As you've borne with me patiently as we're going through this psalm, I hope that you have got blessing and have been challenged by each section of it, as I have certainly been in my preparation and consideration of it. And you'll find in each little section, if you kind of just read it as a portion set apart, and reflect upon the psalmist's mood. That's the first thing to do, is to sort of see what frame of mind is he in, in this section. And in the previous section we looked at some weeks ago, verses 55 to 64, he was in a very positive and upbeat frame of mind. And here in this section, 65 to 72, I think he is still in a similar frame of mind. And even in the midst of pressures and difficulties and challenges, and many of these are quite intense, his overall mood, his overall feeling is one of optimism and confidence in God. And he's in a good position in that sense. And here again, we have much to learn. Because he's not drifting along in a perfect scenario by any means, as we'll see, but he is He's in a good place because he recognizes through it all the hand of God upon him. And I just want briefly this morning to look at this section under two broad headings and then break them down a wee bit. First of all, we see the privileges here of the believer, which are those things that give us as believers that confidence and hope in our heart and soul. Then we see also, as we've seen on many occasions in this psalm so far, the problems, the challenges, the realities, if you like, of life as they surround us as believers. First of all, then, the privileges of the believer. And in a sense, I want to even begin by speaking of God's more general goodness, not only to believers, but to all mankind. Those words in verse 68, thou art good, and do us good. How often the world will complain about God as a God of harshness and anger. Stephen Fry in his atheism and rebellion, speaking of this horrible God of the scriptures, especially he said of the Old Testament. But we're told here in the Old Testament that God is good. Of course we believe that, don't we? And he does good. God is good to all mankind. God has given everyone who lives this morning upon the face of the earth a breath. We all this morning woke up to face a new day. For us, the Lord's Day. But isn't it wonderful to open your eyes at this time of the year to hear the birds singing outside and to be thankful again for another day when we can rise from our beds and go about our business. We have food upon our tables. We have family units, we have the joy of all of that, and we have so many things that we take so much for granted. And even as God's people, we need to remind ourselves that in these things, God is good, and God does good to us all. Now we're here this morning to praise God for that, and we'll develop that theme of his goodness to us as his own people. But out there, how few folk this morning will have thanked the Lord for breath, and health, and strength, and food, and warmth, and clothing, and so on. In one of our previous sections, we drew attention to Lamentations 3, those lovely words, 22 and 23. It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. And that's those two wee verses, everyone this morning should be saying that. But people don't see God in that way. If they think of God at all, they have a different view of him, and they fail to recognize that God is good. In him we live and move and have our being. I went to Galleriata School. The headmaster at that in my days was a very eccentric man, a brilliant man, but eccentric. And in his prayer in every assembly, you always knew he was going to say those words, in him we live and move and have our being. And of course, as young people, you just were amused by his repetition. But in him we do live and move and have our being, and we ought not to ever forget that. When things go wrong, people will quickly condemn God. Oh, then God comes into their reckoning, and why has God allowed this to happen to me? Why am I not well, and why have I not got all these good things? But when things are going well, no one thinks that God indeed is good to them. But to us, as his people this morning. He's not only good to us in the material realm and in that broader realm that I've spoken of, but we see in verse 65 where the psalmist can say, thou hast dealt well with thy servant according unto thy word. If we are God's people this morning, he has done great good to us. He's done great good to us and to our souls because we have been lifted out of that mire and we have been set upon a rock and we have become His special blood-bought children. Well, can we say to our God, God, thou art good. Thou hast done good to me. Thou hast saved my soul. Thou hast drawn me by irresistible grace to put my faith in thy dear son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Thou hast dealt well with us. And the psalmist knows he indeed is the servant of God because his faith is in God. Out there this morning there are the slaves of Satan. They may not think that or believe that but that is the reality of it. Even if they're decent folk, they're still the slaves of Satan. God, yes, is good to them, but they are the slaves of Satan. But we are the servants of a new master because God has dealt well with us. Paul says in Ephesians chapter one and verse three to verse eight, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world. What a lovely verse. Thou hast dealt well with thy servant, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure, the good pleasure of his will. to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace, wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence. Thou hast dealt well, O God, with me, and I praise thee for it this morning, but it is according to thy word, as we'll come to see very soon now. And as I was sitting this morning there during the service, for some reason, a dear friend came into my head who's been with the Lord for many years. She was a member of our church. And in her 40s, she was struck down. Well, cancer returned. It had been there before, and it came back, and this time with a vengeance. And she knew she had little time to live. She had three children. Her marriage wasn't that happy because of her husband's misbehavior, sadly. And I went to see her different times in the hospice, Marie Curie there in East Belfast. And she was so weak, so frail, hardly able to speak, indeed, and all just completely consumed by this illness. But she was a believer. And in the middle of all of her suffering, I'll never forget what she said. This came into my head this morning. She says, to me, you know, God is good. God is good. And I just thought, well, could I say that if I was in that position? But she knew God was good because God had been good to her in her redemption and her salvation. She could say, God has dealt well with me, his servant. God is good to his people. And we see again there the goodness of God is in giving us his precious word. Because this psalm continually reminds us of the need to flee to the word of God, to rest upon that word, to depend upon it, to seek to understand everything about ourselves, about life and death from God's word. Everything else will fail us. Nothing else is reliable. And this draws us continually back. to the word. Verse 68 again, our good and doers good, teach me thy statutes. Again, no one out there or very few out there in the world are saying this morning, teach me your word of God. They have no interest in it. They have no interest in it at all. And verse 65, God, you've dealt well with thy servant according How have we been saved? How are we this morning standing as believers? How did that happen? Through the preaching and the reading of the word of God. And that was the only way that leads us to the Savior. And again, this passage here, these few verses remind us over and over again of the wonder of God's word and the centrality of that word. And in verse 72, he says, the law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver." He would prefer God's word to all the prosperity that the world could offer him. And again, how many of us could really genuinely say that this morning? So many believers are caught up in the desire to tear down their barns and build greater. There's little difference between them and the world. And they'll speak of the word of God, but they're driven by other standards. And are we like that this morning? There's a couple of quotes here from Charles Bridges, and I thought I would bring them with me this morning. They make the point very well in relation to verse 72. Christian, he says, bear your testimony to your supreme delight in the book of God. You have here opened the surface of much intellectual interest and solid instruction, yes. But it is the joy that you have found in the revelation of the Savior, in his command, in his promises, in his ways, that leads you to exclaim, more to be desired are they than gold, yea, much fine gold. And he goes on to say, but is this word better to me? Is this my decided choice? How many, he says, will inconsiderately acknowledge its supreme value while they yet hesitate to relinquish even a scanty morsel of earth for an interest in it? Do I then, he says, habitually prefer this law of God's mouth to every worldly advantage? I was challenged by those words, and I want to share them with you. Genuinely, do can we say that God's word, this precious word, is more Precious to me is better to me than all that the world can offer. It's a challenging question, and only you and I can answer that within our hearts before the Lord. We have been given God's word. It must be central in our lives, central in our church life, and we must proclaim it before all those around us. So God's goodness is seen to us in so many different ways, and in the giving of his word, it reaches a great height. Then we must now look Secondly, the problems that the believer endures. Here he is aware of God's goodness. Here he is aware of all of these things fitting in to the word of God and the centrality of that word. But he's not just drifting along with no problems. He has many difficulties, many challenges, many problems. And we see them here yet again highlighted in this section. First of all, there's reference to affliction. It's a common theme. It crops up in different times in this and many other Psalms and other parts of God's word. But we see it mentioned there in verse 67, before I was afflicted, I went astray. And then in verse 71, it is good for me that I have been afflicted. Note the order of that. Before he was afflicted, he went astray. You and I know very well that if life is going well, then the devil can have a field day. If we find ourselves drifting along merrily, with few problems and few challenges, we can get very confident in ourselves. And we can think, I'm some boy, I'm serving the Lord, I'm doing this, I'm doing that, and I'm having successes, and I find myself just in top form, I'm studying the Word, and I'm enjoying it. But then we can become puffed up with our own sense of importance. Because as Martin Luther said, and I'm sure I've used this expression before, there's little popes in us all trying to get out. And there is. There's an arrogance of the old man trying to get out. And affliction, therefore, brings us back to reality. Because he says there in verse 67, he went astray. He's human. He has done. the wrong things, he's committed sin, he's wandered off down the wrong path, but what drew him back was a measure of affliction. He had backslidden. because all was well. Then suddenly, he was drawn back. And affliction can come in many forms, and it can come very, very suddenly. Those who have been to the Sea of Galilee will tell you that the weather patterns can change with tremendous speed. It can happen here, too, because when I was driving down here, oh, it was sunny, and then I got here and the rain came on. But apparently in Galilee, there's a very clear example there of how the weather can just turn from beautiful calmness and peace and tranquility to turbulence and wind. And we have the example of the wind at sea, of course, in Christ's own time upon the earth on that very lake. And life can be like that. We can wake up even in the morning and all's well, and we don't know what a day may bring forth. And God can bring affliction upon us. We don't like to think of that, but he can. And I mentioned that friend of mine from the church, who's other folks that we'll all know, I'm sure, in our own family life, church life, people unwell, people struck down by different things. Affliction can come. And it can come through ill health, it can come through fiery attacks from hell that suddenly, suddenly out of the blue come upon you. And again, we'll all know that experience, how Satan can come with such speed and such effectiveness and knock us off course. So it can be the attacks of hell, it can be ill health, it can be family problems, money problems, all of these things. And God allows it to happen. God allows it to happen. We can't always understand that, but he allows it to happen. And the best example perhaps known to us in the scriptures is that of Job, who was put through so much affliction. And Job hadn't even gone astray, but he was afflicted. And Job, as he endured his trials, could see a purpose in them. And he was reflecting, I suppose, the words of verse 71, where the psalmist says, it's good for me that I've been afflicted. It's good for me. Job says, he knoweth the way that I take. And when he has tried me, I shall come forth as gold. And again, in verse 71, the affliction had been good for him. It had humbled him. And what had it done? It had drawn him back. to reliance upon God's precious word. Because as I say, when you have things going well, then you think, well, you're fine. And perhaps your Bible reading and Bible study and reflection and meditation can be set aside because you're getting on well in your life. But the psalmist says it was good that it should happen, this affliction, whatever it is, that it might draw me back to you. It does good for us. Affliction is a rough schoolmaster, someone has said. It's a schoolmaster who appears to be a very hard schoolmaster, but whose lessons are well worth learning. Martin Luther said this, I never knew the meaning of God's word until I came into affliction. I have always found it to be one of my best schoolmasters. And he also calls affliction elsewhere the theology of Christians. So whatever your circumstances this morning. Just realize that there's a purpose behind the affliction that you have. No chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous. Nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised And in deflection again, whatever it might be, remember those lovely words of Romans 8, 28, we know that all things, all things work together for good to them that love God and to them that are called, the called according to his purpose. We live in a real world, like Peter in the Mount of Transfiguration, he wanted to stay there, he wanted to remain there, to abide there, but he had to come back down into the world. and face all those challenges. God's will for your life and mine is something that's completely under his control. So suffer affliction. Suffer affliction patiently. For at one point you'll say it was good that I was afflicted. Then you have one particular form of affliction finally that he highlights, and he's highlighted this before, is the attacks of his enemies. That's one of the main forms of difficulty for the Christian. It's one of the main trials we have to suffer. Constantly the world will attack us. It hates us. It hates you and me because we are the servants of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he describes these people here in verse 69 as proud and as liars. whose heart, verse 70, is as fat as grease. They are puffed up. They're the complete opposite of the believer. They're puffed up with pride. They're habitually liars. They love their gold and silver by the thousand because that's what life's all about. They're building up a treasure upon earth where it's all gonna be destroyed, but they are mighty men. And they're surrounding us. And they're laughing at the church. They're laughing at the believer. They're laughing at those of us who would hold to the standards of the word of God. They're puffed up with their own philosophies and their own logic. And they won't leave God's people alone. The church is under increasing attack. You see it every day, every week. Jim Wells is a close personal friend of mine, has been for about 40 years. There, a couple of weeks ago, he has been under severe attack from his enemies, misrepresented for what he said during the election campaign, then set up in a subsequent event in Rathfrieland by his enemies, who are liars and proud and arrogant, and then, in God's providence, to be suffering the affliction of serious illness of his dear wife, very serious illness indeed. And Jim met with me and he said, God has a purpose behind all of this, he says, but I can't get my head around it just now. So in a sense, Jim is an example to us of this section of the psalm. Affliction through ill health in the family and misrepresented by his enemies. But we're told not to fret because of them. Jeremiah five says, God says, for among my people are found wicked men. They lay wait, they set snares, they set a trap, they catch men. As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses, full of deceit. Therefore they are become great and waxen rich. They are waxen fat, they shine. Yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked. They judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper. And the right of the needy do they not judge. Then it says, shall I not visit for these things, saith the Lord? Shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? God sees these things. He sees the wickedness of these people. God is not blind to this. But the psalmist isn't jealous, because we have that verse 72, he says, oh, the thousands of gold and silver, I would rather have your word. And then I want to just conclude now by referring to the words we sang earlier on from Psalm 37. I want to read them with you again as a reminder to us and a kind of confirmation of what I'm trying to say here about not fretting because of the wicked. enduring affliction, rejoicing in the Lord's goodness to us, rejoicing in his word, and remembering the words here of Psalm 37. Let's read them together as we close. Psalm 37 and verse 35. I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree. That is today. The green bay tree, my friends, is massive. It is massive. And yet he passed away, and lo, he was not. Yea, I sought him, but he could not be found. Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace. But the transgressors shall be destroyed together. The end of the wicked shall be cut off. But the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord. He is their strength in the time of trouble. And the Lord shall help them and deliver them. He shall deliver them from the wicked and save them because they trust in him. Go home and read again those verses if you have time this afternoon and rejoice in them. They are a reflection of the position of the psalmist in the section we've looked at in Psalm 119. God is good. He is good to his people. He has dealt well with you and me. And even in affliction, he's with us. There's a purpose behind it that he might mature us and strengthen us and even face with our enemies. Stand firm. Cling to the word of God and to the cause of God.