PE
129 Your testimonies are wonderful;
Therefore my soul keeps them.
130 The entrance of Your words gives light;
It gives understanding to the simple.
131 I opened my mouth and panted,
For I longed for Your commandments.
132 Look upon me and be merciful to me,
As Your custom is toward those who love Your name.
133 Direct my steps by Your word,
And let no iniquity have dominion over me.
134 Redeem me from the oppression of man,
That I may keep Your precepts.
135 Make Your face shine upon Your servant,
And teach me Your statutes.
136 Rivers of water run down from my eyes,
Because men do not keep Your law.
In previous divisions we have seen [the psalmist’s] anger with the wickedness of those who make void the law of God, here we see his pity for them in the rivers of his tears. These two things are not contradictory. Both are the common experience of obedient souls, and both were supremely manifest in Jesus when He wept over the city whose doom He uttered. — Morgan, page 243.
entrance (v.130) = unfolding, opening
panted (v.131) = longed for, was eager for
For the believer facing the inevitable oppression of men (v.134)—i.e., of living as one among an inherently depraved humanity, this section focuses on the unique value of God’s Word, both intrinsically (e.g., v.129 “Thy testimonies are wonderful”) and expressively/applicationally (e.g., v.130 “The unfolding of Thy words gives light”—which is parallel to the notion of God’s “presence giving light” in v.135, the implication therefore being that one encounters God’s presence in the unfolding of His Word). — Wechsler, page 287.
