157 Many are my persecutors and mine enemies; yet do I not decline from thy testimonies.
157 Many are the foes who persecute me, but I have not turned from your statutes.
157 Many are my persecutors and my adversaries, but I do not swerve from your testimonies.
157 My antagonists are too many to count, but I don't swerve from the directions you gave.
157 Many are my persecutors and my enemies, Yet I do not turn from Your testimonies.
157 Many persecute and trouble me, yet I have not swerved from your laws.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Psalm 119:157
Commentary on Psalm 119:153-160
(Read Psalm 119:153-160)
The closer we cleave to the word of God, both as our rule and as our stay, the more assurance we have of deliverance. Christ is the Advocate of his people, their Redeemer. Those who were quickened 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 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, quickening grace. A man, steady in the way of his duty, though he may have many enemies, needs to fear none. Those that 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.