Psalm 119:133

Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(133) Have dominion.—Or, get the mastery. The Arabic root cognate with the Hebrew of the word appears in the title sultan.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

119:129-136 The wonders of redeeming love will fix the heart in adoration of them. The Scriptures show us what we were, what we are, and what we shall be. They show us the mercy and the justice of the Lord, the joys of heaven, and the pains of hell. Thus they give to the simple, in a few days, understanding of those matters, which philosophers for ages sought in vain. The believer, wearied with the cares of life and his conflicts with sin, pants for the consolations conveyed to him by means of the sacred word. And every one may pray, Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name. We must beg that the Holy Spirit would order our steps. The dominion of sin is to be dreaded and prayed against by every one. The oppression of men is often more than flesh and blood can bear; and He who knoweth our frame, will not refuse to remove it in answer to the prayers of his people. Whatever obscurity may appear as to the faith of the Old Testament believers, their confidence at the throne of grace can only be explained by their having obtained more distinct views of gospel privileges, through the sacrifices and services of their law, than is generally imagined. Go to the same place, plead the name and merits of Jesus, and you will not, you cannot plead in vain. Commonly, where there is a gracious heart, there is a weeping eye. Accept, O Lord, the tears our blessed Redeemer shed in the days of his flesh, for us who should weep for our brethren or ourselves.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Order my steps in thy word - My goings, or, my conduct and life - by thy word; according to thy requirements. Let me be wholly obedient to thy will.

And let not any iniquity have dominion over me - See the notes at Psalm 19:13. The prayer is, that no form of sin, that no wicked passion or propensity, might be allowed to rule over him. He who is willing that any one sin should rule in his heart, though he should be free from all other forms of sin, cannot be a pious man. See the notes at James 2:10.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

133. Order my steps—Make firm, so that there be no halting (Ps 40:2).

any iniquity—Ps 119:34 favors Hengstenberg, "any iniquitous man," any "oppressor." But the parallel first clause in this (Ps 119:33) favors English Version (Ps 19:13). His hope of deliverance from external oppression of man (Ps 119:34) is founded on his deliverance from the internal "dominion of iniquity," in answer to his prayer (Ps 119:33).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Ver. 133. Order my steps; by thy grace direct and govern all my motions and actions.

In thy word; in the way prescribed in thy word; or, by thy word. Let thy Spirit accompany thy word, and ingraft it within me, so that I may be guided and ruled by it. And although I have evil inclinations and affections within me, let them not bear sway in me, nor withdraw me from the course of obedience.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Order my steps in thy word,.... Or, "by thy word" (s), or "according" to it. Which is the rule of practice and action, as well as of faith; and happy are they who walk according to the directions of it; but it is not in the power of man to order and direct his steps: this is done by the Lord; and such who acknowledge him in their ways, and apply to him for direction, are and shall be thus favoured by him; see Jeremiah 10:23;

and let not any iniquity have dominion over me; not only greater sins or presumptuous ones, very gross iniquities, as in Psalm 19:13; but lesser ones, even the least of them. It is a sad thing to be enslaved to any lust or sin, be it what it will: sin reigns over wicked men even unto death; and it oftentimes has great power over good men, puts them upon doing that which is evil, and hinders them from doing that which is good; it carries them captive, and threatens to have the ascendant over them, and rule in them, which they deprecate; and such a prayer may be the prayer of faith, since it is promised "sin shall not have the dominion over you", Romans 6:14. Kimchi interprets this of the evil imagination or corruption of nature; R. Moses understands it of a wicked man; and so the Syriac version.

(s) "eloquio tuo", Tigurine version; "secundum eloquium tuum", Musculus.

Geneva Study Bible

Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

133. Direct my footsteps, or, make my footsteps firm, in or by thy word, and so let no iniquity have dominion over me, through stress either of temptation from within, or of trial from without. Iniquity or vanity is a comprehensive term for sin as moral worthlessness or antagonism to God; it is the very opposite of that law which is truth.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 133. - Order my steps in thy Word; perhaps rather, establish my steps by thy Word (comp. Psalm 40:2). And let not any iniquity (i.e., any wicked persons) have dominion over me. The prayer is not for deliverance from internal corruption, but from the external oppression of enemies (see the next verse). Psalm 119:133

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The eightfold Phe. The deeper his depression of spirit concerning those who despise the word of God, the more ardently does he yearn after the light and food of that word. The testimonies of God are פּלאות, wonderful and strange (paradoxical) things, exalted above every-day life and the common understanding. In this connection of the thoughts נצרתם is not intended of careful observance, but of attentive contemplation that is prolonged until a clear penetrating understanding of the matter is attained. The opening, disclosure (פּתח, apertio, with Tsere in distinction from פּתח, porta) of God's word giveth light, inasmuch as it makes the simple (פּתיים as in Proverbs 22:3) wise or sagacious; in connection with which it is assumed that it is God Himself who unfolds the mysteries of His word to those who are anxious to learn. Such an one, anxious to learn, is the poet: he pants with open mouth, viz., for the heavenly fare of such disclosures (פּער like פּער פּה in Job 29:23, cf. Psalm 81:11). יאב is a hapaxlegomenon, just as תּאב is also exclusively peculiar to the Psalm before us; both are secondary forms of אבה. Love to God cannot indeed remain unresponded to. The experience of helping grace is a right belonging to those who love the God of revelation; love in return for love, salvation in return for the longing for salvation, is their prerogative. On the ground of this reciprocal relation the petitions in Psalm 119:133-135 are then put up, coming back at last to the one chief prayer "teach me." אמרה, Psalm 119:133, is not merely a "promise" in this instance, but the declared will of God in general. כּל־און refers pre-eminently to all sin of disavowal (denying God), into which he might fall under outward and inward pressure (עשׁק). For he has round about him those who do not keep God's law. On account of these apostates (על לא as in Isaiah 53:9, equivalent to על־אשׁר לא) his eyes run down rivers of water (ירד as in Lamentations 3:48, with an accusative of the object). His mood is not that of unfeeling self-glorying, but of sorrow like that of Jeremiah, because of the contempt of Jahve, and the self-destruction of those who contemn Him.