Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 119:65-72
Psalms 119:65-72
Teth
65 Do good to your servant according to your word, O LORD. 66 Teach me knowledge and good judgment, for I believe in your commands. 67 Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word. 68 You are good, and what you do is good; teach me your decrees. 69 Though the arrogant have smeared me with lies, I keep your precepts with all my heart. 70 Their hearts are callous and unfeeling, but I delight in your law. 71 It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees. 72 The law from your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold.
So often things happen in our lives and we begin to question if God is good why these things happen to us. While God does not always let us know why things happen (and especially bad things) we can know that God is good and therefore all he does is good. The problem is not in the goodness of God but in our ability to understand and make sense in our minds.
There are times that it is actually good for us to be afflicted – even as the Psalmist states in this section of Psalm. It is in these afflictions that we learn patience. We learn to trust God in a way that we cannot know until we face trials. Our faith can be strengthened as we turn things over to God and not try to solve or control our own lives but allow him to lead us in the right ways.
Someone has said that with every trial in life we can either allow it to make us bitter or we can use it to make us better. It is our choice how we use them. It is in pain and suffering that we learn to lean on God and his tender mercy and we find the peace that only he can offer. It is in overcoming temptations that we find new strength to be made more like God then and to be able to help others.
This is why we are told to count it all joy when we face various trials. Peter did not say “if” we face them but “when” we face these trials. We will have trials, we will have suffering and we will have to deal with temptations. The question is really not about “if” or even “when” but how we will deal with them and how we will allow them to change us.
Lord God, thank you for all you give me. It is so easy for me think I see why I am blessed with things I want and things I enjoy but difficult to see why bad things happen to me and to those I love. Give me greater faith to deal with the various trials and to overcome the temptations I face today and every day. Help me not get so caught up in myself that I forget to help others as they face problems of their own. As in our reading today, I ask that you give me knowledge and good judgment so I can be what you want me to be. Thank you for your spiritual family and the help they give me each day. I pray in the name of Jesus.
--Robert
