It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes.
In the ninth section of Psalm 119, the writer looks back. He can now say that his suffering did him good — and he names exactly what he gained by it: he learned God's statutes.
Verse 71 only makes sense next to verse 67. The order matters: straying came first, and the affliction was God's answer to it.
(vv. 65–67) The servant of the Lord justifies God in His dealings, however painful. "You have dealt well with your servant." There was a time when the servant dealt badly with God, for he says, "I went astray." Then God, in mercy, dealt with him by chastening — "I was afflicted." Affliction broke his will. Now he submits to God's will.
What changed in him was not his circumstances but his direction — he now wants what God wants.
He had been under discipline. Before this he had gone astray. Now he had come into the spirit and path of obedience... Nothing marks the setting right of the soul more than the turning to Jehovah's will — "Lord, what will you have me to do?" Such a soul counts everything good that leads to this, and that gives God's will its authority and its proper place in the heart.
The psalmist does not say he learned God's statutes despite the affliction. He says the affliction was the means. Commentators explain this as God's usual way with His people.
The school of affliction is where the best lessons of faith are learned. That school is necessary, because even God's saints do not learn in any other way — at least, few learn deeply outside it. Human nature is so deeply evil that few lessons are learned without tears. The Father has to chasten every son He receives.
Trouble also teaches us about ourselves in a way no lesson can.
A sick bed often teaches more than a sermon; we see the ugly face of sin most clearly in the mirror of affliction.
The psalmist calls God good — the same God whose hand afflicted him.
The affliction was very necessary, and it certainly works together for good to those who love God, leading them to keep His Word. With complete confidence in God, we may gladly say, "You are good" (v. 68)... And since this is true, are our hearts not moved with a deep desire that He would teach us His statutes?
Affliction takes something away from everyone — but not the same thing.
When affliction or death comes to a wicked man, it takes away his soul; when it comes to a godly man it only takes away his sin... "when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world" (1 Cor. 11:32). He works sin out and works grace in.
Suffering does not do everyone good. Verse 71 is a testimony, not a rule of nature. The same pressure produces opposite results in different hearts.
Afflictions make the godly better, but afflictions make the wicked worse. The godly pray more (Ps. 130:1). The wicked blaspheme more... Every plague on Egypt increased the plague of hardness in Pharaoh's heart. Affliction on the godly is like crushing spices: they become sweeter and more fragrant. Affliction on the wicked is like pounding weeds with a pestle, which only makes them fouler.
Affliction leaves the psalmist holding something he did not own before.
And the very affliction he has passed through has served him. It made him learn more deeply the character of those statutes he suffered for breaking. We all must be aware how surely we learn this way. As a result, the law of Jehovah's mouth now has a value for him beyond earthly riches. It is his real possession.
One writer, in the middle of his work for God, found the verse becoming his own.
In the middle of such service, my Father and God saw it right and necessary to afflict me. I can truly say, "It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes."
- Astray — The trouble did not come out of nowhere. Verse 67 supplies the cause: he had wandered, and God's chastening was mercy aimed at a broken will.
- Good — The hand that afflicted him is the hand he calls good. Affliction is not proof that God has turned against you; it is how He works sin out and grace in.
- School — Deep lessons are rarely learned in comfort. A sick bed can teach what a sermon cannot, because it shows you yourself.
- Two hearts — The same crushing makes spices fragrant and weeds fouler. Suffering only profits the one who submits to God through it.
- Gain — What he walks away with is a possession: God's word now worth more to him than earthly riches. That is why he calls the affliction good.
The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver.
Just before this, the psalmist said his affliction was good for him. Now he names what it gained: God's word outweighs any fortune — and the verse asks whether we can say the same.
This is not a cool opinion about Scripture. It is the verdict of a man who learned the Word's worth while suffering.
In affliction he has learned to value the Word above the thousands of gold and silver that the proud boast in. So he can say, "It is good for me that I was afflicted."
What did that affliction teach him? One writer points to the very rules he had broken.
The very affliction he has passed through has served him. It made him learn more deeply the character of those statutes — the very statutes he broke, and suffered for breaking. Everyone must know how surely we learn this way. As a result, the law of Jehovah's mouth has taken on a value beyond earthly riches: it is his real possession.
The phrase is not "the law of the book" but the law of God's mouth. That wording ties the words to the Speaker, and gives them a double use.
The law of God's mouth is precious above all. It is the expression of His own perfect mind and will, and of His will about us. We live by it, but we live on it too, and with delight, as coming from Him and perfect for us.
"Law" here does not mean cold rules. Its root meaning explains why a man would trade money for it.
Verse 72 contrasts thousands of gold and silver with the law of Your mouth. The Psalmist chooses the law, that is, the Word of God. What do we choose? The meaning of the word "Law" is: a divine instruction about our conduct and our character. Its root meaning is "to guide." The writer would give up anything, gold or silver, for God's guidance in his life. He longs to know the Lord's will for every step of the way.
To someone without faith, this trade sounds mad. One writer answers that reaction by pointing to people who paid the price.
"Better than silver or gold." Tell this to a man of the world and he will think you are mad. Of course it is better than thousands of gold and silver. Of course it is above fine gold. It deals with eternal issues. The new Christians in Ephesus had the right idea in Acts 19. They destroyed unholy books — books of sorcery that directly opposed God's word. The cost in money was enormous. But that did not matter to them. They had something better than silver or gold. Luke tells us they destroyed 50,000 drachmas' worth. A drachma was a day's wage for an ordinary working man, so that is about 150 years of wages — a huge sum.
These words are easy to say. The test is not whether we agree, but whether agreeing costs us any effort.
It is a small thing to say to Him, "The law of Your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces." If saying it with the psalmist costs our soul an effort, we know very little of the sweetness of that true honeycomb. But we should also learn to say: may Your testimonies, Lord, be my counsellor as well as my delight! By them may Your servant be warned, and in keeping them find great reward!
One writer ties that treasure to how near we live to God.
If we are not living in His presence day by day, we will find no precious treasure in His words (Ps. 119:72).
Some commentators read this psalm forward, to a day still to come. It speaks, they say, of a faithful part of Israel — the remnant.
This eightfold new-covenant Psalm shows us how God will write the law in the heart and mind of the godly Jewish remnant. In the end they will own Jesus as the Christ, with all sins forgiven and forgotten. Then the soul sings from experience, "The law of Your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces."
- Cause — affliction. He did not assume this value; he learned it. He suffered for breaking the statutes, and so they became his real possession.
- Gift — God's mouth. The worth lies in the Speaker. His word expresses His own perfect mind and will. We live by it, and we live on it.
- Guidance — the point of "law." Its root sense is to guide. He would give up any amount of gold to know God's will for every step.
- Reach — a price the world calls madness. The believers in Ephesus destroyed a fortune in books. They had something better than silver or gold.
- Result — a song without effort. If saying this verse costs the soul an effort, we know little of its sweetness. The treasure goes to those who live near God.