PSALM 119: 65-72 [The Ministry of The Word Series]
[The Ministry of] GOD'S GOOD WORD
[Hebrews 12:1-12]
The psalmist has been attacked by lying enemies (v. 69; vv. 21, 51). He has experienced much affliction (vv. 67, 71). As a result his faith has been forged and purified in the fire. Through all this adversity he has gained a new perspective. He has discerned that God dealings have been for his good and that God's Word is good for him (CIT).
So the psalmist begins this section [stanza, strophe] with the observation that the Lord done good to him. He asked for further instruction in God's Word that would prevent him from going astray (vv. 66-68). He declares his trust in God and His Word even in the midst of slander and hardship (vv. 69-70). Because now he realizes that through affliction he came to understand more of the value that results from obeying God's statues (vv. 71-72).
God does what is good, because God is good. Our Good God acts in accordance with His Word. Therefore God's Word is good and as we learn here, His word is good for us.
Teth.
I. GOD'S GOOD ACTIONS, 65.
II. LEARNING GOOD DISCERNMENT, 66-68.
III. GOOD TRUST DURING OF AFFLICTION, 69-70.
IV. A GOOD RESULT OF AFFLICTION, 71-72.
David makes a thankful acknowledgment of God's constant gracious dealings with him in verse 65. "You have dealt well with Your servant, O Lord, according to Your word."
However we think God has dealt with us, we must come to realize that He has dealt well [good] with us, far better than we deserve. His loving work and word are designed to deal with us for our eternal good. God has done well for us and for all His servants. [The Hebrew word tob is used six times in these eight verses. Tob can be translated good, pleasant, beneficial, precious, delightful and right.] The Lord has dealt well with His servant according to His word.
At last the sun has broken through the dark clouds for God's servant. In the light of God's Word he sees that all his difficulties and all his years of hardships were not a loss or a waste but were years in God's rigorous school of transforming grace.
God's blessings are best seen when they are compared with His Word and are seen as flowing from His perfecting grace.
II. LEARNING GOOD DISCERNMENT, 66-68.
Because God's dealings are now realized as good, the Psalmist asks for more divine instructions in verse 66. "Teach me good discernment and knowledge, for I believe in Your commandments."
Notice it takes being taught the Word of God to have good discernment. [Teach me a good taste (the original meaning of the word), a good relish, to discern things that differ, to distinguish between truth and falsehood, good and evil; for the ear tries words, as the mouth tastes meat.] Discernment is the capacity to distinguish between good and evil. Good discernment is the ability to distinguish the best from the good.
We should pray to God for a good mind, a sound mind, and then ask Him for the good spiritual sense to exercise it (Heb. 5:14). For many have knowledge who have little discernment. Those who have both are well fortified against the snares of Satan and well equipped for the service of God and their generation.
This petition is backed with a plea: "For I have believed, ["trust in, rely upon"]Your commandments." He received them, consented that they are good, and submitted to their governance. Therefore he cries, "Lord, teach me." In other words, good discernment and knowledge will come from God's Word as we applied it to our life. [Henry, Matthew: Matthew Henry's Commentary On the Whole Bible. Peabody : Hendrickson, 1996, c1991, S. Ps 119:67.]
Verse 67 declares that God used adversity to bring the psalmist back to Himself. "Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word."
In adversity he was caught up short and brought back to God. He then was ready to learn from the Lord so that he would no longer go astray as he did formerly. Spurgeon said that the promises of God shine brightest in the furnace of affliction.
We can easily identify with the psalmist. How often I meet people who have come to Christ in affliction. When life presses in upon them, they learn that they do not have the answers, that they have made wrong choices, and that they are ready for outside help. No wonder the first step in recovery for Alcoholics Anonymous is the admission that we are powerless over our lives. We have come to the end of our ropes. Part of God's goodness (v. 65) has been to allow affliction to come into the psalmist's life. Because of the resulting change that his affliction brought, he confesses that he now obeys God's Word.
Judging by the COMMERCIALS on television, modern man doesn't like pain. Whether it's physical pain, the pain of a broken appliance, the pain of the Internal Revenue Service, the pain of recovering from an accident or natural disaster. Regardless of the kind of pain, it seems there's a pill, a plan or a program for relief.
But there may also be a purpose in our pain. The Bible suggests that adversity is a frequent visitor in our fallen world. Since God is sovereign, our first question is not how to be free of trouble but how to discover God's purpose in it. The apostle Paul was like us. When he suffered, he prayed that God would take it away. Instead, God gave him grace to live with the adversity. Paul would then recognize a positive outcome: When he was weak in himself, he was strong in Christ (2 Corinthians 12:10).
It's fine to ask God to solve the adversities in life. But while pursuing resolution, ask God to show you if there is something for which you can thank Him. Something you wouldn't have experienced without the pain.
C. S. Lewis said, "God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.
For emphasis, and with a gratefulness for God's transform work, he emphasis again in verse 68, that God's does good work through His Word. "You are good and do good; Teach me Your statutes."
God in His nature or essence is good and God is good to others. The verb do good indicates habitual, constant action. He implores our Good God to do him good by teaching him His Word. The good Word of our gracious God is the foundation of all good.
All who have any true knowledge of God and dealings confess that He does good, and therefore conclude that He is good. The streams of God's goodness are so numerous, and run so full, so strong, to all mankind, that we must conclude the inexhaustible fountain is good. We cannot conceive how much good our God does every day, much less can we conceive how good He is, but with admiration and thankfulness we acknowledge that He is good. [Henry, Matthew: Matthew Henry's Commentary : On the Whole Bible. Peabody : Hendrickson, 1991, S. Ps 119:68.]
Then the David pleads to be under the guidance and influence of God's goodness. So once again, the frequently repeated prayer in Psalm 119, "Teach me Your statutes." He implores our Good God to do him good by teaching him His Word. The good Word of our gracious God is the foundation of all good. Therefore instruct me in my duty, incline me to it, and enable me to do it. Then I may be good and do good, may have a good heart and live a good life (Ps. 25:8).
III. GOOD TO TRUST DURING AFFLICTION, 69-70.
The Psalmist references one source of his affliction in verse 69. "The arrogant have forged a lie against me; With all my heart I will observe Your precepts."
Proud, presumptuous, overbearing sinners forged or crafted a strong lie with which to attack him. Apparently the arrogant are angry because of his faithfulness to God.
All we are and all we have may be brought into danger by those who without conscience forging a lie. The proud envied David's reputation, because it eclipsed them, and therefore did all they could to discredit him. They took a pride in trampling upon him. They persuaded themselves that it was not sin to tell a deliberate lie because they held him in contempt.
Nevertheless, he promises: "I will keep Your precepts with my whole heart." He has put his hand to the plow. There is no turning back. [ vv. 51, 53] He will bear it patiently and continue his calling with wholehearted devotion and resolution.
Knowing God's truth also makes him wise about those who oppose God as verse 70 implies. "Their heart is covered with fat, but I delight in Your law."
Their pride made them smug and at ease (Ps. 123:4). A heart covered with fat [lit. fat of grease] means insensitivity to God and to His Word in their inner man. Fat hearts are dulled to God's truth (Is. 6:10). They are full of the world, and the wealth and pleasures of it and this makes them secure dulls their sensitivity to the Word and rod of God.
But in contrast to them, he confesses, "I delight in Your law." They had been getting on in the world; he had been getting on in the Word. He found his Bible the best protection against becoming like them. [Phillips, John. Exploring the Psalms. Psalms 89-150. 1988. Loizeaux Brothers. Neptune, NJ. p. 325.]
IV. A GOOD RESULT OF AFFLICTION, 71-72.
As the psalmist looks back upon his affliction [pain] he concludes in verse 71that it brought about a good result. "It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes."
It has been the lot of the best saints to be afflicted, but God has used it redemptively for their earthly and eternal advantage. Often we have understood God's goodness toward us as we see the results that come from our adversity. God has used adversity to bring the psalmist back to Himself. Now he has become a learner once again.
God sometimes allows a flood of adversity & trials to sweep over us so that the light of His presence may break through to our lives. Charles Fox wrote, "Dark waters blossom white in breakers, high souls are made in the unmaking." He meant that only when the ocean waves are broken into spray will oxygen unite with them, causing the waves to reflect the glory of the sunlight.
James McConkey told the following incident: A beautiful STAINED-GLASS WINDOW in a cathedral had become the admiration of tourists. One night a fierce storm swept through the area, damaging that lovely work of art. The people of the village gathered up the pieces of glass that had smashed to the floor and carefully put them in a box, storing it in a crypt. After some months a stranger came by and asked if he could have the broken fragments.
The people agreed, saying, "We have no use for them. Go ahead, take them." Some time later, the officials of the town received an invitation to visit the studio of an artist
who was famous for his original designs in stained glass. As he drew back the curtain covering his most recent project, they saw a work of exquisite beauty. The artist told
them he had made it from the broken pieces of glass they had given him. Now it was even more beautiful than the original window in the cathedral.
Are you in the midst of a great storm? Have your cherished dreams been shattered? Remember, God has a purpose in allowing this. He chooses to fashion from your brokenness a life that will reflect His glory. [P.R.V. Our Daily Bread. Radio Bible Class] God often breaks our hearts so that He can beautify our lives.
David's spiritual growth has lead to a new perspective concerning the value of God's Word in verse 72. "The law of Your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces."
This verse expresses the changed estimation of the value of God Word..God's truth is better (tob) than treasure. Now he has his values straight. Now he's laying up his treasure in heaven. He's committed to that which is eternal. The Word which proceeds from the mouth of God is now more precious to him that the greatest earthly treasures.
She was the BEST-KNOWN ATHEIST in the United States perhaps the world. Madalyn Murray O'Hair was profane, and aggressive, devoting herself to attacking all religion and especially Christianity. Then in 1995 at age 76, she mysteriously disappeared. Was she the victim of foul play or had she gone into hiding? Before evidence eventually pointed to a former associate as the murderer, the Internal Revenue Service seized her personal belongings to pay delinquent taxes and personal debts.
Included in the IRS auction was a penny that had the words "In God We Trust" scratched out. That 1-cent piece sold for $10. Also included was a Bible, which sold for $2,000.
As mere paper and ink, a Bible is worth at the most only a few dollars. But as the Word of God, which communicates the truth of saving grace, that Book is priceless, no matter who owned or what edition it is.
Unlike those who deny God's existence, do we put our trust in Him and His Word? Do we agree with what David wrote in verse 72, "The law of Your mouth is better to me than thousands of coins of gold and silver"?. If we do, we'll study Scripture, embrace its teachings, and obediently live out its truths. [ V.C.G. Our Daily Bread. Radio Bible Class] The best commentary on the Bible is a person who puts it into practice.
David had but a little of the Word of God in comparison with what we have, yet how highly he valued it. He did not set his heart upon silver or gold, but upon the Word of God. It was better to him, yielding better joys, better protection, and a better inheritance, than all the treasures King David could make his own. [Henry, Ps 119:72]
IN CONCLUSION,
As with the Prodigal Son in the far country, affliction has done its good work and the psalmist has come home to the Father's house.
When do we learn the Word? So often it's when we're going through tribulation or affliction. When things are going well, we have a tendency to cruise. It's when things are coming down that we make time to open up the Book. The good word of our Good God is the foundation of all good.
[During the Depression era in the 1930s, Little Orphan Annie was a popular comic strip and radio program. Years later, it was the basis for the musical comedy, Annie. The opening scene shows Annie in an orphanage where the girls are forced to clean and scrub in the middle of the night. Expressing their feelings of helplessness, they sing: "It's the hard-knock life for us. No one cares for you a smidget when you're in an orphanage. It's the hard-knock life."]
When we talk about "the school of hard knocks," we're referring to the difficult experiences in life that have instructed us. Although it's part of human nature to avoid pain, the believer can learn from painful circumstances. The psalmist realized that his circumstances were intended to teach him to value the Word of God.
What problems are you facing today? Hand it over to the Lord in prayer. Then meditate on Scripture and thank God for the life lessons you are about to learn. The Lord of Heaven and Earth is sovereign - even over the school of hard knocks. Remember, our afflictions are not designed to break us but to bring us to God.
