Calvin: Commentary on Psalms, Vol. 5

Psalm 119:129-136

129. ph Thy testimonies are marvelous; therefore my soul hath kept them. 130. ph The entrance of thy words is light, which giveth understanding to the little ones. 131. ph I opened my mouth and panted, because I loved thy commandments. 132. ph Look upon me, and be merciful to me, according to thy judgment towards them that love thy name. 133. ph Direct my steps according to thy word, and let no iniquity have dominion in me. 134. ph Deliver me from the oppression of men; and I will keep thy precepts. 135. ph Make thy face to shine upon thy servant; and teach me thy statutes. 136. ph Rivers of waters run from my eyes, because they have not kept thy law.

129. Thy testimonies are marvelous. I have given this translation to avoid an ambiguous form of expression. The Prophet does not simply mean, that the doctrine of the law is wonderful, but that it contains high and hidden mysteries. Accordingly he declares, that the sublime and admirable wisdom which he found comprehended in the divine law led him to regard it with reverence. This is to be carefully marked, for the law of God is proudly despised by the great majority of mankind, when they do not duly taste its doctrine, nor acknowledge that God speaks from his throne in heaven, that, the pride of the flesh being abased, he may raise us upward by the apprehension of faith. We also gather from this passage, that it is impossible for any man to keep the law of God from the heart, unless he contemplate it with feelings of reverence: for reverence is the beginning of pure and right subjection. Accordingly, I have said that many despise God's Word, because they think it inferior to the acuteness of their own understandings. Yea, many are led to break forth more audaciously into this heaven-daring contempt, from the vanity of showing their own ingenuity. But, although worldly men may flatter themselves in that proud disdain of the divine law, yet the commendation which the Prophet pronounces upon it still holds true, that it comprehends mysteries which far transcend all the conceptions of the human mind.

130. The entrance of thy word is light. The amount is, that the light of the truth revealed in God's word, is so distinct that the very first sight of it illuminates the mind. The word phtch pethach, properly signifies an opening, but metaphorically it is taken for a gate. Accordingly the old translator has rendered it…