September 17 – When Affliction Has Value

“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 (ESV)

 

Each verse in Psalm 119 uses one of eight different words to focuses us on the Word of God. The terms  used have different meanings but each is a reference to Holy Scripture. Because the Psalms were written before New Testament times the psalmists had in mind the Scriptures they knew. The psalms were written by different composers guided by the Holy Spirit and then collected into what we have as the Book of Psalms. Today, these citations include the whole Bible as we have it. First we recognize the value of tough times, difficult days⸺even days of affliction (v.71). Even those times when others cause grief and heartache. Nobody really likes to be afflicted but we can recognize that God uses it to teach us to trust him. The next verse tells us how valuable are the words from God’s law, that come from His mouth. Worth more than a large pile of gold and silver. God’s law and testimonies, his precepts and statutes, his commandments and judgments, his word and ordinances are all given  to us for our benefit. We have all this blessing so that we may know God in a more intimate way.

 

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