Psalms 119:76

Here is, 1. An earnest petition to God for his favour. Those that own the justice of God in their afflictions (as David had done, Psa 119:75) may, in faith, and with humble boldness, be earnest for the mercy of God, and the tokens and fruits of that mercy, in their affliction. He prays for God's merciful kindness (Psa 119:76), his tender mercies, Psa 119:77. He can claim nothing as his due, but all his supports under his affliction must come from mere mercy and compassion to one in misery, one in want. "Let these come to me," that is, "the evidence of them (clear it up to me that thou hast a kindness for me, and mercy in store), and the effects of them; let them work my relief and deliverance." 2. The benefit he promised himself from God's lovingkindness: "Let it come to me for my comfort (Psa 119:76); that will comfort me when nothing else will; that will comfort me whatever grieves me." Gracious souls fetch all their comfort from a gracious God, as the fountain of all happiness and joy: "Let it come to me, that I may live, that is, that I may be revived, and my life may be made sweet to me, for I have no joy of it while I am under God's displeasure. In his favour is life; in his frowns are death." A good man cannot live with any satisfaction any longer than he has some tokens of God's favour to him. 3. his pleas for the benefits of God's favour. He pleads, (1.) God's promise: "Let me have thy kindness, according to thy word unto thy servant, the kindness which thou hast promised and because thou hast promised it." Our Master has passed his word to all his servants that he will be kind to them, and they may plead it with him. (2.) His own confidence and complacency in that promise: "Thy law is my delight; I hope in thy word and rejoice in that hope." Note, Those that delight in the law of God may depend upon the favour of God, for it shall certainly make them happy.

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

Psa 119:76 Let, I pray thee, thy merciful kindness be for my comfort, according to thy word unto thy servant.

Ver. 76. Let, I pray thee, thy merciful kindness] That I faint not, neither sink under the heaviest burden of these light afflictions.

According to thy word unto thy servant] To thy servants in general, and, therefore, I trust to me, who am bold to thrust in among the rest, and to put my name in the writ.

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.

76. (Psa 119:76) Oh that thy mercy might be for my comfort, according to thy saying to thy servant. The optative expression, oh that, is here used to represent the Hebrew particle of entreaty, correctly paraphrased in the English Bible, I pray thee. For my comfort, literally to comfort (or console) me. Thy saying, that which thou hast said or promised. To thy servant, to me as thy servant, and as such in covenant with thee. This description is equally appropriate to the body and its members.

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

Verse 76. Thy merciful kindness] Let me derive my comfort and happiness from a diffusion of thy love and mercy, חסדך chasdecha, thy exuberant goodness, through my soul.

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

76 I beseech thee let thy goodness be for my consolation. Although he has acknowledged that he had been justly humbled, yet he desires that his sorrow may be alleviated by some consolation. He implores God’s mercy, as what was essentially necessary to relieve and cure his miseries. He thus shows that nothing can remove sorrow from the faithful, until they feel that God is reconciled to them. In the Word in which God offers his mercy, there is to be found no small comfort for healing all the grief to which men are liable. But the Psalmist is now speaking of actual mercy, if I may use that term, when God by the very deed declares the favor which he has promised. Confiding in the Divine promise, he already cherished in his heart a joy, proceeding from the hope of receiving the communications of Divine grace. But as all our hope would end in mere disappointment, did not God at length appear as our deliverer, he requests the performance of that which God had promised him. Lord, as if he had said, since thou hast graciously promised to be ready to succor me, be pleased to make good thy word in effect. The observation which I have previously made ought to be remembered, That it is not in vain to remind God of his promise. It would be presumption for men to come into His presence, did he not, of his own mere good pleasure, open up the way for them. When the Psalmist says, to thy servant, he does not claim God’s mercy exclusively to himself, as if it had. been promised to him alone by some special oracle; but he applies to himself what God has promised to the whole Church, which it is the peculiar province of faith to do; for unless I believe that I am one of those to whom God addresses himself in his word, so that his promises belong to me in common with others, I will never have the confidence to call upon him.

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.

76, 77. Yet man needs to be comforted and revived lest he be overwhelmed by trouble (Heb_12:11). Cp. Psa_119:50; Psa_119:82.

thy merciful kindness] thy lovingkindness.

thy word] of promise; e.g. Jer_31:13; Isa_51:3; Isa_66:13; Zec_1:17.

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.

Let my heart be found in thy statutes,.... Or "perfect", and sincere: he desires that he might have a sincere regard to the ways and worship, ordinances and commands, of God; that he might have a cordial affection for them, and observe them, not in show and appearance only, but heartily as to the Lord, and in reality and truth, like an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile;

that I be not ashamed; before men, conscious of guilt; or before God, at the throne of grace; where a believer sometimes is ashamed to come, not having had that regard to the statutes of the Lord he should have had, and that he might not be ashamed before him at the last day; but have confidence, having the righteousness of Christ imputed to him, and the true grace of God implanted in him; which engaged him to a regard to all his commandments.

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

Let, I pray thee, thy merciful kindness be for my comfort - Margin, as in Hebrew, “to comfort me.” The word rendered merciful-kindness means mercy, favor, grace, kindness; and the idea is, that all his consolation - all that he expected or desired - must be derived from mere favor; from the goodness of God. He had no source of comfort in himself, and he had no claim on God for comfort. It was through mercy alone that he could have happiness of any kind.

According to thy word ... - See the notes at Psa 119:25.

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

Yet in judgment remember mercy, and give me that comfort and assistance in, and that deliverance out of, my troubles which thou hast promised me.

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

Ver. 76. Let, I pray thee, thy merciful kindness be for my comfort, according to thy word unto thy servant. Having confessed the righteousness of the Lord, he now appeals to his mercy, and while he does not ask that the rod may be removed, he earnestly begs for comfort under it. Righteousness and faithfulness afford us no consolation if we cannot also taste of mercy, and, blessed be God, this is promised us in the word, and therefore we may expect it. The words "merciful kindness, "are a happy combination, and express exactly what we need in affliction: mercy to forgive the sin, and kindness to sustain under the sorrow. With these we can be comfortable in the cloudy and dark day, and without them we are wretched indeed; for these, therefore, let us pray unto the Lord, whom we have grieved by our sin, and let us plead the word of his grace as our sole reason for expecting his favour. Blessed be his name, notwithstanding our faults we are still his servants, and we serve a compassionate Master. Some read the last clause, "according to thy saying unto thy servant"; some special saying of the Lord was remembered and pleaded: can we not remember some such "faithful saying, "and make it the groundwork of our petitioning? That phrase, "according to thy word, " is a very favourite one; it shows the motive for mercy and the manner of mercy. Our prayers are according to the mind of God when they are according to the word of God.

Ver. 76. Let, I pray thee, thy merciful kindness be for my comfort. In the former verse he acknowledged that the Lord had afflicted him; now in this he prayeth the Lord to comfort him. This is strange that a man should seek comfort at the same hand that strikes him: it is the work of faith; nature will never teach us to do it. "Come, and let us return unto the Lord; for he hath spoiled, and he will heal us: he hath wounded, and he will bind us up." Again, we see that the crosses which God lays on his children, are not to confound, not to consume them; only to prepare them for greater consolations. With this David sustained himself against Shimei's cursing; "The Lord will look on my affliction, and do me good for this evil": with this our Saviour comforts his disciples; "Your mourning shall be turned into joy." As the last estate of Job was better than his first; so shall the Lord render more to his children at the last than now at the first he takes from them: let us therefore bear his cross, as a preparative to comfort. William Cowper.

Ver. 76. Let thy merciful kindness be for my comfort. Several of the preceding verses have spoken of affliction (Ps 119:67, 71, 75). The Psalmist now presents his petition for alleviation under it. But of what kind? He does not ask to have it removed. He does not "beseech the Lord, that it might depart from him" 2Co 12:8. No. His repeated acknowledgments of the supports vouchsafed under it, and the benefits he had derived from it, had reconciled him to commit its measures and continuance to the Lord. All that he needs, and all that he asks for, is a sense of his "merciful kindness" upon his soul. Thus he submits to his justice in his accumulated trials, and expects consolation under them solely upon the ground of his free favour. Charles Bridges.

Ver. 76. Let thy merciful kindness, etc. Let me derive my comfort and happiness from a diffusion of thy love and mercy, kdmh chasdecha, thy exuberant goodness through my soul. Adam Clarke.

Ver. 76. According to thy word unto thy servant. If his promise did not please him, why did he make it? If our reliance on the promise did not please him, why did his goodness work it? It would be inconsistent with his goodness to mock his creature, and it would be the highest mockery to publish his word, and create a temper in the heart of his supplicant suited to his promise, which he never intended to satisfy. He can as little wrong his creature as wrong himself, and therefore he can never disappoint that faith which after his own methods casts itself into the arms of his kindness, and is his own workmanship, and calls him author. That goodness which imparted itself so freely to the irrational creation will not neglect those nobler creatures that put their trust in him. This renders God a fit object for trust and confidence. Stephen Charnock.

Ver. 76. According to thy word. David had a particular promise of a particular benefit; to wit, the kingdom of Israel. And this promise God performed unto him; but his comfort stood not in it; for Saul before him had the kingdom, but the promises of mercy belonged not to him, and therefore, when God forsook him, his kingdom could not sustain him. But David here depends upon the general promises of God's mercy made to his children; wherein he acknowledgeth a particular promise of mercy made to him. For the general promises of mercy and grace made in the gospel are by faith made particular to every believer. William Cowper.

Ver. 76. Thy word unto thy servant. Here we may use the eunuch's question: "Of whom speaketh the prophet this, of himself or of some other man?" Of himself questionless, under the denomination of God's servant. But then the question returneth, Is it a word of promise made to himself in particular, or to God's servants in the general? Some say the former, the promises brought to him by Nathan. I incline to the latter, and it teacheth us these three truths:

First. That God's servants only are capable of the sweet effects of his mercy and the comforts of his promises. Who are God's servants? (1.) Such as own his right and are sensible of his interest in them: "God, whose I am, and whom I serve" (Ac 28:23). (2.) Such as give up themselves to him, renouncing all other masters. Renounce we must, for we were once under another master (Ro 6:17 Mt 6:24 Ro 6:13 1Ch 30:8). (3.) Such as accordingly frame themselves to do his work sincerely: "serve with my spirit" (Ro 1:9); and, "in newness of spirit" (Ro 7:6), even as becomes those who are renewed by the Spirit: diligently (Ac 26:7), and universally (Lu 1:74-75), and wait upon him for grace to do so (Heb 7:28). These are capable of comfort. The book of God speaketh no comfort to persons that live in sin, but to God's servants, such as do not live as if they were at their own disposal, but at God's beck. If he say go, they go. They give up themselves to be and do what God will have them to be and do.

Secondly. If we have the benefit of the promise, we must thrust in ourselves under one title or other among those to whom the promise is made; if not as God's children, yet as God's servants. Then the promise is as sure to us as if our name were in it.

Thirdly. All God's servants have common grounds of comfort: every one of God's servants may plead with God as David doth. The comforts of the word are the common portion of God's people. Thomas Manton.

Ver. 76. Thy word unto thy servant. Our Master has passed his word to all his servants that he will be kind to them and they may plead it with him. Matthew Henry.

Ver. 76. Comfort.

1. May be a matter of prayer.

2. Is provided for in the Lord.

3. Is promised in the word.

4. Is of great value to the believer.

Ver. 76.

1. The need of comfort.

2. The source of comfort: "Thy merciful kindness."

3. The rule of comfort: "According to thy word." G.R.

Psalms 119:77*

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

Let, I pray thee, thy merciful kindness be for my comfort. (comp. ver. 41 and Psa_90:15) After affliction man feels the need of "comfort," and longs for some manifestation of the Divine "kindness." According to thy Word unto thy servant. According to the general tenor of thy promises.

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