Verse 120. - My flesh trembleth for fear of thee (comp. Isaiah 6:5; Jeremiah 23:9; Habakkuk 3:16), And I am afraid of thy judgments. Thy "judgments" upon the wicked cause me to shudder with fear.
119:113-120 Here is a dread of the risings of sin, and the first beginnings of it. The more we love the law of God, the more watchful we shall be, lest vain thoughts draw us from what we love. Would we make progress in keeping God's commands, we must be separate from evil-doers. The believer could not live without the grace of God; but, supported by his hand, his spiritual life shall be maintained. Our holy security is grounded on Divine supports. All departure from God's statutes is error, and will prove fatal. Their cunning is falsehood. There is a day coming which will put the wicked into everlasting fire, the fit place for the dross. See what comes of sin Surely we who fall so low in devout affections, should fear, lest a promise being left us of entering into heavenly rest, any of us should be found to come short of it, Heb 4:1.
My flesh trembleth for fear of thee,.... Not for fear of the wrath of God coming down upon himself, nor for fear of eternal damnation; but for fear of what was coming upon the wicked, for their sins and transgressions. The word (n) used signifies such a dread and horror, which seizes a man to such a degree, that it makes the hair of his flesh to stand up; as Jarchi and Kimchi observe; see Psalm 119:53, Job 4:14;
and I am afraid of thy judgments; not of their coming down upon him, but upon the wicked; the thought of which is more awful to good men than to the wicked themselves; and especially when under any darkness, doubts, and fears; lest, being conscious to themselves of their own weakness, they should be left to join with the wicked in their sins, and so be partakers of their plagues.
(n) Symmachus in Drusius; "horripilavit", Cajetanus apud Gejerum.
and I am afraid of thy judgments; not of their coming down upon him, but upon the wicked; the thought of which is more awful to good men than to the wicked themselves; and especially when under any darkness, doubts, and fears; lest, being conscious to themselves of their own weakness, they should be left to join with the wicked in their sins, and so be partakers of their plagues.
(n) Symmachus in Drusius; "horripilavit", Cajetanus apud Gejerum.