PSALMS 119:155 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
“Salvation is far from the wicked: for they seek not thy statutes.”
Salvation is far from the wicked since they do not seek God's statutes, establishing the correlation between distance from God's law and distance from salvation. This verse echoes earlier affirmations that those who abandon God's commandments inevitably face spiritual destruction. The wicked do not seek God's statutes suggests that their distance is chosen rather than arbitrary: they have rejected the means by which salvation becomes available. This verse provides dark counterpoint to the psalmist's own seeking and calling upon God: the difference between saved and lost consists fundamentally in whether one pursues God's law. The statement prevents interpreting salvation as universal or automatic; instead, it depends upon commitment to seek God's statutes. This verse maintains prophetic realism about the consequences of rejecting revelation.
Church Fathers on Psalms 119:155
1. From its commencement, dearly beloved, does this great Psalm exhort us unto bliss, which there is no one who desires not....And therefore this is the lesson which he teaches, who says, “Blessed are those that are undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord” Psalm 118:1. As much as to say, I know what you wish, you are seeking bliss: if then you would be blessed, be undefiled. For the former all desire, the latter fear: yet without it what all wish cannot be…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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