119:153-160 ר

God’s mercy- vs. 156, lovingkindness- vs. 159, truth- vs. 160, and righteousness- vs. 160 are all mentioned here. 

119:153 Look upon my affliction and rescue me- This word for look will begin vs. 153, 158, 159. This plea for rescue from affliction ties canonically to Exodus 3:7-8- Hermenia, 282. He begs “for deliverance from affliction (vs. 153) and from his persecutors and adversaries (vs. 157a), who are faithless with God (vs. 158)” Miller, 394. Only God can rescue (vs. 153) and redeem (vs. 154). 

For I do not forget Your law- “He obeys God’s law, but they don’t, and this again is the basis of his call to God to help him” Longman, 408. “The plea is based on the psalmist’s remembrance of God’s law (vs. 153b) and diligence in keeping it (vs. 157b, 159a). But he still recognizes his need of God’s mercy (vs. 156a)” Miller, 395. “The protestation of innocence is not to be understood as an expression of pride but rather as an appeal to God’s fatherly heart” VanGemeren, 761.

119:154 Plead my cause and redeem me- Ps. 35:1; 43:1; 74:22; Hos. 4:1 uses plead my cause and Ps. 69:18 the cry for redemption. “The language used is that of a lawsuit, for God will champion his cause. The effect of God’s pleading his case is that he will be redeemed from bondage. The word ‘redeem’ is well-known for it use in kinsman-redeemer passages” Ross, 581.

Revive me according to Your word- revive is used in vs. 25, 37, 50, 93, 107, 116, 144, 149. “There is a mounting urgency, if repetition is any sign of it, in the plea for life, heard three times in this stanza is an identical exclamation (a single word in Hebrew) to end verses 154, 156, 159” Kidner, 428. 

119:155 Salvation is far from the wicked- The wicked are far from God’s law in vs. 150 and salvation is far from them. Vs. 150 is a verb while the word far here in vs. 155 is an adjective. 

For they do not seek Your statues- The psalmist sought God with all His heart in vs. 2, 10, but the wicked did not seek God’s statutes.

119:156 Great are Your mercies, O LORD- Mercies is used elsewhere in this Psalm in vs. 77.

119:157 Many are my persecutors and my adversaries- The word many in vs. 157 is the same word as great in vs. 156. “His love runs to meet us and is equal to every threat” Motyer, 571. 

119:158 I behold the treacherous and loathe them- This verb translated loathe is only used 6 times, the others are Psalms 95:10; 139:21; Ezekiel 6:9; 20:43; 36:31. 

Because they do not keep Your word- “The psalmist not only follows this way, but also he is grieved to see those who do not” Ross, 583.

119:159 Consider how I love Your precepts- In vs. 153 he begs God to see his affliction and in vs. 158 to see the treacherous, and in vs. 159 to see his love for God. 

Revive me, O LORD, according to Your lovingkindness- Loving-kindness is found in Psalm 119:41, 64, 76, 88, 124, 149, 159. “YHWH’s righteous ordinances will give him not death, but life” Hermenia, 282. 

119:160 The sum of Your word is truth- “The sum is literally ‘the head’; hence AV, ‘from the beginning.’…Here it only means ‘the head of Thy word.’ In this kind of phrase it means, as in the RSV, the sum (cf., e.g. 139:17); and its use as an equivalent to ‘a census in Exodus 30:12; Numbers 1:2, etc., shows that ‘the sum of’ is not a way of saying ‘by and large,’ but rather, ‘every part of’” Kidner, 428-429.