Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, Who seek Him with the whole heart…With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments! Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You. Psalm 119:2, 10-11
Psalm 119 is the longest “chapter” in the Bible, containing one hundred and seventy-six verses, divided into twenty-two sections as a protracted acrostic of each letter of the Hebrew alphabet, every part of which extols the majesties of God’s word. Over the next several discussions, we will ponder ten major themes set forth in this great psalm with the aim of reinforcing and deepening our desire to seek the Lord with our whole heart as the psalmist declared was his purpose. We begin where the psalmist began, with the blessing of a life in pursuit of God and His will.
As always, the blessed life according to Scripture stands in sharp contrast to the world’s definition of the same. The world frames the blessed life in terms of temporal successes: popularity, aesthetic beauty, wealth, athletic achievements, educational accomplishments, creature comforts, power, pomp, notoriety, etc. The psalmist, in harmony with the whole of Scripture (cf. Matthew 5:1-12, etc.) defines blessings, true success, in terms of faithfulness to God (vv. 1-3). He sets forth here several critical principles that should reinvigorate our pursuit of His will and ways in our lives.
Using a popular Hebrew literary device, known as parallelism, he restates the central principle in six different ways in these opening verses of the psalm. This is known as synonymous parallelism, where the writer states and reinforces the same principle in successive lines using different terms. Notice the six synonymous lines defining the blessed life in the first three verses:
1. The undefiled in the way
2. Who walk in the law of the Lord.
3. Who keep His testimonies.
4. Who seek Him with the whole heart.
5. Who also do no iniquity.
6. And who walk in His ways.
Though using different terms in each of the six lines, these all say essentially the same thing. The blessed life is the life lived in pursuit of the Lord and His ways above and beyond every other consideration. Every aspect of the psalm from this point forward speaks to this pursuit, its challenges, God’s provisions to enable our success, blessings on and the rejoicing of the one involved in the pursuit, and a host of other themes that build upon these.
As we move forward through this great psalm, we will add fuel to the fire of our hearts that we may keep His precepts diligently (vs. 4), have our ways directed to keep His statutes (vs. 5), do so with our heads held high and never being put to shame (vs. 6), praising Him with uprightness of heart (vs. 7), while knowing He will never forsake us (vs. 8)! What a joy it is to know that, through every trial we may face, He will provide the things we need to achieve the truly blessed life in the here and now, and even more importantly in eternity (cf. John 10:10; 1 Corinthians 10:13; Philippians 4:13; 2 Peter 1:3)!