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Tehillim 119:13
בִּשְׂפָתַי סִפַּרְתִּי כֹּל מִשְׁפְּטֵי-פִיךָ
Bisfatai siparti kol mishpetei-ficha
With my lips have I told all the ordinances of Your mouth.

David explains why he pleaded, "teach me Your statutes" (v119:12).  Whereas "with my lips have I told all the ordinances of Your mouth" - I spoke of those mitzvot, the ordinances, whose reasons I knew - now I ask about the "statutes" whose reasons are unknown.

At the outset, David said, "With my whole heart have I sought You" (v119:10).  Here he says that he did not remain content with contemplation alone.  Rather: "With my lips have I told all the ordinances of Your mouth."  He then goes on to speak of his endeavor to understand, as well, the inner substance of the mitzvot.

Another interpretation is based on the meaning of "siparti" as counting.  "With my lips have I counted all the ordinances of Your mouth."  I would count all the words of the Torah and all the mitzvot, to make certain that I missed nothing that required implementation.

Although "I stored" Your ordinances "in my heart" (v119:11), not to forget them (v119:16), "with my lips have I told all the ordinances of Your mouth."  Verbal articulation of what one studies is an aid against forgetfulness.

Tehillim 119:12
Tehillim 119:11
Tehillim 119:10
Tehillim 119:9
Tehillim 119:8
Tehillim 119:7
Tehillim 119:6
Tehillim 119:5
Tehillim 119:4
Tehillim 119:3
Tehillim 119:2
Tehillim 119:1

-MeAm Lo'ez

Tehillim 119:12
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְהוָה לַמְּדֵנִי חֻקֶּיךָ
Baruch atah HASHEM lamdeni chukeicha
Blessed are You, HASHEM; teach me Your statutes.

"Blessed are You, HaShem," You who are the source of blessings, influences and wisdoms.  "Teach me Your statutes." For these statutes are hidden from our intellect and it is not within our own power to know them completely.

Thus, on the one hand, David pleads for an abundant flow from G-d.  On the other hand he acclaims G-d as the source of blessing.

Chazal (our Sages) infer from here that a blessing must be recited before and after every reading in the Torah.  The need for a prefatory blessing is conveyed by, "Blessed are You, HaShem; teach me Your statutes."  The need for a concluding blessing is conveyed by "And this is th blessing by which Moshe the man of G-d blessed" (Devarim 33:1).  After he recited the Haazinu hymn (ibid. 32), he recited a blessing.


BRACHA LEVATALAH -  (a blessing made in vain)

The Rosh (Berakhot 6:20; see also Shulchan Aruch) writes that if one began unnecessarily saying a blessing, but stopped before saying “Elokeinu Melech Ha-Olam” (our G-d, King of the Universe), he should continue “lamdeini chukekha” (teach me Your statutes), thus completing a verse (Tehillim 119:12). He is then considered to have merely read a Biblical verse.

Furthermore, if one realizes that he has begun reciting an unnecessary blessing before completing the word “Elokeinu” (our G-d), he may continue the verse “Elokei Yisrael avinu mei-olam ve-ad olam” (G-d of Yisrael, our Father, forever and ever) (Tzelach, Berakhot 39b; Kitzur Shulchan Arukh 6:4), thus completing a Biblical verse (Divrei HaYamim Alef 29:10). The Chayei Adam (5:1) adds that in this case, one should still conclude with “baruch shem kavod.”


For clarification:

If you just said "Baruch" or "Baruch Atah" (Blessed or Blessed are You) - just stop there.

If you said "Baruch Atah HaShem" - then you finish with the words "Lamdeini Chukeicha." (Teach me Your statutes. - Tehillim 119:12)

If you started to say  "Elokei" and didn't finish the entire words (Elokeinu) - then you finish with "Elokei Yisrael Avinu me-olam ve-ad olam." (G-d  of Yisrael, our Father, forever and ever. - Divrei HaYamim Alef 29:10)

If you said the word "Elokeinu" - then finish with "Atah anitam, Kel nose' hayitah lahem ve-nokem al alilotam" (You answered them; a forgiving G-d were You to them; but an avenger of their misdeeds. - Tehillim 99:8)

If you said beyond the word "Elokeinu" - then say, "Baruch Shem Kevod Malchuto L'Olam Va'ed" (Blessed is the Name of His glorious Kingdom for all eternity. - based on Nechemya 9:5)  This is also said any time the Name of G-d is said in vain. (Yerushalmi Brachot 43b; Orach Chayim 206:6)

Tehillim 119:11
Tehillim 119:10
Tehillim 119:9
Tehillim 119:8
Tehillim 119:7
Tehillim 119:6
Tehillim 119:5
Tehillim 119:4
Tehillim 119:3
Tehillim 119:2
Tehillim 119:1

belibi tzafanti imratecha lemaan lo echeta lach
Your word have I stored in my heart, so that I would not sin against You.

So great was my love for Your commandments (v119:10), that "I stored them in my heart, so that I would not sin against You" by forgetting to observe them.

The Torah conveys that forgetting the mitzvot results in their abrogation; as it says, "Beware that you do not forget HaShem your G-d" (Devarim 8:11).

When I studied, "Your word I stored in my heart."  I also tried to remember the ruling of halachah, "so that I would not sin against You."  If I remembered only the arguments of the discourse, I might come to commit a sin.

A subtle explanation is based on the teaching of the Sefer Charedim that the mitzvah of circumcision also includes a mitzvah pertaining to the heart.  As it says, "And you will circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it will be a sing of the covenant between Me and you" (Bereishit 17:11).  A person should recall (bring up in his heart) every day that he is a bonded servant to the King of the world, and he will not rebel against Him.  That is what David says here, "Your word have I stored in my heart."  This pertains to the commandment of circumcision, as our Sages expound concerning the verse, "I rejoice at Your word" (v119:162).  Hence "I would not sin against You."

A subtle interpretation associates these verse with a different matter.  Our Sages teach: How do we know that when a disciple who sits before his teacher discerns an argument in favor of a poor litigant, he must not keep silent? For it says, "Do not be afraid before any man" (Devarim 1:17).  It also says, however, that one who makes a ruling in Torah law in the presence of his teacher is deserving of death.  Accordingly, the Scripture on the one hand asks, "How shall a youth keep his path pure by observing Your word?" (v119:9).  On the other hand it answers: At times "with my whole heart have I sought You" (v119:10), and at times "your word have I stored in my heart, so that I would not sin."

This also teaches that certain of the hidden things of the world should be kept hidden underneath one's garments.

David attests: Whenever I found something perplexing in any Torah text, due to lack of knowledge on my part, I did not utter what could be construed as startling. Rather, "Your word I stored in my heart."  And I entreated the Almighty for help to clarify His secrets, "so that I would not sin against You" by speaking out.

The Gemara interprets King David's statement as, "I did not rule when doing so would have constituted a sin."

"I have stored."  Mere knowledge of Torah is not enough.  Its words must be meditated upon and kept in the forefront of one's mind.  Only in this way will they produce the salutary effect of refining one's character and conduct, and bringing him closer to G-d.


Tehillim 119:10
Tehillim 119:9
Tehillim 119:8
Tehillim 119:7
Tehillim 119:6
Tehillim 119:5
Tehillim 119:4
Tehillim 119:3
Tehillim 119:2
Tehillim 119:1


MeAm Lo'ez
Sefer Tehillim - The Schottenstein Edition