Trust in God’s Word
March 17, 2024
Commentary
The writer in this passage stresses a determination to keep the Word (vv. 65-72). God is good all the time. The emphasis in the first two verses (vv. 65-66) is on what is good in the life of the believer. God does what is good because God is good and because what He does is according to His Word and His Word is good (v. 39). The psalmist trusted that the Lord would deal with him according to his Word (v. 65). He then asked for further instruction to prevent his going astray (vv. 66-68). He acts according to the principles revealed in His Word and we should seek to live by these principles (v. 66). The better we know God’s Word, the better we can pray in God’s will and obey His will. To ask God for something that is not according to His will and His Word is to ask ignorantly and selfishly (James 4:3) and if He grants us our request, we will be sorry and wish we had not prayed.
In the next four verses (vv. 67-71) we can see how God overrules evil and from it brings good. The good shepherd uses affliction to discipline and rescue wayward sheep. The psalmist sin was probably not a flagrant act of rebellion but through the weakness of the flesh, the forces of temptation and a careless frame of spirit he got out of the right way before he was aware of what was really happening. Because of his sin God in His love sent affliction to discipline him (Heb. 12:1-11). At the time this discipline was not pleasant, but it brought God’s servant back to the place of obedience, so it was worth it (v. 71). There may be times when we are obedient and will still experience suffering, but God will use this suffering to mature us and teach us His Word. Charles Spurgeon said, “the promises of God shine the brightest in the furnace of affliction.” God uses the time of affliction (v. 71) to show us good (v. 72).
Application
I pray that no matter what kind of affliction I may have to go through in the future I should not be complaining but looking for what kind of a polished and finished product He wants to make me.
Psalms 119:65– 72 (NET)
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Illustration: How a Bar of Steel Can be Made Very Valuable
A bar of steel worth $5.00 when made into ordinary horseshoes, is then worth $10.00. If this same $5.00 bar is manufactured into needles, the value rises to $350.00. And yet if it’s made into delicate springs for expensive watches, it is worth more than $250,000.00. The same bar of steel is made more valuable by being cut to its proper size, passed through one blast furnace after another, again and again, hammered and manipulated, beaten and pounded, finished and polished until it’s ready for those delicate tasks. (M.R. DeHaan, Broken Things).