“Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD!
Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart,
who also do no wrong, but walk in his ways!
You have commanded your precepts to be kept diligently.
Oh that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes!
Then I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.
I will praise you with an upright heart, when I learn your righteous rules.
I will keep your statutes; do not utterly forsake me!” Psalm 119:1-8
I have separated all eight verses of this Psalm to remind us that this is an acrostic with twenty-two stanzas. Each stanza begins with a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet. These eight verses each begin with the letter Aleph in Hebrew.
The Psalm speaks in many ways of obedience to God’s laws, statutes, commandments, precepts. It shows forth a great love for God’s Word and His truth. As we read this Psalm, we should get a great appreciation for the value of God’s Word in our lives.
The Psalmist cries out in this first stanza, ‘Oh that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes! Then I shall not be put to shame. And yet shamefully our eyes are not always fixed on the commandments of God and we know how we fail in our obedience to them.
So, what can we learn here? By walking in the law of the LORD we will be blameless and blessed. The world thinks mistakenly that they are blessed in their disobedience. We know that true blessing comes from obedience to the word.
We are also to seek him with our whole heart. With everything that is in us we are to seek God and to have our eyes fixed on him. We are told to walk in His ways in contrast to walking in the ways of the world.
Another great benefit of knowing and learning God’s Word is that it brings forth praise from us. When we learn His righteous rules, it should cause us to praise Him. We are overjoyed in His truth. For it is the source of righteousness.
This stanza also ends with a plea, do not utterly forsake me! I will keep your statutes, do not utterly forsake me!
And please remember again we do not obey in order to gain salvation but out of a love for God because of the great mercy that He has shown to us in sending us His son we obey and we rejoice.
Oh that my ways may be steadfast. As we go through the remainder of our week may that be the cry of our hearts. Steadfast, faithful, obedience to the Savior as we rejoice in his righteous rules.