- Blessed
Psalm 119:1, 2
Blessed are the undefiled in the way,
Who walk in the law of the Lord.
Blessed are they that keep his testimonies,
And that seek him with the whole heart.
Psalm 119 contains 176 verses all about the Law, or the Word of God. The Law is great and wonderful and gives blessed consequences to all who obey it. This truth begins the Psalm and runs throughout the whole long psalm. Blessings come upon the obedient and curses come upon the disobedient. Those who walk in the Law and keep the commandments will be greatly blessed.
This is a prime example of the conditional promise: If you keep the law, then you will be blessed. We can understand this conditional promise in two ways: 1) Specific and Earthly: Specific and Temporal blessings about prosperity and health and such material and physical good things; 2) General and Eternal: Spiritual and Eternal blessings about the prosperity and wellbeing of the soul. The second type of blessed promise is guaranteed to us through the blood of Christ. His righteousness is given to me to meet the condition for receiving eternal blessings. The first type of conditional promised blessing is more directly related to our behavior. Actually keeping the commandment results directly in a blessed life. A murderer, an adulterer, a liar, and a stealer do not have a blessed life. Good behavior does result in good consequences. Sinful behavior results in bad consequences.
The child of God actually can improve his life by walking in the law, but he cannot do it by trying to keep the commandments. Trying will always fail. Repenting and hearing the Gospel is the only method that works: drowning and dying in the water and then rising unto newness of life actually works because Christ lives in me. My flesh will not change or improve; it must die. Then the new man comes forth and walks in newness of life, the Christ who lives instead of me. I cannot effect that transformation by trying to be really repenting and believing or by just trying to do better. The transformation can only be accomplished when the Holy Spirit living in me does it. I do give the Spirit access by hearing the Word and believing it. Then the Spirit cleans up and straightens up my life so that I enjoy the consequent blessings.