Proclamation:
“Before I was afflicted I went astray, but
now I obey Your word. You are good, and
what You do is good; teach me Your decrees.” Psalm 119:67-68 (NIV)
Explanation:
The words of this psalm were written under
the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by King David. This is the ninth part, Teth, of this
twenty-two part psalm. David is continuing
his conversation with The Lord God and is still asking Him to teach him. He
admits that he strayed from God’s word through weakness of the flesh, by
yielding to temptation, and by careless, needless neglect. He also admits that because of this he has
suffered afflictions, probably referring to mental and physical, in addition to
familial and financial. However, he
affirms that God is good, and that He made his afflictions work out to his
good. (Psalm 119:71)
Application:
David was a man after God’s own
heart. He messed up, he confessed, and
he got back to that which was right. He
suffered for his mistakes but he admits that his punishments made him a better
man. (Psalm 119:71) God knows that we
are sinful by nature. (Romans 3:23) We
all like sheep have gone astray. (Isaiah 53:6)
We all occasionally exercise bad judgment, give into temptation, and fall
into sin. The difference is that the
believer does not stay there. We are
convicted by our beliefs, we pray, we confess, and we ask for help and forgiveness. We know that if we are sincere when we ask,
that He will forgive us and cleanse us from our unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9) We know that all things, including our
punishment, will work for our good. (Romans 8:28) Blessed is the man whom The Lord God
chastises and teaches. (Psalm 94:12)
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