Psalm 119:67 "Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word."
Psalm 119:71 "It is good for me that I have been afflicted;
that I might learn thy statutes."
We never think of affliction as being something good; yet in today's verses the
Psalmist took that stand. "It is good for me that I have been
afflicted." We do not know exactly what the affliction was that
brought a turning point in the life of the writer, but we can know that he took
a negative and turned it into a positive. He felt pressured and troubled in his
life because of either something he did or something that happened to
him. Can we identify with that? Has there ever been anything in your life
that brought a struggle whether it be physical, emotional, or spiritual?
To one degree or another, I believe we all have regrets in our lives. There are
two ways to deal with them. The first that I mention is not the best way; for,
sometimes we try to deal with them on our own, by our own ability to reason
through them. That never works for it takes us deeper into a dark chasm
that is impossible to climb out on our own. Thank God there is another
way to deal with affliction and that way is through God's grace. With God,
there is a "before" and a "but now". For anyone
who has ever sat under my preaching for any length of time, you know the word,
"but," is one of my favorite words in the Bible. It denotes a
difference and most of the time, it denotes a difference in our lives for the
better. Ephesians chapter 2 speaks of what we were when we were in our own
nature, "BUT God, (emphasis mine) who is rich in mercy, for his great love
wherewith he loved us..." (Ephesians 2:4) There is a before and an
after. God is the difference between them.
The Psalmist confesses there was a reason for his affliction. "Before I
was afflicted I went astray." He strayed from the will of God and
therefore he was afflicted, or felt the pressure and distress of having
displeased God. "BUT NOW have I kept thy word." Then he went on
to say, "It is good for me that I have been afflicted."
Apparently he had become lax in his commitment unto the Lord. He took the
affliction to be a wake up call and turned to the only One Who could give
relief. How does God grant relief to us? In both our verses, the Word of God is
mentioned. In verse 67, he uses the word, "word." In verse 71, he
uses the word, "statutes." Both are referring to what we now
call the Bible. God relates to us through His Holy Word. It is amazing and
beautiful when you read the Bible and suddenly you know without a shadow of a
doubt that God is speaking to you personally. That is true especially when you
are weighed down in your spirit about something.
God is so good and His Word is true. As we continue in this 119th Psalm, the
Lord will remind us that His Word never changes. We can be thankful and rejoice
in that fact!