Psalms 119:53

“Horror hath taken hold upon me, etc.] Trembling, sorrow, and distress, to a great degree, like a storm, or a blustering, scorching, burning wind, as the word f1659 signifies, which is very terrible; because of the wicked that forsake thy law: not only transgress the law of the Lord, as every man does, more or less; but wilfully and obstinately despise it, and cast it behind their backs, and live in a continued course of disobedience to it; or who apostatize from the doctrine of the word of God; wilfully deny the truth, after they have had a speculative knowledge of it, whose punishment is very grievous, (<581026>Hebrews 10:26-29); and now partly on account of the daring impiety of wicked…”

“Horror hath taken hold upon me - Has seized me; has overpowered and overwhelmed me. I shudder; I tremble; I am afraid; I am filled with distress. Luther, “I am burnt up.” The Hebrew word - זלעפה zal‛âphâh - is from a verb meaning “to be hot; to glow”; and the idea in the word is that of violent heat; then, a glow or burning, as of a wind - the “simoom” of the desert. See Psalms 11:6, where the word is translated “horrible tempest,” in the margin, “burning.” The word occurs only in that passage, in the one before us, and in Lamentations 5:10, where it is rendered “terrible (famine),” in the margin, “terrors,” or “storms.” The state referred to here is that of one who sees the storm of…”

“Horror - A mixed passion, made up of abhorrence of their sins, and dread and sorrow at the consideration of the judgments of God coming upon them. Psalms 119:54”

“horror: Zilaphah properly signifies the pestilential burning wind called by the Arabs Simoom (see Psa 11:6). It is here used in a figurative sense for the most horrid mental distress; and strongly marks the idea the Psalmist had of the corrupting, pestilential, and destructive nature of sin. Psa 119:136, Psa 119:158; Ezr 9:3, Ezr 9:14, Ezr 10:6; Jer 13:17; Dan 4:19; Hab 3:16; Luk 19:41, Luk 19:42; Rom 9:1-3; Co2 12:21; Phi 3:18 Psalms 119:54”