How blessed are those who observe His testimonies, Who seek Him with all their heart.

Psalm 119:1-16 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Meditations and Prayers Relating to the Law of God.

How blessed are those whose way is blameless,
Who walk in the law of the Lord.
² How blessed are those who observe His testimonies,
Who seek Him with all their heart.
³ They also do no unrighteousness;
They walk in His ways.
⁴ You have ordained Your precepts,
^[c]That we should keep them diligently.
⁵ Oh that my ways may be established
To keep Your statutes!
⁶ Then I shall not be ashamed
When I look upon all Your commandments.
⁷ I shall give thanks to You with uprightness of heart,
When I learn Your righteous judgments.
⁸ I shall keep Your statutes;
Do not forsake me utterly!

⁹ How can a young man keep his way pure?
By keeping it according to Your word.
¹⁰ With all my heart I have sought You;
Do not let me wander from Your commandments.
¹¹ Your word I have treasured in my heart,
That I may not sin against You.
¹² Blessed are You, O Lord;
Teach me Your statutes.
¹³ With my lips I have told of
All the ordinances of Your mouth.
¹⁴ I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies,
^[e]As much as in all riches.
¹⁵ I will meditate on Your precepts
And regard Your ways.
¹⁶ I shall delight in Your statutes;
I shall not forget Your word.

Many people want to claim the blessings and promises of God, but how many are willing to follow the path to those blessings? The psalmist says: How blessed are those whose way is blameless, Who walk in the law of the Lord. How blessed are those who observe His testimonies, Who seek Him with all their heart.   Should we expect to walk in God’s blessing if we do not also walk in His law? If we seek His blessings, should we not also seek Him with all of our heart? Should we blame Him if we are not blameless ourselves?  The psalmist says:  They also do no unrighteousness; They walk in His ways. You have ordained Your precepts,That we should keep them diligently.   But we no longer live under the law, we live under grace some will argue. The blessings are ours because of what Jesus did, not what we do, they will say.   Yet in John 14:15 Jesus, the author and facilitator of the covenant of grace says:  “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”  In Matthew 5:17-20 He says:  “Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil them. For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”   Jesus Himself highly valued the law and statutes of God and He commands that we should value and keep them as well.

The psalmist says: Oh that my ways may be established To keep Your statutes! Then I shall not be ashamed When I look upon all Your commandments.  I shall give thanks to You with uprightness of heart, When I learn Your righteous judgments. I shall keep Your statutes;
Do not forsake me utterly!   In John 16:13-14 Jesus says:  “When He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you.”  John 14:26-27 in the Amplified says:  But the Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby), the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name [in My place, to represent Me and act on My behalf], He will teach you all things. And He will help you remember everything that I have told you.  The Holy Spirit will establish our ways to keep His statutes. The Holy Spirit will teach of His righteous judgments. He is all of the things that it says He is.  1 Corinthians 2:10-13 says:  For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God,which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.  Luke 11:13 says:  “If you then, being evil, know how to givegood gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

The psalmist says:  How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your word. With all my heart I have sought You; Do not let me wander from Your commandments. Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You. Blessed are You, O Lord; Teach me Your statutes.  With my lips I have told of All the ordinances of Your mouth.
I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies, As much as in all riches. I will meditate on Your precepts And regard Your ways. I shall delight in Your statutes; I shall not forget Your word.  Amen.

Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit, for Your word; for Your commandments and statutes; for Your righteous judgment, and for the power to know them and walk in them, given through the Holy Spirit. I delight in You. Amen.