In Faithfulness You Have Afflicted Me (Psalm 119:73-77)

Psalm 119:73-77

73Your hands have made me and fashioned me;
Give me understanding, that I may learn Your commandments.
74Those who fear You will be glad when they see me,
Because I have hoped in Your word.
75I know, O LORD, that Your judgments are right,
And that in faithfulness You have afflicted me.
76Let, I pray, Your merciful kindness be for my comfort,
According to Your word to Your servant.
77Let Your tender mercies come to me, that I may live;
For Your law is my delight.

There is nothing better than to seek God in ones life. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. For many it is difficult to trust God in times of hardship. Many children, when their parents take things away from them it is not to harm them, but to protect them. The child may kick, scream and throw a fit because they think what the parent has done is cruel. They don't understand that the parent loves them and has the best in mind for them.

In life, we won't understand why things happen the way they do. We won't understand why God may take away the very things that we think we need the most. Whether it be our relationships, health, finances, careers, prestige, respect, ministry or anything else we can hold onto in our own strength. Even if God takes away everything, I will always trust that His judgments are right. His ways are above my ways, His thoughts above my thoughts and His wisdom is always trustworthy. God only acts out of love. He is a good Father and we can trust Him always. He knows best and always desires the best for us. In His faithfulness to make us more like Him, to bring us closer to Him and to make us perfect in His love, He will "afflict us". The affliction of the Lord may not feel good, it may not be understood, it may even seem wrong at the moment, but ultimately if we trust in Him it will produce fruit in our lives that will be everlasting. It is in those moments, when all around us fails, when everything we wanted, everything we held onto, everything we thought was God but turned out it was not or so it seems, it is in those precious moments that we pray,

76Lord, I pray, Your merciful kindness be for my comfort,
According to Your word to Your servant.
77Let Your tender mercies come to me, that I may live;
For Your law is my delight.

When Jesus was in the garden being arrested by the soldiers His disciple Peter tried to stop Him from facing the affliction by cutting off one of the soldiers ears. Yet Jesus knew God had brought about this affliction, it was His destiny to be crucified on the cross. Even so, did Jesus make a way for escape from the pain that was due? No, he answered Peter, "Put your sword away! Shall I knot drink the cup the Father has given me?" (John 18:11)

Shall we not drink the cup of suffering, the cup of affliction that Jesus drank? To take up our cross daily with Him? I'm not advocating that we look to "suffer for Christ" in order to prove our faithfulness to God. But the Word of God says those who desire to live a true godly life will suffer persecution. But let us not look to suffering as a negative, but as an opportunity for each of us to draw closer to Christ and to experience His infinite goodness in this temporary finite existence. For what is our affliction compared to His? Nothing at all. All that we lose in this life is for the sole purpose of understanding what He loss, yet what He gained for us.

2Ti 3:12
Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.

His love never fails. His wisdom always knows best. His tender mercies are my comfort. His Word is my delight. Lord Jesus do not let me have my way. In Your faithfulness afflict me until I am made complete in Christ. Let me decrease so You may increase oh Lord. Amen

posted by Jaeson Ma @ 6/21/2008 02:16:00 PM