“Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight.”
My Notes
What Does Psalms 119:35 Mean?
"Make me to go in the path of thy commandments" is a prayer for enablement, not just guidance. The psalmist doesn't say "show me the path" — he says "make me go in it." He needs more than directions; he needs the power to walk. He knows where the path is. He needs the strength to take it.
The reason given is striking: "for therein do I delight." He delights in God's commandments, and yet he still needs God to make him walk in them. Delight alone isn't sufficient to produce obedience. You can love the right path and still need divine help to take it.
This is one of the most psychologically honest prayers in the Psalter. It describes the common experience of wanting to do right and being unable to do it on your own. Paul articulates the same struggle in Romans 7: "the good that I would I do not." The psalmist resolves the tension the same way Paul does: by asking God to supply what willpower can't.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Have you experienced the gap between wanting to do right and actually doing it?
- 2.What does 'make me go' teach about the limits of willpower in spiritual growth?
- 3.How does delighting in something and being unable to do it shape your understanding of human nature?
- 4.What would it look like to ask God for enablement rather than just trying harder?
Devotional
He delights in God's commandments. He loves the path. He wants to walk it. And he still needs God to make him go in it. Delight isn't enough. Love of the right path isn't enough. He needs divine enablement to do what he already wants to do.
This is one of the most comforting prayers in Scripture for anyone who has ever wanted to do right and found themselves unable. You know the path. You love the path. You delight in it. And your feet won't move. Something between desire and action is broken, and the psalmist's solution is: God, You move me. Make me go.
This prayer demolishes the idea that spiritual growth is purely a matter of willpower. If wanting it were enough, the psalmist — who delights in God's commands — wouldn't need to pray for enablement. The gap between delight and doing is real, and it requires something beyond human effort to close.
"Make me go" is the prayer of someone who's stopped pretending they can do this alone. It's the prayer of someone who's tried discipline, tried accountability, tried harder — and realized that the path of God's commandments requires God's power, not just God's map.
What path do you delight in but can't seem to walk? Have you asked God to make you go?
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity,.... As the things of this world, the riches, honours, and pleasures of it,…
Make me to go in the path ... - That is, Incline me to it; so direct me that I shall thus walk. It is an acknowledgment…
He had before prayed to God to enlighten his understanding, that he might know his duty, and not mistake concerning it;…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture