Psalms 119:136

Psa 119:136 Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law.

Ver. 136. Rivers of waters run down mine eyes] My countenance is clouded, and even furrowed, with continual tears shed for thy dishonour; therefore lift up upon me the light of thy loving countenance. It grieveth me greatly to see thy law violated, and the transgressors thereof so careless of their own eternal good. This was Lot’s case at Sodom, 2Pe 2:7-8, and is many a good man’s still; every profane wretch being a Hazael to his eyes, a Hadadrimmon to his heart. The Septuagint and Vulgate read, Mine eyes have drawn down issues of waters (i.e. they have wept abundantly), because they (that is, those eyes of mine) have not kept thy law. So Aben Ezra; Quia ipsi oculi non observassent legem tuam. David had walked after the sight of his eyes, and the lust of his heart; this is now his grief. Thus they; but not so well.

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_119:136

Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not Thy law.

The wail of the good over the sins of the world

I. They are the tears of order. Discord in sound is a cause of distress to a soul highly attuned to melody. But moral disorder is far more distressing to the soul of the truly spiritual, loyal and good. It is impossible for a man who has been brought into harmony with the eternal will of God and the order of the universe not to be distressed beyond measure at the pandemoniums that sin has created.

II. They are the tears of philanthropy. It is the nature of love to desire the happiness of its object and to grieve over its misery. Its heart desire and prayer to God is, that it may be saved. But sin plays sad havoc with men, involves them in miseries, and sinks them to hells. In a world of misery a genuine philanthropist cannot therefore but shed rivers of tears.

III. They are the tears of piety. What can be more distressing to a man than to see the object of his strongest affections insulted, misrepresented, wounded, and bitterly opposed? This is what sinners do in relation to God; they transgress His precepts, they rebel against His authority, they aim to thwart His plans and wound His heart. What can piety do, therefore, but shed rivers of tears? (Homilist.)

Glorious tears

I. The tears of a patriot. He knew that those who obeyed not the laws of God were pernicious citizens and would endanger the commonwealth. Righteousness exalteth a nation, but righteousness is obedience to eternal laws.

II. The tears of a philanthropist. He knew that those who transgressed the Divine laws sinned against their own souls and endangered their own interest. He knew that all the sorrows and miseries sprang from disobedience.

III. The tears of a religionist. He loved the great God, and he was grieved to hear His Name profaned, His precepts violated, and His authority contemned. (Homilist.)

Grief for the mice of men

If we mourn for sin truly, it will excite our grief wheresoever and by whomsoever it is committed. But, like all our sympathies, it will be excited more powerfully by the sins of those with whom we are more intimately connected, and by such of them as come mere immediately wit, bin the sphere of our own observation. We are to mourn more especially, though not exclusively, for the sins of our own land, of the city in which we dwell, of the Church with which we are in immediate fellowship, of the congregation of which we are members, and of our own families.

I. Trace these rivers of grief to their springs.

1. Grief for the sins of men springs from love to God. Sin is a violation of the authority of God, and an offence to the essential purity of His nature. It insults His majesty, and reflects dishonour (so far as a created act can do) upon all His attributes.

2. It springs from love to the law of God. Christians must reckon every sin as a violation of that law which the Son of God hath magnified, and made honourable, and vindicated by His obedience in our nature and in our stead. And God, by the agony and death of His Son, has stamped sin with the broad and burning brand of His hatred.

3. It springs from love to the sinner.

4. There are personal feelings which stir this grief and enter into its composition. When we see a person in distress, it frequently reminds us that we were once afflicted in the same or a similar way--a recollection which strengthens our sympathy, if it is not the spring from which it directly flows. In like manner the saint is made to recollect his former sins, and his grief for them mingles with that which he feels for the present sins of others.

II. The leading qualities of this grief.

1. It is genuine.

(1) This is evinced by its impartiality. The sincere mourner is grieved for the sins of friends as well as of enemies,--of those of his own religious connection as well as those of other denominations,--for the sins of his own family as well as those of his neighbours; nay, he is more sensibly affected with the dishonours done to God by those who are most intimately connected with him--the provoking of sons and daughters. He is grieved for all sin.

(2) The genuineness of these tears is evinced by the ease with which they flow. Take a person of tender feelings to a scene of distress, and the tear will instantly start to his eye on beholding it. The mere sight of sin draws forth the sorrow of a godly man.

2. This grief is generous and seemly. Such tears become Christian men--men of stature and valour; for, as one has expressed it, it is the truest magnanimity to be sensible on the point of Gods honour, which is injured by sin.

3. This grief varies, especially in its expression, in different persons, and in the same person at different times. This is common to it with other gracious dispositions in the hearts of men who are but partially sanctified, and whose exercise, in this their sublunary state, resembles the tide which ebbs and flows according to the varying influence of the moon.

4. This grief is habitual. David in the text does not say, rivers ran, but run. Paul could call God to witness that he had great sorrow and continual heaviness in his heart for his unbelieving and impenitent countrymen. As long as Christians are in this world they will have reason for this feeling.

5. This grief is influential and profitable. It may be useful to others; it will be useful to ourselves. By the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better. (T. McCrie, D. D.)

Christian grief because of transgressors

I. The dishonour done to God by the violation of His law. If a man of warm loyalty were living amongst traitors, it would wound him to the quick to hear the king whom he honoured continually reviled. If a man of warm friendship were with the enemies of the object of his love, it would surely grieve him to observe how this friend was hated and despised. And what are such feelings, in comparison with those which should arise in the man of real piety, when he beholds on all sides denial of God and defiance of His laws? What loyalty is comparable to his, seeing that the principle takes its greatness from the greatness of the object, and that it is to none other than the Lord of heaven and earth that he has given his allegiance? What friendship is comparable to His?

II. The ruin which transgressors are bringing on themselves. The man who, like the psalmist, believes implicitly the Word of God and is thoroughly persuaded that all its threatenings will be executed. It is with him no matter of conjecture or speculation whether a life of wickedness will terminate in an eternity of misery. And who are these victims of Divine justice? Are they not; his fellow-men, his brethren after the flesh, those for whom he would bitterly sorrow if he knew them exposed to some great temporal calamity? Shall he, then, be unmoved by their everlasting wretchedness?

III. The injury which they are causing to others. It is said by the psalmist, in regard of Gods commandments--In keeping of them there is great reward. The reward is present as well as prospective. It is no small part of this reward, that such is the nature of Gods commandments, and such the intimate and indissoluble connection between obedience and happiness, that in proportion as the commandments are kept, the worst forms of evil are banished, and the best of good introduced. Shall it not, then, be with a genuine and deep sorrow that the righteous man, eager for a period of universal happiness, beholds the transgressors who are deferring that period, and prolonging the reign of confusion and misery? Who will say that his grief would be excessive, greater than the occasion warranted, if he were to weep over mens sins with such a weeping as that of the psalmist? (H. Melvill, B. D.)

Christian compassion essential to Christian effort

I. The occasion of Christian compassion.

II. The nature of Christian compassion.

1. It is distinguished by its Divine original. It is a creation of God in the soul.

2. It is distinguished by its depth and intensity.

3. It is characterized by its powerful practical influence.

(1) Prayer.

(2) Personal exertion. (T. Brookes.)

The concern of the righteous for evil-doers

I. Because they offend and sin against Gods law. Before we can experience anything of this jealousy for God and His Word, we must, like David, learn to know Him, not merely on the report of others, but by our own experience; not merely to have heard His Word, or read it, but to have felt it, and partaken of it, and enjoyed it.

II. On account of the happiness and peace sinners sacrifice by not keeping Gods law.

1. Oh, what an amount of present blessings do men lose by not keeping Gods law! What joy in believing, what comfort of the Holy Ghost, what deep, genuine, abiding, solid peace!

2. Such are the present blessings which the believer enjoys; but who can describe those which are laid up for him at Gods right hand for evermore?

III. On account of the sorrows and miseries which they bring down upon themselves.

IV. On account of the aggravated guilt under which they perish. Oh, what reason have we to weep over those whom we daily see putting off Christ for something they like better than Christ! (N. Ashby.)

Saved by a tear

A man had gained great notoriety through his profligate habits. His wife urged him one evening to remain at home, and not to go to the saloon. He became angry, and went out of the house, leading his little girl by the hand. The child, knowing how much the mother suffered, begged the father not to go to the saloon that night. He took her up in his arms, and on putting his face close to hers his cheek was wetted by a tear. He said, in telling his experience some time afterwards: My anger completely melted away. I determined to go back home and make my wife happy. If he had fought against the influence of that tear, it might have been his destruction. Certainly it was a manly thing to surrender to the tear of love. Cease to oppose God, and with angry words to fight against the influence of friends who would save you from ruin. (Sunday Circle.)

Won by tears

One time I was preaching in Chicago, and when I gave out the invitation a man stood up. He was an enormous fellow, weighing twenty-two stone, and I thought to myself, You have caught a magnificent specimen to-night. After the meeting was over I went down and sat behind him and talked to him. He said: Let me tell you how I came to take Christ to-day. I have been a church-goer all my life, but I only went to criticize, and when men got up in the prayer-meeting to talk I took out a little notebook which I kept, and wrote down what they said, and afterwards watched to see how their daily life agreed with what they said. I said to myself: All these Christians are hypocrites. My heart was as hard as stone; I was perfectly indifferent. I was taken very ill, and one day when I lay down I thought I was dying. A man came to me, and asked if he might pray for me. I said: Well, if you want to pray for me, I have no objection, if it will do you any good. If you will enjoy it, pray away. He knelt down beside my bed, and I watched him. I though I was dying, but I wasnt a bit frightened. I was perfectly callous and hardened, and as this man prayed for me I watched him out of the corner of nay eyes. As I was watching him out of the corner of my eyes, I saw a tear rolling down his cheeks, and I said to myself, Here is this man, a perfect stranger to me, and he is weeping over my sins and over my lost condition. That broke my heart. That is why I am here to-night. That is why I got up and asked for prayer. That is why I have taken the Lord Jesus. I tell you, you will win more men and women by your tears than you will ever win by your arguments. (R. A. Torrey, D. D.)

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

Ver. 136. Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law. He wept in sympathy with God to see the holy law despised and broken. He wept in pity for men who were thus drawing down upon themselves the fiery wrath of God. His grief was such that he could scarcely give it vent; his tears were not mere drops of sorrow, but torrents of woe. In this he became like the Lord Jesus, who beheld the city, and wept over it; and like unto Jehovah himself, who hath no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, but that be turn unto him and live. The experience of this verse indicates a great advance upon anything we have had before: the psalm and the Psalmist are both growing. That man is a ripe believer who sorrows because of the sins of others. In Ps 119:120 his flesh trembled at the presence of God, and here it seems to melt and flow away in floods of tears. None are so affected by heavenly things as those who are much in the study of the word, and are thereby taught the truth and essence of things. Carnal men are afraid of brute force, and weep over losses and crosses; but spiritual men feel a holy fear of the Lord himself, and most of all lament when they see dishonour cast upon his holy name.

"Lord, let me weep for nought but sin,

And after none but thee,

And then I would, O that I might!

A constant weeper be."

Ver. 136. Rivers of waters run down my eyes. Most of the easterners shed tears much more copiously than the people of Europe. The psalmist said rivers of waters ran down his eyes; and though the language is beautifully figurative, I have no doubt it was also literally true. I have myself seen Arabs shed tears like streams. John Gadsby.

Ver. 136. Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, etc. Either because mine eyes keep not thy law, so some. The eye is the inlet and outlet of a great deal of sin, and therefore it ought to be a weeping eye. Or rather, they, i.e., those about me: Ps 119:139. Note, the sins of sinners are the sorrows of saints. We must mourn for that which we cannot mend. Matthew Henry.

Ver. 136. Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, etc. David's afflictions drew not so many tears from him as the sins of others; not his banishment by his son, as the breach of God's law by the wicked. Nothing went so to his heart as the dishonour of God, whose glory shining in his word and ordinances, is dearer to the godly than their lives. Elijah desired to die when he saw God so dishonoured by Ahab and Jezebel. The eye is for two things, sight and tears: if we see God dishonoured, presently our eyes should be filled with tears. William Greenhill, 1591-1677.

Ver. 136. Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, etc. Godly men are affected with deep sorrow for the sins of the ungodly.

Let us consider the nature of this affection. 1. It is not a stoical apathy, and affected carelessness; much less a delightful partaking with sinful practices. 2. Not a proud setting off of their own goodness, with marking the sin of others as the Pharisee did in the gospel. 3. Not the derision and mocking of the folly of men, with that "laughing philosopher": it comes nearer to the temper of the other who wept always for it. 4. It is not a bitter, bilious anger, breaking forth into railings and reproaches, nor an upbraiding insultation. 5. Nor is it a vindictive desire of punishment, venting itself in curses and imprecations, which is the rash temper of many, but especially of the vulgar sort. The disciples' motion to Christ was far different from that way, and yet he says to them, "We know not of what spirit ye are." They thought they had been of Elijah's spirit, but he told them they were mistaken, and did not know of what a spirit they were in that motion. Thus heady zeal often mistakes and flatters itself. We find not here a desire of fire to come down from heaven upon the breakers of the law, but such a grief as would rather bring water to quench it, if it were falling on them. "Rivers of waters run down mine eyes." Robert Leighton.

Ver. 136. Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, etc. The Lord requireth this mourning bitterly for other men's sins to keep our hearts the more tender and upright; it is an act God useth to make us more careful of our own souls, to be troubled at the sins of others, at sin in a third person. It keepeth us at a great distance from temptation. This is like quenching of fire in a neighbour's house: before it comes near thee, thou runnest with thy bucket. There is no way to keep us free from the infection, so much as mourning. The soul will never agree to do that which it grieved itself to see another do. And, as it keepeth us upright, so also humble, fearful of Divine judgment, tender lest we ourselves offend, and draw down the wrath of God. He that shrugs when he seeth a snake creeping upon another, will much more be afraid when it cometh near to himself. In our own sins we have the advantage of conscience scourging the soul with remorse and shame; in bewailing the sins of others, we have only the reasons of duty and obedience. They that fight abroad out of love to valour and exploits, will certainly fight at home out of love to their own safety. Thomas Manton.

Ver. 136. Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, etc. Thus uniformly is the character of God's people represented not merely as those who are free from but as "those that sigh and cry for all the abominations that are done it, the midst of the land": Eze 9:4 And who does not see what an enlarged sphere still presents itself on every side for the unrestrained exercise of Christian compassion? The appalling spectacle of a world apostatized from God, of multitudes sporting with everlasting destruction as if the God of heaven were "a man that he should lie" is surely to force "rivers of waters" from the hearts of those that are concerned his honour. What a mass of sin ascends as a cloud before the Lord, a single heart! Add the aggregate of a village a town a country a world! every day every hour every moment. Well might the "waters rise to an overflowing tide, ready to burst its barriers." Charles Bridges.

Ver. 136. Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not law. The vices of the religious are the shame of religion: the sight this hath made the stoutest champions of Christ melt into tears. David was one of those great worthies of the world, not matchable in his time yet he weeps. Did he tear in pieces a bear like a kid? Rescue a lamb will the death of a lion? Foil a mighty giant, that had dared the whole of God? Did he like a whirlwind, bear and beat down his enemies bel him; and now, does he, like a child or a woman, fall weeping? Yes, had heard the name of God blasphemed, seen his holy rites profaned, his statutes vilipended, and violence offered to the pure chastity of that virgin, religion; this resolved that valiant heart into tears: "Rivers of waters run down mine eyes." Thomas Adams.

Ver. 136. My soul frequently spent itself in such breathings after conformity to the law of God as the one hundred and nineteenth Psalm is with throughout: "O that my ways were directed to keep thy My heart breaketh through the longing it hath to thy commands at times; incline my heart that I may keep them alway unto the end, "the like. This appeared further in a fixed dislike of the least inconformity: to the law, either in myself or others. Now; albeit I was always affected with my own or others' breaches, yet this was my burden; I always that rivers of tears might run down mine eyes, because I, or transgressors, kept not God's law. Thomas Halyburton, 1674-1712.

Ver. 136. If we grieve not for others, their sin may become Eze 4:8 1Co 5:2. William Nicholson.

Ver. 136. Abundant sorrow for abounding sin. Other men's sins the saint's own sorrows. He thinks of the good God provoked, of the sinners themselves debased, of their death, and their perdition.

Ver. 136.

1. Occasion of his grief: "they keep not thy law."

2. Extent of his grief: "rivers, "etc. See examples in Jeremiah, Ezra, Paul, Christ himself.

3. Effect of his grief. To warn, teach, invite, and exhort them as in his psalms. G.R.

Ver. 136. Sacred tears.

1. The world sinning.

2. The church weeping.

3. It is time the world began to weep for itself. C.A.D.

Ver. 136.

I weep, because,

1. Of the dishonour done to the Law giver.

2. Of the injury done to the law breaker.

3. Of the wrong done to the law abiding.

"That kingly prophet, that wept so plentifully for his own offences (Ps 6:6), had yet floods of tears left to bewail his people's" (Ps 119:136). Thomas Adams.

"Benedetti, a Franciscan monk, author of the Stabat Mater, one day was found weeping, and when asked the reason of his tears, he exclaimed, I weep because Love goes about unloved." W.H.J.P.

Psalms 119:137*

This passage deals with the perfect righteousness of Jehovah and his word, and expresses the struggles of a holy soul in reference to that righteousness. The initial letter with which every verse commences in the Hebrew is "P", and the keyword to us is PURITY.

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

Psa 119:136. Rivers of water run down mine eyes, &c. — Plentiful and perpetual tears, witnesses of the deep sorrow I feel on account of the dishonour which sinners do to thee, thy displeasure against them, and the miseries which they bring on themselves and others by their sins. “Thus David, who, through this whole Psalm, so often and so ardently beseeches God to teach him his statutes, declares in this verse his continual grief of heart, occasioned by seeing others break those statutes. Thus Lot, among the Sodomites, was vexed from day to day, not so much at their usage of himself as at seeing and hearing their unlawful deeds, 2Pe 2:8. Thus Jeremiah tells the ungodly of his time, If ye will not hear, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride; and mine eyes shall weep sore and run down with tears, Jer 13:17. Thus the holy Jesus looked round about on the Pharisees, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, Mar 3:5; and wept over a city which had always persecuted, and was then about to crucify him, because it knew not the things which belonged to its peace.”

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

136. (Psa 119:136) Streams of water run down my eyes, for (that) they do not keep thy law. In the Hebrew of the first clause, eye is the subject, not the object, of the verb. See the same or similar idiomatic constructions, Jer 9:17; Jer 13:17, Lam 1:16; Lam 3:48, Eze 7:17. The preposition in the last clause is to be construed with the relative understood, in the sense of for that, forasmuch as, because. The complete phrase occurs above, Psa 119:49. They do not, i.e. men indefinitely, others. Here ends the seventeenth stanza, all the verses of which begin with different Hebrew words.

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

He showeth what ought to be the zeal of God’s children, when they see his word contemned.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Here we have David in sorrow. 1. It is a great sorrow, to such a degree that he weeps rivers of tears. Commonly, where there is a gracious heart, there is a weeping eye, in conformity to Christ, who was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. David had prayed for comfort in God's favour (Psa 119:135), now he pleads that he was qualified for that comfort, and had need of it, for he was one of those that mourned in Zion, and those that do so shall be comforted, Isa 61:3. 2. It is godly sorrow. He wept not for his troubles, though they were many, but for the dishonour done to God: Because they keep not thy law, either because my eyes keep not thy law, so some (the eye is the inlet and outlet of a great deal of sin, and therefore it ought to be a weeping eye), or, rather, they, that is, those about me, Psa 119:139. Note, The sins of sinners are the sorrows of saints. We must mourn for that which we cannot mend.

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

Verse 136. Rivers of waters run down mine eyes] How much had this blessed man the honour of God and the salvation of souls at heart! O for more of that spirit which mourns for the transgressions of the land! But we are not properly convinced of the exceeding sinfulness of sin.

ANALYSIS OF LETTER PE. - Seventeenth Division

In this division the psalmist -

I. Praises God's word.

II. Shows his affection to it.

III. Prays for grace to keep it.

IV. Mourns for those who do not.

1. The eulogy he gives to God's word here is from a new quality not mentioned before. "Thy testimonies are wonderful;" wondrous mysteries are contained in the Divine oracles.

1. The ceremonial law is wonderful, because the mystery of our redemption by the blood of Christ is pointed out in it.

2. The prophecies are wonderful, as predicting things, humanly speaking, so uncertain, and at such great distance of time, with so much accuracy.

3. The decalogue is wonderful, as containing in a very few words all the principles of justice and charity.

4. Were we to go to the New Testament, here wonders rise on wonders! All is astonishing; but the psalmist could not have had this in view.

The second eulogy is, that God's law is the dispenser of light.

1. The entrance of it, the first chapter of Genesis; what light does that pour on the mind of man! What knowledge of the most important things, which we should never have known without it!

2. It gives light to the simple - to those who are not double; who have but one end in view, and one aim to that end.

3. Of those simple ones or babes our Lord speaks, Mt 11:25, and St. Paul, 1Co 1:25-26, c.

II. The psalmist shows that he was one of those simple ones.

1. "He opened his mouth" by prayer, and sought the spirit of light and piety.

2. He panted after it as men do that want breath, and are longing to get fresh air.

3. And this he did because "he longed for God's commandments" had a vehement desire to know and keep them.

III. He now betakes himself to prayer, and acquaints us with the petitions he had offered.

1. He said, "Look upon me." Consider thy poor, dependent, helpless creature.

2. "Have mercy upon me." Look, not with the indignation which I deserve, but with the mercy which thou knowest I need.

3. "As thou usest to do." Act by me as thou dost by them that love thee.

4. "Order my steps." Give me grace to be obedient. Many look for mercy to pardon their sin, but do not look for grace to enable them to be obedient.

5. "Let not any iniquity have dominion over me." Let me be saved from all my spiritual captivity.

6. "Deliver me from the oppression of men." Let neither wicked men nor wicked spirits rule over me.

7. "Make thy face to shine upon me!" Let me have thy light, thy peace, and thy approbation.

8. "And teach me thy statutes." Keep me at thy feet, under continual instruction.

IV. He concludes by telling how he grieved for the wickedness of others and the dishonour of God. If we grieve not for others, their sin may become ours. See Eze 9:8; 1Co 5:2.

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

136. Rivers of waters run from my eyes. Rivers of waters — that is, a great profusion of tears. “The Orientals are in general very copious weepers; and this strong hyperbole is still much employed among them to express the highest degree of lamenting grief.” — Illustrated Commentary upon the Bible.

“Les autres s’endorment sans grand soin de leur salut comme bestes brutes.” — Fr

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.

136. Mine eyes run down with streams of water] For the phrase cp. Lam_3:48; Lam_1:16. The righteous indignation which he feels at one moment for the lawlessness of men (Psa_119:53) is tempered at another by profound sorrow and pity.

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.

Thy word is very pure,.... Or, "exceedingly purified" (w): as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times, Psa 12:6; free from, all drossy matter; from any mixtures, or the corruptions and doctrines of men; and which tends and leads to purity of heart and life;

therefore thy servant loveth it; that which carnal men hate the word of God for, because it forbids and condemns all impurity of flesh and spirit, all impure thoughts, words, and actions; that a good man loves it for, and which is an evidence of a sanctified heart.

(w) "purificatum valde", Montanus; "liquatum, vel expurgatum valde", Gejerus.

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

Rivers of waters run down mine eyes - My heart is sad, and my eyes pour forth floods of tears. It is not a gentle weeping, but my eyes are like a fountain which pours out full-flowing streams. See Jer 9:1. “Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears,” etc. Compare Jer 14:17; Lam 1:16; Lam 2:18.

Because they keep not thy law - On account of the sins, the follies, the stupidity, and the transgressions of people. So the Saviour wept over Jerusalem Luk 19:41; and so the apostle said that he had “great heaviness and continual sorrow” in his heart, on account of his “brethren,” his “kinsmen according to the flesh.” Rom 9:2-3. Such a feeling is right. There is nothing for which we should be excited to deeper emotion in respect to our fellow-men than for the fact that they are violators of the law of God, and exposed to its fearful penalty. There is nothing which more certainly indicates true piety in the soul than such deep compassion for people as sinners, or because they are sinners. There is nothing which is more certainly connected with a work of grace in a community, or revival of true religion, than when such a feeling pervades a church. Then Christians will pray; then they will labor to save sinners; then they will feel their dependence on God; and then the Spirit of God will descend and bless the efforts put forth for the salvation of people. It may be added, nothing is more remarkable than that pious people ordinarily feel so little on account of the danger of their friends and fellow-sinners - that the occasions are so rare on which they imitate the example of the psalmist and of the Saviour in weeping over the condition of a perishing world!

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

Rivers of waters; plentiful and perpetual tears, witnesses of my deep sorrow for God’s dishonour and displeasure, and for the miseries which sinners bring upon themselves and others. They, to wit, the wicked, as before, Psa 119:126, who were not worthy to be mentioned; for this pronoun is oft used in way of contempt, as Luk 14:24; 19:27; Joh 7:11; 8:10; Act 16:36.

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

Rivers of water s run down mine eyes; literally, mine eyes run down with rivers of water. (comp. Lam_3:48; and see also Jer_9:1 Jer_14:17) Because they keep not thy Law (comp. ver. 53).

A great sorrow.

"Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy Law.

I CHARACTERISTICS OF THIS SORROW.

1. It is the sorrow of only good men. (Php_3:18, "Many walk of whom I have told you often, and now tell you," etc.) It can be felt only by those who have wept over sin in their own hearts. Three ways of feeling towards the sins of others by men of the world apathy, pride, mockery.

2. It is an unselfish sorrow. Most of our griefs are personal and selfish. When they are so they often weaken and debase the mind. But this is a disinterested sorrow, akin to Christ"s sorrow over Jerusalem; it comes from the noblest sympathies, and braces the mind for the highest exertion.

3. It is inexpressible sorrow.

II THE REASON OF IT. The transgression of God"s Law is a subject of grief under two aspects.

1. As that transgression has reference to God. Sins of the Church and the sins of the world.

2. As it has reference to man. A reasonable sorrow. This sorrow should lead to exertion. Sinners should weep for themselves. S.

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

Rivers - Plentiful tears, witness of my deep sorrow for God's dishonour, and for the miseries which sinners bring upon themselves.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.