| Barnes' Notes on the Bible I will never forget thy precepts - Thy laws; thy truth. I will bear them in mind forever. To all eternity they shall be the object of my meditation. For with them thou hast quickened me - By them thou hast given me life, spiritual life. Compare the notes at James 1:18. This is stated as a reason why he would never suffer the truth of God to pass out of his mind. By that truth he had been made really to live. He had been brought from spiritual death to spiritual life. He saw before him now, as the result of that, an endless career of blessedness. How could he ever forget what had worked such a change in his character and condition; which had inspired such hopes; which had opened before him such an immortal career of glory! Clarke's Commentary on the BibleI will never forget thy precepts - How can I? It is by them I live. Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleI will never forget thy precepts,.... Not the precepts of the moral law, though he carefully observed and attended to them, laid them up in his mind, and did not forget to keep them; but the doctrines of the word, of the word which the Lord commanded to a thousand generations; these he endeavoured to remember, and not let them slip from him, since it follows: for with them thou hast quickened me: not with the precepts of the moral law, which cannot give life, quicken a dead sinner, nor comfort a distressed saint it is the killing letter, and the ministration of condemnation and death: but the doctrines of the word, of the Gospel, which are spirit and life; the savour of life unto life, the means of quickening dead sinners, and of reviving drooping saints; of refreshing their spirits, and cheering their souls, when in distress: and when they are made thus useful, they are not easily forgotten, they leave impressions which do not soon wear off; and besides, saints are careful to remember such words and truths, which have been of use unto them, since they may have occasion for them again. Geneva Study BibleI will never forget thy precepts: for with them thou hast quickened me. Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary93. The bounds of created perfection may be defined, but those of God's law in its nature, application, and influence, are infinite. There is no human thing so perfect but that something is wanting to it; its limits are narrow, whereas God's law is of infinite breadth, reaching to all cases, perfectly meeting what each requires, and to all times (Ps 19:3, 6, 7-11; Ec 3:11). It cannot be cramped within any definitions of man's dogmatical systems. Man never outgrows the Word. It does not shock the ignorant man with declared anticipations of discoveries which he had not yet made; while in it the man of science finds his newest discoveries by tacit anticipations provided for. Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary119:89-96 The settling of God's word in heaven, is opposed to the changes and revolutions of the earth. And the engagements of God's covenant are established more firmly than the earth itself. All the creatures answer the ends of their creation: shall man, who alone is endued with reason, be the only unprofitable burden of the earth? We may make the Bible a pleasant companion at any time. But the word, without the grace of God, would not quicken us. See the best help for bad memories, namely, good affections; and though the exact words be lost, if the meaning remain, that is well. I am thine, not my own, not the world's; save me from sin, save me from ruin. The Lord will keep the man in peace, whose mind is stayed on him. It is poor perfection which one sees and end of. Such are all things in this world, which pass for perfections. The glory of man is but as the flower of the grass. The psalmist had seen the fulness of the word of God, and its sufficiency. The word of the Lord reaches to all cases, to all times. It will take us from all confidence in man, or in our own wisdom, strength, and righteousness. Thus shall we seek comfort and happiness from Christ alone. |