Great are thy tender mercies, O LORD: quicken me according to thy judgments.
Psalm 119:156 belongs to a psalm that exalts God's law. That law is presented as the rule of life. God's Word defines what righteousness is and distinguishes right from wrong and truth from error.
The great tender mercies named in the verse are God's forbearance and long-suffering toward a world whose wickedness is bold and defiant against His holy law and whose insult to His holy commandments is continuous. This long-suffering is remarkable because God places constraint upon His own attributes, with His omnipotence exerted over Himself. He bears long with the continual increase of defiance and perversity against His laws given to govern the human agencies He created. At the same time that He bears long, He gives continual light to those who remain obedient. He sees that life is becoming intolerable because of cruelty, because men have changed His laws. He will certainly arise to punish the wickedness.
Psalm 119:156 belongs to a psalm that exalts God's law. That law is presented as the rule of life. God's Word defines what righteousness is and distinguishes right from wrong and truth from error.
The great tender mercies named in the verse are God's forbearance and long-suffering toward a world whose wickedness is bold and defiant against His holy law and whose insult to His holy commandments is continuous. This long-suffering is remarkable because God places constraint upon His own attributes, with His omnipotence exerted over Himself. He bears long with the continual increase of defiance and perversity against His laws given to govern the human agencies He created. At the same time that He bears long, He gives continual light to those who remain obedient. He sees that life is becoming intolerable because of cruelty, because men have changed His laws. He will certainly arise to punish the wickedness.