You have dealt well with Your servant, O LORD, according to Your word. Teach me good judgment and knowledge, for I believe Your commandments. Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word. You are good, and do good; teach me Your statutes. Psalm 119: 65-68, NKJV.
My LORD and my God, please teach us “good judgment and knowledge” that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom (Psalm 90). This is our prayer in the matchless name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Yesterday, as we thought about the things for which we can be grateful, we discovered that we all have something for which to give thanks – God’s goodness! Throughout the Word of God, if we are looking and listening, we will catch glimpses of a good God! Today we want to comment on one of the means God uses to bless us.
Our Scripture for today begins with an affirmation: “You have dealt well with Your servant . . . according to Your word.” When I read that I thought about effective discipline. A discipline that is applied with the purpose of producing growth and maturity. Although these words are sometimes used as synonyms, growth and maturity do not have the same meaning. Some people grow physically, but never reach maturity, they remain children at heart.
Therefore, I believe I can say with a degree of accuracy, that the main purpose for healthy and effective discipline, is for the person that is being disciplined to grow, and eventually, reach maturity. This thought is in line with our Scripture for today. As the psalmist contemplates the purpose of God’s Word, mainly the Torah, he comes to the following conclusion: “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word. You are good, and do good; teach me Your statutes.”
Many of us, as children of God, can come to the same conclusion. The Word of God is full to overflowing with good counsel for all of us. Besides the written Word – the Bible, God sends us counsel through the spoken Word from the pulpit, and sometimes from the mouth of a God-fearing friend. When we kneel in prayer, which is talking to God – as in every good conversation, we do not only speak, we also listen, to what God has to say; and oftentimes He does speak to us during prayer.
I seem to hear the psalmist saying to God, If I had listened to what You told me, I could have saved myself some pain. But now I have learned my lesson. I will pay attention to Your word, because “You are good, and do good,” therefore, teach me Your will!
Yes dear friends, even in our affliction we can see the goodness of the Lord, and we can thank Him for the pain that He allowed. Remember, it was the psalmist who went astray, and brought about his own affliction. In God’s goodness, instead of allowing the affliction to destroy him, He used it to open his eyes. I do not know what you might be going through at this time my friend, but if you give God an opportunity, He will use your situation, no matter how painful, to draw you closer to Him – because He is good, and does good!