John Calvin Commentary Psalms 119:166

"I have hoped for thy salvation, O Jehovah, And have done thy commandments." — Psalms 119:166 (ASV)

O Jehovah! I have waited for your salvation. It is not without cause that the Prophet often repeats this sentence, which is on everyone's lips, as there is nothing easier than to ascribe to God the praise and work of saving, while yet there is hardly to be found in the world a single example of steadfast hope when people come to wrestle with temptations for any length of time.

From the order of the words we learn that if a person is to keep himself in the fear of God and the love of the law, it is necessary, above all things, for that person to seek salvation in God. If faith in God’s grace is removed from our minds, or patience is shaken off, we will be carried away here and there, and will cease to cultivate godliness.

The chief virtue of the faithful, therefore, is a patient endurance of the cross and mortification by which they calmly submit themselves to God. For as long as no adversity happens to hypocrites, they also seem to be well-disposed to serving Him.

There are also other reasons why we must keep our minds focused on the salvation of God if we desire to order our lives rightly. For if the allurements of the world hold us in their snares, we will immediately become discouraged.

The reason, as we plainly see, why the hearts of the great majority fail is that it is difficult to firmly believe that salvation is to be hoped for only from the grace of God.

Therefore, for us to persevere in serving God, it is essential that faith shine upon our future, and furthermore, that patience accompany us to nourish within us the love of righteousness.

For, as we have said, our willingness in persevering comes from this: that with a patient spirit we allow our salvation to lie hidden in God's loving care, and that we do not doubt that He will, in the end, prove a faithful rewarder of all who seek Him, although He may withdraw His favor from what our physical senses perceive.

In the following verse, the Psalmist confirms this doctrine with other words, saying, that he kept God’s testimonies with his soul.

By the word soul, he expresses even more forcibly than before that he had the doctrine of the law enclosed within the deepest recesses of his heart.

The cause of this especially diligent keeping of the law was the unique love he had for it, as he states in the concluding clause of the verse.

One who obeys the law by constraint and in a slavish manner is so far from receiving it into the secret dwelling of his heart to keep it there, that he would want it removed far away from him.