Verse. 48. Thy commandments. By commandments he
understandeth the word of God, yet it is more powerful than so; it is not, I
have loved thy word; but, I have loved that part of thy word that
is thy "commandments," the mandatory part.
There are some parts of the will and word of God that even ungodly men will be
content to love. There is the promissory part; all men gather
and catch at the promises, and show love to these. The reason is clear; there
is pleasure, and profit, and gain, and advantage in the promises; but a pious
soul doth not only look to the promises, but to the commands. Piety
looks on Christ as a Lawgiver, as well as a Saviour,
and not only on him as a Mediator, but as a Lord and Master;
it doth not only live by faith, but it liveth by rule;
it makes indeed the promises the stay and staff of
a Christian's life, but it makes the commandments of God the level.
A pious heart knows that some command is implied in the qualification and
condition of every promise; it knows that as for the fulfilling of the
promises, it belongs to God; but the fulfilling of the commands belongs to us.
Therefore it looks so, upon the enjoying of that which is promised that it will
first do that which is commanded. There is no hope of attaining comfort in the
promise but in keeping of the precept; therefore he pitches the emphasis,
"I have loved thy word," that is true, and all thy
word, and this part, the mandatory part: "I have loved
thy commandments."
Observe the number, "thy commandments"; it is plural, that
is,
all thy commandments without exception; otherwise even
ungodly men will be content to love
some commandments, if they
may choose them for themselves.
Richard Holdsworth (1590-1649),
in "The Valley of
Vision."
From the additional notes to Charles Spurgeon's, The Treasury of David, on Psalm 119 - I will lift up my hands to your commandments, which I love.
