PSALMS 119:167 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
“My soul hath kept thy testimonies; and I love them exceedingly.”
The psalmist keeps God's testimonies and loves them exceedingly, establishing deepest commitment to covenant before moving toward the concluding Taw stanza. This verse employs both verbs of obedience (keeps) and affection (loves), indicating that the psalmist's commitment integrates both action and emotion. The adverb "exceedingly" indicates that this love reaches maximum intensity: the psalmist's whole being is oriented toward God's testimonies. This verse represents the psychological and spiritual summit of the psalm: having journeyed through petition, affirmed divine justice, and experienced persecution, the psalmist now testifies to the ultimate reality of passionate love for God's law. The emphasis on testimony (the psalmist tells others) suggests that this love should be publicly declared. The Sin/Shin stanza concludes with testimony to the transformative power of sustained meditation.
Church Fathers on Psalms 119:167
1. From its commencement, dearly beloved, does this great Psalm exhort us unto bliss, which there is no one who desires not....And therefore this is the lesson which he teaches, who says, “Blessed are those that are undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord” Psalm 118:1. As much as to say, I know what you wish, you are seeking bliss: if then you would be blessed, be undefiled. For the former all desire, the latter fear: yet without it what all wish cannot be…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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