“Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.”
My Notes
What Does Psalms 119:165 Mean?
"Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them." The marginal note translates "nothing shall offend them" as "they shall have no stumbling block." The Hebrew word for "offend" (mikshol) means a stumbling block — an obstacle that trips you up, causes you to fall, or disrupts your progress.
The promise is extraordinary: those who love God's law experience great peace and encounter no stumbling blocks. The peace isn't fragile or conditional — it's great (rav), meaning abundant, plentiful, large. And the immunity from stumbling isn't partial — it's total. Nothing becomes a stumbling block.
The key is the word "love." Not just obey. Not just know. Not just study. Love. The relationship to God's law is affectionate, not dutiful. When you love the law, it becomes a source of peace rather than burden, and obstacles stop functioning as stumbling blocks because the love provides stability.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Do you love God's law, or merely obey it? What's the difference in your experience?
- 2.What would change if you approached Scripture with affection rather than obligation?
- 3.Have you met someone whose peace seemed unshakeable? What was their relationship to God's word?
- 4.What 'stumbling blocks' currently affect you that might lose their power if your love for God's word deepened?
Devotional
Great peace and no stumbling blocks. That's the promise for those who love God's law. Not just read it. Not just follow it out of duty. Love it.
The difference between obeying God's law and loving it is the difference between a soldier following orders and a bride following her heart. One produces compliance; the other produces peace. The law-lover doesn't just keep the rules — she finds them beautiful, wise, protective, liberating. The rules aren't a cage; they're architecture that creates space for peace.
The stumbling block immunity is remarkable. "Nothing shall offend them" doesn't mean nothing bad happens. It means nothing that happens becomes a cause of falling. The obstacles still exist — the same circumstances that trip other people up simply don't have the same effect on someone whose stability comes from loving God's law.
This is practical, observable, and testable. The people you know who have the deepest peace are usually the ones with the deepest relationship to God's word. Not the ones who quote it the most, but the ones who love it the most. Their stability isn't situational — it's structural. It comes from the inside, built by years of affectionate engagement with truth.
Do you love God's law? Not respect it, not fear it, not merely know it — love it? That love is the doorway to great peace.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Let my supplication come before thee,.... The same with his "cry" in Psa 119:169; only expressed by another word,…
Great peace have they - See the notes at Isa 26:3; compare the notes at Phi 4:6-7. They have great calmness of mind.…
Here is an account of the happiness of good men, who are governed by a principle of love to the word of God, who make it…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture