You have commanded us to keep your precepts diligently.
All Commentaries on Psalms 119:4 Go To Psalms 119
Augustine of Hippo
AD 430
4. What meaneth, "Thou hast charged that we shall keep Thy commandments too much"? (ver. 4). Is it, "Thou hast charged too much"? or, "to keep too much"? Whichever of these we understand, the sense seems contrary to that memorable and noble sentiment which the Greeks praise in their wise men, and which the Latins agree in praising. "Do nothing too much." ...But the Latin language sometimes uses the word nimis in such a sense, that we find it in the holy Scripture, and employ it in our discourses, as signifying, very much. In this passage, "Thou hast charged that we keep Thy commandments too much," we simply understand very much, if we understand rightly; and if we say to any very dear friend, I love you too much, we do not wish to be understood to mean more than is fitting, but very much.
