When one suggests to another that they have been a real blessing to them, it indicates that that person has bestowed kindness, helpfulness, mercy or even protection to them. The other could be a person but often refers to the loving action of God upon his people in the Bible. Hopefully, having been blessed in this way by another (or God), our response is to bless others in the same way when the opportunity arises.
Long before the giving of the 10 Commandments to Moses, in Genesis 12 we read these words spoken by God to Abram (later known as Abraham):
The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.
2 “I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.”
Our Lord is the God who longs to bless his people! He desires to bless you and me so that we can be a blessing to others in our needy world.
And so, as we begin our study of Psalm 119, we discover that the very first word (as it is in Psalm 1) is blessed, as follows:
א Aleph
1 Blessed are those whose ways are blameless,
who walk according to the law of the Lord.
2 Blessed are those who keep his statutes
and seek him with all their heart—
3 they do no wrong
but follow his ways.
4 You have laid down precepts
that are to be fully obeyed.
5 Oh, that my ways were steadfast
in obeying your decrees!
6 Then I would not be put to shame
when I consider all your commands.
7 I will praise you with an upright heart
as I learn your righteous laws.
8 I will obey your decrees;
do not utterly forsake me.
It begins with a statement (vv. 1-4) and continues with a prayer (vv. 5-6) and ends with commitment (vv. 7-8)
So, what does the psalmist consider the way to blessedness is?
Firstly, it is about our walk (v. 1) – the way we live, our thoughts and attitudes and decisions that daily determine our actions towards God and other human beings. But this walk [is described as] according to the law of the Lord. As explained in my two previous Blog Posts, this is not some legalistic obedience but it refers to a lifestyle that delights in and follows the way God has stipulated for us, for our own good and His glory. Wilcock affirms that this is “a psalm about God’s word. He is a God who speaks, and our blessedness is bound up with our attitude to what he says.” (# 5)
Secondly, this is to be done with the desire to be in a right relationship with our Creator, not done half-heartedly, not legalistically, but in order to be blessed we are to keep his statutes and seek him with all [our] heart (v. 2). To know Him is to be our first priority in life.
But our psalmist is a realist. He knows what we are like and how we are so easily distracted from this noble aim in life. He states,
5 Oh, that my ways were steadfast
in obeying your decrees!
6 Then I would not be put to shame
when I consider all your commands.
In order to experience the blessing of God in our lives, we too need to be realistic and honest and transparent concerning our life and come to God in confession of our failures seeking his forgiveness and seeking his power to keep walking according to His word.
The psalm finishes with a prayer of dedication to God:
7 I will praise you with an upright heart
as I learn your righteous laws.
8 I will obey your decrees;
do not utterly forsake me.
Worship will then come from an upright heart, as the psalmist seeks to obey God’s righteous laws.
Let me finish with the words of Jesus:
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled… Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. (Matthew 5:6 & 8)
Tehilim (Psalms) - "songs of praise". 