How Can We Be Blameless?
David goes on to say, “Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with their whole heart, who also do no wrong, but walk in His ways!” [2] First John 2:6 reveals the pattern of Jesus’ life that we are to imitate. Our testimony becomes Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection. This testimony helps us to stand blameless before His throne. God knows that in this life, it will not be possible for us to live without sin, but He has made a provision through the blood of Jesus Christ for our forgiveness. Confession is the starting point, and then Scripture tells us, "He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” [3]
What are your thoughts when you ponder the phrase, "who seek Him with their whole heart?” From my understanding, I believe that God doesn’t want us to dabble at being good. In Paul’s epistles, he writes, “We may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.” [4] Jesus reveals the greatest command when He says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” [5] Did you notice the word used in this verse is shall, not should? In Biblical terms, the word 'shall' implies a mandatory condition. It reveals not only that we must, but that we will also be able to. On the other hand, replacing “should” for “shall,” it is merely just suggestive.
Two keywords exist in the first three verses of Psalm 119, 'blameless and seek'. The first is a condition given to us through God’s grace, but the second is our commitment in return. Our effort doesn’t create a blameless state, but it does indicate our intentions of receiving God’s gift of grace. It makes us more prone to do what God commands of us. Encouraged by the words found in this passage, ‘Let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.’ [6] we realize we have victory.
Continuing to verse 4, we read that God instructs us to keep His precepts diligently. Another word for diligence is painstaking. It requires a steady or earnest, or energetic effort according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary defining this word. Effort implies exertion, not a half-hearted attempt. So, with that instruction, we can understand that it will not come to us without forethought or commitment. When fixing our eyes upon God’s Word daily, we proclaim our intentions to walk as Jesus walked. David, who wrote this Psalm, understands this commitment when he says, “Oh that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes.” [7] In his words, David indicates that this commitment will require more than he currently possesses. How do I know? The word “Oh,” the cry from David’s heart, indicated that he needed divine strength to pursue steadfastness in God’s statutes.
Maybe it is a good time to ask ourselves this question, “Have I ever asked God to make me steadfast in my desire to know and keep His Word?” How is it possible to keep God’s statutes if I do not know them? According to the website answers.com in response to the question, ‘When were Jewish boys required to memorize the Torah?’[8] the answer reveals that while the Torah was still in oral form, it was much more likely that these Scriptures would have been committed to memory. It goes on to state that with diligent study, large portions are still committed to memory. David would have more than likely memorized the first five books of the Bible called the Torah. By memorizing these books, the six hundred plus laws would have been embedded into the heart and mind of this young man. Recorded in this same Psalm, “I have stored up your Word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” [9]
May I ask, how are your skills at Bible memorization? I’ve memorized many Scriptures over the years, but I must admit that I look for verses to bring comfort to my soul. I am not memorizing commandments or statutes as David must have. Many of us are familiar with the ten commandments found in Exodus 20 but do we actively seek to know God’s ways. We cannot rely on our own thoughts to know the ways of God. “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” [10] Take a moment to examine the pronouns in the preceding verse to be sure you know when they are referring to God versus man. Humanity may think that they can know God's ways by luck or fate, but God reveals that His ways are not in us without the Holy Spirit. It is only in Him that we discover His ways.
Through prophecy, we see, “This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be there God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” [11]
This declaration made to through Jeremiah with the understanding that this covenant will stand until the sun, moon, stars, and sea lose their firm order. “Thus says the Lord, who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—the Lord of hosts is his name: If this fixed order departs from before me, declares the Lord, then shall the offspring of Israel cease from being a nation before me forever.” [12] According to John Piper in his article, 'How is the Law Written on Every Heart,' [13] he gives this response to a passage found in Hebrews 10 which reminds us of God’s Word recorded in Jeremiah chapter 31. “’This is the covenant I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds’ then He adds, ‘I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.’” [14]
John Piper says, “Hebrews is teaching that, when we are born again, God gives us a new heart and a new spirit, and the result is that the law of God written in Scripture is no longer offensive to us.” [13a] He compares this passage to Romans 8 which says, ‘For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot,’ [15] and John goes on to say, “We are not hostile to the word of God, but rather, we are submissive. We delight to do God’s commandments. It doesn’t mean that we know them all by heart, because they are written on our hearts. It does mean that when we read them in the Word, the inclination to do them is in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.”[13b] My interpretation of what John Piper is telling us, it is still our responsibility to place God’s Word in our minds and upon our hearts, and when we do, the Holy Spirit intervenes and helps us to understand God’s ways.
David suggests that when we keep God’s commandments, it creates freedom from guilt and shame. David says, "I will praise you with an upright heart when I learn your righteous rules." [16] David shows his humility by saying ‘when I learn,’ not ‘when I understand.’ Understanding is irrelevant. David asks God not to forsake him in the process of attempting to keep God’s statutes, knowing that God’s holy standard is impossible, but through God's support, he will keep trying.
We should not take this challenge lightly to commit to God’s standard. It is not a legalistic pursuit of perfection, but a desire to know the perfect will of God. I have penned the first eight verses in Psalm 119 and attached them to my prayer journal to help me remember my commitment to seek God while He can be found.
Question: Do you have an accountability partner to keep you steadfast in God's Word?
Endnotes:
All verses retrieved from www.biblegateway.com/verse/en/(scripture reference in English Standard Version) – accessed 2/7/2019).
[1] (Psalm 119:1); [2] (Psalm 119:2-3); [3] (1 John 1:9); [4] (Ephesians 4:14); [5] (Matthew 22:37-40); [6] (Hebrews 12:1); [7] (Psalm 119:5); [9] (Psalm 119:11); [10] (Isaiah 55:6-9);[11] (Jeremiah 31:33-34); [12] (Jeremiah 31:35-36); [14] (Hebrews 10:16-17); [15] (Romans 8:7); [16] (Psalm 119:7)
[8] [http://www.answers.com/Q/When_were_jewish_boys_requried_to_memorize_the_torah]
[13] [https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/how-is-the-law-written-on-every-heart]
Comments