Psalm 119 is one of the alphabetical, or acrostic, psalms. The first letters of each group of eight verses follow the order of the Hebrew alphabet. The twenty-two sections of this psalm thus correspond to the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Furthermore, all the verses in a particular section begin with the same Hebrew letter.

The word law is used twenty-five times in this psalm (vv. 1, 18, etc.). A number of different synonyms for law are also used, including testimony (once, in v. 88), testimonies (twenty-two times, in vv. 2, 14, etc.), word (thirty-six times, in vv. 9, 11, etc.), words (six times, in vv. 57, 103, etc.; cf. Exo. 34:28, lit.), commandment (once, in v. 96), commandments (twenty-one times, in vv. 6, 10, etc.), statutes (twenty-two times, in vv. 5, 8, etc.), ordinances (seventeen times, in vv. 7, 13, etc.), judgments (three times, in vv. 75, 120, 137), and precepts (twenty-one times, in vv. 4, 15, etc.). All these terms from law to precepts consummate in the way (four times, in vv. 14, 27, 32, 33) or ways (three times, in vv. 3, 15, 37), signifying Christ as the way of God for His people (John 14:6). Psalm 119 is a psalm of 176 verses describing Christ, who is the reality of the law, the commandments, the ordinances, the statutes, the precepts, and the judgments.

Christ is the reality of the law as the testimony of God. The testimony of God signifies Christ, the embodiment of God (Col. 2:9), as the living portrait of what God is. See note Exo. 20:1¹.

There are two kinds of people in relation to the law:
1) the letter-keepers, illustrated by the Judaizers and Saul of Tarsus (Phil. 3:6b),
2) the God-seekers, illustrated by the psalmists, especially by the writer of this psalm, and by the apostle Paul (2 Cor. 3:6).
As a lover of God, the psalmist sought God with all his heart, loved God’s name and remembered it (55, vv. 132), sought God’s favor by entreating His countenance (v. 58), asked God to cause His face to shine upon him (v. 135), walked in God’s presence (v. 168), considered God’s law to be His living and loving word breathed out of His mouth (vv. 13, 72, 88; cf. 2 Tim. 3:16), tasted God’s word and found it sweeter than honey to his mouth (v. 103), esteemed God’s word as more precious than fine gold (v. 127), and considered God’s word a lamp to his feet and a light to his path (v. 105).

In this psalm many different verbs are used to express the attitude of the God-seekers toward God’s law as God’s testimony and God’s word: choosing it (vv. 30, 173); believing it (v. 66); lifting up their hands unto it (v. 48a and note Psa. 119:48¹); loving it (vv. 47, 48, 97, etc.); delighting in it (vv. 16, 24, 35, etc.); tasting it (v. 103); rejoicing in it (vv. 14, 111, 162); singing of it (v. 54; cf. Eph. 5:18-20); regarding it (vv. 6, 117); having a sound heart in it (v. 80); inclining their heart unto it (vv. 36, 112); seeking it (vv. 45, 94), longing for it (vv. 20, 40, 131), and hoping in it with prayer (vv. 43, 74, 114, 147); trusting in it (v. 42); musing on it (vv. 15, 23, 48, 78, 99, 148 see note Psa. 119:15¹); considering it (v. 95); esteeming it right concerning all things (v. 128a); learning it (vv. 71, 73); treasuring it as much as all riches (v. 14), as great spoil (v. 162), better than gold and silver (vv. 72, 127), and as a heritage forever (v. 111); treasuring it up in their heart (v. 11; cf. Col. 3:16); remembering it and not forgetting it (16, vv. 52, 93); standing in awe of it (120, vv. 161); clinging to it (v. 31); not forsaking it, not swerving from it, not turning aside from it, and not going astray from it (51, vv. 87, 102, 110, 157); turning their feet toward it (v. 59); keeping, observing, and doing it (vv. 33, 69); and walking in it and running the way of it (vv. 1, 32a).

For the commandments (v. 6), statutes (v. 5), and ordinances (v. 7), see note Luke 1:6⁴.

Christ is the reality of the law in the sense of its being not only the testimony of God but also the word of God. In total, He is the Word of God (John 1:1; Rev. 19:13b). The words of this psalm are the written words of God, but Christ is the living Word of God breathed out by God (2 Tim. 3:16a). The written words are the letters, but the living Word is the Spirit (John 6:63; Eph. 6:17), who is the reality of the letters. The law is the person of Christ, and the person of Christ is the Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45; 2 Cor. 3:17). The Spirit is the reality of whatever God is (John 16:13; 1 John 5:6). Hence, as the Spirit, Christ is the reality of the law.

Rich in meaning, the Hebrew word for muse (often translated meditate in the KJV) implies to worship, to converse with oneself, and to speak aloud. To muse on the word is to taste and enjoy it through careful considering. Prayer, speaking to oneself, and praising the Lord may also be included in musing on the word. To muse on the word of God is to enjoy His word as His breath (2 Tim. 3:16) and thus to be infused with God, to breathe God in, and to receive spiritual nourishment.

To lift up our hand unto the word of God is to indicate that we receive it warmly and gladly and that we say Amen to it (Neh. 8:5-6).

There are two aspects of the law — the aspect of the letter and the aspect of the Spirit. “The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Cor. 3:6). If our attitude in coming to the law is to care only for the commandments in letters, we will have the law in the aspect of the killing letter. However, if we take every part of the law — all the commandments, ordinances, statutes, precepts, and judgments — as the word breathed out by the God whom we love, we will have the law in the aspect of the life-giving Spirit.

The function of the law also has two aspects. On the negative side, the law exposes man’s sin (Rom. 3:20b; Rom. 3:7:7b) and subdues sinners before God (Rom. 3:19). It also guards God’s chosen people in its custody that they might be conducted to Christ (Gal. 3:23-24). On the positive side, as God’s living testimony, the law functions to minister the living God to His seekers (vv. 2, 88), and as God’s living word, the law functions to dispense God Himself as life and light into those who love the law (vv. 25, 116, 130). See note Exo. 19:8¹, par. 3.

Lit., face.

Or, unfolding. When God’s word is opened, or unfolded, to us, it gives us light, shining inwardly over our heart and our spirit to impart wisdom and revelation to us (Eph. 1:17-18a).

Lit., they.