by: carole l. haines
65 You have dealt well with Your servant, O Lord, according to Your word. 66 Teach me good discernment and knowledge, For I believe in Your commandments. 67 Before I was afflicted I went astray, But now I keep Your word. 68 You are good and do good; Teach me Your statutes.
Context, yes indeed, everything must be seen in context. O how wrong we get it, when we quote things out of the context in which they occurred. The media does this all the time, and they call it a “spin.” Well, context is everything, especially in the Scriptures, and God doesn’t ever put a “spin” on anything. Some of the most beloved phrases of Scripture would be even more poignant, if read within the context of the whole passage. The above phrase, “You are good, and do good,” is such a phrase. We sing in church, God is good, all the time. All the time God is good. But notice the phrase right before this quote, “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your Word. That phrase we sing all the time, that we say to one another all the time; is encapsulated in the idea of correction from the Lord. Before I was afflicted, I went astray. O how our God loves us too much to let us have our own way. How foolish we are when we don’t recognize some of the afflictions of life as His Disciplinary Love. God’s Word tells us that He disciplines those whom He loves:
Thus you are to know in your heart that the Lord your God was disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son. (Dueteronomy 8:5 NASB)
For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He (God) disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. (Hebrews 12:10 NASB)
I work in a Children’s Learning Center, and I can tell you, the good parents do not let their children have their own way all the time. Neither does our Wonderful God. Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your Word. O God, You are so good, and You do good, by disciplining us, and guiding us in the right way to go. Thank you, Precious Lord.
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