Blessed are those who keep his testimonies
March 26, 2020
Psalm 119:2 Blessed are those who keep his testimonies (5713), who seek him with their whole heart.
The second verse also starts by proclaiming people blessed. These two verses are the only ones in this long psalm that use this Hebrew word esher, which suggests bliss or blessing. In this second verse, the joy and the blessing are related to keeping of God's law and seeking him wholeheartedly.
Psalm 119 thus begins with a double blessing to those who have a right relationship with the word of God. This we need to pay attention to in our days when so many people think they know better than the word of God. Many explain away the word of God and some deny what God has said in the Bible to live the way they want to. If we as Christians want to live in blessing, we must keep God's word and treasure it as our most precious inheritance. The most important thing we can pass on to those who come after us is trust in the Word of God.
To keep God's law is to keep them and live according to the Word as Jesus commanded us: Make all peoples into disciples by baptizing them and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded! The Bible should not be adorned in a bookshelf, but lived out in everyday life. The happiness of life is not to get many likes in social media, but to obey God's Word in spite of what people say or think about us.
Testimony is the second expression in this psalm for the word of God. The Hebrew word, "edut" (5713) is translated with testimony, law or commandment. The word originated in the judiciary and when a testimony was probative, it was decisive for the subsequent sentence. God's law or testimony is the defining word from the mouth of God. We find God's testimony throughout the Bible. The two tablets on which the Ten Commandments were written are called the testimony (Exodus 16:34). These tablets are the testimony of God's covenant with His people, but also of the Lord's will. The whole Scripture testifies or witnesses of Jesus the Messiah (John 5:39). It is this "testimony of Jesus" that we must try to obtain when we read the Bible. Jesus' testimony is the Spirit of prophecy (Revelation 19:10).
To keep "Jesus' testimony" and living according to His teaching is something we can only do when we seek Him with all our hearts. To seek Him is to turn to Him and ask for advice and guidance. It has to do with our heart attitude. It is about what we prioritize. It is about what we dream about and long for. Here we have much to learn from the apostle Paul:
Straining Toward the Goal
12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. 16 Only let us hold true to what we have attained.
17 Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. (Php 3:12–17 ESV).
To walk on God's path is to live by the word of God.
“What joy overwhelms everyone who keeps the ways of God, those who seek him as their heart’s passion!” (TPT)