Translations.
Psalm 119: 2 (ESV) – Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek after him with their whole heart,
Psalm 119:1 LXX
μακάριοι οι εξερευνώντες τα μαρτύρια αυτού εν όληκαρδία καρδία εκζητήσουσιν αυτού
Blessed [are] the ones searching out his testimonies; with [the] entire heart. they shall seek after him.
Psalm 119:1 Interlinear from the Hebrew – Blessed [are] those who keep His testimonies with whole the heart who seek him.
Connections
Psalm 119.22 [ESV] Take away from me scorn and contempt, for I have kept your testimonies.
Psalm 78:5 [ESV] He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children,
2 Chron 15:2 [ESV] and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: The Lord is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.
Psalm 119:10 [ESV] With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments!
μαρτύρια (marturia) – testimony, witness, evidence. This word appears 37 times in the New Testament, translated as testimony, witness, record, and reputation, This is what people are searching for, and the outcome of this search is blessings. My understanding of this for today is that we are searching His (Jesus’) words, and God’s words, and all we want to do is to encounter Jesus, his character, his nature, and His presence through searching the words that have been recorded about him. This ongoing search has as its reward a sense of blessing in our lives, as the search is not without purpose. the purpose of the search is a deep heartfelt need from within us, that we desperately want to be more like him, and are willing to let go of anything and everything to fulfil this search,
Reflections
There can be no more desperate physical search than for water, and food. It’s not a casual look or a quick look, but it’s an ongoing daily battle, that has existence as the prize. can you or I translate this into our spiritual life? Psalm 42 begins “As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. I think of times in my own life when I have been desperate. Desperate for somewhere to sleep, for food, for money, for friends, for company, for a job. And the motivating force of desperation. What a barometer for me today as I consider my Spiritual hunger.
Strength Coaches comment – Analytical has at it’s heart a mental thirst for knowledge that helps inform decisions. I love the thought of “analytical” as a talent, being used to genuinely understand God’s Word, and to inform our lives thereafter.
Blessings
Allan