Please, Psalm 119 in your Bibles. Psalm 119. Continue to make our way through this alphabetic psalm. It celebrates the glories of God's Word and Revelation to us. Psalm 119, beginning at verse 65 this evening, verse 65. Let us hear now the reading of God's holy word. Psalm 119, beginning at verse 65. This is the inspired and holy word of God. You have dealt well with your servant, O Lord, according to your word. Teach me good judgment and knowledge, for I believe your commandments. Before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I keep your word. You are good and do good. Teach me your statutes. The proud have forged a lie against me, but I will keep your precepts with my whole heart. Their heart is as fat as grease, but I delight in your law. It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn your statutes. The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of coins of gold and silver. Now, sons, a reading of God's word. Might you be pleased to write it on our hearts tonight? How do we know that God is good? Or another way, how have we learned? that God is good? And that could be answered in a number of ways. Certainly we can look around and see God's goodness surrounding us as he has created all things and he providentially upholds all things and he gives food to the hungry and he sustains us. There's too many ways perhaps to list right away. Because it takes in all that God is in all of his dealings with us. Even David says in Psalm 145 verse 9, the Lord is good to all and his tender mercies are over all his works. And certainly as we sang Psalm 103 earlier, we must confess that the Lord has poured out bounty upon us, his people. in the ways that he has dealt with not just our physical needs, but our souls themselves. He psalms blesses God's holy name and extols as many benefits there who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies. But the question still lingers, how did we attain this knowledge? How have we come to experience and understand this goodness of God? And we must confess that with the psalmist here in the section we are about to study, that we're led to the answer that it's God's Word. We know God is good with certainty because we have God's word and it tells us about his dealings with us and it tells us who he is. And as we experience and understand God, we learn that indeed he is only good and he does only good. We know that through the lens of his word. But the psalmist came to learn this truth, yes, through the lens of God's word, but in a most unusual place, at least according to perhaps our own sensibilities. And that is in the school of God's affliction. We tend to think of God's goodness, do we not? When all is well with ourselves, right? When all is going peachy, Are we not like Peter on the Mount of Transfiguration? In that moment when all is light, and all is heavenly glory and blessedness, and there Jesus is being transfigured before their eyes, and there's Moses, and there's Elijah, and there's the Father with them, and Peter blurts out to Jesus, he says, it's good for us to be here. Well, of course. It is good, is it not? But we're like Peter, because we are certainly those who affirm God's goodness when all is light and sweetness in our lives. But we have a challenge when we come down off that high mountain into the valley of afflictions. This is where the psalmist was or he was upon reflection in the school of afflictions, somewhere in these sorrows. And he learned something of God's good hand toward him there. That's our study tonight. Now from the outset, we have to say that we're not making trials and afflictions virtuous in and of themselves over against prosperity. That would just work us up into some sort of kind of pietistic guilt trip if things might be going smoothly by God's grace for us in our lives at this time. But it is to see that there are lessons that are held out to here, positive lessons about how critical God's word is for our lives, especially when we meet with God's chastising hand in our lives, how we come to understand what he's doing, how we come to work our way through that with God. And so tonight, our hope is to come to value and prize God's word afresh through the lens of two lessons learned in God's school of affliction. First, lessons in God's good being and acts, verse 65 to 68, verses 65, 68. And secondly, lessons in God's good word. So tonight we wanna see the two main lessons that the psalmist draws out from the school of affliction, lessons in God's good being, verses 65 to 68, and his acts, and lessons in God's good word, verses 69 to 72, what God's word tells us about God and how God's word is to be treasured by God's people. Well, first we look at lessons in God's good being and acts, and that is toward the psalmist personally. Twice in this slice of Psalm 119, the psalmist speaks about his afflictions. He speaks about his trials there in verse 67, then he mentions them again in verse 71. Now what these were is not clear to us, perhaps verse 69 though gives us a hint that maybe he was suffering at the slander and lies that were being leveled against him by the wicked. But whatever the trials were, they challenged him. And he came to see and confess that God is good. in his essence and being in his acts, and he has been good toward him personally. That's the first thing that we see. And there's several lessons here, three mainly, that we want to see under this first group of lessons of God's being and goodness. And that's first, God's goodness. This he confesses in verse 65. You have dealt well with your servant, O Lord, according to your word. And this is again echoed in the first part of verse 68. You are good, and you do good. And to bring these together, it's as if to say this. Lord, you have treated me in a manner in which there's been grace and kindness. You have dealt with your servant well, even as you have promised to do so from your word. And how could it be otherwise? Because God, you are good, and your acts and deeds are good. Now we have to confess that surely it's God's grace that enables us to make such a confession in the day of trials, or even on reflection about our trials. but it's God by his word upon which such a confession can be made. As the psalmist did notice at the end of verse 65, according to your word, that is your promises. That is to say that the psalmist is looking at his trials. The psalmist is looking at his circumstances through the lens of God's word. especially his promises. You've heard of some who learn to read the news through the lens of the Bible. You've heard that before. Because they want to see what exactly God might be doing or has done in the world before us. They read the news or listen to the news through the lens of scripture. Well, same pattern of thinking is here. Do you read your trials through the lens of God's promises? through the lens of his word, to remember and see what God is doing by them. How much we need God's word in the day of sorrows and tears. You see, it's God's perspective of our inward and outward trials that enables us to confess, Lord, you truly have dealt well with your servant. You've not only treated me, you've not treated me according to what I deserve, but you have used even these difficulties for my good. That kind of confession isn't something that we work up because we're tough or we're more committed. This is a confession of the grace of God through the lens of scripture because we know who God is. and we come to confess these truths in light of that knowledge by his grace. You can remember the patriarch Jacob, and one day it wasn't going so well. He had lost two sons, at least from his perspective, and he was facing the prospect of losing a third, and he cries out, all these things are against me. That was Jacob reading his circumstances, through the lens of Jacob. All he saw were trials. Yet, later on in his life, he came to confess with a more measured and cheerful way, the God who has fed me all my life long to this day, the angel who has redeemed me from all evil. Genesis 48, 15 to 16. There he had a view of his savior, his God. the angel of the Lord. Is it not God's Word, especially his promises, which are yes and amen to us in Jesus Christ, that we can speak and think and look at life this way? As if to say, Lord, not only have you cared for me from the womb, you've redeemed me, from all my iniquities through the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. In him I'm called from darkness into your marvelous light. With him I am an heir of God and a joint heir with Jesus Christ. By him I am your adopted child and it's a sure promise of your word, Lord. Brothers and sisters, this is where we become assured of God's goodness. It's looking at all of life through the lens of God's Word, even our day of trials. It's such a knowledge that enabled the early church father Polycarp to say before he was martyred, 80 in six years have I served Christ and he has never done me wrong. Not even in that moment when he was being turned over to the flames. How can I blaspheme my king who saved me? And then as the flames were being prepared to take Polycarp away from this life, he didn't detract from that confession of God's goodness, but looked to him and said this, I fear not the fire that burns for a season and after a while is quenched. Why do you delay? Come, do your will. This is what happens when we have a sight of who God is through the word that he has given us. This is why the word is so critical for us. And that's the first lesson we see concerning God's good being and acts is God is good. The second, we also see his goodwill. This is something that the psalmist sought in depth and balance. We see that in verse 66, teach me good judgment and knowledge for I believe your commandments. He obviously had knowledge of God and his will to speak as he just did in verse 65. But the sense here is that the psalmist wants to move on. He wants to grow in greater depth of knowledge of who God is and his will. Particularly, he prays for good judgment and knowledge. That is, knowledge is an apprehension of the things of God, and good judgment is an application, knowing how to apply that knowledge in a useful way. He wants a balanced understanding of God's goodwill in his life. This is something we need. The idea here behind judgment is the idea of taste. Though we know our taste buds are quite handy when we are seeking whether to take another bite of something or not. While we apply this idea to the taste of spiritual or moral things, we're talking about discernment. The psalmist wants to know and to discern God's will with greater clarity and faithfulness. We're familiar with the idea that it's possible to be smart and yet make stupid choices. Some of us who are along the way in life could give you some evidences of actual situations. Well, that's the kind of pattern here that's behind this knowledge without judgment. It's the proverbial young student who has just discovered a few Greek words is now ready to debate his professor of systematic theology. Perhaps needs to wait a little while and grow some discernment by God's grace to use that knowledge properly. Maybe a good example of knowledge without discernment might have been Job's miserable comforters. They had many good things to say about God, but they didn't have a discernment to apply it properly to Job's case. We smirk, but we realize how much damage is done in life because we have a smattering of knowledge, but we don't have a discernment on how to carry ourselves in life. Pharisees were prime examples of this concept. They were teachers of the law. They knew some things, run some circles around us concerning especially the Old Testament law. They were punctilious. They tithed mint and anise and cumin. but they neglected the weightier matters of the law, truth, justice, love, faith. They had knowledge, but they didn't have the ability to apply it and weigh it properly. Matthew Henry said, many have knowledge who have little judgment. But to have both is to equip you against Satan's traps. You can have knowledge, but how many of us have to confess, T-boned in the intersection of the Christian life. I didn't see that coming. That was a bad choice that I made. That lacked discernment. We have many sad ways in which we probably can confess this personally. What does this mean for you? Even perhaps from this context or in the context of trials and afflictions. We see that we need to make a clear confession of God. Such knowledge enabled the psalmist to make such a confession in the midst of life that presents challenges with not always easy answers. He needed to appropriate the knowledge of God and God's goodness toward him in his situation, and he desired more of an ability to do that. Let me give you one example that you might be struggling with or some of you do struggle with and that's the tender or over scrupulous conscience. It's a conscience that cannot find peace with God. Despite knowing God's sufficiency, as your Savior in Jesus Christ, despite knowing the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ shed on your behalf that you have received by faith, and yet you have this matter, this matter of judgment in your mind and heart. As somebody put it, an over-scrupulous conscience is like having a rock in your shoe. So if you lift your foot, you're certainly not moving forward, and if you put it down, you're moving forward with pain. Some of us suffer that in the Christian life. They don't know how to appropriate the knowledge that they have come to enjoy in God in a particular instance in their life, and that is a matter of conscience that they might be making too big of a deal in light of God's sufficiency and His grace and mercy. We can do this in other ways, too. Just one more example on how this is an important idea for us. Christians can apply their scruples to others without a lot of judgment, proper and good judgment. They can make a big deal, let's say, about outward things like skirt lengths or hairstyle or clothing choices, but they miss completely the inward spirit of worldliness that might be present that needs to be spoken into. We are quick to strain at gnats and to swallow camels, and that's why we need this prayer. For the matter before us, we need to pray for a fuller view of God and of His goodness toward us for the trials, because we easily say in our lives, all things are against me. Sometimes it doesn't take much for us to say that, But we need to know that in Jesus Christ we have God's love to us, a love that will not be taken away, not by tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword, Paul writes in the book of Romans. That is, we need a balanced understanding of God's will and a right use of it that we can see our afflictions through the lens of God's word, that we might be sustained in them, that we might grow by them. And we will see how the psalmist has grown by those as we go forward this evening. But we need this prayer of the psalmist. And so we see God's goodness, we see God's goodwill, but one of the lessons that he learns concerning God's good being and acts is God's good afflictions. Verse 67, before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I keep your word. Now we shouldn't necessarily wish for trials. But at the same time, we need a proper perspective of prosperity as well. And the truth of the matter is that in general, prosperity is not necessarily good for the soul. In general. The commentator William Plumer said, the obstinate depravity of the human heart seems to be incurable except in the school of sorrow. What he's saying is that when we're going along great and things are wonderful from a worldly perspective, Our human hearts with the latent depravity that remains in them seems to bubble up and this prosperity only serves for evil and not good in our life. That's what Plumer is getting at. How we need God's word to show us a perspective of things. And is it not God's word that gives us perspective on suffering? It did for the psalmist. Before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I keep your word. See how God's word again plays a central role. Not only does it judge his former backsliding, but it also commends his present obedience and the fruit that was being born through the trials that he suffered. And it also informed him concerning his state that God has put a check on my backsliding and I am now back with walking with him. As we go forward, we have to ask ourselves, what would we do without God's word next to us in our trials? left to our imaginations of things, but not having Genesis to Revelation to inform us on God's purposes, even the purposes of a loving father who chastens his children on occasion. Here's another truth. Here's another promise that that the psalmist well. He doesn't get to read, but we get to read Writer to the Hebrews tells us this now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful nevertheless This is the pattern that worked out in the psalmist life nevertheless it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it and Isn't it wonderful that the Lord has given us a view of our difficulties, that the Lord is chastising us so that we might continue to follow after Him and not be so easily swayed and taken off the path concerning worldly things? The Old Testament form of the New Testament sentiment is found with the psalmist in this verse as well as 68 when he confesses, you are good and do good. He has seen the goodness of God in his difficulties. He's seen that it is God's goodness that he is good in his being. He is good in his actions toward me. And that undergirds a confession that we find in these verses. God has a useful purpose for our trials. And we get through them not because we're somehow more stoic than our brothers and sisters, or somehow we are more tough, or we're more resilient, or we're more pious. Because look at how I carry myself through these afflictions. We get through them because we're being sustained by God and a knowledge of his goodness toward us that he is indeed the fountain of all goodness. He's shown that to be the case preeminently in Jesus Christ. Puritan William Cooper Asked this question. Why and how do we give thanks in and for afflictions? That was his question How do we give thanks for afflictions And perhaps you're ready to brace yourself for a Puritan-esque answer based on the stereotypes you might have of the Puritans that probably aren't true. But he doesn't give a Puritan stereotype answer as it were, as somebody might expect, but he points us to God's goodness. He says this, for this reason, God's crosses are good and not evil because inflicted by the Lord who is the chief good, Because suffered by the Lord Jesus, who is the chief good, they confirm us to the Lord, who is the chief good, and they prepare us for communion with the Lord in heaven, which is our chief good. Therefore be thankful for crosses. Inflicted by the Lord, who is the chief good. Suffered by the Lord Jesus, who is the chief good. Conforming us to the Lord, who is our chief good. Preparing us for communion with God, which is our chief good. Therefore, he concludes, be thankful for crosses. That perspective is not made in Cooper's head. It's rooted in God's Word and the knowledge of Him. So tonight we first see these great lessons that the psalmist learns as God's Word is next to him in these trials as he comes to read them and have a perspective on them through the lens of God's Word as he comes to see that God is dealing well even with his servants when he chases them. Well, the second set of lessons we see are under the idea of this, lessons in God's good word. The first part of the psalm seemed to have an emphasis on the goodness of God himself in all his actions and in his being himself. But the second part of this section in Psalm 119 seems to put the accent on God's word. And there are several lessons that we learn about God's word, several takeaways here this evening. First, the way that it shows, particularly in the face of wickedness, in this case, slander and lies, verse 69, the proud have forged a lie against me, but I will keep your precepts with my whole heart. It would be tempting for us, would it not, in the day of trial, when we have people opposing us, slandering us, lying about us, to compromise, to make a deal. The sense of forge here is fabrication with ingenuity, such as sewing or weaving, fabrication with ingenuity. Some in our congregation have known this particular trial. They've had their names dragged through the mud even for doing well. Being painted with a lie is not easy. It goes against our sense of truth and justice and it goes against our sense of reputation. How do you get through something like that? Well, the psalmist chooses to answer a lie with truth, a truthful life, lived before God according to his word. The proud have forged a lie against me, but I will keep your precepts with my whole heart. Now, certainly there are times when the world might have a case against us, sadly. It might be something that they could properly accuse us for. And that should be a good impetus for us to reconsider our ways. That we might have a life like this that could respond to untruth with truth. That the lies can't stick. Because my life is before God. But our lives should not and our minds should not be surprised when this kind of stuff happens. This is the kind of life that our Savior lived. And he said it was going to be the life that his disciples would live. the same kinds of lies and reproaches, the same pattern of affliction and what great hope the word holds out to us. Though the course would be an easy one to take compromise, the blessed course is to take our eyes off of our circumstances and to look upon God and to look upon the word that he has given us to reveal himself and to go forward with his help. Did not Jesus say, great is your reward in heaven? The writer to the Hebrews strikes a similar chord of encouragement when he says this, let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. Holding fast Because our savior is faithful and what he has promised when he has said, great is your reward in heaven. He is with us and he is bringing us through us, bringing us through these things. how crucial it is for God's word to be ours with us at these times. It sets before us also the duty that is faithfulness to Jesus Christ in light of the great promise of reward as we suffer the lies of others against us. And so that's the first lesson that we see the way it shows. But secondly, we see the delight that the word offers. Verse 70, the heart is fat as grease, but I delight in your law. The psalmist is learning a lesson of the delight of God's word, particularly over and against worldly temptations. And this is an easy trap for us, is it not? Worldly temptations. It's easy to slip, like Asaph. Envy the prosperity of the wicked they don't have any problems Everything's going so easy for them. Look at how they're prospering in the things of the world. Aren't they so happy? The psalmist paints a really graphic picture here their heart is as fat as griefs. I Anyone who's worked in a restaurant will know that's quite an image, because you deal with a lot of that in a restaurant. Grease, fat. That's their heart, and it's a picture of insensitivity here. The wicked are becoming, they might have much of the world, but they are growing hardened and insensitive to the things of God. We need our eyes opened to these things so we're not so easily swayed with the prosperity of the wicked that are put before us in so many different ways, advertisements and friends and so forth, that you'll be happy this and you'll be happy with that and so forth. It's a corrective to our worldliness that we might not be so easily tripped up. But it puts something else before us as well. It puts before us a picture of the horror of those who are on the path of hardening. Hardening that might not be reclaimed. A hardening that is unto eternal destruction, their heart as fat as grease. They're living insensitive, untouched by the truth of God. It's a reality. Luxury can kill You can kill the soul But over and against that is true delight Happiness joy peace and it's found in God's Word. What does the psalmist say? That he delights in in God's law. He delights in what God has revealed. And the pressing question for all of us and perhaps for you tonight is whether you can answer yes to whether you know him personally as your God and Savior. Whether you've heard of him as a gracious and loving God in Jesus Christ and embraced him by faith. Then you know that peace. Then you know that delight. Then you know that joy. It is yours in Him. But the application tonight is not for you to wonder if you're too far gone, whether you're too insensitive now to your guilt or to your sin. The question isn't for you to walk away and say, well, all is hopeless with my case. Certainly there is a warning here. that there is a place where people become insensitive to the things of God, but also we know that God comes to us and he says that there's a today. And the writer to the Hebrew says today, if you will not harden your heart. Or we saw this morning how there's hope for dry bones. There's hope for dead souls in Jesus Christ. It's Christ that leads us to life. It's Christ that leads us to the Father whereby we might call him Abba Father. It's Christ that we have as our merciful and gracious and sympathetic high priest. It's Christ that calls on the Father to give us the comforter. We have great bounty and riches and great things in God on account of Jesus Christ. And the message is for us today, if you will not harden your heart. But to repent and turn unto Jesus Christ, if you have not. And for the believer, it's a check, right? We see that there's an insensitivity, a fatness to the soul that is not good. Fat as grease is not a good picture. Delight in God Where our true delight is found That's the second lesson under our second set of lessons, but a third one is this the riches that the word holds for us Verse 71 it's good for me that I have been afflicted that I may learn your statutes here again now the psalmist returns to the idea of affliction and before he was looking at affliction from its good fruit of checking backsliding and He said that was a good thing that God had done with affliction and now he returns to action But there's another lesson to be learned here the accent is on opening up to him and to us by extension the riches of God's Word and He has come to see that there are wonderful lessons that are learned about God through his word, through the trials and afflictions that God has brought upon him. A couple remarkable experiences that early Christians had. One was the reformer Martin Luther who said this, I never knew the meaning of God's word. This is Martin Luther. I never knew the meaning of God's word until I came into affliction. I always found it one of my best schoolmasters. It was through Martin's difficulties that he actually was driven to God's word and that God showed himself in that word. Afflictions were one of his best schoolmasters. It's not saying it's easy. The writer to the Hebrews again, no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful. It's not a pleasure cruise. But it's through sorrows and afflictions that we come to have great delight and great pleasure in God, a greater apprehension of Him. His promises become more real to us. His truth becomes more real to us in the context of sorrows. One French Huguenot theologian, Andre Rive, himself was a very prolific writer and a very prolific scholar of God's word. Rive said this, I have learned more divinity in these 10 days that thou art come to visit me than I did in 50 years before. Presumably he's speaking of his afflictions or it's quoted in that context by a commentator. He's learned more of divinity, this prolific theologian has learned more of divinity in these 10 days of hardship than he did in 50 years before. Well, whether you think they're exaggerating or you think this is just hyperbole, the point being made, and the psalmist makes it for us, that he learned great things about God in the Valley of Tears in conjunction with the Word of God. next to him as he read the life. Well, the fourth thing that we find here and very briefly is the treasure that the word is. Verse 72, the law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of coins of gold and silver. One commentator said if you want to update that for our time, that would be millions. Millions of coins of gold and silver And if you just simply reflect back on the lessons that we have seen tonight, just those alone, where God, through his word, shows us his goodness, where God takes us and teaches us his will, where he sanctifies even our trials for good, that he is conforming us to the image of Christ, Whether you learn those lessons where we learn that God's word is a trustworthy way to follow in the face of wickedness, or whether we learn that it's to be delighted in, in the face of worldly temptation and prosperity, or whether we see how God's word holds out wonderful riches for us. If you add that all up, we have to confess the law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of coins of gold and silver. We've talked several times, but it's worth repeating because we all fall into the trap. As our Bibles sit there, proclaiming to us day by day that we're behind on our yearly Bible reading schedule, that we forget. We forget the life that is found in God's word, that's to be had through God's word. And certainly we must pray, Lord, give us your word, especially in the day of tears and sorrows when we're in the valley, that we might indeed see that we're truly on the mountain with you. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your precious word. We pray that you would cleanse us once more from our neglect of it, but that you would also stir within us a delight for the revelation you have made of yourself, that we would find in you through the means of grace that you have given to us through your word, that you are the chief good, and that you only do good, and that for those who are found in Jesus Christ, It is your good hand that is dealing with them in not only their times of peace and prosperity, but also their times of sorrows and trials. We pray, O God, that you would write these laws upon our hearts. Help us be more nimble, O God, to run to your scriptures for all that we need in life, for wisdom, even for good judgment, O Lord, to know how to apply your truth on the various questions of life in balance and in measure as you would have us do so. Help us be good scholars and students of your word as your children of God. We pray in Jesus name. Amen.