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

How can a young man keep his way pure? 
     By guarding it according to your word. 
 With my whole heart I seek you; 
     let me not wander from your commandments! 
 I have stored up your word in my heart, 
     that I might not sin against you. 
 Blessed are you, O Lord; 
     teach me your statutes! 
 With my lips I declare 
     all the rules of your mouth. 
 In the way of your testimonies I delight 
     as much as in all riches. 
 I will meditate on your precepts 
     and fix my eyes on your ways. 
 I will delight in your statutes; 
     I will not forget your word (Psa. 119:1-16)

With this post we begin a series on Psalm 119—the longest chapter in the Bible. It is, however, also one of the most foundational chapters when it comes to dealing with the subject of God’s standards. Because Psalm 119 is such a long chapter, we won’t be dealing with every single verse, and these posts will likely be longer than the average. We will, however, seek to draw out some important truths from the text. 

Psalm 119 is an acrostic. Each stanza starts with the same letter in the Hebrew alphabet, for a total of 22 stanzas. The entire Psalm focuses on “God’s law, statutes, and decrees.” For the Psalmist, this primarily is expressed in the law as given to Moses. More universally, the phrases refer to God’s ways and standards that reflect His character and will. 

Stanza #1: Aleph (vv. 1-8) 

The Psalmist starts off by pronouncing a blessing on a certain group of people. In the Bible, a blessing was said in the name of the Lord, and for those walking with Him, was given with His authority. Who are these people on whom the Psalmist pronounces a blessing? They are people 

• whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord.  
• those who keep His testimonies, who seek after him with their whole heart.  
• who do no wrong, but walk in His ways.  

Do I have to be perfect? 

We need to first look at that word translated “blameless.” What does it mean? Does it mean morally perfect, without sin? The Hebrew word is תָּמִים (tamiym). It has the primary meaning of “complete, whole, entire, sound.” Though it can be translated as “perfect” in the sense of without blemish, that is generally only applied to animals used for sacrifice in the Old Testament (they had to be without blemish or spot, not injured, but perfect—complete). 

This idea is reinforced in v. 2, where the Psalmist writes, “Blessed are those who . . . seek Him with their whole heart.” This idea is also why Jesus could say, as the Divine Lawgiver, that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord with all that we are—heart, mind, soul, strength (Mark 12:30). 

One who is blameless, then, is walking with God in completeness. For Abraham and the OT saints, that mean keeping His entire covenant—including the sacrifices for sin (which is why we can say that blameless does not mean morally perfect). For those of us under the New Covenant, where the sacrifice has been made once-for-all, this means we walk with the Lord as best we know, keeping our hearts pure with regular confession to Him, walking in the light (1 John 1:5-10).  

A Prayer for Help 

The Psalmist then moves from the general (“blessed are those”) to himself. He reminds the Lord, “You have commanded your precepts to be kept diligently” (v. 4), and immediately cries out in v. 5, “Oh that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes!” This at first may seem like just an exclamation, but it’s really a prayer. The word rendered “steadfast” by the ESV is more properly rendered “established.” So, the Psalmist is asking the Lord to establish his way, in order that he may keep the Lord’s statutes and precepts. 

Then, he writes, he will not be put to shame (before the Lord and others). Why will he not be put to shame? Because his eyes are “fixed on all your commandments” (v. 6). Not only will the Psalmist not be put to shame, but also his heart will be made upright. He reminds the Lord, “I will praise you with an upright heart, when I learn your righteous rules” (v. 7). The sense of the verse is that, “My heart is crooked (deceitful, evil) and I do not know how to praise you. But when I learn and apply your statues, then my heart is changed, becoming straightened, upright.” 

Finally, the Psalmist ends with another cry for helps. “I will keep your statutes; do not utterly forsake me!” The picture one might get from this is, “Father I’m learning to ride this bike, but I can’t do it on my own! Don’t leave me!” The Psalmist longs to obey the Lord and walk in His ways, but realizes that His own motivations and willpower fall far short of what’s needed to do so. 

Stanza #2: Beth (vv. 9-16) 

Verse 9 starts the second stanza, and the Psalmist begins it by asking an important question: How can a young man [or woman] keep his way pure?  

The first thing to look at is the idea of “keeping his way pure.” The phrase rendered “keep his way pure” is a translation of the Hebrew זכה (zakah). It simply means “to be morally pure.” So, the question may rightly be translated, “How can one be morally pure before God?” 

How can we stay pure before a holy God? The Psalmist recognizes that this world is full of sin and opportunities to deviate from God’s path—and he has already admitted his own weaknesses with his cries for help. No doubt his heart is in the right place, longing to stay pure before God. At the same time, he could echo Paul’s words:  

For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. . . . So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand (Rom. 7:18-19, 21). 

The Psalmist then answers his own question: By guarding it according to your word. (The NIV translates it as “living according to your word.”) The word here is the Hebrew שָׁמַר (shamar). It generally means “to keep, tend, watch over.” Taken together, this gives the sense of “Watch over your ways, let nothing cause you to stumble on the path, be careful to live according to God’s Word.” 

The Whole Person 

The Psalmist wants to remember, however, that outward actions aren’t enough. In the rest of this stanza, the writer returns to a familiar concept: wholeness. Earlier (v. 2), the idea of seeking the Lord with the whole heart was introduced. In v. 10, that idea is repeated: 

With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! (emphasis added) 

 Here, however, the writer expands the idea to the whole person. Notice what the Psalmist says: 

• The heart:  I have stored up your word in my heart (v. 11a). The one who would be pure must start from the inside, at the heart. 
• The lips: With my lips I declare all the rules of your mouth (v. 13). The Psalmist speaks out or confesses the Word of the Lord. The more we speak the Word, the more it becomes part of us. 
• The emotions: In the way of your testimonies I delight (v. 14, see also v. 16). Here the Psalmist tells us that as the heart is changed, he beings to delight in God’s law. He praises God for His just and right decrees (v. 7).  
• The mind/will: I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways (v. 15). Meditation is done in the mind, as the Psalmist thinks on the ways and laws of the Lord. Paul gives a similar command when he speaks of renewing the mind in Rom. 12:2.  

How then are we to remain pure before the Lord? The Psalmist tells us that to do so requires that we give all of ourselves to Him, that we seek Him, not with just the heart or the mind or the will, but with our whole self. As we do that, we can be sure, as the Psalmist is sure, that the Lord walks with us, helping us stay on His path, as we know His character, ways, and His laws.