December 3, 2019 -- Psalm 119:65 -- God's Goodness
/You have dealt well with your servant,
O LORD, according to your word.
Psalm 119:65 English Standard Version
We are in a new stanza of Psalm 119—this one is called Teth. Each of the eight verses in this stanza begin with the Hebrew letter Teth. The very first word of this stanza, and the first word of our verse today, emphasizes the goodness of the LORD our God. The verse can read: “Good You have dealt unto Your slave, O LORD, according to Your Word.”
What a great attribute of God to highlight—His goodness. In James we read that God our Father is the Source of all good—of every good thing (James 1:17). In the middle of his agonizing suffering, loss and grief, Job still declared of God “Though He slays me, yet I will hope in Him” (Job 13:15). Even in our darkest hours and deepest griefs, God is good all the time!
We are slaves. This makes the goodness of God our Father even more emphatic! We are slaves to sin. We are slaves to our passions. We are slaves to our lusts. The ESV has cleaned up the reference to call us servants but the original language names us as slaves.
Even so, the LORD—the One Who Keeps His Promises to His People—has said in His Word:
He will seek us, though we are lost sheep (Ezekiel 34:11).
He will bring us to green pastures and living waters and restore our souls (Psalm 23:1-3).
He will instruct us in the way we should go, writing His law on our hearts (Jeremiah 31).
He will forgive us our iniquities and remember our sins no more. (Micah 7:19).
He will use His rules to help us because we have [willfully] gone astray like lost sheep, despite the fact that we have repeatedly seen and experienced His mercy and goodness (Psalm 119:175-176).
This is exactly the picture of Christmas—God our Heavenly Father sent His Own Son to this earth. Though Jesus was robed in divine splendour in the heavenly places, He took on human flesh and blood in order to seek and save lost human beings. All who believe in Him are called sons and daughters of God. This not by a husband’s will or human decision, but by the mercy of God. Indeed, our God is good and the source of every good in our lives. Trust in Him. Now is the day of salvation. Now is the day to repent from our sins and believe in Him—turning our will and our life over to Him as He instructs us in His Word. Now is the day to be assured that it is God Himself Who will bring us to salvation—not our works, not our power—so that no one of us can boast in ourselves of our works. When we are saved we can only declare: “Jesus, it is all on You! You found me! You rescued me! Your sacrifice at the cross bought my forgiveness! You, Jesus, bring me to the Father in heaven where I am called a beloved child!”
You are, O LORD our God, good and the source of all good—exactly as is stated in the Word. Thank You for the rich salvation given us in Jesus Christ. Thank You for the Holy Spirit Who takes the beautiful Word and makes it real and exciting to our hearts. Spirit of God, help us to live under the shadow of God’s goodness according to the Word. Amen.
