Mazmur 119:48

119:48 I will lift my hands to ¹  your commands,

which I love,

and I will meditate on your statutes.

Mazmur 119:97

מ (Mem)

119:97 O how I love your law!

All day long I meditate on it.

Mazmur 119:127

119:127 For this reason ²  I love your commands

more than gold, even purest gold.

Mazmur 119:140

119:140 Your word is absolutely pure,

and your servant loves it!

Mazmur 119:167

119:167 I keep your rules;

I love them greatly.

Mazmur 119:174

119:174 I long for your deliverance, O Lord;

I find delight in your law.

[119:48]  ¹ tn Lifting the hands is often associated with prayer (Pss 28:2; 63:4; Lam 2:19). (1) Because praying to God’s law borders on the extreme, some prefer to emend the text to “I lift up my hands to you,” eliminating “your commands, which I love” as dittographic. In this view these words were accidentally repeated from the previous verse. (2) However, it is possible that the psalmist closely associates the law with God himself because he views the law as the expression of the divine will. (3) Another option is that “lifting the hands” does not refer to prayer here, but to the psalmist’s desire to receive and appropriate the law. (4) Still others understand this to be an action praising God’s commands (so NCV; cf. TEV, CEV, NLT).

[119:127]  ² tn “For this reason” connects logically with the statement made in v. 126. Because the judgment the psalmist fears (see vv. 119-120) is imminent, he remains loyal to God’s law.