Exposition of Psalm
119
?
Teth
God’s
Word Brings Good
Psalm
119:65-72
Thou
hast dealt well with thy servant, O LORD, according unto
thy word.
Teach
me good judgment and knowledge: for I have believed thy
commandments.
Before
I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy
word.
Thou
art good, and doest good; teach me thy
statutes.
The
proud have forged a lie against me: but I will keep thy
precepts with my whole heart.
Their
heart is as fat as grease; but I delight in thy
law.
It
is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might
learn thy statutes.
The
law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of
gold and silver.
The most prominent
word in this section is “good.” “Teth” is the first
letter of the Hebrew word tov
(“good”), which occurs six times and means good,
pleasant, beneficial, precious, delightful, and right.
It appears at the beginning of verses 65, 66, 68, 71,
and 72. We see here seven good things that the Word of
God brings.
I. Good Actions (vs.
65)
Thou
hast dealt well with thy servant, O LORD, according unto
thy word.
Here we get another
glimpse of Who God is and what He is doing. The word
well is
the Hebrew tobâh, another word that means good. Other meanings
include: well-pleasing, fruitful, morally correct,
proper, and convenient. The creation narrative of
Genesis 1 best expresses all these aspects of meaning
when God declares each facet of His handiwork to be
“good.”[i]
How good God has been to
us! Is that not an understatement? Theologians generally
speak of God’s goodness in five ways.[ii]
God’s
Goodness in General
Elsewhere the Psalmist
declares: “The LORD is good to all: and his tender
mercies are over all his works. . . . The eyes of all
wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due
season. Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the
desire of every living thing? (Ps. 145: 9, 15-16). Also
called “common grace,” this aspect of God’s goodness
simply means that He deals kindly and bountifully with
every one of His creatures. He cares for His creature’s
welfare, as in Matthew 5:45: “He maketh his sun to rise
on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the
just and on the unjust.” He also “preservest man and
beast” (Ps. 36:6). This is true of animals, as in Psalm
104:21: “The young lions roar after their prey, and seek
their meat from God.” And He does that for man: “Behold
the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they
reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father
feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?” (Matt.
6:26). He is even “kind unto the unthankful and to the
evil” (Lk. 6:35).
God’s
Goodness through His Love
When God exercises
His goodness toward men, it takes on the higher quality
of love. This love can be defined as: the perfection
of God by which He is eternally moved to
self-communication. While the
world’s view of love is that it is all “feeling” and
“warm fuzzies,” God’s love is not based upon emotional
impulse; rather it is a rational and voluntary affection
for His own sake and purpose. While He cannot love lost
men to the fullest because their sin is an abomination
to Him, He still has affection for them because He made
man His own image. This leads to a third aspect of God’s
goodness.
God’s
Goodness through His Mercy
A simple definition
of “mercy” is “the withholding of deserved punishment
and relieving distress.” The Hebrew word most generally
used is hesed, which with
mercy, also pictures kindness, lovingkindness, goodness,
faithfulness, love, and acts of kindness. As one
authority points out, “The classic text for
understanding the significance of this word is Psalm 136
where it is used twenty-six times to proclaim that God’s
kindness and love are eternal.”[iii]
The Greek
eleos speaks of “compassion,
pity.” One Greek lexicon tells us, “Kindness or good
will towards the miserable and afflicted, joined with a
desire to relieve them.”[iv] So mercy is
obviously always to the helpless. Moreover, in light of
Ephesians 2:1-3, we deserve the affliction, but God
relieves it. We deserve all the affliction, misery,
distress, depression, and heartache that come our
way; we deserve the domination of the world, Satan, and
the flesh; we deserve God’s wrath. But God is
merciful. He relieves us.
Indeed, it is also God’s mercy that allows the lost
person to live another moment in this world and put off
an eternity in hell just one more day.
To go deeper, God’s mercy
is often coupled with the fourth aspect of His
goodness.
God’s
Goodness through His Grace
The New Testament
truly took charis to new levels of meaning,
transforming it into something much deeper. While it
primarily meant that men merely need a little help from
the gods in the form of kindness and pleasure, it was in
the New Testament that the new and unique idea of
“unmerited favor” was added. Why? What transformed
this word? The reason for this transformation is that
New Testament grace is coupled with the person and
work of Jesus Christ. One example, of course, is
John 1:17: “Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” John
is not saying that simply thankfulness, delight,
kindness, or gratitude came by Christ, as was the
meaning of charis in secular
Greek, but rather something far deeper. Throughout the
New Testament grace is coupled with Christ, for He is
the ultimate manifestation of God’s grace. God gave His
Son to the Word to save men from their sins, given to an
undeserving race that hated Him and ultimately crucified
Him.
Again, God’s mercy and
grace are often mentioned together. What is the
contrast?
·
Mercy – the withholding of what
is deserved (e.g. death and
hell).
·
Grace – the bestowing of what is
not deserved (e.g. life and
heaven).
God’s
Goodness through His Longsuffering
In several Old
Testament references, God is described as being
longsuffering (Num. 14:18; Ps. 86:15; Jer. 15:15). In
each of those verses we find an interesting expression
in the Hebrew, ‘arek ‘aph, which literally means
“long of face,” an idiom indicating “slow to anger.” The
Greek uses the word makrothumia, a compound word
from makro, meaning “long,” and thumos,
meaning “temper.” God is, indeed, long-tempered
in contrast to short-tempered, as was always the case with the gods
of the pagans. Part of God’s love is to bear with sinful
men in spite of their continual rebellion. Through the
millennia God has been “long of face,” He has allowed
men’s sin and delayed the judgment that is to come.
Again, what mercy!
Oh, how good God is toward
men!
II. Good Judgment (v.
66a)
Teach
me good judgment . . . for I have believed thy
commandments.
As we have seen, the
term judgment
is the Hebrew mishpat, which indicates a binding
judicial decision that establishes a precedent, a
binding law. Unlike many of the precedents, laws, and
judicial decisions of men that are far from good,
God’s judgments are always good, so
the Psalmist wants God to teach him good
judgment.
But what brings
about such good
judgment? It comes by believing God’s a
clear, definite, and authoritative commandments.
The Hebrew behind believed
(‘aman) means to be firm, to build up, to support, to
nurture, or to establish. The primary thrust of the word
is the idea of providing stability and confidence, as a
baby finds in the arms of a parent. Appearances of this
word include the support that a pillar provides for a
building (II Kings 18:16), the nurturing of a nurse for
a child (II Sam. 4:4), and a house built on a firm
foundation (I Sam. 2:35).
I was reminded here
of the American judicial system that has degenerated so
far that in 1973 it established the unthinkable
precedent and binding law that it was now legal to
murder the unborn. From where does such unimaginable
decadence come? By the destruction of the firm
foundation and stability that God’s commandments provide. Once America, or any nation or people,
rejects God’s absolute and authoritative commands, its
fall is inevitable. Sad to say, we cannot help but
wonder if there is truly any hope for America, for look
how far she has fallen.
III. Good Knowledge (v.
66b)
Teach
me good . . . knowledge
As the Psalmist
asked God to teach him “good judgment,” he also asks for
good . . .
knowledge.
Oh, what a word we have here! Knowledge
is the Hebrew da’ath, meaning
knowledge, knowing, learning, discernment, insight, and
notion.
Let us consider a
crucial question: From where does all knowledge
originate? Answer: God. Think
about it. Even the simple “how to” things of life come
from God. We read in Exodus 31, for example, that after
giving directions for the construction of the sanctuary
and all the things required for proper worship, God
pointed out the builders who would do the work. He then
called Bezaleel by name to be the master-builder and
“filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in
understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of
workmanship” (v. 3).
So from where does
the carpenter get his skill? From where does the singer
receive his talent? From where does the chef obtain his
culinary flair? All these, and all
others, come from God. As
Paul asked the Corinthians, “what hast thou that thou
didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why
dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?” (I
Cor. 4:7). While man wants to take credit for what he is
and does, it is in truth God alone who gives man
everything he has.
Isn’t it interesting (and
troubling) to examine our modern education system? We
have built an enormous and complex structure on a feeble
foundation. We’ve built the whole thing on the
foundation of “knowing man.” And look at the result. We
have a system devoid of truth and morality.
Scripture clearly shows us
that to know God is to know ourselves. Only when we
start with the presupposition of God, do we have a solid
foundation on which to build everything else.
IV. Good Direction (v.
67)
Before
I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy
word.
The word astray is
extremely important. The Hebrew behind it
(shagag) means “to stray, to
be deceived, to err, to go astray, to sin ignorantly.”
It’s primary meaning, in fact, is “to sin inadvertently”
and is used in Leviticus to refer to “the unintentional
sin atoned for by the sacrifice of a ram,” which was
called the “guilt [or trespass] offering (Lev.
5:18).”[v]
This is what happens when
we forget who we are, when we fail to keep God’s Word
ever before us, when we neglect the things of God. It is
so easy to stray away! An idle thought, an unguarded
moment, a neglected duty, a worldly attitude, and so
many other things lure us away from the path of God.
The only thing that
will protect us is to be keep God’s
Word. As I shared from the pulpit here, I pray that if
you don’t get anything else out of this series of
studies that you will at least realize that the only
protection you will ever have in your Christian living
is God’s Word. While there are
several pieces of God’s armor, as Paul writes in
Ephesians 6:12-20, it is the Sword of the Spirit that is
ultimate weapon, our very life.
The Word kept
(shamar) means “to watch, to
keep, to preserve, to guard, to be careful, to watch
over, to watch carefully over, to be on one’s guard.” It
appears in Genesis 2:15, for example, where Adam and Eve
were to watch over and care for the Garden of Eden.
Likewise, through Moses, God said, “Hear, O Israel, the
statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this
day, that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them”
(Deut. 5:1). That counsel still applies today. If we do
not, we will stray and be devoured by the many predators
that are just waiting for a wandering lamb. As Peter
warned: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary
the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking
whom he may devour.”
V. Good Nature (v.
68)
Thou
art good, and doest good; teach me thy
statutes.
This verse
reiterates what the Psalmist has been saying about the
underlying goodness of God’s nature. He does
good
because He is good. The
clear implication, then, is that the Psalmist wanted to
be good as
God is good. And
how could he do that? The answer, of course, is in the
words teach
me thy statutes. It is the statutes
and decrees of God engraved in stone that teach us
how to be good and
do good.
While many today look to other things as a source of
good, such as the ever-popular field of modern
psychology and counseling, such things are futile.
Another case in point is
philosophy, a study that is, indeed, an exercise in
futility. One of the greatest controversies in
philosophy has always involved the problem of “good” or
“value.” One writer puts it this way:
Does “good” have an objective,
absolute existence? Is there “Good” with a capital “G”
so to speak, or is it always relative to the preference
or satisfaction of some individual? Are there value
judgments which are universal, valid for all men
everywhere? Is there anything which all human beings
regardless of time, place, race, or culture unite to
call “good”? Or does each person, in the final analysis,
have an individual and perhaps unique system of values?
Each person appears to decide, consciously or
unconsciously, what he considers of value in the world
and what he will spend his life trying to attain. Are
there any objective standards by which we can judge this
system of values that his actions imply? Or is his bald
statement, “I find X to be good,” the last word that can
be said on the matter?[vi]
This presents two
views: absolutism, and relativism. The absolutist
believes that there is only one standard or code for
morality that is valid for all mankind and for all time.
Now, while that sounds right, absolutism does not imply
moral conservatism; in other words, the absolutist can
be either a moral conservative or a moral radical. He is
not required to either praise or condemn any specific
moral act. All absolutism means is that
whatever is right or wrong
holds true for all men.
On the other hand,
relativism is a revolt against absolutism, and is the
prevailing view of our day in every area of human
endeavor: science, politics, morals, and religion.
Instead of one “Good,” there are
many “goods.” What might be
good or right for one group might not be good or right
for another. All value is relative to the time, place,
and civilization in which one finds
himself.
Worse, this
discussion has inevitably led to the philosophic
enquiry: “But what is ‘the highest good,’ what
philosophers call summum bonum?” The most common
and most popular answer to this question has been:
pleasure, or in more modern
terms, “pleasant consciousness” or “pleasant
feeling.”[vii] And the name most
typically given to this philosophy is “hedonism,” from
the Greek hedone, pleasure. To the hedonist “Good” is identified
with pleasant, and “evil” is identified with unpleasant.
But not only is such a philosophy anti-biblical, but it
can be (and has been) used for unthinkable immortality.
As one writer points out, in fact, under the disguise of
“utilitarianism,” that is, the greatest good for the
greatest number, Hitler murdered six million Jews for
the greater good of Europe.
Worse still is the
fact that relativism has spilled over into the church.
Long established Christian doctrines are being
challenged and “rethought” so they conform to modern
thought, church ministry now involves what appeals to
each person’s wants and desires, and what people now
call “Bible study” is nothing but people sharing what
they think the Bible says or how it makes them
feel.
Where, then, will
man find good?
Answer: There are no ethics apart from
revelation. It is
Christ alone Who brings true knowledge, morality, and
ethics to any society. A secular book written on
“ethics” is an oxymoron, because apart from God’s Truth
and standards, ethics are relative at best and
impossible at worst. God is the only One Who is good and
only He reveals good
through His statutes.
VI. Good Affliction (v.
69-71)
The
proud have forged a lie against me: but I will keep thy
precepts with my whole heart.
Their
heart is as fat as grease; but I delight in thy
law.
It
is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might
learn thy statutes.
The Psalmist here
turns to the common problem of suffering and why God
allows his people to suffer. He says first that his
enemies have lied about him. The Hebrew behind forged
(tapal) means to smear or plaster over. Indeed,
the enemies of God will smear us and try to plaster over
the truth to hide it from view. David then adds that
their heart
is as fat as grease, an
idiom meaning that sensual indulgence has made them not
only physically obese but spiritually insensitive. In
light of our earlier discussion, that is where hedonism
leads.
Verse 71 especially
flies in the face of hedonism. The hedonist would never
say: It is
good for me that I have been afflicted. Why?
Because he does not learn from
God’s statutes.
His desire is for titillation, not Truth;
he wants gratification, not growth. Sadly,
this again characterizes many in the church today. In
contrast, as the Apostle Paul exulted, “Most gladly
therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that
the power of Christ may rest upon me.” What is the
greatest good here?
The greatest good is not lack of affliction, rather it’s the power
of Christ in our life.
VII. Good Law (v.
72)
The
law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of
gold and silver.
Spurgeon makes a profound
observation here:
If a poor man had said this, the
world’s witlings would have hinted that the grapes are
sour, and that men who have no wealth are the first to
despise it; but this is the verdict of a man who owned
his thousands, and could judge by actual experience of
the value of money and the value of
truth.
Indeed, while the hedonist
desires more money so that he can buy more pleasure, to
the godly person the greatest good, the greatest value,
is God’s Word.
Dear Christian,
where do you seek
good?
[i] Baker and Carpenter,
#2896.
[ii] Based on the
discussion in Louis Berkof, Systematic
Theology, (Grand Rapids:
Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1993 reprint), pp.
71-72.
[iii] Baker and Carpenter,
#2617.
[v] Baker and Carpenter,
#7683.
[vi] Hunter Mead,
Types and Problems of Philosophy (New York: Holt, Rinehart, Winston, 1946, 1953,
1959), p. 256.
