ZAIN. Remember {a} the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope.

(a) Though he feels God's hand still lies on him, yet he rests on his promise, and comforts himself in it.

Wesley's Notes

119:49 Thy word - Thy promises.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

ZAIN. (Ps 119:49-56).

49-51. Resting on the promises consoles under affliction and the tauntings of the insolent.

upon which-rather, "Remember Thy word unto Thy servant, because," &c. So the Hebrew requires [Hengstenberg].

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

119:49-56 Those that make God's promises their portion, may with humble boldness make them their plea. He that by his Spirit works faith in us, will work for us. The word of God speaks comfort in affliction. If, through grace, it makes us holy, there is enough in it to make us easy, in all conditions. Let us be certain we have the Divine law for what we believe, and then let not scoffers prevail upon us to decline from it. God's judgments of old comfort and encourage us, for he is still the same. Sin is horrible in the eyes of all that are sanctified. Ere long the believer will be absent from the body, and present with the Lord. In the mean time, the statutes of the Lord supply subjects for grateful praise. In the season of affliction, and in the silent hours of the night, he remembers the name of the Lord, and is stirred up to keep the law. All who have made religion the first thing, will own that they have been unspeakable gainers by it.

Matthew Henry's Whole Bible Commentary

Verse 49

Two things David here pleads with God in prayer for that mercy and grace which he hoped for, according to the word, by which his requests were guided:-1. That God had given him the promise on which he hoped: "Lord, I desire no more than that thou wouldst remember thy word unto thy servant, and do as thou hast said;" see 1 Chr. 17:23. "Thou art wise, and therefore wilt perfect what thou hast purposed, and not change thy counsel. Thou art faithful, and therefore wilt perform what thou hast promised, and not break thy word." Those that make God's promises their portion may with humble boldness make them their plea. "Lord, is not that the word which thou hast spoken; and wilt thou not make it good?" Gen. 32:9; Ex. 33:12. 2. That God, who had given him the promise in the word, had by his grace wrought in him a hope in that promise and enabled him to depend upon it, and had raised his expectations of great things from it. Has God kindled in us desires towards spiritual blessings more than towards any temporal good things, and will he not be so kind as to satisfy those desires? Has he filled us with hopes of those blessings, and will he not be so just as to accomplish these hopes? He that did by his Spirit work faith in us will, according to our faith, work for us, and will not disappoint us.