Psalms 119:1 - Meaning and Application

The psalmist shows here that godly people are truly happy people. They are blessed now, and they will be blessed still. Everyone says they want happiness, but few take the right path to it. Here God sets that path before us. It is narrow and hard, but it leads to true blessedness.

Now notice the marks of these happy people. First, they make God’s will the rule for all they do. They walk in the law of the Lord (Psalm 119:1). God’s word is a law to them, not just in one or two matters, but in the whole way they live. They stay within its bounds and do not step over what it forbids. They also walk forward in its paths, taking each step by rule, not at random. This is walking in God’s ways (Psalm 119:3), the ways he has marked out for us. It is not enough to speak about religion. We must make it the guide of our lives, not follow the world or our own hearts (Job 23:10, Job 23:11; Job 31:7).

Second, they are upright and honest in their religion, undefiled in the way. That means they keep themselves clean from actual sin, and they are sincere in their hearts. There is no falsehood in them. They are really as good as they appear, and they go the same way in private that they seem to go in public.

Third, they are faithful with the trust God has placed in them as his professed people. It was an honor to the Jews that the words of God were entrusted to them. Blessed are those who keep that sacred gift pure and complete, holding his testimonies as something of great worth. They guard them as carefully as the apple of the eye. They keep them so they can carry their comfort into the next world and pass on the knowledge and profession of them to those who come after in this world. Those who want to walk in the law of the Lord must keep his testimonies, that is, his truths. No one will long keep doing what is right if they do not hold to right beliefs. His testimonies may also mean his covenant, since the ark of the covenant is called the ark of the testimony. Those who do not keep God’s commandments do not keep covenant with him.

Fourth, they have one main aim in all their religion, and that is God himself (Psalm 119:2). They seek him with their whole heart. They do not seek themselves and their own advantage, but God alone. Their goal is that God would be honored in their obedience, and that they would be happy in his approval. God is, and will be, the reward of all who seek him with diligence and with a sincere heart. He looks at the heart and asks for the whole heart. If the heart is divided between God and the world, it is at fault.

Fifth, they carefully avoid all sin (Psalm 119:3). They do no iniquity. This does not mean they never sin at all, for they are still aware of much sin within them that hinders them in God’s ways. It means they do not allow themselves in any sin, as servants of sin do. They do not practice sin, and they do not make a habit of it. Blessed and holy are those who train themselves to have consciences clear before God.