Psalms 119:85

“The proud have digged pits for me, etc.] Laid snares and temptations in his way, to draw him into sin, and so into mischief; they sought indeed to take away his life, and formed schemes for it. The allusion is to the digging of pits for the taking of wild beasts; which shows the ill opinion they had of David, and their ill usage of him; (see <190715>Psalm 7:15 9:15); which [are] not after thy law; no, contrary to it; which forbids the digging of a pit, and leaving it uncovered, so that a neighbour’s beast might fall into it, (<022133>Exodus 21:33,34); and if those might not be dug to the injury of beasts, then much less to the injury of men, to the hurt of the servants of the Lord, or to the…”

“The proud - Those in high life, or of exalted rank. See the notes at Psalms 119:51. Have digged pits for me - See the notes at Psalms 7:15. Compare Psalms 35:7; Psalms 57:6; Psalms 94:13. Which are not after thy law - The word which here refers not to the pits, but to the proud. They who have done this are people who do not regard thy commands; people who are open and public offenders. It is that class of people with whom I have to contend - inert who set at defiance all the laws of God; men high in rank, who wield great power, and who have no regard to the law of God in their conduct. Even they have sought my destruction in the meanest way possible - by covert arts, by underhanded means, by…”

“Who - Who have no respect to thy law. Psalms 119:86”

“119:85-88 God’s word is trustworthy, in contrast to the deceptions of the enemies who hunt the psalmist down without cause (see 119:78).”

“The proud: This metaphor is taken from the mode in which wild beasts are caught in the East. deep pits are dug in the earth, and slightly covered over with reeds, turf, etc., so as not to be discerned from the solid ground; and the animals attempting to walk over them, the surface breaks, they fall in, and are taken alive. Thus the Psalmist's enemies employed craft as well as power in order to effect his ruin. Psa 119:78, Psa 7:15, Psa 35:7, Psa 36:11; Pro 16:27; Jer 18:20 which: Psa 58:1, Psa 58:2 Psalms 119:86”