Psalm 119:65-72 | It is good for me that I have been afflicted
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Tonight we will reflect on God's goodness and our affliction
Psalm 119:65–72 (KJV 1900)
65 TETH. Thou hast dealt well with thy servant, O Lord, according unto thy word.
66 Teach me good judgment and knowledge: For I have believed thy commandments.
67 Before I was afflicted I went astray: But now have I kept thy word.
68 Thou art good, and doest good; teach me thy statutes.
69 The proud have forged a lie against me: But I will keep thy precepts with my whole heart.
70 Their heart is as fat as grease; But I delight in thy law.
71 It is good for me that I have been afflicted; That I might learn thy statutes.
72 The law of thy mouth is better unto me Than thousands of gold and silver.
Sermon Introduction
Sermon Introduction
This runs in correspondence with what we are learning in Lamentations
2 Chron 36:16 “16 But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, till there was no remedy.”
Lamentations 1:5 “5 Her adversaries are the chief, her enemies prosper; For the Lord hath afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions: Her children are gone into captivity before the enemy.”
Lessons learned through affliction
Lessons learned through affliction
God is faithful and good
The Lord's use of affliction for our good
We learn discernment through affliction
Affliction provides an opportunity to draw closer to God
God is faithful and good
God is faithful and good
God is good to His Servants
God is good to His Servants
Psalm 119:65 “65 TETH. Thou hast dealt well with thy servant, O Lord, according unto thy word.”
Sent His son to die for us
Offered us a new identity in Christ
Sealed by the Holy Spirit
Place prepared for us
Provides hope from the promises of His word. Psalm 119:49 “49 ZAIN. Remember the word unto thy servant, Upon which thou hast caused me to hope.”
God is faithful to His Word
God is faithful to His Word
Psalm 119:68 “68 Thou art good, and doest good; teach me thy statutes.”
God appoints affliction for His people and we should call this good. 1 Thess 3:3 “3 That no man should be moved by these afflictions: for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto.”
God being faithful to His Word is more important than Him being faithful to me, because I change but His word never does.
“For I know what’er befalls me, Jesus doeth all things well.”
The Lord uses affliction for our good.
The Lord uses affliction for our good.
Psalm 119:67 “67 Before I was afflicted I went astray: But now have I kept thy word.”
Affliction is course correcting
Affliction is course correcting
Affliction does what prosperity cannot Jeremiah 22:21 “21 I spake unto thee in thy prosperity; But thou saidst, I will not hear. This hath been thy manner from thy youth, That thou obeyedst not my voice.”
We can say “this is good” Psalm 119:71 “71 It is good for me that I have been afflicted; That I might learn thy statutes.”
“I have learned to kiss the waves that throw me up against the Rock of Ages.” — Charles H. Spurgeon
Deliverance by Affliction
Deliverance by Affliction
Sometimes deliverance comes by affliction. Job 36:15 “15 He delivereth the poor in his affliction, And openeth their ears in oppression.”
In order to be delivered by affliction, what we are being delivered from must be worse than the affliction itself.
Affliction must be producing something that is far more precious than immediate relief.
From Indifference.
From Indifference.
Isaiah 30:20-21 “20 And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, Yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, But thine eyes shall see thy teachers: 21 And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, When ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.”
Affliction spurs us to search for meaning and hope beyond our present circumstances, which can open our eyes to the power and beauty of the Word.
Affliction can open ears. Job 36:15 “15 He delivereth the poor in his affliction, And openeth their ears in oppression.”
From Sin
From Sin
When despair sets in and we feel burdened beyond ourselves, reliance on God takes on a new meaning
2 Cor 1:8-9 “8 For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life: 9 But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead:”
“I, for my part, owe more, I think, to the anvil and to the hammer, to the fire and to the file, than to anything else. I bless the Lord for the correctives of his providence by which, if he has blessed me on the one hand with sweets, he has blessed me on the other hand with bitters.” (Spurgeon)
From loving the world
From loving the world
2 Tim 4:10 “10 For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia.”
Affliction draws us to the things of God because we realize the things of this world are broken.
Transition: Thankfully, God has life-giving purposes in affliction as we turn to him.
We learn discernment through affliction
We learn discernment through affliction
Refined taste
Refined taste
Psalm 119:66 “66 Teach me good judgment and knowledge: For I have believed thy commandments.”
“Judgment, here, is literally ‘taste’, not in our sense of artistic judgment, but of spiritual discernment.Job 34:3 “3 For the ear trieth words, As the mouth tasteth meat.”
Lemon Heads, War Heads, or Takis - all are designed to destroy your taste buds with one last grand finale.
Affliction makes us search the Scriptures with greater desperation for help, rather than treating it as optional to life.
Affliction allows us to do more than know about God but it allows us to experience the truth of His Word. Job 42:5 “5 I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: But now mine eye seeth thee.”
We learn in affliction what we could have never learned on our own.
We learn in affliction what we could have never learned on our own.
Psalm 119:72 “72 The law of thy mouth is better unto me Than thousands of gold and silver.”
“No school, but the school of Christ – no teaching, but the teaching of the Spirit – can ever give this good judgment and knowledge.” (Bridges)
The furnace contains treasures I can’t find elsewhere. Isaiah 48:10 “10 Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.”
Even trouble can be good if it teaches us the word of God – if it is more valuable than his comfort – then it is also possible to say that it is more valuable than riches.
We far too easily forget our great need to learn good judgment and knowledge, and are far too ready to trust our own heart and conscience.
Affliction provides an opportunity to draw closer to God.
Affliction provides an opportunity to draw closer to God.
2 Samuel 16:5–13 (KJV 1900)
5 And when king David came to Bahurim, behold, thence came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera: he came forth, and cursed still as he came.
6 And he cast stones at David, and at all the servants of king David: and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left.
7 And thus said Shimei when he cursed, Come out, come out, thou bloody man, and thou man of Belial:
8 The Lord hath returned upon thee all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead thou hast reigned; and the Lord hath delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son: and, behold, thou art taken in thy mischief, because thou art a bloody man.
9 Then said Abishai the son of Zeruiah unto the king, Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? let me go over, I pray thee, and take off his head.
10 And the king said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah? so let him curse, because the Lord hath said unto him, Curse David. Who shall then say, Wherefore hast thou done so?
11 And David said to Abishai, and to all his servants, Behold, my son, which came forth of my bowels, seeketh my life: how much more now may this Benjamite do it? let him alone, and let him curse; for the Lord hath bidden him.
12 It may be that the Lord will look on mine affliction, and that the Lord will requite me good for his cursing this day.
13 And as David and his men went by the way, Shimei went along on the hill’s side over against him, and cursed as he went, and threw stones at him, and cast dust.
“If the Lord does us good, we must expect Satan to do us evil…he readily puts it into the hearts of his children to forge lies against the children of God!” (Bridges)
A proper response is a matter of the heart.
A proper response is a matter of the heart.
Whole heart vs Greasy heart
Psalm 119:69-70 “69 The proud have forged a lie against me: But I will keep thy precepts with my whole heart. 70 Their heart is as fat as grease; But I delight in thy law.”
Their hearts were dull, insensitive, and drowning in luxury and excess.
Not given over to the Word but feelings. Eph 4:19 “19 Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.”
“Often our trials act as a thorn hedge to keep us in the good pasture, but our prosperity is a gap through which we go astray.” (Spurgeon)
But did you learn anything, specifically did you learn anything about God
But did you learn anything, specifically did you learn anything about God
Affliction does not automatically make one better or godlier.
The worst affliction of all is a wasted affliction, wasted because we did not turn to God and gained nothing from it.
“Very little is to be learned without affliction. If we would be scholars we must be sufferers…God’s commands are best read by eyes wet with tears.” (Spurgeon)