If you'd like to turn to Psalm 119, verse 65 through to 72. The stanza in the Hebrew Bible speaks of the goodness of God. It's a reoccurring theme in this particular stanza. Verse 65, thou hast dealt well, we could read that, thou hast been good to me, been good to my servants. Verse 66, teach me good judgments and knowledge, for I have believed thy commandments. In verse 67 he says, before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now have I kept thy word. In verse 71, he says, it is good for me that I have been afflicted, but I might learn by statutes. That's the question for us to consider tonight. Is affliction good? I'm looking at every one of you, and I know you're all going through some form of affliction. If you're not, You will be, but I can guarantee that you are going through affliction. As Job says, the sparks fly upward, troubles will come to us. That's the way life is, I'm afraid. It's difficult, it's hard. We're not promised an easy life. So the psalmist says affliction is good. The other week we were considering this topic, the prayer and Bible study, and I read from Romans 5, and verses 3 and 5. And Paul says to the Romans, and not only so, but we glory in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience hope, and hope making us not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts, by the Holy Spirit, which is given unto us." And there, Paul is saying, he glories in tribulation, in tribulation. And he suffered much tribulation, beatings, shipwreck, imprisonments. He knew what it was to be persecuted for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ. And what was his reaction to this? He didn't whinge, he didn't whine, he didn't complain to God. He gloried in the tribulation. He wasn't like a stoic who's stiff upper lip. He stood there and he bore it as a good soldier, no. He gloried in it, in the midst of it. For he knew that tribulation was working for his good. So David in 71 says, it is good for me that I have been afflicted. And the outcome of that affliction? That I might learn thy statutes. That I might learn thy statutes. In a sense, that's an echo of verse 67. Before I was afflicted, I went astray. but now I have kept my word. The affliction taught the Psalmist lesson of life, to keep the word of God. As I said to the meeting the other week on the Thursday evening, this man isn't convicted of his faith because of feelings or experience that he's experienced at some meeting, We meet Christians, don't we? Oh, we went to a meeting. It was marvellous, it was wonderful. Oh, it's so moving. But when trials and afflictions come, where are they? They run away. Because there's no root, as the Lord taught of the sow and the seed, the parable. It springs up, looks like abundant life, but when the heat of the day comes, it withers and dies. There's no root. So Dave is not speaking here of his feelings or his experiences. He's talking about the true and living God coming to his heart and afflicting him. Before I was afflicted, he says, I went astray. He went astray. Are you afflicted? Have you gone astray? Isaiah says, all we like sheep have gone astray. Gone our own way. Gone our own way. I went astray, he says. I went astray. Before he was wandering, but now he's attentive. Before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I have kept thy word. He's attentive to his duty. Notice that, but now. We are prone to wander. We are prone to get lost. That's why we sang from Psalm 23 of the Good Shepherd, who cares for his sheep, who provides for his sheep. Even through the afflictions that God sends to us, it is the goodness of God being exercised in our hearts and minds. It's a proof, dear friends, that we are believers, that we are Christ's. He's gonna purge, he's gonna reform. He's gonna burn away the dross. And David experienced that affliction. What it was, we're not told. There are hints here, it's probably from those who persecuted him. Why did they persecute him? Because he loved God's word. And if you love God's word, you will be afflicted by those who hate the word of God. They're gonna try to stop us speaking freely, the grace of God, of the gospel, they will do all in their power. They will forge lies against us. Verse 69, the proud have forged a lie against me. They did it to the Lord. This man said he would destroy the temple in three days, rebuild it, force witnesses, a lie against the Lord. They forged, the proud, the arrogant, the scoffers, the God-haters of this world. They afflicted David. And David, being the sweet psalmist of Israel, some would suggest that he represents the people of God. And if he needed to be afflicted, how much more you and I, lesser men and women? So before I was afflicted, I went astray. Dear friends, my soul, your soul is apt to stray. It's in my nature. It's like the shopping trolley in the supermarket. It's got a bias that will take us the way we don't want to go. And we're pushing against it all the time. That's our nature. All we like sheep have gone astray. Unable to keep from error. Unable to return like a lost sheep. He has to be penned in to keep him safe. If he breaks through the fence, he's in danger. And that sheep will never return home. Unable to find his way to safety and comfort. And that's you and I. That's our tendency. We are unable to return. This is the figure the Holy Spirit uses to set forth our nature. Our nature is innovation. I've been harking on about this in my own head for some weeks now. Innovation as opposed to imitation. There's too much innovation in the church of Jesus Christ today. We are to be imitators of the word of God. Those who have gone before us, we are to walk in their path. They have set the way for us. We're not to forge new ideas, new schemes. We have a scripture which lays it out clearly. We are to imitate those who have gone before us. But David says, but it is better that I've been afflicted. Is it better for us, for those who are Christians, For those who receive grace, are we better for grace? No. Examine your heart. We are no better. We have good intentions. The good I want to do, says Paul, I don't do. The evil I don't want to do, I do do. It's that nature. Thomas Goodwin said, we still have that old nature chained to us. He's a dead corpse, but he's chained to my leg and I'm dragging him around. And he's always attempting to drag me down. The best of us, if left to ourselves, would soon wander and leave the right path. I can think of men. who stood in pulpits and have wandered, wandered into gross immorality and sin. Not pointing a finger, as Colin reminded us this morning, pointing one, there's three pointing back. Take heed to yourself. Take heed to yourself. Examine yourself. If men in such high rank position can fall, how much so for ourselves? It's a disgrace to the church, a disgrace to the name of Christ. Take heed, brothers and sisters. We are prone to wander, prone to leave the love, our first love. We're prone to leave the right path. and what sad areas do we run into. Psalm 19, the psalmist again says, cleanse me from my secret thoughts, cleanse me from my secret thoughts, those sins which I have no idea are lurking in my heart. You pray that prayer, be careful, because he will reveal to you, the secret of your heart. He will reveal to you in all the foulness and the blackness and the depth of sin of who we really are. We are poor. We are sinners. And David prays that prayer, cleanse me from my secret thoughts. Getting to Psalm 119 here, the closing verse of David. He prays in 176, I have gone astray like a lost sheep. Seek thy servant, for I do not forget thy commandments. Take heed, yes, ye four, take heed. to the warnings of scripture. We can go astray through ignorance, and we go astray through our perverse inclination. Jeremiah 14, 10 reads, thus have they loved to wander. They have not refrained their feet. I'm talking about me. prone to wander, love to wander, love to neglect duties that God has set before me. They have not refrained their feet. We have hearts, brothers and sisters, that love to wander. We love to shift and we love to change. Constant innovation, some new thing. Jeremiah says, seek ye the old paths, the old and tested paths. And some of you have been in these new innovations, and God has brought you to the old paths. Isn't God good? You tried the new wine. It hasn't satisfied, has it? It hasn't met your deepest need of your soul. And our deepest need is to be fed from the Word of God, to feed us and never die in soul, to water us and to nourish us. He leads me in green pastures. There's a wilderness out there, brothers and sisters. And we seek to hold a green pasture here at Gordon Road by God's grace. We love change. We need to resist the change. I remember a preacher at Keswick, before Keswick went a bit wild and woolly, he said, this was about 20, 30 years ago, at least that, at least 30 years ago. And the theme then was, get with it, get with it, get with it. And his response was, get out of it. Get out of it. Get out of it. Just because it's new doesn't mean it's right. Notice this fact. It's a really strange verse in verse 70. I've always struggled with this. I never could understand this. Thomas Manton, his exposition of Psalm 119, three larger volumes. He skips this verse. Their heart is as fat as grease. What does that mean? What does that mean? Their heart is as fat as grease. I came across one far away comment from one commentator who says, he's speaking here of prosperity. They're prosperous. They have all they need. They're living in luxury and abundance. Beware of prosperity. particularly in the church. Oh, look, we've got too many people coming to us. We've got 100, 200 people. Some church in America, they have thousands of people. Oh, the Lord is with us. Look at our bank balance. We spend so much a year, and at the end of the year, we've got more money. Surely God is with us. Don't be deceived. Prosperity is a deceiver. So the Lord will send afflictions. Those who he loves, he will afflict. A bereavement, an illness. Sorry, you've got cancer. A child, a wayward child. We all know those, don't we? One who's betrayed us, a friend, a close friend. God has many ways to afflict us. But those afflictions are good. Before I was afflicted, I went astray. But now I've kept thy word. These afflictions are compared in scripture In many pictures, in 1 Peter 1, 6 and 7, it's referring to a fire of a purge of gold. Gold is put into a crucible and is fired under great heat. And the one who attends that crucible is skimming off all the dross, the fire of affliction, the fire which burns into our bones and into our very soul. And he's doing a work of refining. And it's not good. It's not pleasant. It's difficult. It's hard. And as we come through it, it's for our good. But so did one. It is good for me, but I have been afflicted. The afflictions of the Lord are compared to a fan which drives away the chaff in Matthew 3, 12. And the chaff is burnt. It's a process, a cleansing. And the chaff is destroyed. The afflictions are compared to a pruning hook in John 15, 2, where the Lord prunes the vine. Why? So it may be more fruitful. But that pruning has to be attended by a master farmer who knows his business, knows his trade. And the Lord knows. He knows how to prune us. He knows how to afflict us that we may produce more good and abundant fruit. How many of us can look back before you were converted? and the afflictions that are the means of your conversion. Look at Paul. He was afflicted with blindness. Look at a Philippine jailer. Terror struck as the earthquake hits that jail, ready to kill himself. And they shout out, do not harm yourself, we're all here. And he says, what must I do to be saved? Because he knew the penalty for losing those prisoners. He was afflicted. I look back on my own conversion. Afflictions. Friends I used to run with. One friend of mine was with, stabbed someone we knew in the back with a screwdriver. We were arrested for robbery of violence. I wasn't there at that time, but I was arrested because I was associated. It makes you think, doesn't it? These afflictions make you think, what's my life all about? And God uses these means to bring us to himself in conversion. He uses these means to purify us, to make us more fruitful. Isaiah 48.10, the Lord says, I have chosen you in the furnace of affliction. I'm looking at Christians. He's chosen you in the furnace of affliction. That's why I read again from the Prodigal Son. What a stubborn sinner he was. He had to be broken. Just as I had to be broken. Just as we all had to be broken. I know some of you come gently to the Lord Jesus. What a blessing that is. Never underestimate that blessing. Don't say to yourself, oh, I wish I had a big strong testimony. Gentle Jesus draws us. For some of us, we have to be broken. And this prodigal son had to be broken. Look, he takes his father's, half his father's estate. He squanders it in riotous living. He has friends, influence. But as the money drains away, his friends desert him. He ends up feeding the swine. And the pig trough was his schoolhouse. He learned a lesson there. And he came to himself. How many in my father's house have bread enough to spare? And he came to himself. He was afflicted. And he went home. You see the way the Lord has these means? He uses the famine, he uses the pigs. You see, the young man sees himself all spent out. He's afflicted. And he, I will go home to father. I will go home to father. And the father there's looking for him, and he greets him, and he hugs him, he clothes him, put shoes on his feet, a ring upon his finger, and the prodigal come home. His affliction made him serious. His affliction made him think of his eternal destiny. His affliction, and afflictions you go through, and afflictions I go through, are designed to make us more Christ-like. And he's with us in that affliction. Before I was afflicted, I went astray. Look at the result, but now I have kept my word. I've kept it, I've hedged it around, I've made it mine. Going astray has led him to a deeper relationship with Yahweh his God, with Jehovah the Lord. As Colin reminded us this morning, John 14, 15. Let's read those words, they're important words, particularly in our day and generation. We're not under law, we're under grace. As Colin said this morning, we can't talk like that. John 14 and verse 15, that's what Jesus says. If you love me, keep my commandments. If you love me, keep my commandments, verse 23. Jesus answered and said unto them, if a man loves me, he will keep my words, and my father will love him, and we will come unto him and make an abode with him. If he love me not, keepeth not my sayings, and the words which ye hear is not mine, but the father which sent me. If you love me, you will keep my commandments. Why? Because you have a godly fear. This is what Christ commands us. The commandments, they're not suggestions. They're not hints for your life. These are commandments. The King of Kings commands us to love his law. What is his law? The law of Moses. those sweet 10 commandments, which we love. Thou shalt not kill. Has that been rescinded? That's too active? That's not adultery. Yeah, we should keep those commandments. As a nation, we've broken those commandments and we're in the mess we are. One parent families, social breakdown, breakdown of the family. because we will not love his commandments. You go through all those, that nine, and they are relevant. And even remember the Sabbath to keep it holy. It's a commandment for your good. And what are we to do on a Sabbath day? Psalm 119 verse 63, I am a companion of all them that fear thee, and of them that keep thy precepts. We are a rarity tonight, do you know that? Not many churches open tonight. Sabbath day is a half day now. For many the Sabbath day is now the Monday, I had some friends visit the other day and we went to go for lunch on a Monday. We couldn't find nowhere open on a Monday. All open on Sunday, but not on a Monday. You know, Sunday's good for business. It's the Lord's day. It's the Lord's day. If you love me, keep my commandments. Jesus answered and said unto him, if a man love me, he will keep my words and my father will love him. and we will come unto him and make our abode with him. What a sweet promise. I will make our abode with him. He will come and indwell us by his spirit. Eternal spirit of God, abide in with me. We keep his commandments because we love him. We have a respect for him. We have a godly fear for him. It's like a child, isn't it, who wants to please his father. That's why we keep his word. That's why we commit his commandments. So David says, before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now have I kept my word. In verse 71, it is good for me. that I have been afflicted, that I might learn my statutes. David, brothers and sisters, has a teachable spirit. He's a learner, that I might learn my statutes. And his teacher is the blessed spirit who leads him into all truth. And David didn't have what we have. He didn't have a full Bible. He just had a part of the Bible. Yet he could see the grace, love, and mercy, and compassion of his God in those scriptures that he held. And they were his delight. He delighted to meditate upon the law of God. How much so did he delight in it? The law, the Torah, or thy mouth is better unto me and thousands of gold and silver. In comparison, gold and silver was but dung, refuse. The law of my mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver. Do not despise the chasing of our God. It is for your good. Amen. Hymn number 68. 68. Praise ye Jehovah, praise the Lord most Cheers the chondrite, goes with strength the week. 681? Yeah, I think my granddaughters put the wrong one up. Yeah, I thought it was, I don't think that was right. 681, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, that is it. That's my fault, my poor writing. I won't blame my granddaughter. I'll owe my fault, as we were reminded this morning. 681, loving shepherd of thy sheep, keep me now in safety keep. ♪ Nothing can my heart resemble ♪ ♪ Nothing can my heart resemble ♪ ♪ Nothing can my heart resemble ♪ ♪ My own life that I might live ♪ ♪ From the hands outstretched to press ♪ ♪ Ever through the hills he pressed ♪ ♪ I would praise thee every day ♪ ♪ Gladly, oh, thy will obey ♪ ♪ Like thine blessed ones above ♪ ♪ I'll be in thy gracious love ♪ ♪ Love in shepherds ever near ♪ ♪ Teach me now thy voices to hear ♪ ♪ Suffer not my sins to stray ♪ ♪ From the straight and narrow way ♪ ♪ Where thou leadest, I would go to thee ♪ And have the Lord bless thee and keep thee, the Lord make his face shine upon thee, be gracious unto thee, The Lord have his countenance upon thee and give thee peace. Amen. I've got a few thousand down the clock. Thank you.