This is the second blog post on verse 1 of this prayer of our Lord Jesus Christ to His Father.
In the Hebrew, verse 1 is:
אשרי תמימי דרך
ההלכים בתורת יהוה
Transliteration:
Ah-shuh-ray tah-mee-may duh-rekh
Hah-hah-low-keem bee-tor-aht YHWH
Translation:
Blessed is the complete way [life/manner of living]
Those who walk in the instruction of YHWH.
This is the first verse of this 176-verse prayer. As the first verse, it serves as a summary statement of the entire prayer.
There are many important things to focus on in these six Hebrew words of Christ’s prayer here, but today I want to only focus on the second word: tah-mee-may. This word “tah-mee-may” literally means “complete”. It is an adjective in genitival singular form modifying the word “duh-rekh,” which is translated “way” or “life” or “manner of living.” So, the first line of this verse is proclaiming that God is in the process of blessing the life which is complete in the way it is being lived.
But this begs the question: What does it mean to have a complete life? How does a Christian live his life in such a way that God would proclaim that to be a complete life? On first blush (at least for me) this seems like an impossibly tall order. A complete life would be one where nothing is lacking. ARE YOU KIDDING ME, GOD!? Do you want me to take seriously a promise that You will be blessing my life when it is COMPLETE? That is, when I have properly covered ALL the bases and done so in a PERFECT manner?
Well, first of all, we must not forget this is a prayer between the Lord Jesus Christ and His Father. It is Christ’s obligation/duty/calling to be the one who lives a “complete life,” and it is lived that way on behalf of those of us who are in Him—those of us who have trusted in Him for their salvation.
But, this is also the heritage of those of us who are in Christ. It really is a promise to us to experience a “complete” life. So, we must not discard this huge blessing that God provides for us here just because it seems like an impossibly tall order. After all, when you think about it, don’t you really yearn to have a “complete” life?
This desire and realization caused me to start to contemplate the question, “How would a Christian (specifically, me) go about living a ‘complete’ life?” Is this a call to explore all the different things (attitudes, insights, behaviors) that make up my life and then discipline myself to set all of them in proper order before God? It cannot be that, or this would be an empty promise because it would be impossibly difficult for me. By asking this question, I do not mean to usurp the saving work that only Christ can do, and that I must appropriate by faith alone, not by my works. But I do seek to more fully experience the blessings that Christ has won for me by His finished work. So, I really do seriously ask the question, “How would a Christian (specifically, me) go about living a ‘complete’ life?”
If I approach this question from the perspective of my Fallen Nature, then I will quickly get bogged down in the impossibly difficult task of creating an impossibly long list of performance requirements—and by doing so, making Satan proud (and me miserable). So, I cannot expect that this approach would be an appropriate way to go about seeking the answer to my question. But, how then am I to discover how I should be living the “complete” life? If it is not to be found in doing everything properly, where is it to be found experientially? How shall I live my life so that it is experientially complete?
To my embarrassment, I spent a long time contemplating this question before it donned on me (no doubt by the Holy Spirit) that the answer to my question was actually provided in the second half of this verse. In order for a person to live a complete life it is only necessary to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit in a moment-by-moment dependence on His leading according to the “instruction” of God as contained in His Word.
By flooding my mind with whatever portions of God’s Word the Holy Spirit brings to my mind at the moment and continually focusing on His leading through that Word, then I will be living the complete Christian life! There is nothing for me to “do” other than follow this leading of the Holy Spirit as He reminds me of various portions of God’s Word. This is a joyful experience of continual fellowship with God; it is NOT a burden; and it is not focused on my performance to follow some list of rules. It is walking in the Spirit as I am called to do throughout the New Testament.
This is a post from the blog at https://beholdthechrist.com
written by Dr. Richard Routh
March 10, 2020