What made the Psalmist say, "It is good that I have been afflicted"?
For the past few mornings, I have been reading in Psalms 119. My words for the year have been keep and now. While I read, I keep an eye out for those words. (Forgive me for the pun.:)) Psalms 119 is filled with golden nuggets on God's Word, and it has much to say on keeping God's Word. I have enyoyed the study. I have about one morning left in this wonderful chapter. As I was reading, I came upon the word, afflicted, afflictions.
The first time we see the word affliction in this chapter is in verse 50 which says, "This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me." He found comfort in the word of God. (See verse 76.) God's Word is so many things in this chapter. Is it any wonder that it is a comfort as well? Then in verse 67 he says something else. He said, "Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word." In that case, God used affliction to bring him back to Him. Not all affliction comes from sin or straying from the Lord though some does. Job's "friends" made this mistake. They tried to blame Job's problems on some secret sins. The affliction and trials came to Job because God knew Job could handle it and come out stronger in the end. This affliction meant for evil by Satan ended up punching Satan back in the face.
The verse stood out to me the most was verse 71 - "It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes." Wow! What a statement! How could the Psalmist say this? I believe he could say this because of the peace that comes from the Word of God. Psalm 119:165 says, "Great peace have they which love thy law." Of course this verse deals with not getting offended by God's Word, but I believe it also shows that God's Word can bring peace to the afflicted Christian. It sure seemed to help David. He saw things differently. He saw that God was always faithful in his affliction. So many get upset with God for allowing them to go through affliction and trials that they fail to realize God was there with them the whole time. David saw past the difficulty and saw a faithful God and His faithful Word (v.89- 91). Then he said, "Unless thy law had been my delights, I should then have perished in mine affliction." During his trial of affliction, he clung to the Word of God. That is the greatest thing you and I can do.
I mentioned the peace of God. It is amazing how God works through His Word today. Yesterday I started noticing the word afflictions, then last night at church, my dad preached a message titled "The Perfect Recipe for Peace." (You can watch the service and hear the message by going to VSIBC's facebook page. Last night was part one, and next week he is going to give more of the recipe.) He started off by taking us to the book of Jeremiah. Jeremiah was sent to preach to a rebellious people, and he was afflicted because they would not listen. It almost consumed him. He suffered much at their hands but somewhere along the line between verses 15 and 16 of Jeremiah 15, something changed. My dad said that Jeremiah's circumstance did not change; his outlook did. In verse 16 Jeremiah said that he found God's Word, and it was joy unto him. How did he find this joy in his affliction? The peace of God. The preacher said, the peace of God causes you to sleep in the den of lions and walk around in the fiery furnace. You can't figure it out - it passes understanding. Like David, he found this peace and joy in a time of affliction. Sometimes it takes affliction to fully experience God's perfect peace that passes understanding.
I finished listening to a podcast episode from the Sandy Creek Stirrings podcast that my brother started and hosts. The episode was an interview with our father - Pastor Patrick Gimenez. It was all stuff I knew, but it was good to hear and remember. Partly because I have been through half of what he talked about. He shared a familiar story about my mom. We were on the mission field and my mom had gone back to the States for health issues, when my dad received a call from her saying she may have cancer. My dad had to hang up for a moment while he wept. Not too long after he hung up, my mom sent him an email. She told him, "Knowing that God is doing this for my good makes me want to have cancer because I know God is so good." Now that's the peace of God right there! Like David, Job, and Jeremiah, she had a different perspective of her affliction because of the peace from God and His Word. We need to start seeing our afflictions as our opportunity to glorify God and God's opportunity to refine us and make us stronger.
Why did David say it was good that he was afflicted? Because through it, he experienced the grace of God and the peace of God. Let your afflictions bring you closer to Him so you can experience it as well. Then like David, you can say, "It is good for me that I have been afflicted."
