Psalms 119:1-176

The longest Ps. and the best example of an alphabetical Ps. There are in it twenty-two stanzas; each of the 8 vv. of each stanza commences with the same Hebrew letter. The subject is practically the same throughout, viz. the great help and guidance and comfort to be derived from studying continually the Law of the Lord. Much ingenuity is displayed in expressing the same thoughts under various forms.
Note in this connexion the following variety of terms—Law, or instruction (torali) Testimonies, or affirmations of God's will; Judgments, or judicial pronouncements as to the Law; Statutes (lit. 'inscriptions'), or published enactments; Commandments, Precepts, or injunctions.

It is difficult to locate the Ps. in time or circumstances. Such devoted meditation on the Law is a feature of later Judaism which arose chiefly after the exile. This is also true of the mechanical arrangement of the Ps. If the writer records his own experiences they must have been very trying—trouble, sorrow, the hostility of powerful foes, and even captivity. But some scholars believe that the writer sometimes records his own experiences, sometimes the experiences of the pious remnant of Israel.