Thursday, February 13, 2014

Musing on a Psalm

Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, 
who seek him with their whole heart, 
who also do no wrong, 
but walk in his ways! Psalms 119:2-3

Well, we're back to 'perfection' type language. Who does any of the things listed here: obeying His testimonies, seeking with the whole heart, doing no wrong, walking in His ways. But seeing last time what the word 'blameless' is about helps. This isn't about being perfect in these things. If that were the case no one would be blessed. It's about the tone of a person's life, the basic orientation. That's what John was getting at when he wrote, 'Everyone who sins also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.' (1 John 3:4) Really?!? Well, that's what it literally says. Modern translations, understanding John's point, put it something like, 'Everyone who makes a practice of sinning ...' (Take a peek at the King James for the more literal translation.) 

The point here is about the basic orientation of a person's life. Is it one given to obedience to God's Law ('keeping'), with sincerity ('their whole heart') that works at doing right ('do no wrong') by imitating God ('walk in His ways')?

There is a blessing for those who work at this. And the promise of that reward is important because working at this isn't easy. There will be opposition. Remember the world, the flesh and the devil (the culture around us, our still-present sin habits and Satan). These stand against us as we work at living in the way that children of God are called to live. These stand against us as we work at imitating the Father. But that same Father makes our efforts at this more than worthwhile when He blesses us.