Psalms 119:1-3

Psalm 119 ¹ 

א (Alef)

119:1 How blessed are those whose actions are blameless, ² 

who obey ³  the law of the Lord.

119:2 How blessed are those who observe his rules,

and seek him with all their heart,

119:3 who, moreover, do no wrong,

but follow in his footsteps. ⁴ 

Philippians 3:12-15

Keep Going Forward

3:12 Not that I have already attained this – that is, I have not already been perfected – but I strive to lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus also laid hold of me. ⁵  3:13 Brothers and sisters, ⁶  I do not consider myself to have attained this. Instead I am single-minded: ⁷  Forgetting the things that are behind and reaching out for the things that are ahead, 3:14 with this goal in mind, ⁸  I strive toward the prize of the upward call of God ⁹  in Christ Jesus. 3:15 Therefore let those of us who are “perfect” embrace this point of view. ¹⁰  If you think otherwise, God will reveal to you the error of your ways. ¹¹ 

[119:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 119. The psalmist celebrates God’s law and the guidance it provides his people. He expresses his desire to know God’s law thoroughly so that he might experience the blessings that come to those who obey it. This lengthy psalm exhibits an elaborate acrostic pattern. The psalm is divided into twenty-two sections (corresponding to the letters of the Hebrew alphabet), each of which is comprised of eight verses. Each of the verses in the first section (vv. 1-8) begins with the letter alef (א), the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. This pattern continues throughout the psalm as each new section highlights a successive letter of the alphabet. Each verse in section two (vv. 9-16) begins with the second letter of the alphabet, each verse in section three (vv. 17-24) with the third letter, etc. This rigid pattern creates a sense of order and completeness and may have facilitated memorization.

[119:1]  ² tn Heb “[Oh] the happiness of those who are blameless of way.”

[119:1]  ³ tn Heb “walk in.”

[119:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “walk in his ways.”

[3:12]  ⁵ tn Grk “that for which I also was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.” The passive has been translated as active in keeping with contemporary English style.

[3:13]  ⁶ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:12.

[3:13]  ⁷ tn Grk “But this one thing (I do).”

[3:14]  ⁸ tn Grk “according to the goal.”

[3:14]  ⁹ tn Grk “prize, namely, the heavenly calling of God.”

[3:15]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “those of us who are ‘perfect’ should think this,” or possibly “those of us who are mature should think this.”

[3:15]  ¹¹ tn Grk “reveal this to you.” The referent of the pronoun “this” is the fact that the person is thinking differently than Paul does. This has been specified in the translation with the phrase “the error of your ways”; Paul is stating that God will make it known to these believers when they are not in agreement with Paul.