Well, once again, as we turn
to this 119th Psalm, to meditate on a few verses this evening,
we'll consider verses 65 to 68. So we'll just read those four
verses again. Thou hast dealt well with thy
servant, O Lord, according unto thy word. Teach me good judgment
and knowledge, for I believed thy commandments. Before I was
afflicted, I went astray, but now have I kept thy word. Thou
art good, and doest good. Teach me thy statutes. We see how David desires to acknowledge
the goodness of God to him. And it's a wonderful thing if
you and I can also confirm such words as these. As we look at
our life and we see the mercy of God and we see the favour
of God, notwithstanding perhaps our walk which may have been
contrary to that which the Word of God directs us in. And yet
here He tells us, thou hast dealt well with thy servant. The Lord
does deal well with us. He deals with us in love to our
soul, which must, of course, be well. He deals with us in
different ways, but He also deals with us in a common way. And the common way is when the
Lord deals with us and shows us what we are by nature. And when that Holy Spirit shows
us, we see we're far worse than we thought we were. And then
what a blessing if he deals with us and causes us to cry unto
him for mercy. And indeed, as the hymn writer
said, mercy is welcome news indeed to those who guilty stand. And what a wonderful favour it
is, therefore, if God deals with us. We need to know that God
is dealing with us. We don't want to be left on one
side. We don't want to feel that God's
ignoring us. But it's a great and wonderful
blessing and an amazing favour to think that the great God,
the ruler of the universe, deals with us, takes pains, as it were,
to deal with us, comes where we are to deal with us, finds
us and leads us on to deal with us. Thou hast dealt well with
thy servant, O Lord. And it would seem here that the
psalmist is looking back, looks back over his life and can realise
how good God has been. Thou hast dealt well with thy
servant. Well, every true believer can
say that. Every true believer will have
to say that, because it's not because of their goodness. It's
because of God's favour and his love and his mercy. Thou hast
dealt well with thy servant, O Lord, according unto thy word. The Word of God tells us the
faithfulness of God. The Word of God tells us He will
be inquired of by the Church of God to do these things for
them. And what a mercy, therefore, to realize that as we come to
God, we can recognize He is a faithful God. So often we are unfaithful,
but God is faithful. He never leaves us. He never
forsakes us. What a blessing therefore it
is to have such a God who doesn't change according unto thy word. All that which the Lord has spoken,
all that which is recorded in the word of God is true and we
can rely upon it. as thy word. What a blessing. Again, it picks up, doesn't it?
Those two words, thy word. And as we've already noted, how
many times in this 119th Psalm those words are joined together
and spoken, thy word. Well, it's a blessing if you
and I are favoured to enjoy thy word. and be blessed by it and
directed by it. And he goes on to say, teach
me good judgment and knowledge. He was willing to be taught,
willing to be taught. It's good if we are willing to
hear God's voice directing us and not following our own judgment. Our own judgment can be very
faulty. Our own judgment relies purely on what we think and our
thoughts can be very faulty. And so he prays, teach me good
judgment and knowledge. What a good prayer that is. It's
a short prayer, isn't it? And yet it's good for us that
you and I may have good judgment in so many things, good judgment
about ourselves, good judgment about others, good judgment in
what we should say, good judgment in what we should do, good judgment
in where we should go and what we should walk in. Yes, teach
me good judgment and then knowledge. How little we know of the truth
of God's word, how we fail so often in understanding the great
truths are recorded in God's Word. And clearly, David understood
that. And he asks, therefore, teach
me this knowledge. Teach me good judgment and knowledge. Well, it's good, you know, if
we desire to be taught. And if we're to be taught, we're
to have a teachable spirit. We're to have a desire that God
will teach us, and not to come to God with preconceived ideas,
not come to God with what we think needs to be done and what
we need to understand, but to come really as a little child. Teach me good judgment and knowledge. And God is faithful, and what
a blessing it is if God teaches, because there's no better teacher
than God. You and I can have teachers,
our fellow men and women, but there's no teacher like God,
because God teaches faultlessly. God teaches rightly, and God
teaches for his honour and for his glory. And so, it's a wonderful
statement, really. It's worth pondering, and thinking
about and desiring to pray this also. Teach me good judgment
and knowledge. And he's able then to say, for
I have believed thy commandments. He's believed the truth of God's
word. He's believed God's law. He hasn't disagreed with it. He hasn't said, well, I don't
agree with that. I think really that's just going
a bit too far. He says, no, for I believe thy
commandments. Why does he do that? Why does
he say that? Because he's received grace. He's received God's favor with
that desire to truly believe that that which God has said
is true and is right and is profitable. Because again, the Lord's commandments
are there. The Lord's law is there. His
direction is there. And it's for our good. The Lord
doesn't show us a wrong way. No, He shows us the right way. And then He comes and tells us,
Before I was afflicted, I went astray. How easily, you know,
we can go astray. There is a way that seemeth right
to a man, but the end thereof for the ways of death. Yes, we
can go in a wrong way. We can go astray very easily.
And we have a great adversary, the devil, who is always trying
to tempt us to go in an evil way. It may not always appear
evil to us on the face of it. And again, we need understanding. And we need wisdom to perceive
that which is right. And it's sometimes, in order
to put us right, the Lord brings affliction upon us. Affliction
upon us. So that we may have to say, it
was good that I was afflicted. Now, naturally, we don't like
to be afflicted. But it's good sometimes when
we are afflicted. And in that affliction, God instructs
us. God shows us the way we were
going, the wrong way we were going, shows us the right way,
gives us a desire and a concern to follow the right way and to
do that which is right and not that which is wrong. And so we
see, we can perhaps agree with what the psalmist said. Before
I was afflicted, I went astray. But when we've been afflicted,
he's able to then come and say, but now, have I kept my word? A change has taken place. The Lord met with him. The Lord's met with us, perhaps. We won't go through it tonight,
but you only have to read the 51st Psalm to realize the path
that David walked in and how God corrected him and how God
brought him back. And so he tells us, before I
was afflicted, I went astray, but now have I kept thy word. What a mercy in our little lives. if we can see there have been
those situations which have brought about a change in our lives. And finally, in this 68th verse,
he says, thou art good and doest good. Teach me thy statutes. God is good. When God corrects
us, he is good. When God directs us, he is good. when God shows us the right way,
which may not always agree with our ideas of the right way, to
be able to come and say, He is good, thou art good. In actual fact, everything, everything
about God is good. Every detail about God is good. And as the Psalmist said, He
led them forth by the right way. that they might go to a city
of habitation. And what a blessing that is for
you and me in our life, to realize that because God is good, he's
leading us. Because he's good, he's directing
us, and he will bring us at last home to himself in glory. Thou art good, and because he's
good, he does good. God doesn't do anything which
is wrong. God is holy, God is righteous, and God's purposes
are that which brings honor and glory to his great and holy name. And do is good. God does do good
things. What a wonderful thing it is
in your life and my life when we can trace out and find that
God has done good things for us. He's had mercy upon us. He's shown us ourself. He's shown
us himself. What a mercy. And do us good.
What a kind and gracious God. And then he says, teach me thy
statutes. How often we find this. He wants God to teach him. In the sixth verse we've already
said. He prayed, teach me good judgments
and knowledge. And again he says, teach me thy
statutes. It's quite clear that David did
not want to be left to his own interpretation. And that's good
for us, not to be left to our own ideas, to our own interpretation. But to be able to come and pray
in this simple way. You know this 119th Psalm really
is, we've been going through it, the statements are short
and simple and true and we should be very thankful that God has
given us his word and so teach me thy statutes. May that be
the true desire of every one of us so that his name may be
lifted up and honoured and glorified. Well, we'll leave our remarks
there. May God bless us in pondering these great