Psalm 119:65-72: Better than gold.(please click here for todays passage)

What would you rather have: your Bible or a massive lottery win? I hope you can say the former (72); that God’s Word is your ‘’delight’’ (70). ‘’Truth from your mouth means more to me than striking it rich in a gold mine.’’ The Message. Is God’s Word your most prized possession by far?

Verse 65 reads as a prayer in the ‘New International Version’: Do good to your servant according to your word, O LORD.’’ But in the ‘ESV’ it is rendered as a statement: ‘’You have dealt with your servant, O LORD, according to your word.’’ In the Bible, God promises good to His people, and in experience we prove this to be true: that He is good and that what He does is good (68). I knew a man who was an excellent servant of the church. When someone said this to him, his response was, ‘’Well, I have a good Master.’’ What God’s Word says about Him, and what we experience of Him; of His goodness, should encourage us to keep on praying for HIs help so that we can be His faithful people in this antagonistic world. Therefore we keep on asking, ‘’Teach me…teach me…’’ (66a, 68b; also see James 1:5-7).

Even when we go through ‘affliction’ (67, 71) we can affirm: ‘’You are good, and what you do is good…’’ We see the productive power in trials (see James 1:2-4) bringing us into an even closer relationship with God’s Word (67, 71), and ultimately, of course with the Word’s Author. During what I call my ‘nightmare year’ (which actually was around 18 months in reality) – a time of great trauma in the church – the Bible came alive to me in such vivid ways. I kept a journal that year, and it is full of jotted down Scriptures that became personal friends. They walked with me and put an arm around my shoulder and comforted me. At the end of it all I could see that it was good for me to be afflicted in the way I was. ‘’My troubles turned out all for the best – they forced me to learn from your textbook.’’ The Message. The context suggests that the psalmist’s affliction had to with persecution, but he would not allow the hostility of others to deflect him from the path of whole-hearted obedience (69). In the world we will often encounter hardness of heart, but the people of God have soft hearts towards Scripture, and ultimately before God Himself. They are malleable and He can shape them according to His truth. ‘’The godless spread lies about me; but I focus my attention on what you are saying; They’re bland as a bucket of lard, while I dance to the tune of your revelation.’’ The Message.

‘’We are pupils in his school of affliction (67, 70), he is the Principal of the school and the graduation award is the treasure of his word.’’ J.A. Motyer: ‘New Bible Commentary’, p.568.

Prayer: ‘’Be good to your servant, GOD; be as good as your Word.’’ (65). The Message.