From the early Church Fathers to now.
3 Patristic · 2 Jewish · 1 Catholic
“That my mouth may not speak the works of men: for the sake of the words of thy lips, I have kept hard ways.”
“"That My mouth may not speak the works of men" [Psalm 17:4]. That nothing may proceed out of My mouth, but what relates to Your glory and praise; not to the works of men, which they do beside Your will. "Because of the words of Your lips." Because of the words of Your peace, or of Your prophets. "I have kept hard ways." I have kept the toilsome ways of human mortality and suffering.”
“What the Lord has commanded seems hard and harsh, that any who wish to follow him should deny themselves. But nothing can be hard and harsh that is commanded by one who helps us to do what he commands. You see, both these things are true, both what is said to him in the psalm: "Because of the words of your lips I have kept to hard ways"; and what he himself said, "My yoke is easy, and my burden is light." The fact is, whatever is hard in the commandments is made easy by charity.”
“When sins are avoided, the path is hard, and the ascent is always difficult. But when we slip toward vices, the road is easy and downhill. But the Lord Christ appeared before us in this world and demonstrated the laws of meekness and self-control. So he rightly says that through the commands of the Lord he walked the hard ways of people with undefiled feet.”
“As for man’s deeds, because of the word of Your lips, etc. To support my feet, etc. From then on, for every deed of man that I came to perform, I watched myself because of the word of Your lips; [I watched] the ways of the profligate, to turn away from them, so that I should not walk in them, but [would] support my feet constantly in Your paths, that my feet should not falter from them. Another explanation: For the deeds of man according to the word of Your lips, etc. Since a person must use his deeds according to the uprightness (decree - early editions) of the word of Your lips, as You said, “You shall not commit adultery,” I kept myself from the ways of the profligate although I behaved unseemly according to the good You have done.”
“As for the works of men, by the word of Thy lips – in what Thou hast commanded and forbidden- I have observed the ways of the violent: – meaning, I have done according to the work of the wicked and the violent. The learned Rabbi Abraham ben Ezra expounds: “Let my sentence come forth from Thy presence so that Thou punish me if Thine eyes regard not the right!” But all this seems to me far-fetched, and to me it seems more probable that it should be taken as (ibid. 9:5) “For Thou hast maintained my right and my cause” of which the interpretation is: Thou shalt exact judgment for me from my enemies; and so, from Thy presence let my judgment come forth may mean that Thou wilt exact judgment for me from mine enemies. Thine eyes regard right: Thou seest that with me is right and with them wickedness and violence. And so the greater part of the Psalm has reference to (his) enemies, as he says (infra, 7), “From those that rise up against Thy right hand.” And he says (also) (ibid. 9): “From the wicked that spoil me.” You see that the Psalm speaks of his enemies, and it was on account of them he was seeking mercy; and he says that God will look upon the uprightness of his deeds and see that his enemies hate him without cause. He says also, Thou hast proved my heart, for Thou dost prove hearts, and knowest if my words are (those of) truth. Thou hast visited me in the night: and in the night – i.e. at a time when a man thinks of so many matters, when he is free from the business of the world and has no work to do – at night and at the time when he is awake and thinks – and Thou hast visited my heart and my thoughts, and hast tried me and found in me only good. And from my thoughts no word has proceeded save only according to the tenor of my heart, as he says: out of no feigned lips; and this is the meaning of I have resolved that my mouth shall not offend. And as I am strict with myself, so I warn others of what I see. This is the meaning of what he says: As for the works of man, by the word of Thy lips: in (the light of) what Thou hast commanded and warned, I am considering the works of man and keeping from them transgressions. And this is the meaning of: I have marked the paths of the violent: I have prevented a man from walking in the paths of the violent and wicked. And similarly, (שמר is used in the verse) “to keep (guard) the way of the tree of life” (Gen. 3:24), “so that one should not walk in it”; so also “the keeper of the park” (Neh. 2:8). After setting forth before God the uprightness of his mouth and heart and deeds, he supplicates God to support his steps lest they stumble before his enemies, and says:”
“Second, he explains by what fire he was examined, when he says, "On account of the words of your lips, I kept to hard ways." Hard ways are adversities; and I endured this on account of the words of your lips, that is, in order to keep your words, or to proclaim your words. Jer. 20: "The word of the Lord became a reproach and a derision to me." Jerome has, "that I might keep to the broad ways." Robbers seek byways to hide; so did David when Saul pursued him. Ps. 17: "He made my feet like those of deer." Spiritually, this is said of Christ, punished among robbers as a malefactor: Jn. 18: "If this man were not a malefactor, we would not have handed him over to you." If you begin the verse at "On account of the works of men, I kept to hard ways," you may say that the hard ways are the works of men. Prov. 4: "I will show you the way of wisdom; I will lead you along the paths of equity, which when you have entered," etc.”
The in-app commentary runs from the Fathers to the early-modern record, then stops — that's where the public-domain sources end, not where the reading does. For the modern reading, follow the sources directly.