Psalm 119:68

(This is an entry from a devotional commentary I am working on from Psalm 119 entitled ‘God and His Word’.  The introduction can be found here, successive entries have covered the 22 sections of the Psalm, and following entries verse by verse.)

 

"You are good and do good;

Teach me Your statutes."

 

‘Why do you call Me good?  No one is good except God alone.’ – Jesus (see Mark 10:18, Luke 18:19).  ‘Good’ is the Hebrew ‘טוֹב, ṭôḇ, טוֹבָה, ṭôḇāh, טֹבָה, ṭōḇāh: An adjective meaning good, well-pleasing, fruitful, morally correct, proper, convenient.’  ‘Do good’ is the Hebrew ‘יָטַב, yāṭaḇ: A verb meaning to be good, to be well, to be pleasing. In the causative stem, it means to do good, to do well, to please, to make pleasing…The word can also imply morality (Psa 36:3 [4]; Psa 119:68).’  It is the same as ‘well’ in v.65.  Lord, You can only be good and Your actions perform good; You are its very Source and Definition.  From the very beginning Your creation was good (e.g. Genesis 1:4).  Your actions are good simply because You do them!  Certainly I have no good besides You (Psalm 16:2), and no earthly thing can compare with You (Psalm 73:28)!  As a result, where else do I go for teaching?  You alone have the words of eternal life (John 6:68).  Surely I am in constant need of Your instruction (Psalm 32:8, Job 42:4).  Because You are good, You instruct sinners like me (Psalm 25:8).  Help me to be a good man who is instructed by good men and qualified to instruct others (Proverbs 2:20, 2 Timothy 2:2). 

 

‘The streams of God's goodness are so numerous, and run so full, so strong, to all the creatures, that we must conclude the fountain that is in himself to be inexhaustible.  Instruct me in my duty, incline me to it, and enable me to do it.’[1]

 

‘God is essential goodness in himself, and in every attribute of his nature he is good in the fullest sense of the term; indeed, he has a monopoly of goodness, for there is none good but one, that is God…God is not latent and inactive goodness; he displays himself by his doings, he is actively beneficent, he does good…Facts about God are the best praise of God. All the glory we can give to God is to reflect his own glory upon himself…He who mourns that he has not kept the word longs to be taught it, and he who rejoices that by grace he has been taught to keep it is not less anxious for the like instruction to be continued to him.’[2]


[1] Henry, Matthew, Commentary on the Whole Bible, on Psalm 119:68, e-Sword edition

[2] Spurgeon, Charles Haddon, Treasury of David, on Psalm 119:68, e-Sword edition


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