December 12, 2019 -- Psalm 119:72 -- Is God really Good above thousands of gold pieces? Oh yes!
/The law of your mouth is better to me
than thousands of gold and silver pieces.
Psalm 119:72 English Standard Version
This is the Teth stanza of Psalm 119. Remember this is a Hebrew acrostic—each stanza of eight verses begins a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The ninth letter is Teth. The word “good” appears repeatedly in this octet of verses. In fact, it begins our verse today—which could read: “Good is the law of your mouth above thousands of gold and silver pieces.”
Listen to the words of Agur:
Remove far from me falsehood and lying;
give me neither poverty nor riches;
feed me with the food that is needful for me,
lest I be full and deny you
and say, “Who is the Lord?”
or lest I be poor and steal
and profane the name of my God.
Proverbs 30:8-9 ESV
When Jesus walked this earth as a wandering preacher, He had no permanent home (Luke 9:58). Yet He trusted His Father in heaven to provide all that was needful. The Spirit of God lived in Jesus—the very same Spirit Who lives in us who are believers—and strengthened Jesus’ humanity so that whatever He faced—adversity or riches, accolades or mocking, acceptance or rejection, and finally the intense suffering of His mock trial, flogging, crucifixion and death—the Spirit was with Jesus comforting, guiding, letting His heart know He was accomplishing His Father’s will. Jesus endured all things in His flesh because God Who is good beyond all gold and silver pieces had given Him the priceless gift of the Spirit. And the Spirit of Power led Jesus in the Law which came from the mouth of the LORD.
This is why lotteries are such wickedness in our culture today. Ordinary men and women are taught to long for earthly riches that soon fade. Lotteries are such an evil in our society because those who are poor are longing for a big pay-out and spend way beyond their ability to give with the desperate hope that maybe this will solve their problems. All of us have read stories of those who received big pay-outs only to have lawsuits brought against them by family members who want a chunk of their windfall.
Only God is Good and the Source of all Good. The Law from the mouth of God is good. Only the Spirit of God leads us in all good. Only Christ Himself is for us the example of what is Good and is for us who believe in Him Good. Oh fellow believers, ask the Spirit of God to break down every idol in your heart and cast out every enemy of God that lingers in your thoughts so that you will have the clarity to see and live in the goodness of our God and Father.
Spirit of the Living God fall on me in fresh and new measure. Spirit of God, direct me to see the perfections of Jesus and as I follow Him help me to live fully in the good which God my Father intends for me. Amen.
