Psalm 119:65-128 Hard Lessons Learned 119:65 Do we believe that God has treated us well? Do we believe that God has kept His promises in Scripture to us? Do we believe that God’s instructions have worked for our lives? What this verse includes is that God’s instruction for raising children, dealing with our enemies, at the workplace or in our marriages, have worked! 119:66 He wants to be able to distinguish between good and evil (Hebrews 5:14). Do we believe in God’s commandments, that is, do we believe that there is eternal wisdom behind the commands which we might find hard or difficult to keep? Do we believe in the commands which accuse us of apathy, greed or selfishness? Do we believe in the commands that require us to place yourselves second? 119:67 This writer went through a period of unfaithfulness, apathy, or spiritual compromise. The writer also infers that when life was easy and carefree, he tended to wander from God. How many Christians think that it would be easier to be spiritual if they just had more money? Actually, the opposite is often true. Instead of allowing affliction to make him bitter and resentful, the writer has allowed affliction to bring him closer to God (Romans 5:3-5; James 1:2-4). Point To Note: “Most people have heard the tired atheistic rebuttal to Christianity based on the presence of suffering in the world…One common form of the rebuttal goes like this: If God were good He would wish to make His creatures happy, and if God were almighty He would be able to do what He wished; but His creatures are not always happy, therefore God lacks either goodness or power or both” (Boice p. 1004). What a shallow view of reality! First, people who serve God are happy! Isn’t it ironic that people who claim they are doing things their own way are typically not happy (Titus 3:3). The atheistic by this argument (i.e., most people are unhappy), proves the need for people to follow the Bible, for the same people aren’t serving God (Matthew 7:13-14). The writer of this psalm is honest. Here he admits that many of the things which he has suffered in life were due to his own unfaithfulness. Instead of resenting suffering and setbacks in life, let us rejoice in them, for they can bring us closer to God. 119:68 God has allowed him to suffer and yet he is still praising God for being good and doing good to him. Do we thank God when He allows us to suffer? Do we thank God when He disciplines us for our own good? (Hebrews 12:5-6).
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