Day 1114: A blameless heart – Psalm 119 vs 73 - 80

73 Your hands have made me and fashioned me; give me understanding, that I may learn Your commandments. 74 Those who fear You will be glad when they see me, because I have hoped in Your word.

75-76 I know, O Lord, that Your judgments are right, and that You in faithfulness have afflicted me. Let Your merciful kindness comfort me, according to Your word to Your servant. 77 Let Your compassion come to me, that I may live, for Your law is my delight. 78 Let the proud be ashamed, for they have been wicked to me in falsehood, but I will meditate on Your precepts. 79 Let those who fear You turn to me, that they might know Your testimonies.

80 Let my heart be blameless in Your statutes, that I may not be ashamed. Psalm 119:73-80 Modern English Version

In these verses of Psalm 119 the writer acknowledges that God has shaped his life, and asks for understanding in God's will. What would be the happy outcome of that? (vs 74)

God fearing people would rejoice, and be encouraged! Recognize here how the hope God's word has given us can be a source of strengthening fellow believers. Being a Christian can be tough, and it is easy to become discouraged. Hebrews 12:3 says: “Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or faint-hearted.” This leads him then to ask God for five things that will keep him on the right track, so that he would be a blessing to others. What does he ask for first in vs 75-76?

He asks that, in the midst of God's faithful disciplines, he would be kept by God's kind mercy. Proverbs 3:11-12 say: “My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline or be weary of His reproof, for the Lord reproves him whom He loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.” Which leads naturally into his second request, that God would show him compassion, so he would not be overwhelmed by his troubles. (vs 77)

What is the third thing He asks for? (vs 78)

He asks that God would allow those who are proud, and who falsely accused him of wrong, to be made ashamed of their deeds. Jesus gave an example of this in a widow who regularly petitioned an unjust judge who did not fear God or respect man, but who eventually said: “because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.” And Jesus said: “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them?” (Luke 18:1-6) The context was of praying, and not losing heart.

And so the Psalmist asks God that those who fear Him would turn to him, so that they too might learn God's truth.(vs 79) We must be those who follow God's word our self if we would be a help to others. Which logically leads to the fifth thing he asks God for in vs 80. He prays for a heart that is blameless, so that he would not be ashamed.

When Paul was on trial before Felix, he was able to say “I always take pains to have a clear conscience towards both God and man.” (Acts 24:16) To ask God for a blameless heart includes the pain we will take to keep our conscience clear. 'No gain without pain' is the watchword for a healthy body. But it's just as true for a clear conscience.

We're called to fight the good fight, to finish the race, and to keep the faith. So Paul's prayer for the Thessalonians is just as needful for us - “May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another . . . so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.” (1 Thessalonians 3:12-13)