560_The unfailing goodness of God (Psalm 119:65-72)

Psalm 119:65-72 Do good to your servant
according to your word, Lord.
66 Teach me knowledge and good judgment,
for I trust 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.

Corrie ten Boom, the Dutch Christian who survived the horrors of a Nazi concentration camp, often used a simple but unforgettable illustration when she spoke about God’s providence. She would hold up a piece of embroidery. First, she showed the underside — a tangled mess of light and dark threads, appearing utterly chaotic.

“This,” she would say, “is how our lives look from our point of view.” The audience would nod, for life often looks like that — messy, confusing, with meaningless dark stretches. But then she would turn the cloth around to reveal the top side — a skilfully embroidered crown in all its beauty and intricacy.

“This,” she would say softly, “is what God sees. He is the Master Weaver. One day He will show us the pattern He was creating all along. The dark threads were just as necessary as the light ones.”

Psalm 119:65–72 expresses this conviction — that whatever God does is good. It doesn’t always look that way when we are in the middle of pain or confusion, but faith teaches us to trust and obey the One who weaves bright and dark threads with purpose.

The psalmist begins with a simple acknowledgment:
“You have dealt well with your servant, O Lord, according to your word.”

This is the declaration of every saint, every person of faith – that God has done him good. Not just in moments of blessing and joy, but even in the seasons of affliction. To the world, “good” means comfort, success, or pleasure — a life free from hardship. But for God and his people, good is not just what feels good, but what makes us partakers of his goodness – even if it is, for the moment, painful. For God in his goodness is not pampering but perfecting us.

Jesus, though the Son of God, “learned obedience from what He suffered,” as Hebrews 5:8 reminds us. He did not see his suffering as a sign that the Father had abandoned Him. He accepted it from the Father to fulfil God’s purpose, to bring God’s saving love to the world. In obedience, he went to the cross, so that he might be glorified. If that was true for the Son, how much more for his people?

Therefore, the steadfast prayer of faith, “Do good to your servant according to your word, O Lord.” With trust in God’s good promises, we submit ourselves to God. For we know that God has only good in mind for us.

Then he prays, “Teach me knowledge and good judgment, for I trust your commands.”
The faith to see the good sense and deep judgment behind the commands of God is the basis of wisdom. When we choose to obey them, no matter what, we demonstrate our understanding that the only thing that invariably works out well is living God’s way.

Sometimes that teaching comes through pain. The psalmist confesses, “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word.” Like a loving father who teaches his child the cost of foolishness through tender though stern discipline, God used hardship to draw him back into the path of obedience. From an earthly perspective, affliction seems like something to be avoided. But in our Father’s hands, it is a tool of grace.

For God is not cruel in allowing suffering. He sees what we cannot. He knows what we do not. He allows us to pass through the discipline of pain to save us from the greater pain of sin. Having learned this through experience, the psalmist says, confident in the kindness of God, “You are good, and what you do is good; teach me your decrees.”

Scripture teaches us that there is no shadow of change with God. He is never unjust or unkind. His ways may be hidden, but never His goodness. The presence of evil in this world does not negate the goodness of God — for evil entered through man’s rebellion, not God’s cruelty. And God still remains good, working through this world’s brokenness to bring about His redemptive purposes.

The psalmist had enemies who slandered him and lied about him. His response? “Though the arrogant have smeared me with lies, I keep your precepts with all my heart.” Amidst deceit and hostility, he chose to cling to the safe haven of God’s word, rather than trust his own feelings and plunge into sin and bitterness. “Their hearts are callous and unfeeling,” he says, “but I delight in your law.” For God’s law tells us he is just and rewards those who believe him. We need not fear man if only we are on God’s side in humble faith.

The psalmist reiterates:
“It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees.”

In God’s hands, nothing is wasted. Every tear, every trial, every moment of loss has taught him to understand the surety of following God’s ways without wavering, the great value of obedience, the assurance of recompense by faith.

He concludes, “The law from your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold.” The wealth of this world cannot compare to the wisdom gained from walking with God, even through suffering. Looking at life from his viewpoint, we see the dark threads, not as mistakes but the necessary counterpoint to the bright threads in the heavenly pattern God is weaving. And one day he will reveal it to everyone for our glory.

The apostle Paul echoes this truth in Romans 8:28: “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.” Not some things or pleasant things — all things. Every event and every situation is included in God’s purpose.

Individually, the threads may not make sense. But when woven together with the others — the bright and the dark, the smooth and the rough — it becomes part of the marvelous tapestry.

As we walk through painful situations, wondering why a good God would allow so much pain, let us continue to trust and obey. The answer may remain hidden to us, even throughout life. But faith tells us that he is good and does only good.

Our task is not to understand every detail, but to trust the Weaver. The psalmist teaches us to pray not only for deliverance from suffering, but for wisdom to persevere in his commands even through suffering — “Teach me knowledge and good judgment.” When we learn to trust God’s goodness, our trials become classrooms for faith.

Affliction, when received with faith, becomes a refining fire that purifies the heart. In seasons of joy or sorrow, abundance or need — remember that God is weaving something beautiful. He is shaping you into the likeness of His Son, preparing you for an eternal glory far beyond anything we could ever achieve on our own.

Until that day, let us trust in His goodness and walk in his ways with faith. For what he does is good. Let us wait patiently, confident that one day we will see the beauty of His design. God bless.