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At midnight I will rise - We are so overpowered with a sense of thy goodness, that in season and out of season we will return thee thanks.

At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto thee - In the usual times of repose; when men are commonly lying in unconscious slumber. My heart is so interested in thy law - my soul is so full - that I am kept wakeful by meditating upon it, and I arise from my bed and offer thee praise. The Hebrew here means, literally, “the half,” or “halving of the night,” the night considered as divided into two equal portions. The idea is, that his mind was so full of the subject that he would take this unusual time to give vent to his feelings. The mind may be so full of love to the law - the word - of God, that nothing will satisfy it but such unusual acts of devotion. The Saviour rose up a great while before day, and went out into a solitary place and there prayed Mark 1:35; and on one occasion at least he continued all night in prayer to God Luke 6:12.

Because of thy righteous judgments - I do this on account of the interest which I have in those judgments or laws of righteousness. I love them as laws; I love them as righteous laws.

True believers take the Lord for the portion of their inheritance, and nothing less will satisfy them. The psalmist prayed with his whole heart, knowing how to value the blessing he prayed for: he desired the mercy promised, and depended on the promise for it. He turned from by-paths, and returned to God's testimonies. He delayed not. It behoves sinners to hasten to escape; and the believer will be equally in haste to glorify God. No care or grief should take away God's word out of our minds, or hinder the comfort it bestows. There is no situation on earth in which a believer has not cause to be thankful. Let us feel ashamed that others are more willing to keep from sleep to spend the time in sinful pleasures, than we are to praise God. And we should be more earnest in prayer, that our hearts may be filled with his mercy, grace, and peace.