Spotless as a Lamb

Psalms 119:1-8
א ALEPH

1 Blessed are the undefiled in the way,
Who walk in the law of the LORD!

2 Blessed are those who keep His testimonies,
Who seek Him with the whole heart!

3 They also do no iniquity;
They walk in His ways.

4 You have commanded us
To keep Your precepts diligently.

5 Oh, that my ways were directed
To keep Your statutes!

6 Then I would not be ashamed,
When I look into all Your commandments.

7 I will praise You with uprightness of heart,
When I learn Your righteous judgments.

8 I will keep Your statutes;
Oh, do not forsake me utterly!

Meditations on God’s word in our lives is found in this long psalm, sung according to the letters of the Hebrew alphabet.  Each letter section also ascends by the first letter of each stanza, which sounds mechanical or contrived, yet is full of melodic meaning and melody.  The beginning letter speaks of living as spotless as a sacrificial lamb (Exodus 12:5) and is used to describe Noah as one who was perfect in his generation (Genesis 6:9) and covenanted as a condition for Abraham to live up to in Genesis 17:1-2 for us to consider.  We are also to join the patriarchs and the psalmist in loving according to His word, doing as He says with a wholehearted attitude as response.  We are all called to avoid sin and walk along with Him as His word records for us to follow in willing obedience and not forced compliance merely to avoid punishment.  We are likewise commanded to diligently keep these words which are God’s will for us to be holy as He is (Ephesians 1:4, 1 Peter 1:15-16); we are not to obey for the sake of obedience apart from His love and character, but to please Him as we were created to be, in His image.  His commands for the scriptures show us how.  Therefore our cry echoes the psalmist, desiring to have help from God to direct our ways that we might live in willing obedience; our hearts are willing, but our sinful flesh is weak (2 Corinthians 8:12, Matthew 26:41).  We then turn to our Lord in faith to ask for help in our need (Hebrews 4:16) to be given direction and be directed by His mighty hand of grace.  Then we also may not be ashamed at His coming when we look deeply into His commandments and our response.  We aim to always learn more how to live pleasing lives without shame as we confess our sins and find grace to help us walk nearer to our Lord with upright hearts.  We study His word to love and live it, not fill our heads with ineffectual doctrine.  In keeping His word, we realize and appreciate the fact that He has covenanted with us by faith and not by the keeping of the Law to live.  He will not leave or forsake us utterly whom He called, justified, and will glorify at His coming and our resurrection to life.  Therefore, we keep His word to please and to follow as His disciples, as summed up in the two greatest commands (Luke 10:26-27) of His word to us that we may be blameless as our spotless Lamb (2 Timothy 2:19) in Christ’s righteousness, and willingly obedient to His word with all our heart, mind, life, and strength.