5
Oh, that my ways were directed
To keep Your statutes!
6
Then I would not be ashamed,
When I look into all Your commandments.
My Thoughts
In this passage, David shows his desire for divine guidance to follow God’s commandments, and he shows a sense of human inadequacy in achieving spiritual obedience. The commentaries below highlight that true respect for all commandments is necessary to avoid shame and gain confidence before God and others. David conveys that through prayer and the help of God, one can attain a life guided by His statutes, leading to a fulfilling and unashamed existence rooted in sincere devotion to God’s law.
Psalm 119 is an acrostic pattern. There are 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet; each of the 22 sections is given a letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and each line in that section begins with that letter. Today, we’re looking at the 5th and 6th verses in the section of ALEPH, which describes the blessedness of those who walk in God’s word and their longing to do so.
…..Bill
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Commentaries:
Matthew Henry
To look up to God for wisdom and grace to do so (v. 5): O that my ways were directed accordingly! not only that all events concerning us may be so ordered and disposed by the providence of God as not to be in any thing a hindrance to us, but a furtherance rather, in the service of God, but that our hearts may be so guided and influenced by the Spirit of God that we may not in any thing transgress God’s commandments-not only that our eyes may be directed to behold God’s statutes, but our hearts directed to keep them. See how the desire and prayer of a good man exactly agree with the will and command of a good God: “Thou wouldest have me keep thy precepts, and, Lord, I fain would keep them.” This is the will of God, even our sanctification, and it should be our will.
To encourage ourselves in the way of our duty with a prospect of the comfort we shall find in it, v. 6. Note,
(1.) It is the undoubted character of every good man that he has a respect to all God’s commandments. He has a respect to the command, eyes it as his copy, aims to conform to it, is sorry wherein he comes short; and what he does in religion, he does with a conscientious regard to the command, because it is his duty. He has respect to all the commandments, one as well as another, because they are all backed with the same authority (Jam. 2:10, 11) and all leveled at the same end, the glorifying of God in our happiness. Those who have a sincere respect to any command will have a general respect to every command, to the commands of both testaments and both tables, to the prohibitions and the precepts, to those that concern both the inward and the outward man, both the head and the heart, to those that forbid the most pleasant and gainful sins and to those that require the most difficult and hazardous duties.
(2.) Those who have a sincere respect to all God’s commandments shall not be ashamed, not only they will thereby be kept from doing that which will turn to their shame, but they shall have confidence towards God and boldness of access to the throne of his grace, 1 Jn. 3:21. They shall have credit before men; their honesty will be their honor. And they shall have clearness and courage in their own souls; they shall not be ashamed to retire into themselves, nor to reflect upon themselves, for their hearts shall not condemn them. David speaks this with application to himself. Those that are upright may take the comfort of their uprightness. “As if I be wicked, woe to me; so, if I be sincere, it is well with me.”
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John Gill
O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes! The psalmist, sensible of his own inability, as every good man is, to keep the commands of God, prays for grace, direction, and assistance in it; that the ways of his mind, his thoughts, affections, and inclinations, might be directed to an observance of the divine precepts; knowing he could not command his thoughts, raise his affections, dispose his mind, and incline his heart thereunto; and finding a backwardness to religious exercises and spiritual duties, and that the ways and actions of his life might be guided to the same; being sensible he could not take one step aright without God and Christ; that the way of man is not in himself, and that it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps; that a good man’s steps are ordered by the Lord, and he directs his paths: besides the direction of the word, there is need of the Spirit and grace of God, to cause a person to walk in his statutes, and to keep his judgments, and do them; see Jeremiah 10:23.
Then shall I not be ashamed,…. Of hope in God, of a profession of faith in him, and of a conversation agreeable to it before men; nor of appearing before God in his house, worshipping him there; nor at the throne of his grace, nor at the day of judgment, and before Christ at his coming;
when I have respect unto all thy commandments; or “look” at them constantly, as the rule of walk and conversation; and to copy after, as a scholar looks at his copy to write after; and affectionately esteem all his precepts concerning all things to be right, and none of his commandments grievous; and practically, not in the theory only; but observing them in order to practice them, and diligently attending to them, and steadfastly continuing in them; impartially regarding them, one as another; and especially as beholding them fulfilled perfectly in Christ, who is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes.
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Charles Spurgeon
“O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes! “Divine commands should direct us in the subject of our prayers. We cannot of ourselves keep God’s statutes as he would have them kept, and yet we long to do so: what resort have we but prayer? We must ask the Lord to work our works in us, or we shall never work out his commandments. This verse is a sigh of regret because the Psalmist feels that he has not kept the precepts diligently, it is a cry of weakness appealing for help to one who can aid, it is a request of bewilderment from one who has lost his way and would fain be directed in it, and it is a petition of faith from one who loves God and trusts in him for grace.
Our ways are by nature opposed to the way of God, and must be turned by the Lord’s direction in another direction from that which they originally take, or they will lead us down to destruction. God can direct the mind and will without violating our free agency, and he will do so in answer to prayer; in fact, he has begun the work already in those who are heartily praying after the fashion of this verse. It is for present holiness that the desire arises in the heart. O that it were so now with me: but future persevering holiness is also meant, for he longs for grace to keep henceforth and forever the statutes of the Lord.
The sigh of the text is really a prayer, though it does not exactly take that form. Desires and longings are of the essence of supplication, and it little matters what shape they take. “O that” is as acceptable a prayer as “Our Father.”
One would hardly have expected a prayer for direction; rather, should we have looked for a petition for enabling. Can we not direct ourselves? What if we cannot row, we can steer. The Psalmist herein confesses that even for the smallest part of his duty, he felt unable without grace. He longed for the Lord to influence his will, as well as to strengthen his hands. We want a rod to point out the way as much as a staff to support us in it.
The longing of the text is prompted by admiration of the blessedness of holiness, by a contemplation of the righteous man’s beauty of character, and by a reverent awe of the command of God. It is a personal application to the writer’s own case of the truths which he had been considering. “O that my ways,” etc. It were well if all who hear and read the word would copy this example and turn all that they hear into prayer. We should have more keepers of the statutes if we had more who sighed and cried after the grace to do so.
Then shall I not be ashamed.” He had known shame, and here he rejoices in the prospect of being freed from it. Sin brings shame, and when sin is gone, the reason for being ashamed is banished. What a deliverance this is, for to some men, death is preferable to shame!
“When I have respect unto all thy commandments.” When he respects God, he shall respect himself and be respected. Whenever we err, we prepare ourselves for confusion of face and sinking of heart: if no one else is ashamed of me, I shall be ashamed of myself if I do iniquity. Our first parents never knew shame till they made the acquaintance of the old serpent, and it never left them till their gracious God had covered them with sacrificial skins. Disobedience made them naked and ashamed. We, ourselves, will always have cause for shame till every sin is vanquished, and every duty is observed. When we pay a continual and universal respect to the will of the Lord, then we shall be able to look ourselves in the face in the looking glass of the law, and we shall not blush at the sight of men or devils, however eager their malice may be to lay somewhat to our charge.
It is worthy of remark that David promises himself no immunity from shame till he has carefully paid homage to all the precepts. Mind that word “all,” and leave not one command out of your respect. Partial obedience still leaves us liable to be called to account for those commands which we have neglected. A man may have a thousand virtues, and yet a single failing may cover him with shame.
To a poor sinner who is buried in despair, it may seem a very unlikely thing that he should ever be delivered from shame. He blushes, and is confounded, and feels that he can never lift up his face again. Let him read these words: “Then shall I not be ashamed.” David is not dreaming, nor picturing an impossible case. Be assured, dear friend, that the Holy Spirit can renew in you the image of God, so that you shall yet look up without fear. O for sanctification to direct us in God’s way, for then shall we have boldness both towards God and his people, and shall no more crimson with confusion.
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Enduring Word
Oh, that my ways were directed to keep Your statutes: This is not only a pious wish; it is also a prayer for the ability to obey God’s word. Apart from His work in us, we lack the ability to keep those commands. (Guzik)
i. Here, the psalmist gets personal. This isn’t a theological treatise on written revelation; it is an interaction with the Living God regarding His primary way of showing Himself to us. “It may be considered as the journal of one who was deeply taught in the things of God, long practiced in the life and walk of faith.” (Bridges)
ii. “We do not get very far into the psalm before we discover that he is very much like ourselves, at least in the respect that he has not yet gotten to be like the happy, blessed ones he is describing. He wants to be, but he is not yet.” (Boice)
iii. “Without thee I can do nothing; my soul is unstable and fickle; and it will continue weak and uncertain till thou strengthen and establish it.” (Clarke)
Then I would not be ashamed, when I look into all Your commandments: The psalmist felt the shame that comes when the standard of God’s word is compared to our lives. He prayed for the power to live an unashamed life. (Guzik)
i. “‘Shame’ is the fruit of sin; confidence is the effect of righteousness.” (Horne)
ii. “There is a twofold shame; the shame of a guilty conscience; and the shame of a tender conscience. The one is the merit and fruit of sin; the other is an act of grace.” (Thomas Manton, cited in Spurgeon)
iii. “…unto all thy commandments; so as not to be partial in my obedience, not to allow myself in the practice of any known sin, or in the neglect of any known duty.” (Poole)
iv. “Sincerity, therefore, must be the stamp of my Christian profession. Though utterly unable to render perfect obedience to the least of the commandments, yet my desire and purpose will have respect unto them all.” (Bridges)
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Albert Barnes
O that my ways were directed … – Indicating the desire of the pious heart. That desire, a prevailing, constant, uniform desire, is to keep the law of God. It is the aim of the life; it is the supreme purpose of the soul; it is the ruling wish of the man, thus to keep the law of God. He in whose bosom this is not the constant wish cannot be a pious man. The Hebrew particle used here, and rendered “O that,” is a particle denoting a wish or an earnest desire. The word “ways” denotes the course of life. The whole is expressive of an earnest desire to live in accordance with the law of God. It implies also a sense of dependence on God.
Then shall I not be ashamed – On the word ashamed, see Job 6:20, note; Psalms 25:2-3, note. The meaning here is that he would not have occasion to be ashamed; he would not be disappointed; all his hopes would be realized. He would have full evidence of piety; he would enjoy the comforts which he sought in religion; he would feel assured of ultimately obtaining eternal life.
When I have respect unto all thy commandments – literally, “In my looking at all thy commandments.” That is, in his regarding them; in his feeling that all were equally binding on him; and in his having the consciousness that he had not intentionally neglected, violated, or disregarded any of them. There can be no true piety except where a man intends to keep all the commands of God. If he makes a selection among them, keeping this one or that one, as may be most convenient for him, or as may be most for his interest, or as may be most popular, it is full proof that he knows nothing of the nature of true religion. A child has no proper respect for a parent if he obeys him only as shall suit his whim or his convenience; and no man can be a pious man who does not purpose, in all honesty, to keep all the commandments of God; to submit to his will in everything.
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Adam Clarke
Then shall I not be ashamed — Every act of transgression in the wicked man tends to harden his heart, and render it callous. If a man who fears God is so unhappy as to fall into sin, his conscience reproaches him, and he is ashamed before God and man. This is a full proof that God’s Spirit has not utterly departed from him, and that he may repent, believe, and be healed.
Unto all thy commandments. — God requires universal obedience, and all things are possible to him whom Christ strengthens; and all things are possible to him that believes. Allow that any of God’s commandments may be transgressed, and we shall soon have the whole decalogue set aside.
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The Pulpit Commentaries
Oh that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes! The first four verses of the stanza are concerned with the Law in itself; the last four treat of the writer’s relation to it. He begins by expressing the wish that he, at any rate, may always observe it.
Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments. In that case, I shall not be ashamed, either before God or man. Shame follows transgression: I shall escape shame if my obedience is perfect.
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Miscellaneous Quotes
“O that,” etc. In the former verse the prophet David observes the charge which God gives, and that is, that his commandments be diligently kept: here, then, he observes his own weakness and insufficiency to discharge that great duty, and therefore, as one by the spirit desirous to discharge it, and yet by the flesh not able to discharge it, he breaketh out into these words, “O that my ways were directed,” etc. Much like unto a child that being commanded to take up some great weight from the ground, is willing to do it, though not able to do it: or a sick patient advised to walk many turns in his chamber, finds a desire in his heart, though inability in his body to do that which he is directed unto.
—Richard Greenham.
“O that my ways were directed,” etc. The original word כון, kun, is sometimes rendered to establish, and, accordingly, it may seem as if the prophet were soliciting for himself the virtue of perseverance. I am rather inclined to understand it as signifying to direct for, although God is plainly instructing us in his law, the obtuseness of our understanding and the perversity of our hearts constantly need the direction of his Spirit.
—John Calvin.
“Then shall I not be ashamed.” No one likes to be ashamed or to blush: therefore, all things which bring shame after them must be avoided: Ezr 9:6; Jer 3:25; Dan 9:7, 9. As the workman keeps his eye fixed on his pattern, and the scholar on the copy of his writing master; so the godly man ever and anon turns his eyes to the word of his God.
—Martin Geier.
There is a twofold shame: the shame of a guilty conscience and the shame of a tender conscience. The one is the merit and fruit of sin; the other is an act of grace. This, which is here spoken of, is to be understood not of a holy self-loathing, but a confounding shame.
—Thomas Manton.
“Then shall I not be ashamed,” etc. You ask, Why is he not ashamed who has respect unto all the commandments of God? I answer, the sense is, as if he had said, The commandments of God are so pure and excellent, that though thou shouldest regard the whole and each one of them most attentively, thou wouldest not find anything that would cause thee to blush. The laws of Lycurgus are praised, but they permitted theft. The statutes of Plato are praised, but they commended the community of wives. “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul:” Psa 19:7. It is a mirror, reflecting the beautiful light of the stars on him who looks into it.
—Thomas Le Blanc.
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Cross-References
Psalm 119:80 (KJV )
80 Let my heart be sound in thy statutes;
That I be not ashamed.
1 John 2:28 (KJV )
28 And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
Job 22:26 (KJV )
26 For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty,
And shalt lift up thy face unto God.
Psalm 119:133 (KJV )
133 Order my steps in thy word:
And let not any iniquity have dominion over me.
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Closing Thoughts
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:21 NKJV
For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen. Romans 11:36 NKJV
Meditations on the Excellencies of the Word of God
א ALEPH
119
Blessed are the undefiled in the way,
Who walk in the law of the Lord!
2
Blessed are those who keep His testimonies,
Who seek Him with the whole heart!
3
They also do no iniquity;
They walk in His ways.
4
You have commanded us
To keep Your precepts diligently.
5
Oh, that my ways were directed
To keep Your statutes!
6
Then I would not be ashamed,
When I look into all Your commandments.
7
I will praise You with uprightness of heart,
When I learn Your righteous judgments.
8
I will keep Your statutes;
Oh, do not forsake me utterly!
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