I was reading Psalm 119 yesterday. It is the longest chapter in the Bible, containing 176 verses. It has two parallel themes.
The first is the persecution and afflictions that often come to men and women of God. The writer describes serious difficulties he has encountered in his life, plans to harm him, oppositions, and insults.
Running alongside that, however, is the profound truth that the Word of God is all-sufficient for everything. There are eight different terms that refer to the word of God throughout the psalm, usually translated as law, testimonies, precepts, statutes, commandments, judgments, word, and ordinances. In almost every verse, one of those is mentioned.
The wonderful attributes of God also flow throughout the psalm. We see words of righteousness, truth, faithfulness, purity, light, holiness.
The psalm begins with a beatitude: “How happy are those whose way is blameless, who live according to the Lord’s instruction! Happy are those who keep His decrees and seek Him with all their heart.” [vs 1-2 HCSB]
We spend a lot of time in our society thinking about happiness and claim the right to the pursuit of happiness as part of our independence. Yet, so many of us are anxious, fearful, uncertain, and distressed. Perhaps, no more than just perhaps, the problem lies in where we “seek” that happiness.
The psalmist is clear. Happiness comes when we seek God with all our heart, when we live according to the LORD’s instructions. When our way is blameless, happiness flows from God’s loving heart to ours. You cannot have a more pure or finer happiness than that.
