8. I will keep thy statutes. A calm resolve. “I will praise” should be coupled with “I will keep.” This firm resolve is by no means boastful, for it is followed by a humble prayer for divine help, O forsake me not utterly. Feeling his own incapacity, he trembles lest he should be left to himself, and this fear is increased by the horror which he has of falling into sin. The I will keep sounds rightly enough now that the humble cry is heard with it. This is a happy amalgam: resolution and dependence. We meet with those who to all appearance humbly pray, but there is no force of character, no decision in them, and consequently the pleading of the closet is not embodied in the life: on the other hand, we meet with abundance of resolve with an entire absence of dependence upon God, and this makes as poor a character as the former.
This prayer is one which is certain to be heard, for assuredly it must be highly pleasing to God to see a man set upon obeying his will, and therefore it must be most agreeable to him to be present with such a person, and to help him in his endeavors. How can he forsake one who does not forsake his law?
The special dread which tinges this prayer with a somber hue is the fear of utter forsaking. But the Lord never has utterly forsaken his servants, and he never will, blessed be his name. If we long to keep his statutes he will keep us; his grace will keep us keeping his law.
There is rather a descent from the mount of benediction with which the first verse begins to the almost wail of this eighth verse; yet this is spiritually a growth, for from admiration of goodness we have come to a burning longing after God and communion with him, and an intense horror lest it should not be enjoyed.
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