Day 9

January 11

Psalm 119:65-72 (ESV)

“65 You have dealt well with your servant, O Lord, according to your word. 66 Teach me good judgment and knowledge, for I believe in your commandments. 67 Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word. 68 You are good and do good; teach me your statutes. 69 The insolent smear me with lies, but with my whole heart I keep your precepts; 70 their heart is unfeeling like fat, but I delight in your law. 71 It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes.72 The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces.”

Sometimes when we are going through difficulties we can question if God has really “dealt well” with us. But the Psalmist points out something important; He has dealt well with me “according to Your Word”. God gives us the “good” that He promises in His Word, not the “good” that we have defined in this world. “Good” to the world might look like our life being filled with tangible blessings and a sense of security and continual happiness. But as we read the Word and on through these verses, we see a glimpse of what God deems as actually “good”. Verse 71 says “It is good for me that I was afflicted”. It sounds crazy to our ears, but being afflicted is actually good according to God! Affliction is a way that God blesses us, because it forces us to lean into our dependance on God. It teaches us that true joy and fulfillment can only come from our reliance and relationship with God. It gives us the opportunity to refine our faith and practice all the things that we claim to believe. As it says in James 2:19-20 “You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?” God wants our faith to be alive and through trials and testing He opens the door for us to grow in our understanding of what faith in our Lord really means. In verse 67 it says “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word”. Being in affliction gives us personal experiences that reveal to us the importance of living in accordance with God’s Word. We often see and hear kids asking their parents “why?” to almost everything. As most parents know…it can be exhausting to explain and actually give children the experience to know the “why” behind every question. But guess what? In God’s grace as a good Father, He wants His children to know and understand the “why” behind the laws and rules that He has given us. In order to do that, He gives us experiences to expand our understanding of why we are following these rules! In turn, we are closer to God and more closely follow the laws He has given us, because we come to discover that all these rules are for our good! So the next time you find yourself in a time of trial and affliction, remember that it is an opportunity to draw closer to our Lord and that it is out of His love and grace for us that He brings us hard times to ultimately bring us closer to Him. Maybe one day, on the other side of affliction, we can all say "The law of Your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces,” because we have learned from experience that true “good” comes from knowing and living out the laws of our Lord.

Adeline Spata
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