We sang this morning in 119, and now what we sang this evening is new to all of us, I think. And we're learning here. I think what a joy it is to be able to sing our way through the Psalms, knowing that the Lord has given us the Psalms to sing as well. And so what a joy and what a blessing to be able to sing these words to our great God, who is worthy. Well, our focus this evening, Psalm 119, verses 65-72. Psalm 119, 65-72, hear God's holy word. You have dealt now with your servant, O Lord, according to your word and knowledge, for I believe in 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 insolent smear me with lies, but with my whole heart, I keep your precepts. Their heart is unfeeling like fat, but I delight in your law. It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes. The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands. of gold and silver pieces. Thus far, the reading of God's holy word. Let's pray for his blessing. Our Heavenly Father, we do give you praise. We give you thanks for your word. Lord, you are holy and you are true and you continue to instruct us. Lord, we thank you that you are our ever present aid. We thank you, Lord, that you never leave us nor forsake us, that you are present with us in affliction and that you use it to instruct and guide and teach. Lord, as your word is proclaimed to us now, instruct us, guide us, teach us, that we might love and serve you, for we pray it in Jesus' name, amen. Congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ, the atheist often likes to say that God can't be both good and almighty. If he were good, the atheist would say, then he would desire, or not desire, for there to be so much suffering, so much evil in the world. And if he's almighty, he'd be able to do something about the evil in the world. And therefore, since there is suffering in the world, if there is a God, He either lacks goodness, or power, or both, or there is no God whatsoever. I trust you understand the argument that they're getting at. If God is good Why would he want us to suffer? Why would he allow evil to go on? Why are there such things as viruses like COVID? Why are there shootings in our land? Why is there suffering? Why do you deal with trials and afflictions if your God who supposedly loves you is good and almighty at the very same time? You see the problem with the argument is that it assumes that freedom from suffering, freedom from affliction is a great good. But any serious Christian thinker knows that there is more to the problem of suffering than this. Every single person in the world has faced suffering in one form or another. And the psalmist isn't excluded from this. However, despite his suffering and trials, he still affirms the goodness of God as well, of course, as the sovereignty of God. He even says that it was good that he was afflicted. And when a Christian suffers, it is ultimately for his good. That's why James says, as we quoted this morning, James chapter one, two to four, count it all joy, my brothers. When you meet trials of various kinds for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. Count it joy. when you meet trials. Not necessarily count the trial joy. Trials aren't fun. Trials themselves aren't joyous. But count it joy when you face these things knowing that your God is at work. Knowing that your God is good. Knowing that your God is working things for your good. The stanza of Psalm 119 verses 65 to 72 is the Tet stanza. Each verse in the stanza begins with that Hebrew letter. which is pronounced like the English letter T. And one of the interesting things here is that of five of these verses, five of these eight verses, they not only start with that letter, they start with the same word, the Hebrew word that means good. And that's verses 65, 66, 68, 71, and 72. And actually the verb form of this word is also found in verse 68. And the reason for the repetition of this word is not that the psalmist can't find any other words that begin with this letter in the Hebrew alphabet, the Tet. But he wants to stress, he's clearly stressing the goodness of God. God is good. And today we'll look at two things in that regard. First of all, experiencing God's goodness. and secondly, valuing God's goodness. The psalmist confessed that the Lord has treated him good and that God is good. You have dwelt well, good we might say, with your servant, O Lord, according to your word. The first word in this verse is there for the sake of, of course, poetry, starting with those T sounds, but also for the sake of emphasis. Often when Hebrew, and actually Greek as well, the word order can vary, and so the word order is often there for emphasis. And so when you have that first word is good, there's an emphasis there on that. God is good. Good! You have dwelt with your servant. The Lord has dealt with us well. He's dealt with us good. If there's one word to describe how God treated the Psalmist, it is that word good. In all his relations to us, he is always good with us. He always does what is right. He is always kind. He is good. And there's no exception to that rule. If someone were to ask my children, if I'm a good father, I hope they might say yes, but I also know that there are so, so many exceptions to that. Times when I've lost my temper, times when I've misunderstood them, times when I didn't pay the attention that I should, times when I've accused the wrong child. Why did you do this? And it's the other one. Times when I've simply been in a bad mood and perhaps grumpy towards them. But I'm thankful that my children have a perfectly good father. Not me. The Father in Heaven. With me there are so many exceptions in how I've dealt with my children. Not always good. Far from that. But with God, there are no exceptions to his goodness, not one at all. Psalm 145, verse 17 says, the Lord is righteous in all his ways and kind in all of his works, he's good. Deuteronomy 32, four says the rock, his work is perfect for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright as He, our God, is good in everything, in all His ways. Not merely some of the time, not merely even most of the time. God has always done what is right. He has always done what is good for His people. He needs no improvement. Every single father here, including me, we need improvement. But not God. He's the perfect father to his people. He is good. You remember what the psalmist prayed for back in verse 17? He said, deal bountifully with your servant that I may keep your word. The Lord has certainly answered that prayer. Dealt bountifully, dwelt or dealt good with his servant. And he'll continue to answer that. The psalmist has experienced the goodness of God, and we have experienced the goodness of God. Even in the midst of adversity, affliction, and trial, the psalmist can still confess, the Lord has dealt well. He's dealt good with me. And he doesn't wait till the trial is over to say the Lord has been good to him, right? In the midst of the trial, he doesn't wait until the trial is over and say, oh yeah, the Lord's good. In the midst of the trial, he says, the Lord is good. In the midst of the affliction, are we ready to acknowledge that in the midst of affliction? How many of you, when you're being afflicted, want to say the Lord is good? Man, I just got the diagnosis of whatever. The Lord is good. We really respond that way? Not all the time, do we? But the Lord is good. The Lord works all things to the good. You know that verse in Romans 8 that I quote often. We know for those who love God, all things work together for the good of those who are called according to His purpose. And this kindness of the Lord is no chance matter. He has promised to do so, and he has done so according to his word. It's too bad that we can't say that we have always dealt well or dealt good with the Lord. In fact, with the way we often act towards God, it's a wonder of grace that God doesn't cast us from him, that he hasn't done it long ago. He may chastise us, but he always treats us good. He never abuses us. He never treats us roughly. There was a time back in North Dakota that we had some goats and we had a stubborn billy goat. That billy goat was annoying. A stiff-necked billy goat. I mean, that's what I think billy goats get their name from. Just stubborn. And I remember one time he was trying to butt Lena and kept doing it. And I got so angry with that goat that I took my foot and I swung to kick it about as hard as I could out of frustration and anger at that goat. Ready to kick it right in the face. It's a shame on me for treating an animal that way. but also the goat bowed its head and my shin hit its horn and I limped for a month or two. How thankful I am that though my God may chase me, he never seeks to kick me in the face. Even in his discipline, He is good. He is always good. He always does things for the good of his children. The psalmist then prays, verse 66, "...teach me good judgment and knowledge, for I believe in your commandments." Since God dealt with him so well, he is encouraged to pray for good judgment and knowledge. Trying to kick a billy goat was bad judgment on my part. Oh, those horns are hard and they got this little point too. Bad judgment on my part. The psalmist wants good judgment so that he'll always deal well with others and towards God. Good judgment and knowledge is something we need if we're going to live as God wants us to live in the world. It's something we need to pray for, for ourselves and for our children. Good judgment. Lord, give me good judgment. You are good. I want good judgment, Lord. What is good judgment? It's the ability to take God's word in a particular situation in life and apply it to that situation, to make a godly informed decision about how we are to act and what we are to do. To do that we need knowledge of the Word of God and the wisdom to how to apply it. Sometimes there are areas of life where it's easy to apply God's Word and there are some other areas where it's more of a challenge to know exactly how to apply that Word. For example, we all know very clearly that we need to be, we should be sharing the Gospel with others. However, what to say and when and how to say it is a bit more of a challenge, isn't it? We know that we need to be sharing the gospel, but we need that wisdom to know how to. When do we stand up boldly and say, this is wrong? And when do we need to take a more slow and gentle approach? There are principles in the word, there are things we can say, but what do we need from God? We need good judgment. There's a time to speak and there is a time to be silent. We need good judgment to know when. Proverbs 25, 11 says, a word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver. A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver. Almost anyone can speak, but it takes wisdom and good judgment to speak a word fitly, appropriately. Many true things have been said in arguments in very unfit ways. We need good sober judgment not just for speech, we need it for speech, but for all of life. knowing how good the Lord has been to us. The psalmist seeks more of that. He seeks good judgment himself. And this is what Solomon prayed for as well. 1 Kings 3, verse 9, he said, Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to govern this your great people? It ought to be our desire and prayer as well. We all know that God was pleased to answer Solomon's prayer. Won't we answer ours as well when we pray, Lord, give me good judgment, give me wisdom, give me the knowledge of how to speak your word fitly, of how to apply your word in this difficult situation, of how to trust you when things are hard. Lord, give me good judgment. And notice why the psalmist prays this. He says, for I believe in your commandments. Lord, I don't doubt those commandments. I believe in those commandments. But I need good judgment in how to apply those commandments. I believe in them. Good judgment and knowledge will come through knowing and trusting in God's commandments. God's commandments will never steer you wrong. We need to trust those commandments. He's always right. You have to really believe in the goodness of God and have experience to say what the psalmist says next, verse 67, he says, before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I keep your word. Now that's not how the natural man thinks, is it? The natural man cries out for the days before he was afflicted. And sometimes perhaps even the Christian man does too. Oh Lord, I could go for the good old days. Before I had this, before I was facing this, before I was struggling with this, before this trial, before this affliction came, before I got the diagnosis of... Brothers and sisters, such a sigh and such a longing is an unwise thing. And it arises from a carnal love for ease. Again, remember James, he said, count it all joy. When you face trials of various kinds, for you know The testing of your faith produces steadfastness. God uses trials and afflictions for our good. If you really want to grow in grace, well, not pray for it. No affliction. I'm not saying you're going to pray for affliction. God, give me some affliction. But as believers who want to grow, we ought not to be praying, don't give me any affliction. Because God's working in it for our good. Our confession, chapter 20, says well when it says God frees us, not from affliction, God frees us from the evil of afflictions. Afflictions may come at us from the wickedness of Satan, from the wickedness of fellow man, but God removes the evil of affliction and uses it for the good. God is good at all times. Sometimes God has to treat us like a beast and afflict us to teach us something. But it's not that He's kicking us in the face, though it might be a kick in the backside. The psalmist said in Psalm 32, verse 9, be not like a horse or a mule without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle or will not stay near you. Afflictions are often God's way of harnessing and teaching us. In Jeremiah, we read that Ephraim said this, Jeremiah 31, 18, I have heard Ephraim grieving. You've disciplined me and I was disciplined like an untrained calf. Bring me back that I may be restored for you are the Lord my God." Even the psalmist, Psalm 23 said, your rod and your staff, they comfort me. His rod? Comforts? Children, how many of you say when mom or dad gets out the rod for some discipline, Dad, your rod comforts me. Is that what you say to dad when that happens? Probably not. But you know what, we can say that with God. God is disciplining us, he's loving us, he's doing us good. The psalmist even acknowledges, and now I keep your word. The afflictions play a part in teaching him good judgment. We want good judgment and God uses afflictions to teach us good judgment. When we discipline our children for doing wrong, what are we seeking to do? We're teaching them good judgment. Parents are not supposed to discipline their children because they're angry with their children. Why do we discipline them? Not, I'm angry. We discipline them because we want to impart good judgment. At least that's the way we're supposed to be doing it. Same thing when we're afflicted. And we may not even be afflicted for any particular sin in our life. Like the man in John 9 who was born blind. And the disciples asked, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, it was not that this man sinned or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. Regardless of whether our affliction is for any particular sin or not, God still teaches us. He still works in it. He's still good. Commentator Charles Bridges gives us a good example of how to pray in affliction. He says this. Let every cross, every affliction, which thou art pleased to mingle in my cup, conform me more to my Savior's image. Retrain or restrain my heart from its daily wanderings, endear thy holy ways and words to my soul, and give me sweeter anticipations of that blessed home where I shall never wander more. But find my eternal happiness in keeping your word. Again, brothers and sisters, I'm not telling you that you have to enjoy afflictions. That'd be silly. They're not enjoyable. But we ought to enjoy what God is doing in them and enjoy God in them. He always deals good. He always deals well with his children. We experience it all the time, even in trial. This is why the psalmist then sums up what he says in the next verse 68, you are good and do good. Teach me your statutes. God is good and everything he does is good. So teach me Lord, teach me your ways. Even when he brings affliction. I quoted the Westminster, now I want to quote the Heidelberg to you. Question and answer 26 in the Heidelberg says, what do you believe when you say, I believe in God, the father almighty creator of heaven and earth? And the answer is that the eternal father. of our Lord Jesus Christ, who out of nothing created heaven and earth and everything in them, who still upholds and rules them by His eternal counsel and providence, is my God and Father for the sake of Christ His Son. I trust God so much that I do not doubt that He will provide whatever I need for body and soul. and will turn to my good whatever adversity he sends upon me in this veil of tears. He is able to do this because he is Almighty God. He desires to do this because he is a faithful father. Do you believe that, people of God? Look for the goodness of God in all things. Look for the goodness of God in your trials. The psalmist not only experienced God's goodness, It's something he values, something he treasures. Verse 69, the insolence smear me with lies. But with my whole heart, I keep your precepts. Well, God is good and always good. Satan seeks us harm. Satan is a liar and the father of lies and readily tempts the heart of unbelievers to forge lies against the children of God. But all is overruled by the ever watchful care and providence of God. for the eventual good of his people, for the good of his children, for the good of his church. Think of the lies that were forged against Naboth in 1st Kings 21. He refused to sell the king his vineyard. Remember that? You might think, well, how was God good to Naboth there? After all, Naboth died at the false testimony of two witnesses who accused him of blasphemy. Although Naboth lost his life, he didn't depart from the presence of God. He went into the presence of God. His land, his family inheritance was just a symbol of the inheritance which he received upon his death. Even in this, God was good and dealt well with Naboth as men dealt falsely with him. Still remember when my mom was struggling with cancer, praying that she would have healing. And I can say, the Lord answered that prayer, even though he took her home to himself. Because the psalmist valued the goodness of God, he determined to keep God's precepts with his whole heart. Even when the proud forged lies against him, he knew that the Lord was good And the Lord treated me well. So all this is going on. Lord, I want your precepts. I'm determined to keep your precepts because you are good." He then says, their heart, the insolence is unfeeling like fat, but I delight in your law. Their hearts, because of sensual indulgence, have grown fat. They've lost feeling, but the believer who's experienced The goodness of God learns to delight in God and His law more and more. And then he says, summing it all up, you might say, it is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes. Even though affliction came from wicked men who forged lies against him, the psalmist acknowledged, oh, it was good for me, Lord. It was good for me that I was afflicted. Because God overruled the wicked deeds of these men and used it for the good. So many examples of this in scripture. Think of Joseph with his brothers when they wickedly sold him into slavery and he said, what you meant for evil, God meant for the good. Think of the crucifixion of Christ. Men of Israel, Acts 2, 22 and 23. Men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst. As you yourselves know, this Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed with hands by the hands of lawless men. Lawless men put Christ to death. Yet the plan of God to redeem his people. Because the psalmist values the goodness of God in all things. He knows that it was good when he was afflicted because Almighty God was using that for his good. Besides, it's clear. It's not good to be proud or sensual. It's good that you afflicted me and that I've learned to trust in you and follow your commands. Stanza then concludes, the law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces. He's already said back in verse 14, in the way of your testimonies, I delight as much as in all riches. Is that true of us? Is that true of you? Do you value God's word, God's law more than you do gold and silver? Again, remember what I said, children, a couple weeks back. If I offered you $500 to memorize each verse of Psalm 119, I'm not doing that. No way I can do that. Would you be tempted to strive to memorize that psalm and every verse of the psalm? Probably would be, wouldn't we? But we have more motivation than that because God's law, God's word is more profitable than silver and gold. Yet sometimes we fail to actually believe that. But God is good. And the Word of God will profit you more than silver and gold. So treat it. Treat the Word of God. has something more precious than silver and gold. Sit under the preaching of the Word of God. Study and memorize the Word of God. Chew upon, meditate upon the Word of God. Treasure that Word in your heart. Take time to read it. Take time to study it. Every day, whether you're young or old, He began by telling you that the atheist says that God can't be both good and almighty when we see all the evil that is in the world. If you suffer, how can God be good and almighty at the same time? But the psalmist has experienced and he values the goodness of God in his suffering, in his affliction, because he knows God works all things for the good. May we realize that more and more. I know it's something we know. We all affirm that, don't we? This isn't a new teaching to you. You're not saying today, wow, pastor, I never thought about that. I never knew that. You know that. But let's think about that. Let's apply that. Let's believe that more and more. And may God be glorified. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, how we do thank you and praise you. in the midst of the afflictions that we face day in and day out, that you are good and that you are using every one of these things that we struggle with, that we hate for the good. Lord, help us to count it all joy when we struggle and when we suffer. Lord, we confess it is hard to do, but Lord, help us to understand, help us to believe more and more in your goodness. and that in all things you are working for the good of those who are yours. We praise you, our good and our gracious God, in Jesus' name, amen.