Psalms 119:143

Psa 119:143 Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me: [yet] thy commandments [are] my delights.

Ver. 143. Trouble and anguish have taken hold of me] Heb. have found me. Those (as we say of foul weather) come before they are sent for; yet are they not without the Lord. It is he that putteth his under the black rod.

Yet thy commandments, &c.] God and his word are never so sweet to the saints as in adversity.

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.

143. (Psa 119:143) Distress and anguish seize (or seized) me; thy commandments (are) my delight. Even in the midst of suffering, thy commandments not only solace me but make me happy. Seize, literally find, as in Psa 116:3. Delight, literally delights, a succedaneum for all other pleasures. See above, on Psa 119:24.

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

These two verses are almost a repetition of the two foregoing verses, but with improvement. 1. David again professes his constant adherence to God and his duty, notwithstanding the many difficulties and discouragements he met with. He had said (Psa 119:14), I am small and despised, and yet adhere to my duty. Here he finds himself not only mean, but miserable, as far as this world could make him so: Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me - trouble without, anguish within; they surprised him, they seized him, they held him. Sorrows are often the lot of saints in this vale of tears; they are in heaviness through manifold temptations. There he had said, Yet do I not forget thy precepts; here he carries his constancy much higher: Yet thy commandments are my delights. All this trouble and anguish did not put his mouth out of taste for the comforts of the word of God, but he could still relish them and find that peace and pleasure in them which all the calamities of this present time could not deprive him of. There are delights, variety of delights, in the word of God, which the saints have often the sweetest enjoyment of when they are in trouble and anguish, Co2 1:5. 2. He again acknowledges the everlasting righteousness of God's word as before (Psa 119:142): The righteousness of thy testimonies is everlasting and cannot be altered; and, when it is admitted in its power into a soul, it is there an abiding principle, a well of living water, Joh 4:14. We ought to meditate much and often upon the equity and the eternity of the word of God. Here he adds, by way of inference, (1.) His prayer for grace: Give me understanding. Those that know much of the word of God should still covet to know more; for there is more to be known. He does not say, "Give me a further revelation," but, Give me a further understanding; what is revealed we should desire to understand, and what we know to know better; and we must go to God for a heart to know. (2.) His hope of glory: "Give me this renewed understanding, and then I shall live, shall live for ever, shall be eternally happy, and shall be comforted, for the present, in the prospect of it." This is life eternal, to know God, Joh 17:3.

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

Verse 143. Trouble and anguish] I am exercised with various trials from men and devils.

Have taken hold on me] But still I cleave to my God, and am delighted with his law.

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

143. have taken hold on me] Have befallen me, lit. found me.

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.

I prevented the dawning of the morning, and cried,.... That is, he awoke and got up, and prayed, before the day broke, the morning looked forth, or the sun arose: he was early as well as earnest in his supplications to God; see Psa 5:3; as Christ, his antitype, rose early in the morning, a great while before day, and went out to a solitary place, and prayed, Mar 1:35;

I hoped in thy word; which is a great encouragement to prayer, the grace of hope itself is, though a man can only put his mouth in the dust, if so be there may be hope; and especially when it is grounded on the word of promise, that God will hear and answer his people, when they call upon him in a time of trouble: and particularly hope in Christ, the essential Word, is a great encouragement; many encouraging arguments to prayer are taken from the person, office, advocacy, and mediation of Jesus Christ, Heb 4:14.

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

Trouble and anguish - The word rendered “trouble” means affliction of any kind; the word rendered “anguish” would probably express that which results from being pressed, compressed, straitened. It properly refers to a situation where there is no room to move, and where we are pent up in a narrow place. The two words denote deep affliction.

Have taken hold on me - Margin, as in Hebrew, “found me.” That is, they were in pursuit of me, and have at last apprehended me. Trouble, anguish, death, are in pursuit of us all our lives, and are never very far in the rear of us. Often, when we least expect them, they come suddenly up to us, and make us their victims.

Yet thy commandments are my delights - Notwithstanding this trouble, and in this trouble - no matter what comes - I have the same unfailing source of comfort, the truth of God; and notwithstanding what may occur, I still make God and his law the source of my happiness. See the notes at Psa 119:24.

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

Outward troubles and anguish of spirit, or great anguish or distress.

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

Ver. 143. Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me. This affliction may have arisen from his circumstances, or from the cruelty of his enemies, or from his own internal conflicts, but certain it is that he was the subject of much distress, a distress which apprehended him, and carried him away a captive to its power. His griefs, like fierce dogs, had taken hold upon him; he felt their teeth. He had double trouble: trouble without and anguish within, as the apostle Paul put it, "without were rightings and within were fears."

Yet thy commandments are my delights. Thus he became a riddle; troubled, and yet delighted; in anguish, and yet in pleasure. The child of God can understand this enigma, for well he knows that while he is cast down on account of what he sees within himself he is all the more lifted up by what he sees in the word. He is delighted with the commandments, although he is troubled because he cannot perfectly obey them. He finds abundant light in the commandments, and by the influence of that light he discovers and mourns over his own darkness. Only the man who is acquainted with the struggles of the spiritual life will understand the expression before us. Let the reader herein find a balance in which to weigh himself. Does he find even when he is begin with sorrow that it is a delightful thing to do the will of the Lord? Does he find more joy in being sanctified than sorrow in being chastised? Then the spot of God's children is upon him.

Ver. 143. Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me: yet thy commandments are my delights. This is strange, that in the midst of anguish David had delight: but indeed the sweetness of God's word is best perceived under the bitterness of the cross. The joy of Christ and the joy of the world cannot consist together. A heart delighted with worldly joy cannot feel the consolations of the Spirit; the one of these destroys the other: but in sanctified trouble, the comforts of God's word are felt and perceived in a most sensible manner. Many a time hath David protested this delight of his in the word of God; and truly it is a great argument of godliness, when men come not only to reverence it, but to love it, and delight in it. Let this be considered by those unhappy men who hear it of custom, and count it but a weariness. Abraham Wright.

Ver. 143. Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me, or "found me, "etc. We need not take pains, as many do, "to find trouble and anguish; "for they will, one day, "find us." In that day the revelations of God must be to us instead of all worldly "delights" and pleasures, which will then have forsaken us; and how forlorn and desolate will be our state if we should have no other delights, no other pleasures, to succeed them, and to accompany us into eternity. Let our study be then in the Scriptures, if we expect our comfort in them in time to come. George Horne.

Ver. 143. Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me. You may conceive a bold figure here, as if Trouble and Anguish were being sent out against the helpless sons of men. These, like enemies, were going round. Instead of seizing upon the wicked, they had found the righteous man. So it was by the ordering of God. I suppose many of us have remarked, that the believer is never long at ease. He is in the world; he is in the flesh; there is indwelling sin; there are enemies around; there is the great enemy; besides all this, the Lord, for wise purposes, hides his face. Then the believer is in trouble and anguish. John Stephen.

Ver. 143. Have taken hold on me. Hebrew, found me. Like dogs tracking out a wild beast hiding or fleeing. A.R. Fausset.

Ver. 143. Thy commandments are my delights. Delight in moral things (saith Aquinas) is the rule by which we may judge of men's goodness or badness. Delectatio est quies voluntatis in bono. Men are good and bad as the objects of their delight are: they are good who delight in good things, and they are evil who delight in evil things. Thomas Manton.

Ver. 143. Mingled emotions.

Ver. 143.

1. The dark cloud. Trouble, etc.

2. His silver lining. Yet, etc.

Ver. 143.

1. The Saint cast into prison.

(a) The jailers: "Trouble and anguish."

(b) Their proceeding: "take hold" and make him fast.

2. Songs in the night.

(a) Blessed theme: "thy commandments."

(b) Ecstatic melodies: "delights."

3. Let the prisoners hear them.

(a) Pain held, sin held, despair held.

(b) It is matter and melody to open prisons. W.B.H.

Ver. 143. Consider,

1. The excellency of the word, in that it gives delight when trouble and anguish oppress.

2. The great kindness of God in so framing his word that it can give delight at such a time, and under such circumstances.

3. The disposition of the believer to resort to the word for delight, when others give themselves over to vain grief and despondency.

4. The blessed position of the believer, in that he need never be without joy. J.F.

Psalms 119:144*

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

Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me (comp. vers. 22, 23, 28, 50, 51, 61, 67, 69, etc.). Yet thy commandments are my delight. I am happy in the midst of my troubles, for the joy that I have in thy Word (see vers. 16, 35, 47, 77, 174).

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

Trouble - Outward troubles and anguish of spirit.

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

distress and anguish have found me

The psalmist speaks of distress and anguish as if they were people. AT: "I have become distressed and anguished" or "my body and my mind are suffering" (See: Personification)

translationWords

command

covenant

righteous

eternity

life

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.