Psalms 19:9

The fear of the Lord [is] clean,.... Still the word of God is intended, which teaches men to fear the Lord; gives a full account of the worship of God, which is often meant by the fear of God; it

The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever.

The fear of the Lord; by which he understands not the grace of God’ s fear, as this phrase is commonly taken; nor the whole worship of God, as it is taken ,11 Mt 15:9; but the law and word of God, which is the only thing that is here commended, and which is meant by all the other parallel titles of his testimony, and statutes, and commandments, and judgments, and consequently by this of his fear, which is as it were hemmed in within them. And this may well be so called by a usual metonymy, because it is both the object, and the rule, and the cause of this grace of holy fear, as God himself is called fear for the like reason, , and in the Hebrew, . Clean, i.e. sincere, not adulterated with any mixture of vanity, or falsehood, or vice; not requiring nor allowing any uncleanness or wickedness, as the religion of the Gentiles did. Enduring for ever; constant and unchangeable, the same for substance in all the ages of the church and the world: which is most true, both of the moral law, and of the doctrine of God’ s grace and mercy to sinful and miserable man; which two are the principal parts of that law, of which he here speaks, as is evident from the whole context. For as for the difference between the Old and the New Testament, that lies only in circumstantial, and ceremonial, or ritual things, which are not here intended; and that alteration also was foretold in the Old Testament, and consequently the accomplishment of it did not destroy, but confirm, the certainty and constancy of God’ s word. This also is opposed to human laws, wherein there are and ought to be manifold changes, according to the difference of times, and people, and circumstances. The judgments of the Lord, i.e. God’ s laws, frequently called his judgments, because they are the declarations of his righteous will, and as it were his legal or judicial sentence by which he expects that men should govern themselves, and by which he will judge them at the last day.

Psalms 19:9 The fear of the LORD [is] clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD [are] true [and] righteous altogether.Ver. 9. The fear of the Lord is clean] That is, the doctrine which teacheth the true fear of God is such as cleanseth the conscience, ferreteth out corruption, sanctifieth the whole man, John 17:17; John 15:3 Acts 20:32; Acts 26:18. Enduring for ever] "For ever, O Lord, thy word is established in heaven." Psalms 119:89. Heaven and earth shall pass, but not one jot or tittle of the law; not one hair of that sacred head shall fall to the ground, Matthew 5:18; should all the powers on earth make war against the very paper of the Scriptures, they cannot possibly destroy it. What God hath written he hath written, and it shall stand inviolable to the world’ s end. Antiochus, Epiphanes, Dioclesian, and other tyrants have attempted to burn up all Bibles, but could never effect it. Other laws and religions are antiquated and altered, as all histories testify; not so this. The judgments of the Lord are true] Heb. truth, as coming from a God of truth, and without iniquity, just and righteous is he, Deuteronomy 32:4. All his sayings are faithful, and therefore worthy of all acceptation, 1 Timothy 1:15. The Eternity of Israel cannot lie, 1 Samuel 15:29. He will not suffer his faithfulness to fail, nor alter the thing that is gone out of his mouth, Psalms 89:33-34. Mονιμονηαληθεια, saith Plato; truth is lasting, and γλυκειαηαληθεια, , Truth is sweet, said Mercury’ s priests when they ate their figs. Divine truths should be so to us in a special manner. And as Cyprian, in any great doubt or difficulty, would call to Paulus Concordiensis (who was his notary), for Tertullian’ s works, saying, Da magistrum, Reach hither my master; so should we call for the Bible, and therehence fetch satisfaction and settlement, as holding it infallible. And righteous altogether] Not one of them to be found fault with; but all of them every way complete and absolute. Iustificata sunt simul, so some render it, they are altogether justified. What a high esteem the Jews at this day have of the law hath been elsewhere noted; while they carry it usually about their synagogues at the end of their service in procession, with many ornaments of crowns and sceptres; the children kissing it as it passeth by them. To their disciples they prescribe, not to write any letter of the law without a copy, no line of it without a rule, no parchment but made of the skin of a clean beast, no word must be written in a different colour. No man might carry it behind him, but lay it next to his heart in his travel; nor read it, but in a clean place; nor sell it, though the copy were moth eaten, and himself half famished (Schicard. de iure Reg. Heb.). The last day of the feast of tabernacles they call Shimchah Torah, the rejoining at the law.

(9) The fear of the Lord.—Here plainly not a moral quality of the individual, but, as in Proverbs 15:33 (comp. Deuteronomy 17:19), religion, the service demanded by the Law, which, being “pure and undented,” endures, while the false systems of idolatrous nations perish. Based on the eternal principle of right, the judgments of God, it is eternal as they are.

Verse 9. The fear of the Lord] יראה yirah, from ירא yara, to fear, to venerate; often put for the whole of Divine worship. The reverence we owe to the Supreme Being. Is clean] טהורה tehorah, from טהר tahar, to be pure, clean; not differing much from ברה barah, (see above,) to be clean and bright as the heavens; as purified SILVER. Its object is to purge away all defilement, to make a spotless character. Enduring for ever] עומדת לעד omedeth laad, standing up to PERPETUITY. The fear that prevents us from offending God, that causes us to reverence him, and is the beginning as it is the safeguard of wisdom, must be carried all through life. No soul is safe for a moment without it. It prevents departure from God, and keeps that clean which God has purified. This is ITS use. The judgments of the Lord] משפטים mishpatim, from שפת shaphat, he judged, regulated, disposed, All God's regulations, all his decisions; what he has pronounced to be right and proper. Are true] אמת emeth, truth, from אם am, to support, confirm, make stable, and certain. This is the character of God's judgments. They shall all stand. All dispensations in providence and grace confirm them; they are certain, and have a fixed character. And righteous altogether.] They are not only according to truth; but they are righteous, צדקו tsadeku, they give to all their due. They show what belongs to God, to man, and to ourselves. And hence the word altogether, יחדו yachdav, equally, is added; or truth and righteousness united.

9. The fear of the Lord] Another synonym for the ‘law,’ inasmuch as its aim and object is to implant the fear of God in men’s hearts. (Deuteronomy 4:10). It is clean or pure (Psalms 12:6), in contrast to the immoralities of heathenism. It is like Jehovah Himself (Habakkuk 1:13), and like Him, it stands fast for ever (Psalms 102:26); for “righteousness is immortal” (Wis 1:15). The judgments] Decisions, ordinances. These are truth (John 17:17); one and all they are in accordance with the standard of absolute justice (Deuteronomy 4:8).

The fear of the Lord - The word rendered fear in this place - יראה yir'âh - means properly fear, terror, Jonah 1:10; then, reverence, or holy fear, Psalms 2:11; Psalms 5:7; and hence, reverence

9. The fear of the Lord—We must accept this as another title of “the law,” Psalms 19:8, by metonomy of the effect, that is, taking the effect, “fear,” for the cause, “law,” because it is the office