You have dealt well with your servant,
O LORD, according to your word.

Psalm 119:65 ESV

With this verse, we now move into the ninth stanza of Psalm 119, wherein each verse begins with the ninth letter of the Hebrew alphabet, teth. This first verse very fittingly summarizes the overall theme of the stanza, namely, God’s good dealing with the psalmist. Indeed, we find good, well, or better being used six times within these eight verses.

You have dealt well with your servant. Notice here that the psalmist is not merely declaring God’s good dealing with the nation of Israel as a whole. That God did so was certainly true, as Psalm 78 attests. God guided them in the wilderness, giving them bread from heaven and water from the rock. God destroyed Egypt and led them out of the land of their oppressors like a shepherd leading a flock of sheep from one pasture to the next. Even His judgments were ultimately to turn their hearts to Him again. Yes, God certainly dealt well with His people.Yet that is not what the psalmist is declaring. He is here personalizing God’s displayed goodness. God has dealt well with him specifically.

To broaden the picture again, all of God’s people should be able to say the same. Yes, we are collectively blessed by God. Amen! Yet we are also individually blessed by God. Indeed, we certainly rejoice that Christ has redeemed a people for God’s own possession, yet we have no share in that people unless we have individually confessed Jesus as Lord, repented of our sins, and received the forgiveness that only He can give. With this in mind, can you say that God has dealt well with you?

O LORD, according to your word. Given that Psalm 119 rejoices so mightily in the Scriptures, we should not be surprised to read this clarification. God’s good dealing with the psalmist had come according to God’s Word. Indeed, when the psalmist’s soul was clinging to the dust, he cried out for life according to God’s Word (v. 25), and God answered him (v. 26). When his soul was melting away for sorrow, he cried to be strengthened according to God’s Word (v. 28), and he found delight in it (v. 35). Having the written revelation of the LORD at all is a glorious grace given to us. Therefore, as you read your Bible today, pray this prayer of thanksgiving alongside the psalmist: You have dealt with you servant, O LORD, according to your word.