You are good, and do good; Teach me Your statutes. Psalms 119:68
In this section of Psalm 119, the Psalmist says in verse 67 that before he was afflicted he went astray. After this affliction from God, however, he kept God’s Word. The difficulties and griefs that we experience in our lives may be from God so that He will cause us to return to obey His commands. Like a father who disciplines his children, God may afflict His people, but He is truly good to us and only sends afflictions to return us to His Word.
Even though we are living in obedience to God, we are so quickly tempted to turn away from His Word due to the wickedness all around us and the wickedness that is so prevalent in our own heart. The pride in us makes us turn away from God, but we are protected by God’s Word. The proper response to affliction from God is in verse 71. It is good for us to be afflicted because we then learn God’s statutes. Through experiences such as these we learn to love God’s law more and more. The amazing testimony of the Psalmist is in verse 72 when he says “The law of Your mouth is better to me than thousands of coins of gold and silver.”