That they might observe his statutes, and keep his laws. Praise ye the LORD. That they might observe his statutes (Deuteronomy 4:1; Deuteronomy 4:40; Psalms 78:7.) Thus, the two-fold reason for God's loving dealings with Israel was:
(1) Faithfulness to His covenant on His part;
(2) That they on their part might obey Him
Obedience on the part of Abraham in 'keeping the way of the Lord' appears in Genesis 18:19, as an object of the covenant made by God with him (Genesis 18:19). Disobedience on the Jews' part, the Psalmist implies, is the cause of their existing captivity in Babylon, and also of their forfeiture of the covenanted possession of Canaan. What ground of hope then remains? It is the purpose of the third psalm in the trilogy, Psalms 107:1-43, to solve this difficulty.