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Selected Verse: Psalms 119:25 - King James
| Verse |
Translation |
Text |
| Ps 119:25 |
King James |
DALETH. My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou me according to thy word. |
Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse
| A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882] |
DALETH. (Psa 119:25-32).
Submitting ourselves in depression to God, He will revive us by His promises, and lead us to declare His mercy to others. |
| Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
My soul cleaveth unto the dust - This commences a new division of the psalm, in which each verse begins with the "fourth" letter of the Hebrew alphabet - Daleth (ד d), equivalent to the English "d." There is nothing in the sense to separate it from the other parts of the psalm. The word rendered "cleaveth" means to be glued to; to stick fast. It has the sense of adhering firmly to anything, so that it cannot easily be separated from it. Compare the notes at Psa 63:8. The word "dust" here may mean either the earth, and earthly things, considered as low, base, unworthy, worldly; or it may mean the grave, as if he were near to that, and in danger of dying. DeWette understands it in the latter sense. Compare Psa 44:25; Psa 22:29. Yet the word cleave would hardly suggest this idea; and the force of that word would be better represented by the idea that his soul, as it were, adhered to the things of earth; that it seemed to be so fastened to them - so glued to them - that it could not be detached from them; that his affections were low, earthly, grovelling, so as to give him deep distress, and to lead him to cry to God for life and strength that he might break away from them. This expresses what is often felt by good people, and thus presents one of the forms of religious experience. Compare Rom 7:14-15.
Quicken thou me - Cause me to live; give me vigor and strength to break away from this which binds me fast, and to rise above these low propensities.
According to thy word - That is, either according to thy promises made to thy people to aid them when they are in distress; or, according to the principles of thy word, that I may live as thy word requires. Who has not found his soul so cleaving to dust - to earth - to worldly things - as to feel himself degraded by it, and to lead him to cry out with earnestness that God would give him strength, life, vigor, that his soul might rise to better things? |
| Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78] |
| The eightfold Daleth. He is in deep trouble, and prays for consolation and strengthening by means of God's word, to which he resigns himself. His soul is fixed to the dust (Psa 44:26) in connection with such non-recognition and proscription, and is incapable of raising itself. In Psa 119:25 he implores new strength and spirits (חיּה as in Psa 71:20; Psa 85:7) from God, in conformity with and by reason of His word. He has rehearsed his walk in every detail to God, and has not been left without an answer, which has assured him of His good pleasure: may He then be pleased to advance him ever further and further in the understanding of His word, in order that, though men are against him, he may nevertheless have God on his side, Psa 119:26-27. The complaint and request expressed in Psa 119:25 are renewed in Psa 119:28. דּלף refers to the soul, which is as it were melting away in the trickling down of tears; קיּם is a Piel of Aramaic formation belonging to the later language. In Psa 119:29-30 the way of lies or of treachery, and the way of faithfulness or of perseverance in the truth, stand in opposition to one another. חנן is construed with a double accusative, inasmuch as תּורה has not the rigid notion of a fixed teaching, but of living empirical instruction. שׁוּה (short for שׁוה לנגד, Psa 16:8) signifies to put or set, viz., as a norma normans that stands before one's eyes. He cleaves to the testimonies of God; may Jahve not disappoint the hope which to him springs up out of them, according to the promise, Psa 119:31. He runs, i.e., walks vigorously and cheerfully, in the way of God's commandments, for He has widened his heart, by granting and preserving to the persecuted one the joyfulness of confession and the confidence of hope. |
| Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65] |
| The dust - I am in danger of present death: I am like one laid in the grave. Quicken - Preserve my life, or raise me out of the dust. Word - According to thy promise. |
| Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
My soul cleaveth unto the dust - It would be best to translate נפשי naphshi, my life; and then cleaving to the dust may imply an apprehension of approaching death; and this agrees best with the petition.
Quicken thou me - חיני chaiyeni, "make me alive." Keep me from going down into the dust. |
25 DALETH. My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou me according to thy word.
26 I have declared my ways, and thou heardest me: teach me thy statutes.
27 Make me to understand the way of thy precepts: so shall I talk of thy wondrous works.
28 My soul melteth for heaviness: strengthen thou me according unto thy word.
29 Remove from me the way of lying: and grant me thy law graciously.
30 I have chosen the way of truth: thy judgments have I laid before me.
31 I have stuck unto thy testimonies: O LORD, put me not to shame.
32 I will run the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart.
14 For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.
15 For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.
29 All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul.
25 For our soul is bowed down to the dust: our belly cleaveth unto the earth.
8 My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.
31 I have stuck unto thy testimonies: O LORD, put me not to shame.
8 I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
29 Remove from me the way of lying: and grant me thy law graciously.
30 I have chosen the way of truth: thy judgments have I laid before me.
28 My soul melteth for heaviness: strengthen thou me according unto thy word.
25 DALETH. My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou me according to thy word.
26 I have declared my ways, and thou heardest me: teach me thy statutes.
27 Make me to understand the way of thy precepts: so shall I talk of thy wondrous works.
7 Shew us thy mercy, O LORD, and grant us thy salvation.
20 Thou, which hast shewed me great and sore troubles, shalt quicken me again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth.
25 DALETH. My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou me according to thy word.
26 Arise for our help, and redeem us for thy mercies' sake.