Charles Spurgeon Collection: Spurgeon - C.H. - The Golden Alphabet: 09 Exposition of Psalm 119:65-72
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Charles Spurgeon Collection: Spurgeon - C.H. - The Golden Alphabet: 09 Exposition of Psalm 119:65-72
TOPIC: Spurgeon - C.H. - The Golden Alphabet (Other Topics in this Collection)
SUBJECT: 09 Exposition of Psalm 119:65-72
Other Subjects in this Topic:
Exposition of Psa_119:65-72
by Charles Spurgeon
65. Thou hast dealt well with thy servant, O Lord, according unto
thy word.
66. Teach me good judgment and knowledge: for I have
believed thy commandments.
67. Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept
thy word.
68. Thou art ,good, and doest good; teach me thy statutes.
69. The proud have forged a lie against me: but I will keep thy
precepts with my whole heart.
70. Their heart is as fat as grease; but I delight in thy law.
71. It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might
learn thy statutes.
72. The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of
gold and silver.
In this ninth section the verses in the Hebrew all begin with the letter Teth.
In our own version they all commence with the letter T, except 67 and 71,
and these can easily be made to do so by reading, “Till I was afflicted,”
and, “Tis good for me.” These verses are the tributes of experience,
testifying to the goodness of God, the graciousness of his dealings, and the
preciousness of his word. Especially the Psalmist proclaims the excellent
uses of adversity and the goodness of God in afflicting him. The sixty-fifth
verse is the text of the entire octave.
65. “Thou hast dealt well with thy servant, O Lord, according unto thy
word.” This is the summary of his life, and assuredly it is the sum of ours.
The Psalmist tells the Lord the verdict of his heart; he cannot be silent, he
must speak his gratitude in the presence of Jehovah, his God. From the
universal goodness of God in nature, in verse 64, it is an easy and pleasant
step to a confession of the Lord’s uniform goodness to ourselves
personally. It is something that God has dealt at all with such insignificant
and undeserving beings as we are; and it is far more that he has dealt well
with us, and so well, so wondrously well. He hath done all things well: the
rule has no exception. In providence and in grace, in giving prosperity and
in sending adversity, in everything Jehovah hath dealt well with us. It is
dealing well on our part to tell the Lord that we feel that he hath dealt well
with us; for praise of this kind is specially fitting and comely. This kindness
of the Lord is, however, no chance matter: he promised to do so, and he
has done it according to his word. It is very precious to see the word of the
Lord fulfilled in our happy experience; it endears the Scripture to us, and
makes us love the Lord of the Scripture. The book of providence tallies
with the book of promise: what we read in the page of inspiration we meet
with again in the leaves of our life-story. We may not have thought that it
would be so; but our unbelief is repented of now that we see the mercy of
the Lord to us, and his faithfulness to his word; henceforth we are bound to
display a firmer faith both in God and in his promise. He has spoken well,
and he has dealt well. He is the best of Masters; for it is to very unworthy
and incapable servants that he has acted thus graciously: does not this
cause us to delight in his service more and more? We cannot say that we
have dealt well with our Master; for when we have done all, we are
unprofitable servants; but as for our Lord, he has given us light work, large
maintenance, loving encouragement, and liberal wages. It is a wonder that
he has not long ago discharged us, or at least reduced our allowances, or
handled us roughly; yet we have had no hard dealings, all has been ordered
with as much consideration as if we had rendered perfect obedience. We
have had bread enough and to spare, our livery has been duly supplied, and
his service has ennobled us and made us happy as kings. Complaints we
have none. We lose ourselves in adoring thanksgiving, and find ourselves
again in careful thanks-living.
66. “Teach me good judgment and knowledge: for I have believed thy
commandments.”
“Teach me good judgment and knowledge.” Again he begs for teaching,
as in verse 64, and again he uses God’s mercy as an argument. Since God
had dealt well with him, he is encouraged to pray for judgment to
appreciate the Lord’s goodness. The gift of good judgment is a form of
goodness which the godly man most needs and most desires, and it is one
which the Lord is most ready to bestow. David felt that he had frequently
failed in judgment in the matter of the Lord’s dealings with him: from want
of knowledge he had misjudged the chastening hand of the heavenly
Father, and, therefore he now asks to be better instructed, since he
perceives the injustice which he had done to the Lord by his hasty
conclusions. He means to say — Lord, thou didst deal well with me when I
thought thee hard and stern; be pleased to give me more wit, that I may not
a second time think so ill of my Lord. A sight of our errors and a sense of
our ignorance should make us teachable. We are not able to judge, for our
knowledge is sadly inaccurate and imperfect; if the Lord teaches us
knowledge, we shall attain to good judgment, but not otherwise. The Holy
Ghost alone can fill us with light, and set our understanding upon a proper
balance: let us ardently long for his teachings, since it is most desirable that
we should be no longer mere children in knowledge and understanding.
“For I have believed thy commandments.” His heart was right, and
therefore he hoped his head would be made right. He had faith, and
therefore he hoped to receive wisdom. His mind had been settled in the
conviction that the precepts of the word were from the Lord, and were
therefore just, wise, kind, and profitable. He believed in holiness, and as
that belief is no mean work of grace, upon the soul, he looked for yet
further operations of divine grace. He who believes the commands is the
man to know and understand the doctrines and the promises. If in looking
back upon our mistakes and ignorances, we can yet see that we heartily
love the precepts of the divine will, we have good reason to hope that we
are Christ’s disciples, and that he will teach us and make us men of good
judgment and sound knowledge. A man who has learned discernment by
experience, and has thus become a man of sound judgment, is a valuable
member of a church, and the means of much edification to others. Let all
who would be greatly useful offer the prayer of this verse: “‘Teach me
good judgment and knowledge.”
67. “Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word”
“Before I was afflicted I went astray.” Partly, perhaps, through the
absence of trial. Often our trials act as a thorn-hedge to keep us in the
good pasture; but our prosperity is a gap through which we go astray. If
any of us remember a time in which we had no trouble, we also probably
recollect that then grace was low, and temptation was strong. It may be
that some believer cries, “Oh that it were with me as in those summer days
before I was afflicted!” Such a sigh is most unwise, and arises from a
carnal love of ease: the spiritual man who prizes growth in grace will bless
God that those dangerous days are over, and that if the weather be more
stormy it is also more healthy. It is well when the mind is open and candid,
as in this instance: perhaps David would never have known and confessed
his own strayings if he had not smarted under the rod Let us join in his
humble acknowledgments, for doubtless we have imitated him in his
strayings. Wily is it that a little ease works in us so much disease? Can we
never rest without rusting? Never be filled without waxing fat? Never rise
as to one world without going down as to another? What weak creatures
we are to be unable to bear a little pleasure! What base hearts are those
which turn the abundance of God’s goodness into an occasion for sin!
“But now have I kept thy word.” Grace is in that heart which profits by its
chastening. It is of no use to plough barren soil When there is no spiritual
life, affliction works no spiritual benefit; but where the heart is sound,
trouble awakens conscience, wandering is confessed, the soul becomes
again obedient to the command, and continues to be so. Whipping will not
turn a rebel into a child; but to the true child a touch of the rod is a sure
corrective. In the Psalmist’s case the medicine of affliction worked a