Psalm 119 (147 of 190 notes)

136. He wept in sympathy with God to see the holy law despised and broken. He wept in pity for the people who were thus drawing down upon themselves the fiery wrath of God. In his torrents of woe he became like the Lord Jesus, who beheld the city, and wept over it; and like Jehovah himself, who has no pleasure in the death of someone who dies, but that they should turn unto him and live. The experience of this verse indicates a great advance upon anything we have had before: the psalm and the psalmist are both growing. That man is a ripe believer who sorrows because of the sins of others. In verse 120 his flesh trembled at the presence of God, and here it seems to melt and flow away in floods of tears. None are so affected by heavenly things as those who are much in the study of the Word, and are thereby taught the truth and essence of things. Carnal people are afraid of brute force, and weep over losses and crosses; but spiritual people feel a holy fear of the Lord himself, and most of all lament when they see dishonor cast upon his holy name.