John Calvin Commentary Psalms 119:169

"Let my cry come near before thee, O Jehovah: Give me understanding according to thy word." — Psalms 119:169 (ASV)

Let my cry come near into your presence. The Psalmist repeats the same sentiment that we have already noticed: his chief desire, and what he most of all pursued—regarding everything else as secondary—was to make progress in the study of the divine law.

By the word cry, he signifies earnestness. It is as if the Psalmist had said, "I am anxious above all things, and am chiefly inflamed with this desire (as is just and reasonable): that I should prefer the light of understanding—by which we excel the lower animals and draw very near to God—to all earthly advantages."

The expression, according to your word, may be understood in two ways. It may mean that David asked God to give him understanding according to His promise. Or, as some explain it, it may suggest that he desired to have his mind shaped according to the rule of God’s word, so that he would not be wise in any way other than according to the doctrine of the law.

This last interpretation would not be inappropriate, if the words in the following verse, Deliver me according to your word, did not present an objection. Since I have no doubt that these two sentences correspond in meaning—though at first glance it seems more superficially convincing to understand David as praying to be made wise according to the rule of the law—I am more inclined to the other interpretation: that he asks God to endow him with understanding, in fulfillment of His promise.

And while God liberally promises all blessings to His people, the promise to enlighten them by His Spirit, so that they may excel in true and sound wisdom, is justly ranked among the chief of His promises. This doctrine is profitable to us in many ways.

1. First, we are taught that nothing is more desirable than for God to guide us by His light, so that we are not like brute beasts.
2. Second, we are taught that this is a unique gift of the Holy Spirit, for David would have asked God in vain to bestow upon him what he naturally possessed or what he might have attained by his own efforts.
3. Third, what I have said concerning the promise should be heeded, so that the faithful may not hesitate to offer themselves to God to be enlightened by Him, who declares that He will be the guide of the blind and does not refuse to be a master and teacher of the little ones and the humble.