Charles Ellicott Commentary Psalms 119:25

"My soul cleaveth unto the dust: Quicken thou me according to thy word." — Psalms 119:25 (ASV)

DALETH.

Cleaveth to the dust. — The same figure is used in Psalm 22:29; Psalms 44:25, in the former of death, in the latter of deep degradation and dishonour.

The prayer, make me live, suggests that the dust of death is here prominently in view, as in Tennyson’s “Thou wilt not leave us in the dust.” Otherwise, we might rather think of the dryness of summer dust as a type of despondency and spiritual depression.

“A wicked whisper came, and made
My heart as dry as dust.”—COLERIDGE.

It was this verse which the Emperor Theodosius recited when doing penance at the door of Milan Cathedral for the massacre of Thessalonica (Theodoret, v., 18).

Quicken thou me according to thy word. — See Psalm 119:88; Psalms 119:107; Psalms 119:145; Psalms 119:154; Psalms 119:156. This reiterated prayer, with its varied appeal to the Divine truth, lovingkindness, constancy, must certainly be regarded as the petition of Israel for revived covenant glory, though, at the same time, it offers a wide and rich field of application to individual needs.