Matthew Henry Commentary Psalms 119:153-160

"Consider mine affliction, and deliver me; For I do not forget thy law. Plead thou my cause, and redeem me: Quicken me according to thy word. Salvation is far from the wicked; For they seek not thy statutes. Great are thy tender mercies, O Jehovah: Quicken me according to thine ordinances. Many are my persecutors and mine adversaries; [Yet] have I not swerved from thy testimonies. I beheld the treacherous, and was grieved, Because they observe not thy word. Consider how I love thy precepts: Quicken me, O Jehovah, according to thy lovingkindness. The sum of thy word is truth; And every one of thy righteous ordinances [endureth] for ever. SHIN." — Psalms 119:153-160 (ASV)

The closer we cling to the word of God, both as our rule and as our support, the more assurance we have of deliverance. Christ is the Advocate of His people, their Redeemer. Those who were made alive by His Spirit and grace, when they were dead in trespasses and sins, often need to have the work of grace revived in them, according to the word of promise.

The wicked not only do not follow God's statutes, but they do not even seek them. They flatter themselves that they are going to heaven; but the longer they persist in sin, the further it is from them. God's mercies are tender; they are a fountain that can never be exhausted.

The psalmist begs for God's reviving, life-giving grace. A man, steadfast in his duty, though he may have many enemies, needs to fear no one. Those who hate sin truly, hate it as sin, as a transgression of the law of God, and a breaking of His word. Our obedience is only pleasing to God, and pleasant to ourselves, when it comes from a principle of love.

All, in every age, who receive God's word in faith and love, find every saying in it faithful.