Psalm 119:76 NKJV

76 

Let, I pray, Your merciful kindness be for my comfort,
According to Your word to Your servant.

According to Your Merciful Kindness

---

My Notes

The phrase “merciful kindness” in Psalm 119:76 draws from the Hebrew word hesed (חֶסֶד), a term rich with meaning. According to Strong’s Concordance (H2617), the King James Version translates this word in various ways:

• Mercy (149 times)

• Kindness (40)

• Lovingkindness (30)

• Goodness (12)

• Merciful (4)

• Favor (3)

Such a range reveals the depth of God’s character—His mercy to forgive, His kindness to sustain, and His faithful love that never fails. In affliction, this is precisely what we need: mercy for our sin, and kindness for our sorrow. All of it flows from grace—the grace that comes through salvation in Christ Jesus.

David’s prayer was rooted in Scripture—words that had spoken directly to his soul. It wasn’t a generalized plea but a deeply personal petition, inspired by a verse revealed to him through communion with God. This underscores the value of continually seeking the Lord in His Word. In those moments of crisis, the Holy Spirit brings to remembrance the very scripture that leads us back to Him.

David’s request can be paraphrased like this: “Let me receive Your kindness, as You’ve spoken to Your servant. I come not only because I need it, but because You have promised it.” He clung to God’s Word and laid hold of His promises. The Lord invites us to do the same—coming boldly before Him, pleading the very words He’s already spoken.

These burdens we bear are not meant to destroy us. They are divine tools—meant to shape, prepare, and position us for deeper consolation. When Shimei cursed David, he responded with faith: “The Lord will look on my affliction, and do me good for this evil.” Likewise, Job’s end was greater than his beginning. God restores, refines, and gives abundantly in due time.

All David asked for—his single plea—was for the Lord’s hesed. That deep, covenantal kindness upon his soul. He did not resist the trial, but submitted himself to God’s hand, waiting for deliverance according to grace.

In Psalm 119:76, David seeks comfort from God’s merciful kindness, grounded in His promises. Acknowledging personal affliction, he emphasizes the necessity of God’s mercy alongside His righteousness, demonstrating faith in divine support amid suffering. The commentaries below highlight the interplay of mercy and solace, suggesting that true comfort comes from God’s grace. The plea reflects a deep reliance on God’s faithfulness, portraying the relationship between the Lord’s love and human need. Ultimately, the psalmist affirms that God’s word serves as a foundation for hope, urging persistent prayer in light of his trials.

Note: 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 verse 76, which is in the 10th section, which is called “י YOD”. According to the hebrews4christians.com website, the letter י YOD is the 10th letter of the Aleph-Bet, having the numeric value of ten.  The pictograph for י YOD looks like an arm or a hand. י YOD is the most frequently occurring letter in the Scriptures as well as the smallest of the letters

The website https://www.abarim-publications.com/Hebrew_Alphabet_Meaning.html defines the meaning of the letter YOD יד  as:

After one of two regular words for hand (for the other, see the 11th letter). The noun יד (yad) denotes the hand, typically not as outstretched, but rather as holding something or being a fist. The word is synonymous with power or might; to fall into one’s hands. It’s typical that the alphabet’s smallest letter came to mean power, but perhaps its shape reminded of a little fist. As a postfix, this letter י (yod) forms a possessive, and as a prefix, it creates a third person singular imperfect.

“In this section, each verse begins with the Hebrew letter Jot, or i, the smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet, called in Mat 5:18, jot; one jot or tittle shall in no wise pass from the law.”—Albert Barnes.

……..Bill

---

Commentaries:

Charles Spurgeon

“Let, I pray thee, thy merciful kindness be for my comfort, according to thy word unto thy servant.” Having confessed the righteousness of the Lord, he now appeals to his mercy, and while he does not ask that the rod may be removed, he earnestly begs for comfort under it. Righteousness and faithfulness afford us no consolation if we cannot also taste of mercy, and, blessed be God, this is promised us in the word, and therefore we may expect it. The words “merciful kindness“ are a happy combination, and express exactly what we need in affliction: mercy to forgive the sin, and kindness to sustain under the sorrow. With these we can be comfortable in the cloudy and dark day, and without them we are wretched indeed; for these, therefore, let us pray unto the Lord, whom we have grieved by our sin, and let us plead the word of his grace as our sole reason for expecting his favor. Blessed be his name; notwithstanding our faults, we are still his servants, and we serve a compassionate Master. Some read the last clause, “according to thy saying unto thy servant;” some special saying of the Lord was remembered and pleaded: can we not remember some such “faithful saying,” and make it the groundwork of our petitioning? That phrase, “according to thy word,” is a very favorite one; it shows the motive for mercy and the manner of mercy. Our prayers are according to the mind of God when they are according to the word of God.

______________________________________________________

Enduring Word

Let, I pray, Your merciful kindness be for my comfort, according to Your word. The psalmist prayed on solid ground, asking on the basis of promises made in God’s word. With such promises, he asked for merciful kindness in his affliction. (Guzik)

i. According to Your word: “Our prayers are according to the mind of God when they are according to the word of God.” (Spurgeon)

ii. “Lord, these promises were given to be made good to some, and why not to me? I hunger; I need; I thirst; I wait. Here is thy handwriting in thy word…. I am resolved to be as importunate [persistent to the point of annoyance] till I have obtained, and as thankful afterwards, as by thy grace I shall be enabled…. Thy promises are the discoveries of thy purposes, and vouchsafed [graciously given] as materials for our prayers; and in my supplications I am resolved every day to present and tender them back to thee.” (Prayer of Monica, the mother of Augustine; cited in Bridges)

Your word to Your servant: The psalmist rightly received the word of God as something personal to himself. It was not only a word to mankind in general, or even the covenant people; it was something personal to the psalmist himself (Your servant). (Guzik)

______________________________________________________

Albert Barnes

Let, I pray thee, thy merciful kindness be for my comfort – Margin, as in Hebrew, “to comfort me.” The word rendered merciful-kindness means mercy, favor, grace, kindness; and the idea is, that all his consolation – all that he expected or desired – must be derived from mere favor; from the goodness of God. He had no source of comfort in himself, and he had no claim on God for comfort. It was through mercy alone that he could have happiness of any kind.

______________________________________________________

John Gill

Let, I pray thee, thy merciful kindness be for my comfort,…. Shown in the provision and promise of a Savior; in the forgiveness of sins through him, a discovery and application of which yields comfort under afflictions;

according to thy word unto servant; a word of promise, in which he had assured him of his love, grace, mercy, and kindness; and that he would continue it to him, and comfort him with it: to make such a promise, and show such favor, was an instance of condescending grace to him, who was but his servant, and unworthy of his regard.

______________________________________________________

Matthew Henry

The benefit he promised himself from God’s lovingkindness: “Let it come to me for my comfort (v. 76); that will comfort me when nothing else will; that will comfort me whatever grieves me.” Gracious souls fetch all their comfort from a gracious God, as the fountain of all happiness and joy: “Let it come to me, that I may live, that is, that I may be revived, and my life may be made sweet to me, for I have no joy of it while I am under God’s displeasure. In his favor is life; in his frowns are death.” A good man cannot live with any satisfaction any longer than he has some tokens of God’s favor to him.

He pleads,

God’s promise: “Let me have thy kindness, according to thy word unto thy servant, the kindness which thou hast promised and because thou hast promised it.” Our Master has passed his word to all his servants that he will be kind to them, and they may plead it with him.

______________________________________________________

Miscellaneous Comments

“Let, I pray thee, thy merciful kindness be for my comfort.” In the former verse, he acknowledged that the Lord had afflicted him; now in this he prayeth the Lord to comfort him. This is strange that a man should seek comfort at the same hand that strikes him: it is the work of faith; nature will never teach us to do it. “Come, and let us return unto the Lord; for he hath spoiled, and he will heal us: he hath wounded, and he will bind us up.” Again, we see that the crosses which God lays on his children are not to confound, not to consume them; only to prepare them for greater consolations. With this, David sustained himself against Shimei’s cursing; “The Lord will look on my affliction, and do me good for this evil.” With this, our Saviour comforts his disciples: “Your mourning shall be turned into joy.” As the last estate of Job was better than his first, so shall the Lord render more to his children at the last than now at the first he takes from them: let us therefore bear his cross, as a preparative to comfort.

—William Cowper.

“Let thy merciful kindness be for my comfort.” Several of the preceding verses have spoken of affliction (Psa 119:67, 71, 75). The Psalmist now presents his petition for alleviation under it. But of what kind? He does not ask to have it removed. He does not “beseech the Lord, that it might depart from him“ 2Co 12:8. No. His repeated acknowledgments of the supports vouchsafed under it, and the benefits he had derived from it, had reconciled him to commit its measures and continuance to the Lord. All that he needs, and all that he asks for, is a sense of his “merciful kindness“ upon his soul. Thus, he submits to his justice in his accumulated trials, and expects consolation under them solely upon the ground of his free favour.

—Charles Bridges.

______________________________________________________

Cross-References

2 Corinthians 1:3–5 (KJV 1900)

³ Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; ⁴ Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. ⁵ For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.

 

Psalm 106:4 (KJV 1900)

⁴  Remember me, O Lord, with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people:

O visit me with thy salvation;

 

Deuteronomy 32:4 (KJV 1900)

⁴  He is the Rock, his work is perfect:

For all his ways are judgment:

A God of truth and without iniquity,

Just and right is he.

______________________________________________________

Closing Thoughts

“He sent from above, He took me, He drew me out of many waters. He delivered me from my strong enemy, From those who hated me; For they were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of my calamity, But the Lord was my support. He also brought me out into a broad place; He delivered me because He delighted in me. 2Samuel 22:17-20 NKJV

 

י YOD : Confidence in the Creator and His Word.

73 

Your hands have made me and fashioned me;
Give me understanding, that I may learn Your commandments.

74 

Those who fear You will be glad when they see me,
Because I have hoped in Your word.

75 

I know, O Lord, that Your judgments are right,
And that in faithfulness You have afflicted me.

76 

Let, I pray, Your merciful kindness be for my comfort,
According to Your word to Your servant.

77 

Let Your tender mercies come to me, that I may live;
For Your law is my delight.

78 

Let the proud be ashamed,
For they treated me wrongfully with falsehood;
But I will meditate on Your precepts.

79 

Let those who fear You turn to me,
Those who know Your testimonies.

80 

Let my heart be blameless regarding Your statutes,
That I may not be ashamed.

---

---

• Collection of Commentaries
• Exploring the Beauty of Psalms: Insights and Commentaries
• Monthly Breakdown of Our Blog Content
• Psalms Commentary: Faith and Inspiration

---

Posted on 8/4/2025 by Bill Stephens

Follow me on twitter – @billstephens_59