Psalm 119:66

“Teach me good judgment and knowledge; for I have believed thy commandments.”

We live in an age overflowing with information, yet information and wisdom are not the same thing. We can know more facts than previous generations could have imagined and still make poor decisions. We can have instant access to news, opinions, expert commentary and the experiences of thousands of other people, yet still struggle to recognise what is true, what matters, and what God would have us do.

The prayer of the Psalmist therefore feels remarkably current: “Teach me good judgment and knowledge.” He is not merely asking God to tell him more. He is asking God to shape the way he evaluates what he already sees.

Judgment Must Be Learned

Good judgment is not simply something we possess naturally. Our judgment is influenced by personality, experience, emotion, disappointment, ambition and fear. Two people can look at exactly the same situation and interpret it entirely differently because they are bringing different histories into the room.

The Psalmist recognises this and does something important: he places his judgment under God’s authority.

“Teach me.”

Those two words require humility. They acknowledge that our first reaction may not always be the right one. What seems obvious to us may be incomplete. What feels justified may still be wrong. What appears attractive today may carry consequences we cannot yet see.

When we ask God to teach us good judgment, we are admitting that wisdom requires more than instinct.

Knowledge Needs a Foundation

The Psalmist connects judgment with knowledge, but then immediately explains where that knowledge must be anchored: “for I have believed thy commandments.”

That order matters.

He does not believe God’s commandments because he has independently examined everything and concluded that God happens to be correct. He begins with trust. God’s Word becomes the foundation from which everything else is evaluated.

Our culture usually encourages the opposite approach. We are taught to begin with ourselves—our feelings, preferences, ambitions and personal understanding—and then decide which truths we are prepared to accept.

Scripture invites us to reverse that order.

We begin with God and allow His truth to examine us.

This does not mean abandoning thought. Christianity never calls us to stop thinking. Instead, faith gives our thinking a reliable centre. God’s commandments provide boundaries within which judgment can mature.

The Pause Before the Decision

One practical way we can develop better judgment is to create space between what happens to us and how we respond.

Much damage is done in that small gap.

Someone speaks harshly, and we immediately answer. Something frightens us, and we immediately assume the worst. An opportunity appears, and excitement persuades us that it must be God’s will. We hear something about another person and form an opinion before discovering whether it is even true.

Good judgment often begins with a pause.

In that pause, we can pray. We can ask whether we know enough. We can consider whether emotion is distorting our perspective. We can remember what Scripture teaches about truth, patience, mercy and self-control.

The pause does not make us indecisive. It makes room for wisdom.

When God’s Word Corrects Us

There will also be moments when Scripture challenges conclusions we have already reached.

Perhaps we feel justified in holding resentment, but God’s Word calls us towards forgiveness. Perhaps fear tells us to retreat, while faith requires courage. Perhaps pride tells us that we deserve recognition, while Christ calls us towards service.

These moments reveal whether we simply admire God’s Word or actually trust it.

Believing God’s commandments means allowing them to correct us, even when correction is uncomfortable. Sometimes the clearest evidence of spiritual growth is not that we become more certain of ourselves, but that we become more willing to reconsider ourselves in the light of God.

A Mind Being Taught

The Psalmist’s prayer assumes that wisdom develops over time. “Teach me” is the language of a student, and we remain students of God throughout our lives.

We will still make mistakes. We will sometimes misread situations, speak too quickly or discover that our judgment was influenced by something we had not recognised. But if our hearts remain teachable, even those mistakes can become part of God’s instruction.

Perhaps this is one of the quiet marks of an ordered soul: not that we always know immediately what to do, but that we increasingly know where to take the question.

So our prayer can remain simple: Lord, teach us good judgment. Give us knowledge that is rooted in Your truth. Slow us when we are reacting, correct us when we are mistaken, and help us trust Your commandments enough to let them reshape the way we see.

For wisdom does not begin when we have all the answers. It begins when we are willing to be taught.

Explore More

If you have found this helpful, there is more to explore across Saints of the Restoration. You can continue with our Daily Bread devotionals, go deeper through The Deeper Walk, consider some of Life’s Questions, reflect through Bible Poetry, or browse our growing library of free Christian books and study resources.

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