"No, Father! Not this. Please, no!"
We cry from the depths of our being.
An unwelcome diagnosis, false accusations, tragic news, parents' passings; a child, a friend, yourself afflicted and set upon, among a host of other bad news reports.
"Why, Father?!" we ask in anguish.
AND the last thing we want to hear someone say to us, "...it's for your own good"!
Heavenly Father, when we consider what the psalmist, who knew much affliction, penned in the lines;
"It was good for me to be afflicted, so I might learn Your decrees" (Psalm 119:71 [Teth] NIV)
it may make us rebel in our hearts. We are sorry Lord, but You know our feebleness. On second thought, though, we recall the psalmist's many afflictions which he enumerates in each segment of Psalm 119. In this 'Teth' segment he alludes to,
"...the arrogant...who...have smeared him with lies" and that their "hearts were callous and unfeeling" (v. 70).
Sounds like false accusations hurled his way.
Why does he say the "afflictions" are good, though?
Well, he captures a mini-before and after shot. He said in verse 67 that,
"...before he was afflicted he went astray but now he obeys God's word".
Also, as mentioned earlier, it was to teach him Father God's decrees. A loving father will discipline his children.
In the midst of our sorrow and suffering, most of us do not want to learn lessons.
This is a tough call, Father.
Seems like David, or whoever the writer of Psalm 119 was, was writing in retrospect. However, I believe he turned, had trained himself to turn, to the You, who was his anchor of life. He'd learned to turn his eyes to You, his Heavenly Father, God, whom he often referred to as his Shield, Rock, Fortress, and Deliverer. He also turned to Your Word which he'd learned to recite, ponder upon and to keep himself steady.
Now he adds, so that he might learn Your decrees. We wonder,
"I thought he already said he could recite them, so, why is he saying, so he could learn them?"
This is the difference between head and heart knowledge. He did not only want to know in his head but by first-hand experience, painful though it may have been. By Your grace, Father God, we, too, can focus on these types of lessons to help us through the sadnesses, some so abjectly gut-wrenching, and despondency's of life.
Oh Father God, we are members of the Fallen world and it hurts Your heart to see Your creatures suffer so. The Good News is that You sent Jesus to bear all our sin and sorrow and punishment for that fallenness, upon the cross. We praise and thank You from the bottoms of our hearts.
Melt our hearts and turn our hearts to You and Your words to help us through our many intense afflictions we still must endure. Help us to "know" Your Word and to obey despite the depths of pain through which we must walk.
Then may we dare to thank-You and say,
"It was good for me to be afflicted..."
with a contented and comforted heart, willing to be molded by You.
Father, as we partake of the bread and drink of the cup on a Lord's Day, we thank You for the affliction of Your Son that was so painful for You both but the immense good this sacrifice, brought us to You, with our acceptance of Your everlasting gift. May we think on that with gratitude.
Asking this, Father, in Your Son Jesus' Name; He who was stricken, smitten and afflicted for us. That was the best "good" affliction. Thank You.
~ERC July 2020~
Based on Psalm 119:65-72 Teth
Sing, When I Survey the Wondrous Cross as sung by the Gaithers
and "Stricken, Smitten and Afflicted" as sung by Capitol Hill Baptist Church choir
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