the man that is divinely wrought upon will not expect nor desire the one without the other. Therefore he will not expect the blessing of God without obedience; because it is always God's way to connect the comforts of the Holy Ghost with the fear of the Lord; and if his children transgress his laws, to visit their transgressions with a rod. Therefore he will neither expect nor desire his blessing without exertion; for it has always been God's way to crown only those that run the race that is set before them, and fight the good fight of faith. Therefore he will not expect nor desire the Divine blessing without prayer; for it has always been God's way to make his people sensible of their wants, and to give an answer to prayer. Therefore he will not expect nor desire to reach heaven without difficulties; for his people have always had to deny themselves, and take up their cross. If they have not been chosen in the furnace of affliction, they have been purified. God had one Son without sin, but he never had one without sorrow: "he scourgeth every son whom he receiveth." "Yes, " says the suppliant before us, "secure me their everlasting portion, and I am willing to drink of the cup they drank of, and to be baptized with the baptism they were baptized with. I want no new, no by path to glory. I am content to keep the King's high road. Be merciful unto me, as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name. I ask no more." William Jay, 1769-1853.

Ver. 132.

1. Look.

2. Love.

3. Use and wont.

Ver. 132. Fellowship with the righteous.

1. There are some who love God's name.

2. His mercy is the source of all the goodness they experience.

3. The Lord has been always accustomed to deal mercifully with them.

4. His mercy towards them should encourage us to implore mercy for ourselves.

5. We should be anxious to secure the mercy that is peculiar to them.

6. We should be content if God deals with us as he has always dealt with his people. W. Jay.

Ver. 132. Divine use and wont.

1. God is accustomed to look upon and be merciful toward his people.

2. We are stirred up to specially desire such merciful dealings in time of affliction.

3. Love to God qualifies us for these loving looks and merciful dealings. C.A.D.

Ver. 132. Notice,

1. The mark of true believers: "Those that love thy name."

2. God's custom of dealing with them: "Be merciful as thou usest to do."

3. Their individual and earnest solicitude: "Look thou upon me." J.F.

Psalms 119:133*

Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Look thou upon me; rather, turn thee unto me, but in the sense of "turn round and look upon me." And be merciful unto me (comp. vers. 41, 58, 76, 77, etc.). As thou usest to do unto those that love thy Name ; literally, as thy rule is with those that love thy Name.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.