who also do no wrong,
but who walk in his ways!

Psalm 119:3 ESV

The word also reminds us that we are continuing the thought of verse 2: Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart. To keep the LORD’s testimonies, to hold onto them with all one’s might, seeking the Him with the entirety of the heart, must naturally lead to shunning all wrongdoing. A bright vision of God’s purity and holiness exposes the darkened crevices of sin’s hideousness. His righteousness makes our wrongdoing evident. As Isaiah was brought into the presence of Truth Himself, he immediately recognized the uncleanness of his own lips. A glimpse of the narrow path toward life is the greatest testament that the broad road ends in destruction.

To do no wrong means, therefore, walking in the LORD’s ways. To follow Christ, who is the Way, requires the mortification of all sin. “So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33). Not one sin can be spared. Not one idol can be tolerated. Even the love of father, mother, husband, wife, son, or daughter must be laid upon the altar as we walk in Christ’s footsteps. He demands everything, yet He also gives Himself, which is far greater than everything! We gain, therefore, by loss. Our humbling leads to exaltation. By losing our own life, we find Life, abundant and eternal.

Yet again, wonder of wonders, it is our walk with Him that enables us to do no wrong, to kill our sin. As the hymn reminds us, “I need Thee every hour, stay Thou near by; temptations lose their power when Thou art nigh.” To walk in His ways, we must do no wrong, and to do no wrong, we must walk in His ways. Therefore “let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:1-2).