Psalm 119:1b
“Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD.”
This verse brings a promise of blessedness to the disciple who is undefiled and who walks in the way of the Lord. Those who live a life that is undefiled are promised blessedness. Furthermore, those who are undefiled are also those who walk in the law of the Lord, and are consequently blessed.
The word undefiled (tamiym) can also be translated to mean integrity, perfection, pure, blameless, etc. It is commonly used to describe the condition of an animal to be sacrificed to the Lord. It is used to depict ones relation to another person and to God Himself. Morally speaking it is linked to truth, virtue, uprightness and righteousness 1. Christ's disciples offer there whole being to Christ in sacrifice of obedience.
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice , holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Rom.12:1 KJV (emphasis, mine)
Following Christ the Lord in perfect obedience transforms the mind - it saves the worrisome human and changes him into a trusting servant. Delivering the soul from fallible and limited hands, that is ill-equipped to care for it; and surrendering it into the hands of the ‘perfect will of God'. This is our reasonable service, being a living sacrifice, by the mercies of God.
The person of integrity is concerned with truth, virtue, uprightness and righteousness and seeks for the practice of these things by walking in the in the law of the Lord. The law is torah; a precept or statue, commonly referring to the Decalogue (The Ten Commandments) or the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament); or even more simply stated - God's spoken Word to man. Today we have the spoken Word of God contained in both the New and Old Testament.
The common usage of the modern English word ‘law' can be thought of as either describing a religious or ethical principle (something we ought to do), or as a legislative measure used by the government to maintain social structure (something we do because we need to). And still a third meaning that I would like to employ for consideration. That is the scientific law.
There are certain laws that are independent and greater than our pragmatic social laws, and affect every aspect of our lives. For example, the law of gravity; no matter what the general consensus about the law of gravity, we all must obey the law or suffer consequences. And the only way to break the law is by the application of a greater law (aerodynamics), which does not contradict the original law but enhances or adds new dimension to it.
These laws are absolute and certain. And so is the law of the Lord. All of God's word, His law, His precepts, are valuable to the disciple to trust whole-heartedly. This includes the Old Testament law, which is, like the law of gravity, sure and true, but when applied to New Testament understanding, gives us better understanding to that which always was (now we have wings). What is the greatest commandment of all the law then? That is ‘the law of love,' the love of God more over any thing else, and the love of all other humans in our circle of influence, which is the great love that we have for ourselves.
Now, let us go back and through the entirety of the bible see the message of love, the love that God has for us. Let us surrender our lives to the merciful, eternal God, and pursue virtue and integrity as we walk undefiled in the way of the Lord; pursuing Him, loving Him, as he loves us and communes with us - this is the blessedness of the disciple of Christ.
1. Baker W., Carpenter, E. editors, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: Old Testament , p.1232, AMG, 2003
