“You have dealt well with Your servant, O Lord, according to Your word. Teach me good judgment and knowledge, for I believe Your commandments” (vs65-66).
Your commandments, the things that You say and would have me to do, are the delight of my heart, the teaching that I follow willingly, “For I believe Your commandments” (vs65-66). We are not in rebellion, hating the words of Christ, and trying to enter heaven without obedience, but we believe what He says is right, that it is the command of God, and we are devoted to it. Many think themselves wise or independent, followers of no one, except their own thinking. But, you and I are followers of Satan or Christ, of wrong or right, and we have chosen the RIGHT way, God’s commands. We are believers: what He tells us - believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and love as He gave us commandment - we do. “And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment” (1 John 3:23). We are not empty hearers, but we hear and do the word of God by the strength that He gives, trusting Him as sinners, and thereby receiving the power of new life. The gospel is good news from the King, so we honor it.
Secondly, we want to know the word of God, the statutes that He has put in place (vs67-68). He says, “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word. You are good, and do good; teach me Your statutes”. We are not hiding, desiring not to know, but we who preach diligently study, so that we may faithfully declare the truth to all who hear us. God’s given us a desire to hear and obey.He says, “This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work” (1 Tim 3:1). We are sinners like all of mankind, but grace made us needy, grace made us realize that we must learn, and grace has taught us. Likewise, grace keeps on drawing us to learn more; it feeds our needy souls with power, and He satisfies us with salvation. Bless the Lord. You and I hunger and thirst after righteousness. He says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled” (Matt 5:6). We want to know faithfulness and how to follow the path of Christ. We DESIRE to be made like Him, and this is the healthy soul. We say, “I need more”. This is my life.
Finally, thank Him for this new desire (vs69-72). He says, “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”. I went astray before God’s instruction, doing my own thing, thinking myself impervious to consequences, boldly and stupidly sinning. But, in love and goodness, He pitied me enough to afflict me, to make me hurt for my sins, and to use the wickedness of Satan’s attacks to teach me the gospel, the security of His love, the basis of acceptance in Christ, and the fear of the Lord to seek His grace for power to obey. All of these GOOD things came to me by God’s troubling hand, and I thank Him for it.
He has made you love His word, revealed the death of Christ as your salvation, and He’s chosen to teach you rather than destroy. Thus, thinking on the GOODNESS of the Lord and His word as the revealer, we desire to learn its statues, seeking to know and be comforted by Him ever more.
All that we have comes to us by the word of God. Faith, hope, comfort, and peace are by the ministry of the word, these GOOD things, so we desire it more than silver and gold: Christ’s WORD is everything.
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