BLESSED BY GOD

Psalm 119 New International Version

“Blessed are those whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Lord. Blessed are those who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart.”

       Being happy, joyful or blessed in the truest sense can only be achieved thru obedience to the word of God.  Can that be literally true?  Happiness outside of obedience to God is unattainable?  Millions of souls would no doubt scoff at that, claiming to be happy in the now without needing God to achieve that.  But is the happiness any of us achieve outside of God’s sphere of influence truly happiness at all or is it that we know it as happiness because of the things we have to compare it to?  The things of this world, including our feelings and emotions induced by our circumstances, come and go; ebbing and flowing like the ocean’s tide.  Nothing is lasting, all is temporal, a vain pursuit at best, a chasing after the wind.   Solomon knew this and says so repeatedly in Ecclesiastes. 

       I chose the NIV translation of these two verses because I like the use of word blessed over NLT’s use of joyful.  To be joyful seems like a temporal emotion that can be diverted by a shift in circumstance.  Blessed seems more like something that is tied to God’s grace.  We are favored, thus we are blessed.  We are most assuredly joyful as well, but blessed sounds more like a permanent disposition or attitude. 

       The key to being continually blessed by God is to live a blameless life, walking according to the Law of the Lord.  Now we no longer live by the Law for we are under God’s umbrella of grace; however, we live the Law by virtue of our attentiveness to the standards God has set down.  We aren’t obligated, yet we now have a compulsion to please our Savior.  Imitating Christ in all our endeavors will achieve the desired results.  Being blessed is a condition of the heart.  When we receive Christ we instantly become blessed of God because of who He is and who we have now become.  Seek God and live according to His statutes and you will be blessed.  Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing!

Note: This is both the longest psalm and the longest chapter in the Bible. Almost every verse mentions God’s Word. Such repetition was common in the Hebrew culture. People didn’t have personal copies of the Scriptures to read as we do, so God’s people memorized His Word and passed it along orally.  The structure of this psalm allowed for easy memorization.  God’s Word is the only sure guide for living a pure life. (The Life Application Study Bible; publisher: Tyndale House.)