Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord.   

Psalm 119:1

The opening verse to Psalm 119 is certainly intimidating. Look at all of the strong language:

Blameless.

Walk in the law of the Lord.

Keep His testimonies.

You might be thinking, "Yea, right. I don't even closely resemble those words."

We all struggle and fail. We lose our patience, we battle temptation, we wrestle with doubt.

We have to confess the same sins again and again.

So much for the blessed life.

But all is not lost. You've got to see that the truths in Psalm 119 are not describing sinless perfection. Psalm 119 is showing us a heart that keeps turning back to God.

The blessed person is not someone who never stumbles. The blessed person is one who refuses to give up in their walk with the Lord.

The difference is not perfection-- it's direction.

When believers sin, they grieve. They confess and they return to God's word. They seek God's forgiveness and ask for His strength to keep walking.

That path of continual returning to God shows His active work in our lives. 

The Christian life is not measured by whether we fall or not. It's measured by where we turn after we fall.

King David crashed and burned, and yet turned to the Lord in repentance. Peter denied Jesus three times, yet Christ reestored him and used him mightily.

Throughout Scripture, God's people aren't remembered because of their perfect living. They are remembered because of how God's grace kept bringing them back to Himself.

Today might find you feeling discouraged and defeated in your own weakness. Your spiritual life might feel like a crooked pattern of forward and backward progress. Your growth likely doesn't look like what you thought it would when you began following Jesus.

Psalm 119 offers us hope.

The blessed life describes the life of people who keep seeking, keep reading His Word, keep trusting His goodness and grace and love toward them. They aren't the ones who are pretending they've arrived unscathed, unsullied, and impressive. 

The one who is blessed is the one who is determined to continue the journey.

Your life is a blessed life when you

return to God's Word instead of giving up...

confess your sin instead of hiding it...

choose obedience instead of despair...

not because you are perfect, but because God is faithfully shaping your life. The blessed life is not about never needing grace, it's about learning to depend on God's grace every. single. day.

So friend, don't mistake your struggls for failure. 

Ask instead: Which direction am I facing?

The blessed person isn't the one who doesn't ever stumble.

The blessed person is the one who keeps turning toward Christ.

Related Sermon: The Path of Blessing Psalm 119:1-8