Blessed is every one that fears the LORD; that walks in his ways.
– Psalm 128:1

Thoughts on Today’s Verse…

This verse tells us that blessed are those who fear God and walk in His way. It is because such kind of people have a place for God in their hearts and can honor God as the greatest. Because of fearing God, they do not guess or define God’s will according to their own notions in all things that come upon them. Instead, they will pray and seek to grasp God’s will. Regardless of how God required of them, they are obedient and submissive. They submit to God’s orchestrations and arrangements. Their actions and deeds are for the sake of satisfying God. This is the people that God intends to save. For example, in the case of Job, his property was stolen, his servants were killed, his sons and daughters lost their lives, and Satan smote him with sore boils. Nevertheless, in such great trials, he didn’t deal with them according to his notions and imaginations, nor did he try to figure out God’s intentions. He just prayed to seek God’s will in silence, obeyed God’s sovereignty, and still maintained his purity—fear God and shun evil. Not only did he not sin with his lips, but he did not complain about God; moreover, he praised God’s name and stood resounding testimony for God. After that, God blessed him tremendously. He gave him much more property, sons and daughters, and longer life than before. But the greatest blessing for Job was that when he stood witness in trials, God appeared to him and spoke to him and he felt God’s true existence. Thus, he had a deeper knowledge and understanding of God. His obedience to God and his fear of God were elevated. After knowing God blesses people like Job, we have the direction and goal: walking in God’s way, fearing God and shunning evil. This has great relevance for our salvation. God says, “So what is this saying? It’s ‘walk in God’s way: fear God and shun evil.’ Is this not an exceedingly simple phrase? Yet though the saying may be simple, someone who genuinely has a deep understanding of it will feel that it’s of great weight; that it has a lot of value for practice; that it’s language of life with the reality of the truth; that it’s a lifelong objective to strive toward for those seeking to satisfy God; and that it’s a lifelong way to be followed by anyone who’s considerate of God’s intentions. … If someone can properly practice this saying and achieve the standard of fearing God and shunning evil, then they’re assured as a survivor, then they’re assured as someone with a good outcome. If you can’t attain the standard laid out by this saying, then it could be said that your outcome is an unknown. Thus I speak to you about this saying for your own mental preparation, and so that you know what kind of standard God uses to measure you.”