Psalm 119:49-56

⁴⁹ Remember the word to Your servant,
Upon which You have caused me to hope.

⁵⁰ This is my comfort in my affliction,
For Your word has given me life.

⁵¹ The proud have me in great derision,
Yet I do not turn aside from Your law.

⁵² I remembered Your judgments of old, O Lord,
And have comforted myself.

⁵³ Indignation has taken hold of me
Because of the wicked, who forsake Your law.

⁵⁴ Your statutes have been my songs
In the house of my pilgrimage.

⁵⁵ I remember Your name in the night, O Lord,
And I keep Your law.

⁵⁶ This has become mine,
Because I kept Your precepts.

The theme of this stanza seems to be the psalmist’s reliance, in difficult time, on the promises in God’s Word.

Though this section expressed the feelings of one in the midst of affliction it does not sing the song of deliverance therefrom. The word is distinctly, “This is my comfort in my affliction.” — Morgan, page 231.

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[Great derision (v.51)]: this verb supplies the noun “scornful” (Psalm 1:1), the person who feels there is simply nothing to be said on the other side. — Guthrie, page 527.

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The Messiah here sings of what the Bible with its promises and records were to Him during His earthly pilgrimage (vs. 49, 52, 54), its trials (v.50) and its hatreds (v.51), the Word of God sustained Him (v.49), comforted Him (v.50), animated Him (v.50), and set Him a-singing (v.54). Thus during His life of sorrow, trial and hatred, He did not throw the Bible aside as useless or untrue but club to it all the closer. — Williams, page 391.

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A holy anger and a just indignation (v.53) become the true witness for God and for His truth. Men who take little interest int he authority and inspiration of the Scriptures rarely become heated when discussing them, but the more they are loved the hotter will be the indignation of those who love them against those who corrupt or deny them. — Williams, page 392.

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It was a peculiar, unique and characteristic of the Messiah that although all other servants of God, without exception, failed in believing and obeying the Bible He perfectly loved and followed its precepts. Thus He alone satisfies the language of this section [esp. v.56], as He alone illustrated the faith, loyalty and love of the other sections of the Psalm. — Williams, page 392.