Psalms 19:7

7. The law… testimony Here begins the second strophe. The transition from material nature to the written law is abrupt, and scarcely to be accounted for by poetic license. “Law,” here, ( torah,) is specifically the law of Moses, the whole body of written law, as Psalms 78:5; Isaiah 51:7. “Testimony” is used as a synonyme of law, and is so called because it is God’s witness of himself, of what is fit and right for man, of his hatred of sin and his eternal purpose to punish it unless atoned for and repented of. Exodus 25:16; Exodus 25:21.

Perfect Not as containing every possible detail of duty, but as defining the only moral state which is acceptable to God supreme love which is ethically the essence of all pure law.

Converting the soul Restoring, or bringing back the soul. See on Psalms 23:3. The idea is that of moral restoration to the favour of God. It is the office of the law to present to the mind that standard of purity which God will accept, and by reproving sin to turn back the soul to God the New Testament idea of conversion. The Septuagint and New Testament, have the word, ‘ επιστρεφω , to turn again, or turn back. Acts 3:19: “Repent and be turned back.” Matthew 13:15; 1 Corinthians 3:6. The torah, or law of Moses, embraced every means for the restoration of the soul to God.

Sure Faithful, true, steadfast. Its derivative, amen, (a word of confirmation.) brings out the idea. It is parallel to 2 Corinthians 1:20.

Simple Credulous: the opposite of wise. Those who, from want of experience or judgment, are easily persuaded to a wrong course. Proverbs 1:32; Proverbs 14:15. Comp. 2 Timothy 3:15: “Wise unto salvation.”