Psalm 119:67

Today’s verse from Psalm 119 contains a sobering fact about ourselves and how we learn to submit to God in obedience to His word.

Psalms 119:67  Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word.

The psalmist teaches that in the absence of affliction he went astray.

Astray – Out of the right way, away from the proper path, wandering.

It was not until after he was afflicted that the psalmist changed his course into the right way of keeping God’s word.  We are no different than he.  We generally fare better spiritually when we undergo affliction.  This explains why the psalmist will tell us later in verse 71 that it was good for him that he had been afflicted.  In the absence of affliction we tend to get careless with regard to God and His word; in fact, we can become downright spoiled and rebellious.  We are too much like Jeshurun as he is depicted in this passage:

Deuteronomy 32:13  He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and he made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock;

14  Butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape.

15  ¶But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.

In her excellent book, Total Truth, Nancy Pearcey wrote:

“All of us discover at some point that the most profound spiritual growth typically comes through crises.  Because we are fallen creatures living in a fallen world, the winnowing of our character is usually a painful process.” 

Growth means change and change can be painful.  That is the reason we have coined the phrase growing pains.  But when do people with a problem seek change?  When do they seek a solution?  People seek change when the pain of the problem becomes greater than the pain of change.  Bishop Fulton Sheen wrote:  “We generally do not strive to solve a problem until it hurts us to leave it unsolved; many of us would not move unless the unsolved problem hurt us badly.” 

It often takes affliction to get us to realize our transgressions, to see the lines we have wrongfully crossed.  When speaking of the righteous, God’s own children, Elihu said:

Job 36:8  And if they be bound in fetters, and be holden in cords of affliction;

9  Then he sheweth them their work, and their transgressions that they have exceeded.

10  He openeth also their ear to discipline, and commandeth that they return from iniquity.

Recall that it was when the prodigal son was in the affliction of great want that he came to himself and returned to his father (Luke 15:14-20).  Before that affliction he went astray. 

Manasseh was one of the most errant and evil kings in the history of Judah.  And yet even he redirected his course in the way of God’s word after he was afflicted.  Here is the moving account of this:  

2 Chronicles 33:11  ¶Wherefore the LORD brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon.

12  And when he was in affliction, he besought the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers,

13  And prayed unto him: and he was intreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD he was God.

14  Now after this he built a wall without the city of David, on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entering in at the fish gate, and compassed about Ophel, and raised it up a very great height, and put captains of war in all the fenced cities of Judah.

15  And he took away the strange gods, and the idol out of the house of the LORD, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the LORD, and in Jerusalem, and cast them out of the city.

16  And he repaired the altar of the LORD, and sacrificed thereon peace offerings and thank offerings, and commanded Judah to serve the LORD God of Israel.

Now we are well on the way to greater spiritual growth when we recognize for ourselves that we need to change our course and we choose to make that change even though it means afflicting ourselves with the loss of pleasure and things we desire.  This is precisely the path our Saviour taught us to take when He said:

Luke 9:23  …If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

We all face a choice when it comes to growing through pain and affliction.  We can choose to ignore what we need to change and wait until pain is forced upon us such as the pain of bankruptcy, sickness, injury, lost relationships, or exclusion from the church,  Such afflictions force us to change if we want to improve ourselves and our situation.  Or we can choose to inflict upon ourselves the pain of self-denial and make the needed changes.  We can afflict ourselves or be afflicted by God.  Please allow me to let you in on something:  the pain you inflict on yourself in order to keep God’s word is far easier to bear than the pain He inflicts upon you when you rebel against His way.  As Paul wrote in 1Corinthians 11:31:  “For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.” 

So whether you have afflicted yourself through self-denial or whether the affliction has been visited upon you by God, it is good for you that you have been afflicted when the result it this:  now have I kept thy word.

Psalm 119:66

Today we come to the second verse in the octave of Psalm 119 entitled Teth.

Psalms 119:66  Teach me good judgment and knowledge: for I have believed thy commandments.

Judgment is something you exercise every day.  Anytime you make a decision for or against someone or something, or form an opinion for or against someone or something, you are exercising judgment.  The prayer of today’s verse is a prayer for good judgment.  We need good judgment so that we may make good decisions. And the best One to teach us good judgment is the Lord.  Hence, like the psalmist, we ask Him to teach us, which He does by the ways and means He has appointed in His word.

But the psalmist also adds to his request for good judgment, a request for knowledge.  Knowledge is information.  A good judgment is an informed judgment.  Therefore, we have the prayer for knowledge to go with judgment. 

Proverbs 19:2  Also, that the soul be without knowledge, it is not good….

Our Lord commanded us to “judge righteous judgment” (John 7:24), which we cannot do in ignorance.  How can you judge rightly if you do not know what is right?

Good judgment and knowledge work in tandem.  We need knowledge to exercise good judgment, but we need good judgment in the exercise of knowledge.  This point comes out clearly from these words of the apostle Paul:

1 Corinthians 8:1  Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.

Paul then proceeds in 1Corinthians 8 to instruct believers in how to use their knowledge in such a way that does not cast a stumblingblock before a weaker brother.  That is, Paul imparts to the Corinthians good judgment to go with their knowledge. 

Then we need good judgment in the acquisition of knowledge, for not all knowledge is knowledge we should have.  There are some things best not known.  Adam and Eve found that out to their shame.  Consider these warnings against bad knowledge:

Proverbs 19:27  Cease, my son, to hear the instruction that causeth to err from the words of knowledge.

Romans 16:19  …I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil.

2 Corinthians 11:3  But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

Revelation 2:24  But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden.

We want the knowledge that God teaches us.  So we need good judgment to discern that knowledge from knowledge that is not of God.

Now the psalmist backs up his petition with this plea:  for I have believed thy commandments.  Good judgment and knowledge come from God’s commandments.  When you face a decision, a judgment you must make, be sure that you decide within the boundaries laid down by God’s commandments.  A decision within the boundaries of God’s commandments is an acceptable decision.  A decision that transgresses or oversteps the boundaries of God’s commandments is a bad decision.  So asking God to teach you good judgment and knowledge is also asking God to teach you His commandments.

But your judgment and learning are not likely to be influenced by God’s commandments if you do not believe them.  Remember, God’s word works effectually in those who believe it (1Thessalonians 2:13).  You are not likely to rely on the advice of someone whom you do not believe and trust.  Your starting point should always be this:  If the Bible teaches it, it is right and, therefore, I believe it.  And believing it, you do what it teaches even if it seems like it will do nothing at all for your situation.  Do what God commands of you and it will help whatever situation you are facing.  It’s true!  Believe it!

So as you face life with its many challenges and decisions, ask God to teach you good judgment and knowledge as given in His word.  When you learn a commandment of God, obey it.  Just do what the Bible teaches you to do and you will be a person of good judgment and knowledge.  You will grow spiritually to be one of those who are “of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil” (Hebrews 5:14).  I close with this prayer of the apostle Paul, a prayer not unlike the one we have considered today.  This prayer clearly sets forth the effects of believers having the good judgment and knowledge that comes from the Lord.

Philippians 1:9 And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment;

10  That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ;

11  Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.    

Psalm 119:65

Our little break is over.  It’s time to get back into Psalm 119.  Today we begin with the ninth octave entitled Teth.

Psalms 119:65  TETH. Thou hast dealt well with thy servant, O LORD, according unto thy word.

You, who profess to be the servants of God, look back over your life up to this point.  Is this not your testimony as well:  thou hast dealt well with thy servant?  Measure the magnitude of your transgressions over against how God has dealt with you.  Although the Lord has punished you for your sins, must you not confess with Ezra:   “thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve” (Ezra 9:13)?  The Lord has dealt well with us because, as David wrote:

Psalms 103:10  He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.

If the Lord dealt with us after our sins we would all be cast into everlasting hell fire.  Because Christ has suffered the eternal consequences of the sins of God’s elect, any punishment they receive for their sins is temporary and light in comparison. 

The words of today’s verse are an echo of the testimony of the patriarch Jacob as he was blessing the two sons of Joseph.  Hear Jacob as he acknowledged how the Lord had dealt well with him:

Genesis 48:15  And he blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day, 

16    The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads….

The psalmist considered that the Lord had dealt well with him even in his afflictions, as later verses in this octave will testify.  When the Lord chastens us, it is for our profit.  Contrasting the chastening of our earthly fathers with the chastening of our heavenly Father, Paul wrote:

Hebrews 12:10  For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he (our heavenly Father)  for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. 

When the Lord permits tribulation in our life, it is for our good that we might learn patience and so become more like our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Romans 5:3  And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience….

1 Peter 2:20  For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.

21  For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:

22  Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:

23  Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously….

When you suffer tribulation patiently as did Jesus, then you are following His example.  You are being like Him.  And if the Lord is making you more like Christ He is dealing well with you, for there is nothing better than being like Jesus!  Therefore, in prosperity and adversity, the Lord is dealing well with us. 

Now a man might think that being dealt well with means an absence of all adversity.  But the psalmist did not think like that.  In this psalm he speaks of being in various kinds of adversity.  And yet he acknowledges that the Lord has dealt well with him.  But note that he qualifies how the Lord dealt well with him:  it was according to thy word.  God does not always deal with us according to our wishes, but He does always deal with us according to His word.  The comments of Mary B. M. Duncan speak quite to the point:

“God dealt well with him ‘according to his word,’ in the sense of dealing with him according to what his word explained was the true good – not delivering him from all trial, but sending him such trial as he specifically required….It was ‘according to his word’ too, in the sense of being in accordance with his revealed manner of dealing with his people, who are chastened for their profit.” 

Furthermore, God deals well with us according to his word in that His word promises that He will deal well with us.

Psalms 84:11  For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.

Jeremiah 32:40  And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.

The Lord has certainly kept that promise to me so that I must declare:  thou hast dealt well with thy servant according to thy word.  In fact, when I look at the Lord’s dealings with me in my little life I can certainly attest with those who said of our Lord:  “He hath done all things well” (Mark 7:37).