| Barnes' Notes on the Bible Hold thou me up - Keep me from falling in the trials and temptations of life. The Hebrew word means to prop, uphold, support. The Septuagint is, "Aid me." And I shall be safe - And I shall be saved; or, that I may be saved. It is an acknowledgment of entire dependence on God for salvation - temporal and eternal. And I will have respect ... - I will look to thy statutes; I will have them always in my eye. Compare the notes at Psalm 119:6. Clarke's Commentary on the BibleHold thou me up - I shall grow weary and faint in the way, if not strengthened and supported by thee. And I shall be safe - No soul can be safe, unless upheld by thee. Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleHold thou me up, and I shall be safe,.... As all are, and none but such, who are in the hands of Christ; enclosed in the arms of everlasting love, upheld with the right hand of Jehovah, supported by his promises and grace, surrounded by his power, sustained by his love, and preserved in Christ Jesus; and I will have respect unto thy statutes continually; for nothing can more strongly engage a constant regard unto them than a sense of divine love, and a view of safety and security in the arms of it; or better enable to keep them than fresh communications of grace and strength: being upheld, saints hold on and out to the end; they go from strength to strength, run and are not weary, walk and faint not; and, having a supply of the Spirit, walk on in the judgments of the Lord, and keep his statutes, and do them. Or, "and I will rejoice" (l) in them, as Aben Ezra and Kimchi; or, "employ myself" in them, as Jarchi. (l) "solatiabor", Montanus; "delectabor", Pagninus, Musculus; so Ainsworth; "voluptatem capiam", Tigurine version. Geneva Study Bible{c} Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe: and I will have respect unto thy statutes continually. (c) He desires God's continual assistance, lest he should faint in this race, which he had begun. Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary119:113-120 Here is a dread of the risings of sin, and the first beginnings of it. The more we love the law of God, the more watchful we shall be, lest vain thoughts draw us from what we love. Would we make progress in keeping God's commands, we must be separate from evil-doers. The believer could not live without the grace of God; but, supported by his hand, his spiritual life shall be maintained. Our holy security is grounded on Divine supports. All departure from God's statutes is error, and will prove fatal. Their cunning is falsehood. There is a day coming which will put the wicked into everlasting fire, the fit place for the dross. See what comes of sin Surely we who fall so low in devout affections, should fear, lest a promise being left us of entering into heavenly rest, any of us should be found to come short of it, Heb 4:1. |