LAMED
89 Forever, O Lord,
Your word is settled in heaven.
90 Your faithfulness endures to all generations;
You established the earth, and it abides.
91 They continue this day according to Your ordinances,
For all are Your servants.
92 Unless Your law had been my delight,
I would then have perished in my affliction.
93 I will never forget Your precepts,
For by them You have given me life.
94 I am Yours, save me;
For I have sought Your precepts.
95 The wicked wait for me to destroy me,
But I will consider Your testimonies.
96 I have seen the consummation of all perfection,
But Your commandment is exceedingly broad.
The focus of this stanza seems to be on the eternal nature of God’s Word, which makes it relevant for all times and circumstances.
settled (v.89) = took a stand, stood firm
they (v.91) — the earth and all it contains
The psalmist is revived (v.93) and encouraged by God’s word, which reminds him that all things are God’s servants (v.91; cf. Ecclesiastes 9:1)—just as Paul, reiterating the same principle, encourages suffering believers in Romans 8:26-28. The psalmist thus looks forward with confidence to the day when his affliction will cease (v.96), for he has seen (i.e., perceived in God’s Word) and end (“limit”) to everything (rather then “perfection”). — Wechsler, pages 285-286.
The Hebrew word translated “perfection” in v.96 only occurs here in Scripture. Wechsler translates it “everything.” Other commentaries state that the psalmist was saying that all claims to perfection made by man have and end or limit. Williams has a different take (below). I’m inclined towards Wechsler’s view.
As usual, Williams sees a connection to the Messiah that other commentaries don’t see. I find this perspective compelling.
The Messiah here sings of the unshakeable rock, the Word of God, to which He clung, and from which all the tests of the previous stanza failed to detach Him. …
Messiah Himself said that heaven and earth should pass away but His Word never, for it is settled in heaven where nothing can reach or shake it. …
The verb to perish (v.92) has many meanings in Hebrew. Here it suggests that the Messiah’s sinless body would have sunk under the pressure of severe suffering—as for example in the garden of Gethsemane—but that He was kept alive by resting on the words of the Scripture (v.93). …
As in the previous stanza so here (v.95) man’s hatred failed to awaken in his heart any doubt as to the faithfulness of God’s Word and the value of its promises (v.90). — Williams, pages 394-395.
William’s also has a different take on the meaning of v.96:
The last verse states that there is an end, i.e., a limit or boundary, to the extent of God’s work in creation, but no boundary to His Word in revelation—it is infinite and eternal. — Williams, page 395.
