"Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word. You are good and do good; teach me your statutes." - Psalm 119:67-68
God is good; not just by human standards of “comparatively good.” God is so truly good that everything else we consider good is defined as good by comparing it to what God wants. If it’s what God approves, then it’s good. If not, then it’s bad.
Everything God does is good. It’s good in that absolute sense of being what God wants, and it’s also good in the sense that it’s good for us, because God is love, and everything He does is done out of love for us.
If God allows any kind of affliction to come upon us, we can trust that it’s for our good. The author of the Psalm makes the observation, “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word.” He recognizes God’s good purpose in what surely must have felt like a bad thing at the time it was happening to him.
A couple of verses later, he adds, “It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes.
The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces.” (Psalm 119:71-72)
We don’t like pain or any kind of affliction because it hurts. It always feels bad. But if God in His goodness and love sees that pain or affliction is what will bring me back to His Word, or give me deeper understanding of His Word, then it’s a good thing, to be gratefully received.
Lord Jesus, I confess that Your definition of good is the right one. Give me what’s good. Be the Lord of my life. I trust You. Amen. Pastor Dan Giles