September 25th

SEPTEMBER 25th

Psalm 119:65-72 Do good to your servant according to your word, Lord. Teach me knowledge and good judgment, for I trust your commands. Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word. You are good, and what you do is good; teach me your decrees. Though the arrogant have smeared me with lies, I keep your precepts with all my heart. Their hearts are callous and unfeeling, but I delight in your law. It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees. The law from your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold.

This is an interesting but truthful passage. Besides the obvious verse that asks God to teach knowledge and good judgment, there is an honest bit in there about our tendencies as humans. The writer states that before he was afflicted (faced trouble) he went astray…but now since being afflicted he obeys the Word. He wisely comes to the conclusion that it was good for him to be afflicted so that he would learn the Word.

How human is that! We often don’t reach for the Word of God until we face trouble or hardship, hurt or hurdles. We have to decide now whether we trust the Word. We should decide during the good times that we NEED the Word every day so that we are already wise and already have a habit of leaning on it before the hard times come.

Are we mature enough to acknowledge that it is good that the Lord allows affliction in our life because we do grow from it, we lean on Him and His Word in those times? Maybe if we were diligently seeking Him in the good times we could avoid some of those afflictions. Hmmm.

Psalm 119:73-75 You made me; you created me. Now give me the sense to follow your commands. May all who fear you find in me a cause for joy, for I have put my hope in your word. I know, O LORD, that your regulations are fair; you disciplined me because I needed it.

The last statement in the passage is also convicting…is the Word of God more precious to you than thousands of pieces of silver and gold? If not then we must dive in more, learn more, and tuck more in our hearts, then it definitely will become more precious to us than riches.

Lord thank you for treating me with Fatherly love and allowing affliction in my life so that I can grow closer to you. Help me to lean in to you during the good times even more. Help me to walk in your Word everyday and dive in deep to study it. Lead me to the part of your Word that I need to read today and open my eyes to understand it.