h, HE.--The Fifth Part.HE. Teach me, O Lord, the way of thy statutes,.... Which they point unto, and direct to walk in; not only the statutes and ordinances themselves, the theory of them, but the practice of them.
This is taught in the word, and by the ministers of it; but none so effectually teach as the Lord himself, Isa 2:3;and I shall keep it [unto] the end; keep the way unto the end of it: or rather to the end of life, all my days, and never depart out of it, or turn to the right hand or the left; but walk on in it as long as I live: or, "I shall observe it, [even] the end" ; the end of the way of thy statutes or commandments.
Now the end of the commandment is charity or love, which is the fulfilling of it: though that is perfectly fulfilled by none but by Christ, the end of the law for righteousness, 1Th 1:5. The word for "end" signifies a "reward"; so Aben Ezra interprets it, and refers to Ps 19:11; but Kimchi denies the law is to be kept for the sake of reward; which is right: rather the sense is, I will keep it by way of retribution, or in gratitude for teaching the way.
The Targum is,"and I will keep unto perfection;''which cannot be done by sinful man.