Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible, and it is rich with teaching about how we can access our ultimate delight in God! I’ll be taking it section by section as we discover the Psalmist's pathway to joy.
[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!
Psalm 119:1-8, ESV
Almost everyone at the college I attended ended up going on the high ropes course, at least once. Nestled in the woods surrounding the campus, the high ropes course was an enjoyable get away for many people. It also served as the go-to team-building exercise at the school, as each climber depended on the people below them to safely navigate the course.
To ensure the safety of everyone using the course, there were certain rules that everyone had to follow, without exception. Everyone on the course was to wear a harness. Everyone was to have a belayer, the person on the ground who would catch the rope if you fell. Every belayer was to have a backup belayer, just in case. Ropes were tied a certain way. Gloves and helmets were worn. If we followed the rules (statues, commands), everyone would have a good time. If we didn’t, we risked serious injury to ourselves or others.
The Psalmist opens up Psalm 119 with an ode to the great delight he finds in the statutes and commands of God! It is a delight, because it lead to blessing (v. 1-2). Those who keep God’s commandments diligently, who seek him with their whole heart, who make every effort to live according to God’s ideals, will not be put to shame (v. 3-6). There was a positive corollary between the Pslamist ability to live according to the way that God had called him to live, and his personal delight. The more that he learned of how God called him to live, the more it would lead him to praise (v. 6-7)! The Psalmist realizes what we learned on the high ropes course in the woods: the more closely we align ourselves with how we are supposed to do things, the better our experience actually is.
Like many of us on the ropes course, the Psalmist also ends with a cry of trust. Do not utterly forsake me! (v. 8) God himself has set the standards and the ideals; the Psalmist seeks to follow them with his whole heart. Now he cries out to God in trust, that God would not leave him nor forsake him.
The Psalmist has discovered what many of us need to be reminded of: that following God’s law is not about obedience, it is about delight. We serve the God of the universe because we find great delight in how he has called us to live. It is our great joy to do it. And that great joy, knowing that it leads to our own blessing, encourages us to obey.
He also recognizes what has been made plain to us through the Gospel of Jesus Christ: God has not forsaken us, but in fact has ensured that we can actually fulfill the law of God the way we were intended to do from the beginning. This is a truth that leads to an even greater joy and delight! God has made a way, he has not forsaken us, and we can now delight in his call.
God’s law is not from some heavy-handed dictator who wants our obedience at all costs. Because of Jesus, God’s law becomes a gift that is given to ensure our joy; the more we understand that, the more we will have the power to obey!