I have hated and abhorred iniquity; but I have loved thy law.

“"As for iniquity, I hate and abhor it; but Your law have I loved" [Psalm 119:163]. That awe, therefore, of His word did not create hatred of those words, but maintained his love unimpaired. For the words of God are no other than the law of God. Far be it therefore that love perish through fear, where fear is chaste. Thus fathers are at once feared and loved by affectionate sons; thus does the chaste wife at once fear her husband, lest she be forsaken by him, and loves him, that she may enjoy his love. If then the human father and the human husband desire at once to be feared and loved; much more does our Father who is in heaven, [Matthew 6:9] and that Bridegroom, "beautiful beyond the sons of men," not in the flesh, but in goodness. For by whom is the law of God loved, save by those by whom God is loved? And what that is severe has the father's law to good sons? [Hebrews 12:6] Let the Father's judgments therefore be praised even in the scourge, if His promises be loved in the reward.”

“Obtain the same thing for yourself and strive to advance toward it; for it is able to raise you from earth to heaven. You will not advance in it without preparation or [solely] by chance. First cleanse your soul of every passion and wipe it as clean of every evil as a newly cleansed mirror. Remove far from you every recollection of wrong and anger, which most of all prevents our daily prayers from reaching God. Also remove from your heart the offenses of everyone who has ever sinned against you. Giving wings to your prayer with mercy and compassion for the poor, approach God with fervent tears. Praying in this way you will be able to say with the blessed David, who, although he was king and burdened with countless cares, cleansed his soul of all passions: "I hated and abhorred iniquity, but I loved your law. Seven times a day I praised you because of the judgments of your righteousness." My soul kept your testimonies and I loved them very much. Let my prayer draw near to you, Lord; enable me to understand your word.”

“I have kept thy precepts and thy testimonies,.... Both the preceptive and doctrinal part of the word, he preserved and observed both; this is repeated for the certainty of it, and to show his great affection to them; for all my ways are before thee; this is either an appeal to God for the truth of what he had said, who saw and knew all the ways in which he walked, and which he had endeavoured should be conformable to the word of God; or it is a reason why he kept the precepts and testimonies of the Lord, because he knew his eyes were upon him; the omniscience of God had an influence over him, and caused him to be more attentive to the word, as the rule of his actions; see Psa 139:1.”