כ 81. My soul hath fainted for thy salvation: I hope in thy word. כ 82. My eyes have waxed dim in looking for thy promise, and I say,
When wilt thou comfort me? כ 83. For I have been as a bottle in the smoke; and yet I have not forgotten thy statutes. כ 84. How many are the days of thy servant? when wilt thou
execute judgment on my persecutors? כ 85. The proud have digged pits for me, which thing is not according to thy law. כ 86. All thy commandments are truth; they persecute we
deceitfully; therefore help thou me. כ 87. They have almost consumed me upon the earth; yet I have not forsaken thy statutes. כ 88. Quicken me according to thy goodness; and I will
keep the testimony of thy mouth.

81. My soul hath fainted for thy salvation. The Psalmist intimates that, although worn out with continual grief, and perceiving no issue to his calamities, yet trouble
and weariness had not produced such a discouraging effect upon his mind, as to prevent him from always reposing
with confidence in God. To bring out the meaning the more distinctly, we must begin at the second clause, which is obviously
added by way of exposition. There he affirms that he trusts in God; and this is the foundation of all. But, intending to express
the invincible constancy of his trust, he tells us that he patiently endured all the distresses, under which others succumb.
We see some embracing with great eagerness the promises of God; but their ardor, within a short time, vanishes; or, at
least, is quenched by adversity. It was far otherwise with David. The verb כלה, kalah, which signifies to faint, or to be consumed, seems, indeed, at first sight, to convey
a different meaning. But the prophet, in this passage, as in other places, by fainting means that patience, which those who are deprived of all strength, and who seem to be already dead, continue to cherish, and which inspires their
hearts with secret groanings, and such as cannot be uttered. This fainting, then, is opposed to
the delicacy of those who cannot suffer a long delay.

82 My eyes have waxed dim in looking for thy word This verse is very similar to the preceding, — transforming to the eyes what had been said before concerning the soul. The
only difference is, that, instead of longing after salvation or help, the expression, longing after God’s word compromise, is here used; for salvation is an act, as it is termed; that is to say, it consists in effect, whereas a promise keeps us suspended in expectation. God may
not, all at once, openly perform what he has promised; and, in this case, it being only in his word that he promises us
help, there is no other way by which we can hope for help, than by our reposing on his word. As, then, the word precedes,
in order, the help which God affords, or, rather, as it is the manner in which it is represented to our view, the prophet,
when sighing after salvation, very properly declares that he kept his eyes fixed on the Divine word, until his sight failed
him. Here
we have presented to us the wonderful and incredible power of patience, under the infirmity of the flesh, when, being
faint and deprived of all rigor, we have recourse to God for help, even while it is hidden from us. In short, the prophet,
to prevent it from being supposed that he was too effeminate and faint-hearted, intimates that his fainting was not without
cause. In asking God, When wilt thou comfort me? he shows, with sufficient plainness, that he was for a long time, as it were, cast off and forsaken.

83. For I have been as a bottle in the smoke. 426426 Bottles, among the Jews and other nations of the East, were made of goats’ or kids’ skins, as is the custom among the Eastern
nations at this day. When the animal was killed, they cut off its feet and head, and drew it, in that manner, out of the skin
without opening the belly. They afterwards sewed up the places where the legs were cut off, and the tail, and when it was
filled, they tied it about the neck. In these bottles, not only water,
milk, and other liquids were put, but every thing intended to be carried to a distance, whether dry or liquid. To these
goat-skin vessels a reference is here undoubtedly made. The peasantry of Asia are in the habit of suspending them from the
roof, or hanging them against the walls of their tents or humble dwellings: here they soon become quite black with smoke;
for, as in their dwellings there are seldom any chimneys, and the smoke can only escape through an aperture in the roof, or
by the
door, whenever a fire is lighted the apartment is instantly filled with dense smoke. Accordingly, some suppose that
the allusion here chiefly is to the blackness which a bottle contracts by hanging in the smoke; and the translators of our
English Bible, by referring in the margin to Job 30:30, as parallel to this, seem to have supposed that the Psalmist refers to the blackness his face contracted by
sorrow. “But,” says Harmer, “this can hardly be supposed to be the whole of his thought. In such a case, would he not
rather have spoken of the blackness of a pot, as it is supposed the prophet Joel does, (Joel 2:6,) rather than to that of a leather bottle?” — Harmer’s Observations, volume 1, page 218. When such bottles are suspended in the smoky tent of an Arab, if they do not contain
liquids, or are not quite filled by the solids which they hold, they become dry, shrunk, and shriveled; and to this,
as well as to their blackness, the Psalmist may allude. Long-continued bodily affliction and mental trouble produce a similar
change on the human frame, destroying its beauty and strength by drying up the natural moisture. It has also been thought
that there is a contrast between such mean bottles and the rich vessels of gold and silver which were used in the palaces
of kings.
“My appearance in the state of my exile is as different from what it was when I dwelt at court, as are the gold and
silver vessels of a palace from the smoky skin bottles of a poor Arab’s tent, where I am now compelled to reside.” — Ibid. and Paxton’s Illustrations, volume 2, pages 409, 410.
The particle כי, ki, translated for, might also, not improperly, be resolved into the adverb of time, when; so that we might read the verse in one connected sentence, thus’ When I was like a dried bottle, I, nevertheless, did not forget thy law. The obvious design of the Psalmist is to teach us, that, although he had been proved by severe trials, and wounded to the
quick, he yet had not been withdrawn from the fear of God. In comparing himself to a bottle or bladder, he intimates that he was, as it were, parched by the continual heat of adversities. Whence we learn, that that sorrow must
have been intense which reduced him to such a state of wretchedness and emaciation, that like a shriveled bottle he was almost
dried up. It, however, appears that he intends to point cut, not only the severity of his affliction, but also its lingering
nature that he was tormented, as it were, at a slow fire;
427427 “Comme a petit feu.” — Fr.
even as the smoke which proceeds from heat dries bladders by slow degrees. The prophet experienced a long series of grief’s,
which might have consumed him a hundred times, and that, by their protracted and lingering nature, had he not been sustained
by the word of God. In short, it is a genuine evidence of true godliness, when, although plunged into the deepest afflictions,
we yet cease not to submit ourselves to God.

84. How many are the days of thy servant? etc. Some read these two clauses apart, as if the first were a general complaint of the brevity of human life, such as is to be
met with in other psalms, and more frequently in the book of Job; and next, in their opinion, there follows a special prayer
of the
Psalmist, that God would take vengeance upon his enemies. But I rather prefer joining the two clauses together, and limit
both to David’s afflictions; as if it had been said, Lord, how long hast thou determined to abandon thy servant to the will
of the ungodly? when wilt thou set thyself in opposition to their cruelty and outrage, in order to take vengeance upon them?
The Scriptures often use the word days in this sense; as, for example, “the days of Egypt,” Ezekiel 30:9; “the days of Babylon,” and “the days of Jerusalem,” Psalm 137:7; a word which, in other places, is called “the day of visitation,” Isaiah 10:3. By the use of the plural number, is denoted a certain determinate portion of time, which, in other places, is compared to
the “days of an hireling,” Job
14:6; Isaiah 16:14. The Psalmist does not, then, bewail in general the transitory life of man, but he complains that the time of his state of
warfare in this world had been too long protracted; and, therefore, he naturally desires that it might be brought to a termination.
In expostulating with God about his trouble, he does not do so obstinately, or
with a murmuring spirit; but still, in asking how long it will be necessary for him to suffer, he humbly prays that God
would not delay to succor him. As to the point of his stirring him up by prayer to execute vengeance, we have elsewhere seen
in what sense it was lawful for him to make such a request; namely, because the vengeance which he desired to see was such
as is properly suitable to God. It is certain that he had divested himself of all the corrupt affections of the flesh, that
he
might, with a pure and undisturbed zeal, desire God’s judgment. He, however, in this passage, only wishes in general to
be delivered by the hand of God from the wrongs which were inflicted upon him, without adjudging to perdition his adversaries;
for he was quite contented, provided God appeared to defend him.

85 The proud428428 “זדים, the proud. The proud here, as well as in many other parts of Scripture, stands for lawless, wicked men. So the rendering of the LXX. Is παράνομοι; Vulg. Iniqui. The relative, אשר, is referred to שיחות, pits, by many persons, as Amyraldus, who thus paraphrases the latter part of the verse: ‘At retia illa, cum lege tua directe pugnant.’ Others make זדיש the antecedent, of whom they consider the second hemistich as descriptive. The proud, who have not acted according to thy Law, have dug pits for me. The sense is more obvious, according to this latter exposition; for one does not see the force of the phrase, ‘digging pits,’
which are not according to God’s Law, as if pits might be dug which are
according to it.” — Phillips have digged pits for me. He complains that he had been circumvented by the frauds and artifices of his enemies; as if he had said, They have not only
endeavored to injure me by open force and the violence of the sword, but have also maliciously sought to destroy me by snares
and secret arts. The additional clause, which thing is not according to thy Law, is introduced as an argument, to excite God to exercise his mercy; for he is the more inclined to succor his servants, when
he sees that the attempts made upon their welfare involve the violation of his own Law. At the same time, the Psalmist furnishes
a proof of his own innocence, intimating that he had deserved no such treatment at their hands, and that whatever they practiced,
he, notwithstanding, patiently kept himself under restraint; not attempting any thing which he knew to be contrary to
the Divine Law.

86. All thy commandments are truth. In this verse he again confirms the statement, That, in whatever ways he was afflicted, his mind had not been distracted
by various devices, because, trusting in the word of God, he never doubted of his assistance. In the first place, he tells
us, that the consideration, by which he was armed for repelling all assaults, was this, That the faithful, under the conduct
of God, engage in a prosperous warfare, the salvation which they hope for from his word being absolutely certain. For this
reason he declares, that the commandments of God are true; by which encomium he teaches us, that those who rely upon the word of God
are out of all danger; and he lays down this truth, that such a support may always sustain our courage. In the second
place, he complains of the treachery of his enemies, as he declared before. Here the word שקר, sheker, is repeated, by which he means, that they had no regard to equity. From this consideration also he was led to
entertain the hope of deliverance; for it is the peculiar office of God to succor the poor and afflicted who are wrongfully
oppressed.

87. They have almost consumed me upon the earth. He repeats, in somewhat different words, what he had spoken a little before, that, although he had been sorely tempted, he
had nevertheless kept his footing, because he had not given up with true religion. A single declaration of
this fact would have been enough for those who are perfect; but if we call to mind our own weakness, we will readily confess
that it was not unworthy of being repeatedly stated. We not only forget the law of God when we are shaken by extreme conflicts,
but the greater part lose their courage even before they engage in the conflict. On which account this wonderful strength
of the prophet is worthy of more special notice, who, although almost reduced to death, yet never ceased to revive his
courage by continual meditation on the law. Nor is it in vain that he adds, that it was upon the earth that his enemies had almost consumed him, conveying the idea, that, when the fears of death presented themselves to him on
all sides in this world, he elevated his mind above the world. If faith reach to heaven, it will be an easy matter to emerge
from despair.

88. Quicken me according to thy goodness This verse contains nothing new. In the beginning of it David represents his life as depending on God’s mercy, not only because
he was conscious of human frailty, but because he saw himself daily exposed to death in multiplied forms, or rather because
he was
convinced, that were God’s power withdrawn from him, he would be laid prostrate as if he were dead. He next promises,
that when he shall be again restored to life, he will not be ungrateful, but will duly acknowledge this as a blessing from
God, and that not only with the tongue, but also in his whole life. As the various instances in which God succors us and delivers
us from dangers are so many new lives, it is reasonable that we should dedicate to his service whatever additional time is
allotted to us in this world. When the law is called the testimony of God’s mouth, by this eulogium its authority is very plainly asserted.

426 Bottles, among the Jews and other nations of the East, were made of goats’ or kids’ skins, as is the custom among the Eastern
nations at this day. When the animal was killed, they cut off its feet and head, and drew it, in that manner, out of the skin
without opening the belly. They afterwards sewed up the places where the legs were cut off, and the tail, and when it was
filled, they tied it about the neck. In these bottles, not only water,
milk, and other liquids were put, but every thing intended to be carried to a distance, whether dry or liquid. To these
goat-skin vessels a reference is here undoubtedly made. The peasantry of Asia are in the habit of suspending them from the
roof, or hanging them against the walls of their tents or humble dwellings: here they soon become quite black with smoke;
for, as in their dwellings there are seldom any chimneys, and the smoke can only escape through an aperture in the roof, or
by the
door, whenever a fire is lighted the apartment is instantly filled with dense smoke. Accordingly, some suppose that
the allusion here chiefly is to the blackness which a bottle contracts by hanging in the smoke; and the translators of our
English Bible, by referring in the margin to Job 30:30, as parallel to this, seem to have supposed that the Psalmist refers to the blackness his face contracted by
sorrow. “But,” says Harmer, “this can hardly be supposed to be the whole of his thought. In such a case, would he not
rather have spoken of the blackness of a pot, as it is supposed the prophet Joel does, (Joel 2:6,) rather than to that of a leather bottle?” — Harmer’s Observations, volume 1, page 218. When such bottles are suspended in the smoky tent of an Arab, if they do not contain
liquids, or are not quite filled by the solids which they hold, they become dry, shrunk, and shriveled; and to this,
as well as to their blackness, the Psalmist may allude. Long-continued bodily affliction and mental trouble produce a similar
change on the human frame, destroying its beauty and strength by drying up the natural moisture. It has also been thought
that there is a contrast between such mean bottles and the rich vessels of gold and silver which were used in the palaces
of kings.
“My appearance in the state of my exile is as different from what it was when I dwelt at court, as are the gold and
silver vessels of a palace from the smoky skin bottles of a poor Arab’s tent, where I am now compelled to reside.” — Ibid. and Paxton’s Illustrations, volume 2, pages 409, 410.

428 “זדים, the proud. The proud here, as well as in many other parts of Scripture, stands for lawless, wicked men. So the rendering of the LXX. Is παράνομοι; Vulg. Iniqui. The relative, אשר, is referred to שיחות, pits, by many persons, as Amyraldus, who thus paraphrases the latter part of the verse: ‘At retia illa, cum lege tua directe pugnant.’ Others make זדיש the antecedent, of whom they consider the second hemistich as descriptive. The proud, who have not acted according to thy Law, have dug pits for me. The sense is more obvious, according to this latter exposition; for one does not see the force of the phrase, ‘digging pits,’
which are not according to God’s Law, as if pits might be dug which are
according to it.” — Phillips