A Precious Treasure

Psalm 119:65-72
There are four things in this section which are given as outstanding things in the psalmist’s life, “Testimony,” “Teaching,” “Testing” and “Treasure.”
He first lays the foundation with a truth he is certain of. “Thou hast dealt well with thy servant, O Lord, according unto thy Word.” (vs 65) He establishes his testimony upon the Word of God. Faith is the foundation for his statements here. Not just believing and it will be true for believing doesn’t make it true or false. It is true whether we believe it or not, referring to the Word of God. Faith is not foolishly wishing something to be true so hard that it happens.
The testimony the psalmist had of God and could give to men was “Thou has dwelt well with thy servant, O Lord according to thy Word.” (vs 65) He could look back to that truth in all circumstances of life. So can we do so if we have walked with the Lord for any length of time. “Thou art good and doest good.” he concludes (vs 68) This truth was foundational in that God said it and not only that but he had experienced it. Now we must go from truth to experience, in order to be scriptural for the other way around causes error many times, for our experience of the truth does not make it true, the truth of God’s Word is forever settled in Heaven. When we do stand upon it, we find it unmovable, it is a solid rock, it cannot not be moved. Our feet may slide as the psalmist (Psalm 73:2) but the truth of God’s Word does not. This foundational truth of God’s goodness will keep us amid all the stormy trials of life. When the psalmist looked around, and was envious of the prosperity of the wicked (Psalm 73:3), he needed a strong foundation to stand upon to keep his sliding feet from causing a fall. “Looking around” causes us many problems. It is hard to run the race set before us when we are looking around either at other runners or to the sidelines at those who are not even in the race. Envy is sometimes the result of such looking around. The wicked do indeed seem to prosper, but let us be reminded that they are standing in slippery places and could slip off into eternity at any moment. The seat of the wicked may be high but will soon be empty. How could we envy them when we know their end? Also pride may be the result of looking around, we may proudly believe that we are running a better race than our fellow runners. So our focus should be on Him who has run His race to the finish perfectly, the Lord Jesus Christ.
In His love,
Pastor Ed Bowen