By His Grace

1 Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord! 2 Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart, 3 who also do no wrong, but walk in his ways! 4 You have commanded your precepts to be kept diligently. 5 Oh that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes! 6 Then I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all your commandments. 7 I will praise you with an upright heart, when I learn your righteous rules. 8 I will keep your statutes; do not utterly forsake me!

The Psalmist begins this Psalm with a challenge to us all. The challenge is to our walk with Christ. Blessed are those whose way is blameless. What a challenge this is, for none of us seem to measure up. Paul in the Epistle to the Romans recites from the Psalmist (Ps 14:1-3; 53:1-3), 3:10 as it is written: " None is righteous, no, not one;" and thus implicates us all. We are not blessed, because we are not blameless. As hard as we try we can not be blameless, holy. The prophet Isaiah wrote, Isa 64:6 All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. So who can be blessed? Who can walk blamelessly? The answer is found in the Word of God, those who walk in the law of the Lord! This does not mean that we are to live a works righteousness, based upon strict obedience to the law, for the law can not save man, only Jesus Christ. Rather, the psalmist is teaching us that we are to walk according to the precepts, the teachings set out in Scripture, and this begins with our faith in Christ.

There is a blessing that comes in the life of the believer as we live according to the Word of God. Verse two tells us that we are blessed as we keep his testimonies. Some have called the Scriptures, "An intimate love letter from the Father." This love letter gives us guidance to live according to God's will. The Jews were seeking to live by every jot and tittle of the law, they fail to see Christ for who he really is. Jesus condemned this behavior in John 5:39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, The blessing comes from a right use of God's Word. It is meant to lead us to the Savior, Jesus, it is not to supplant the savior. We are blessed as we see the Scriptures pointing us to Christ and we follow His teaching found in these Scripture. That is why the psalmist writes, who seek him with their whole heart, and not "who read them as often or as thoroughly as they can." We are to seek Christ, the Scriptures point to Him. We are blessed as we seek Him with our whole heart through the proper use and application of His Word.

The truths of Scripture lead us to Christ and enable us to see the way to lead a righteous life. How can we possible live like verse 3, who also do no wrong, but walk in his ways! We can only do this through faith in Christ, for our heartiest attempts pale against the powerful work of God in Christ. We always will do wrong save in the power and grace of Christ. As we walk in His ways, we are enabled to live righteously. Not by what we do, but by what He does in us.

As we have briefly glimpsed the grace of Christ in the previous verses, verse 4 points us to His authority. 4 You have commanded your precepts to be kept diligently. God did command his people to live according to His word, to teach them to their children and to constantly dwell on them. Deut 6: 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. Today we seem to balk at the suggestion of even reading the Bible, yet here and in our Psalm, we are commanded to love God and His communication with us, His Word. We are not to just causally read the Scripture, treating it as we would the latest novel or magazine article, but we are to diligently study and read them. We are to go to lengths to learn what he has to say to us. Do you keep His precepts diligently or are they just light reading before drifting off to sleep?

With the Psalmist, I cry out, 5 Oh that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes! I confess, it is difficult to get into and study God's Word. Work, family and the plethora of every day distractions hinder any serious study let alone reading. For pastors there is an added hindrance of the ministry. By that I mean that it is easy for us to sometimes view the Scripture as a work tool as opposed to a "love letter" leading to the life giver. We can easily consume ourselves in the study for a class or sermon in a manner that does not look to Christ, but focuses on our own intellect. The task becomes the goal instead of the relationship with Jesus. May I be a sentinel a guardian of the Word, allowing its use in my life only to point to Christ, never to be merely for work. Oh that I may be steadfast in keeping God's Word in a manner that brings HIM all the glory and not me.

What a promise I find in verse 6. Then I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all your commandments. If my heart and eyes are fixed on the teachings that point to Christ, if my whole heart is seeking God, I will not be put to shame. Living according to the guidance of Madison Avenue, Pennsylvania Avenue or even my own family and self, will only lead to shame. Apart from Christ, I will certainly cause shame in my life and will find myself shamed. The psalmist reminds us that a life fixed on Christ through the guidance of the Scriptures will not be shameful. As our eyes are fixed upon Christ we find the eternal blessings of the throne of God.

As we see these truths applied in our lives, we are lead to praise the Almighty King. Our hearts are lifted up as the Word of God works within us. 7 I will praise you with an upright heart, when I learn your righteous rules. When we wonder how we are to worship, how can we possible praise God, we should turn to His Scriptures. In them we find the promises of mercy and grace, the life and love that we all seek. As we find Christ in the Scripture, we are then lead to worship and praise, thus the Word now becomes not just a tool for worship but an element of our worship. Reading, studying, memorizing and meditating on the Scripture become acts of worship, turning our hearts to God.

8 I will keep your statutes; do not utterly forsake me! If the Scriptures point to Christ, lead us to the Cross and the Savior, then anything short, to deviate in any way, will only lead to our being forsaken. If we are not in constant seeking of Christ, constant communion we will find ourselves left behind. The plea of the psalmist is a cry to faithfulness, an exhortation to live faithfully in a faithless world. The Word of God is the gift God has given us to help us learn and understand how to live in this dark world. To try to live for Christ with out the God written instruction manual is like trying to build a house without blueprints. When you are finished it may look like a house, even smell like one, but when the winds and storms come, will it protect like a house? Will it still be standing after the storm? To try to live the Christian life without the Word of God is like the man in the airport five minutes after departure, wondering where everyone went to and will he ever get where he is going. The statutes of Scripture will carry us to Christ where John 10:28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no-one can snatch them out of my hand.

Originally edited on: Wednesday, January 11, 2006 4:10 PM