Commentaries:
Barnes' Notes
I hate vain thoughts - This commences a new portion of the psalm, distinguished by the Hebrew letter Samech ( s ), answering to our "s." The word rendered "vain thoughts" occurs only in this place. It is rendered by the Septuagint, ́ paranomous - transgressors. So the Latin Vulgate. Luther renders it "die Flattergeister ," the frivolous-minded. The word means divided; a man of a divided mind; a man who has no sure faith in regard to divine things, but is driven here and there; a sceptic; a doubter. Compare James 1:8. Thus it refers not to his own thoughts primarily, as being "vain" or worthless, but to a state of mind or heart in general, where there is no firmness, no stability, no settled view: a state of mind wavering, doubtful, skeptical, in regard to religion. What is implied here in reference to what he loved - by stating (in the way of contrast) what he "hated," - would be a mind which was settled in its convictions of truth, and firm in its adherence to truth; a mind which was steadfast in religion, and not vacillating, skeptical, or uncertain on the subject. This denotes that the psalmist sought such a state of mind for himself, and that he valued it in others.
But thy law do I love - I have no "divided" or unsettled feelings in regard to that. I am conscious of a firm attachment to it. This thought he has repeatedly expressed in the psalm.
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