Psalm 119:1-8

1 Blessed are the undefiled in the way,
Who walk in the law of the Lord!

² Blessed are those who keep His testimonies,
Who seek Him with the whole heart!

³ They also do no iniquity;
They walk in His ways.

⁴ You have commanded us
To keep Your precepts diligently.

⁵ Oh, that my ways were directed
To keep Your statutes!

⁶ Then I would not be ashamed,
When I look into all Your commandments.

⁷ I will praise You with uprightness of heart,
When I learn Your righteous judgments.

⁸ I will keep Your statutes;
Oh, do not forsake me utterly!

This Psalm is an expansion of Psalm 1:2. Its theme is the Word of God hidden in the heart, and obeyed in the life. Messiah is the Blessed Man who fully satisfies its language, for He Himself is the Word of God. …

The Psalm is an acrostic. There are 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet and there are 22 stanzas in the Psalm. Each stanza contains eight verses. There are therefore, one hundred and seventy six verses in all. All the first words in the eight verses of the first stanza begin with the [Hebrew equivalent] of the letter A; all the first words of the eight verses of the second stanza with the letter B; and so on to the end of the Psalm.

In it the Bible is given ten titles … They are, Way, Testimonies, Precepts, Commandments, Law, Judgments, Righteousness, Statutes, Word, and Words. — Williams, page 389.

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This longest of the psalms is designated in Jewish tradition as “The Great Alphabetic Acrostic,” or “The Eightfold Alphabetic Acrostic,” reflecting its structural organization according to the order of the Hebrew alphabet … The number 8 is biblically significant, being typically associated with the notion of “renewal” or “restoration” (e.g., the 8 days of the Feast of Tabernacles, which foreshadows the restoration of God’s kingdom and the renewal of Creation [see Zechariah 14:16ff; Revelation 21:1-3]; the 8 people who were brought through the flood to “restart” humanity in the renewed world—which is in turn connected in 1 Peter 3:20 with the “renewal” symbolized by baptism; David, Jesse’s 8th son, was the one through whom God restarted/renewed Israel’s dynasty [i.e., through Judah rather than Benjamin; see 1 Samuel 16:10ff.]; the 8 days of Hanukkah [the Feast of “Dedication”; see John 10:22], commemorating the restoration/renewal of proper Temple worship), one may reasonably conclude that the merits and benefits of God’s Word described throughout this psalm are to be viewed in sum as epitomizing renewal—i.e., not just our initial “spiritual” renewal (justification) and our final “comprehensive” renewal (glorification), but also—and more “practically”—our present renewal as we strive to conform to God’s Word by the renewing of our mind, that we “may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2; cf. also Ephesians 5:26). This perspective on Psalm 119 is further affirmed by its placement between the two collections of “pilgrimage psalms”—i.e., the Hallel (Psalms 113-118) and the Songs of Ascent (Psalms 120-134)—thus suggesting the symbolism of God’s Word (Psalm 119) as the effective “link” between mankind’s ideally intended state in the new word of Eden (as symbolized by the Hallel) and mankind’s ideally achieved state in the renewed Creation (as symbolized the the Songs of Ascent.) Finally, in every verse of this psalm—with the exception of v.122—is contained one of eleven different nouns employed elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible to denote God’s Law—viz., “law,” “testimonies,” “ways,” “precepts,” “statutes,” “commandments,” “judgment(s) [i.e., judicial edicts, not ‘acts of judgment’],” “word(s),” “utterance,” “faithfulness,” and “righteousness.” — Wechsler, page 280-281.

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“The law” indicates the whole method of guidance and direction. “His testimonies” refers to special and direct revelations of His will. “His ways” indicates the pathway of His appointment. “Thy precepts” is a poetical expression indicating definite injunctions. “Thy statutes” refers to the written words of the law. “Thy commandments” is the phrase which describes positive and particular orders of God. “Thy judgments” refers to the decisions of God in places of doubt or perplexity … In every possible way needed by man, God reveals His will to meet the need. Human responsibility is marked by the words “walk,” “keep,” “observe,” “respect,” “learn.” Such obedience to such a will must indeed issue in blessedness. — Morgan, page 225.

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The stanza contains two sections: A general statement (vs.1-4), and a personal cry (vs.5-8). The first lays down the double happiness of those who read and obey the Bible; the second, the moral effect of such obedience. — Williams, pages 389-390.

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This introductory section begins by summarizing and emphasizing (via the repetition in v.2) the benefits to those who walk (a Hebrew [way of saying] one’s manner of living; cf. Genesis 6:9; Exodus 16:4; Galatians 5:16) in the law of the LORD—i.e., that they are blessed. That is psalm (as, indeed, the psalms generally) are intended with reference to those who are already believers is also underscored by the further description of these blessed ones as being those who seek the Lord with all their heart (v.2b)—for no one in their unredeemed “natural” (i.e., depraved) human state seeks the Lord, as David makes clear in Psalm 14:3-4. — Wechsler, page 282.