Hello, with lots of longing for the "lost sheep of the house of spiritual Israel"--ultimately all those who could place deep trust in God and His beloved son for spiritual provisions, and eternal peace, happiness, and life! Today's blog has a few fine points that could touch the heart of someone appreciating encouragement--please consider sharing! Let's continue in Proverbs 4, verses 20-23, then resume our normal consideration of Psalm 119 with stanza 9A.

Proverbs 4:20-23:
"20 My son, pay attention to my words; Listen carefully to my sayings. 21 Do not lose sight of them; Keep them deep within your heart, 22 For they are life to those who find them And health to their whole body. 23 Above all the things that you guard, safeguard your heart, For out of it are the sources of life."

Prove 4:20-22 God and parents can say a lot, but if we aren't listening well, how will we benefit? We are to "pay" attention. When we pay money, for instance, we're giving up something. To "pay" attention, we have to give up concentrating on other things to focus on the one speaking, or the words of God we're reading or hearing. If you don't really pay genuine money for that steak dinner, someone may come looking for you. Let's not pretend to "pay attention"--let's really give up other things to genuinely concentrate on what's more important, to "listen carefully!" Jesus said at Luke 8:18: "Pay attention to how you listen, for whoever has will be given more, but whoever does not have, even what he imagines he has will be taken away from him." To truly comprehend what we're hearing, we need to cultivate genuine understanding and discernment, to put things in proper place in our minds and hearts, and judge between truth and falsehood, right and wrong, and so on. Otherwise, what we hear may be going "in one ear and out the other!" Of what value is this? Once we have these things in our heart, we should keep them there, treasuring the spiritual insight and direction that God and parents may give, as this can lead us to eternal life and good health both spiritually and perhaps with time, physically. (Job 33:25). Such things are actually worth paying "more than the usual attention!" (Hebre 2:1).
Prove 4:23 One of the values of God's word is it helps us gain a proper view of priorities, which gives us "soundness of mind." What do you seek to protect in life? What is so important to you that you would guard it with everything you have? God tells us here that it is our heart that we should safeguard "above all the things that you guard." This would certainly include our relationship with God, whom we are to love with our "whole heart." (Matth 22:37). Our figurative heart is primarily our entire spiritual being, our qualities, values, and viewpoints, as we see things from God's perspective. Especially our integrity to God and His ways should be preserved. The things of the spirit are related to our mental faculties. The two, heart and mind, are at times separated to clarify that one could have knowledge without affecting his heart and real behavior, thus setting him up for an unfavorable course of deception, needing serious help from God to correct. Therefore, we should ponder what we're learning from others, from God or parents, to truly see how to live according to what we're learning. Then the words of Proverbs 27:11 may ring true in our case, where God says "Be wise, my son, and make my heart rejoice, So that I can make a reply to him who taunts me." Satan has been the primary liar, deceiver and taunter of God, but all who truly appreciate God's way, the way of the truth, and seek to live by it, oppose his evil and give Jehovah evidence that His way promotes genuine happiness among His human creation.
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Verses 65-68 read this way: “65 You have dealt well with your servant, O Jehovah, according to your word. 66 Teach me good sense and knowledge, For I have put my trust in your commandments. 67 Before I was afflicted, I used to go astray, But now I keep your saying. 68 You are good and your works are good. Teach me your regulations.”
JEHOVAH'S GOODNESS, LOYALTY. Psalm 119:65 How thankful we can be to be able to know God’s personality and ways by means of His written word, the Bible. The psalmist acknowledges in his experience that God fully acts in harmony with it, dealing with him just as His word explains. For instance, Psalm 86:5 says of Jehovah: “ 5 For you, O Jehovah, are good and ready to forgive; You abound in loyal love for all those who call on you.” And Psalm 18:25 says: “25 With someone loyal you act in loyalty; With the blameless man you deal blamelessly.” May we appreciate God’s fair and just dealings with mankind, not blaming Him for things that aren’t truly His responsibility. Recall our perfect ancestors, at Satan's instigation, left God’s divine favor and blessing, choosing for all their descendants a world of much ungodly human experimentation, with sin, sickness, and death. (Genesis 3). We still feel the effects of that decision, but God’s Kingdom has begun to bring relief, and is poised to usher in greater blessings in accord with God’s will to fulfill His original purpose toward humans. Perhaps those with ruling authority may submit themselves to the wise guidance of God’s word, supportive of God’s incoming Kingdom, and thereby support the happiness and everlasting life prospects of all those under their care!
GAINING "GOOD SENSE." Psalm 119:66 The psalmist places his trust in God’s commandments, which Psalm 19 says are “clean,” and “enlighten the eyes.” [Psalm 19:8, AMP]. Thus by heeding them one is better able to see and discern Bible truth, and acquire “good sense and knowledge.” It was Abigail that David commended for showing “good sense” by interceding for her senseless husband, Nabal, who cursed and faulted righteous David, who had done him no wrong. She prepared food and other provisions for David’s men, at his request. God judged Nabal adversely for his gross disrespect. Thus, “good sense” moves one to act wisely, make good judgments, recognizing priorities with a sound mind, and using knowledge judiciously, and with a loving motive. The psalmist requested God to teach him such qualities, on the basis of his proper regard for God’s commandments. Likewise, we too can make such a request, in harmony with James 1:5-6, as God is generous to share true wisdom to any who are lacking, and who ask in faith, with deep trust in God’s desire and willingness to help.
SPARED HEARTACHE. Psalm 119:67 God may have allowed the psalmist to face difficulties so that he might learn obedience, as did Christ, through “the things he suffered.” (Hebre 5:8). Adherence to God’s law spares us much heartache and trouble from the consequences of wrongdoing. The psalmist here learned the lesson, and came to appreciate the value of God’s loving guidance and correction.
EVIDENCE OF GOD'S LOVE. Psalm 119:68 Thus, Jehovah’s works are in harmony with His personality—they are a manifestation of His great love, wisdom, power, and sense of justice. His primary quality, according to His word, is love. While God HAS the other qualities, it is only love that He IS. (1John 4:8,16). Therefore, we can expect His works, past, present, and future to primarily manifest this quality. Can we not see this in God’s works of creation? The way humans have been made ‘in God’s image,’ to be able to think, reason, draw conclusions, work with our hands, move with our feet, laugh, and enjoy living—can we not appreciate our Great Designer? How much work would teams of scientists and engineers have to do to design and create a robot that could do all the things humans are capable of doing? Could it really just come about by chance? What about all that went into the animal creation, with the delightful experiences of watching kittens or puppies at play, seeing squirrels or other acrobatic creatures amaze us with their feats of skill, witnessing a bird’s talented flight or listening to birdsong? What about the sights and aromas of beautiful flowers or blossoming trees in springtime? Then being able to share such times with friends and loved ones, delighting in conversation over meals and other enjoyable activities—can our appreciation and love for God not continue to grow as we contemplate His uncountably numerous kindnesses manifested toward the human family? Yes, Jehovah is good and His works are good! Like the psalmist, may we thus be moved to willingly learn from God even His detailed guidance for us, that we may know how to live and support the doing of His will and good purpose.