Now... Why Troubles Are A Gift From God
Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word. It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes. I know, O Lord, that your rules are righteous, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me. (Psalm 119:67, 71, 75 ESV)
These three verses all use the verb “afflicted,” which comes from the noun “affliction,” an old word that means any difficult or painful circumstance. Afflictions come in all shapes and sizes. An affliction can be as small as an aggravating head cold or as large as a major illness, the loss of a job, public persecution, or rumors spread by your enemies. Or an affliction could be the sort of cosmic suffering Job experienced.
It is true - we don’t need to seek affliction because sooner or later, it will seek us. I’m sure that’s true. Sometimes our troubles come because we are just plain stupid. And we may have big trouble when we are repeatedly stupid. Other times we suffer because we live in a fallen world where disease spreads, babies get sick, and earthquakes shake our present world. Sometimes we suffer not because we do wrong but because we do right and someone else doesn’t like it. So being good isn’t a guarantee that you won’t have problems.
Here’s a verse to consider as we begin this study: “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all” (Psalm 34:19).
Here’s a verse to consider as we begin this study: “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all” (Psalm 34:19).
Most of us probably like that second part about deliverance, but I want us to look at the first part, the many afflictions the righteous suffer. If you want a big idea before we begin, here it is: It’s not what happens to us that matters, it how we respond that makes the difference.
The writer of Psalm 119 had a lot to say about trouble. Evidently he had suffered so much that he had become a sort of expert in the field. The three verses of our text remind us forcefully that God is intimately involved in our troubles. Nothing happens—no matter how bad it may seem—by accident.
Here is a simple outline to help our flow of thought today from Dr. Ray Pritchard:
Here is a simple outline to help our flow of thought today from Dr. Ray Pritchard:
I. Before My Troubles: Straying
“Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word” (Psalm 119:67).
The psalmist means that before his troubles came, he was on top of the world, tooling down the highway of life with the top down and the music blaring. He was “the most from coast to coast,” his life was on cruise control, things were good, his wife was happy, his kids were doing great, his career was on the upswing, and little by little he was reaching his goals. Life wasn’t perfect but it sure was good. He prayed, but not much. He read his Bible, but not with much conviction. He went through the motions, but in his heart he felt pretty good about how things were going. His prosperity had caused him to push God to the edge of life.
But now that has all changed. God had other plans for him. I wonder how often we consider how thin the line is between joy and sorrow. Just one phone call and your life could be shattered forever. That’s all it takes. Just one phone call and things will never be the same. Of course we live as if that call will never come. But it could come at any moment. And when it does, our house of cards comes tumbling down. When people ask me, “Do you think God can speak to us today?” I always tell them, “He’s got your number and he can ring your phone any time he wants.” God can speak to us through our troubles and he can stop us in our tracks.
C. S. Lewis remarked that God whispers in our pleasure but he shouts in our pain. Pain is God’s megaphone to rouse a sleeping world. That’s what the psalmist meant in verse 67. His afflictions have led him back to the Lord. Where once he lived for himself, now he obeys God’s Word.
II. During My Troubles: Learning
“It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees” (Psalm 119:71).
Most of us would have a hard time saying, “It was good for me to be afflicted.” By definition, affliction is painful to endure. How could we ever call it good? Yet that is exactly what the psalmist said about his own suffering.
If your God is only a “God of the good times” or a “God of the mountaintops,” then your God is not the God of the Bible. The true God is often best seen in the darkness and his presence most powerfully felt in times of deepest sorrow.
One of the purposes of affliction is to teach us things we would not otherwise know. Until hard times come, our knowledge of God and his Word tends to be rather theoretical, like the man who reads three books on car repair and then opens an auto repair shop. When my car breaks down, I want a man with some grease under his fingernails. If he’s too clean, I worry that maybe he doesn’t have enough experience. Give me a man who knows by experience the difference between a fuel pump and a water pump.
The psalmist declares that passing through the valley of sorrow was good for him because through it all he learned the Word of God. Martin Luther commented that he never learned the Word until he was afflicted. His sufferings then became his best schoolmasters. This is a hard reality for many Christians to face because we don’t like our circumstances. We would prefer that our marriage be different or our career to move in a different direction or our finances to improve or our health to change for the better. No doubt most of us would change certain things about our own situation if we were in charge of the universe. But can we be certain that our choices would be better than God’s? Just because you don’t like your situation doesn’t mean you don’t need to be there. Your personal satisfaction with life is not necessarily a good gauge of where you need to be right now.
When we factor God into the equation, things look very different. It’s not that the affliction itself is less painful or that something sad has been made happy or that evil has somehow become good. And it doesn’t mean that you would not change things if you could. When we bring God into the equation, we look back and see how it was good for us to go through hard times because we learned things about God and about ourselves that we would never have known otherwise. About God, we learn that his ways are far beyond our ways, that he is holy and righteous and full of mercy and always faithful to his children. About ourselves, we learn that we aren’t as strong or as wise or as powerful or as clever as we thought we were. In the end, we are exposed as helpless children desperately in need of our Heavenly Father.
So many times our prayers in times of difficulty boil down to three words: “Change my circumstances.” While praying like that isn’t wrong, it can lead us in a wrong direction. If we take Psalm 119 seriously, we ought instead to pray, “Lord, teach me your Word.” We say, “Lord, change my marriage or get me out of it.” “Change my boss so she will appreciate me.” “Change my health so I will feel better.” “Change my financial condition so I can pay my bills.” Who among us hasn’t prayed along those lines? But consider this. Perhaps God has not changed your circumstances because he first wants to change you.
III. After My Troubles: Knowing
”I know, O LORD, that your laws are righteous, and in faithfulness you have afflicted me” (Psalm 119:75).
One of the purposes of affliction is to teach us things we would not otherwise know. Until hard times come, our knowledge of God and his Word tends to be rather theoretical, like the man who reads three books on car repair and then opens an auto repair shop. When my car breaks down, I want a man with some grease under his fingernails. If he’s too clean, I worry that maybe he doesn’t have enough experience. Give me a man who knows by experience the difference between a fuel pump and a water pump.
The psalmist declares that passing through the valley of sorrow was good for him because through it all he learned the Word of God. Martin Luther commented that he never learned the Word until he was afflicted. His sufferings then became his best schoolmasters. This is a hard reality for many Christians to face because we don’t like our circumstances. We would prefer that our marriage be different or our career to move in a different direction or our finances to improve or our health to change for the better. No doubt most of us would change certain things about our own situation if we were in charge of the universe. But can we be certain that our choices would be better than God’s? Just because you don’t like your situation doesn’t mean you don’t need to be there. Your personal satisfaction with life is not necessarily a good gauge of where you need to be right now.
When we factor God into the equation, things look very different. It’s not that the affliction itself is less painful or that something sad has been made happy or that evil has somehow become good. And it doesn’t mean that you would not change things if you could. When we bring God into the equation, we look back and see how it was good for us to go through hard times because we learned things about God and about ourselves that we would never have known otherwise. About God, we learn that his ways are far beyond our ways, that he is holy and righteous and full of mercy and always faithful to his children. About ourselves, we learn that we aren’t as strong or as wise or as powerful or as clever as we thought we were. In the end, we are exposed as helpless children desperately in need of our Heavenly Father.
So many times our prayers in times of difficulty boil down to three words: “Change my circumstances.” While praying like that isn’t wrong, it can lead us in a wrong direction. If we take Psalm 119 seriously, we ought instead to pray, “Lord, teach me your Word.” We say, “Lord, change my marriage or get me out of it.” “Change my boss so she will appreciate me.” “Change my health so I will feel better.” “Change my financial condition so I can pay my bills.” Who among us hasn’t prayed along those lines? But consider this. Perhaps God has not changed your circumstances because he first wants to change you.
III. After My Troubles: Knowing
”I know, O LORD, that your laws are righteous, and in faithfulness you have afflicted me” (Psalm 119:75).
The phrase “I know” speaks of settled knowledge, the kind that comes only by looking back over the years and seeing again and again how God has helped you in times of heartache and trouble.
Most of us know that little poem called “Footprints” about the two sets of footprints in the sand, one for you and one for the Lord who walked with you. But in the darkest moments, there was only one set of prints. Why? “My child, when you couldn’t walk, I carried you in my arms,” says the Lord. As we look back, we can see times that were so difficult that we know deep in our souls that if God had not carried us, we would not have made it through. That’s the sort of tested knowledge he’s talking about in verse 75.
The psalmist declares that he now knows three things as a result of his afflictions:
a) Everything God says is right.
b) God is faithful even in our troubles.
c) He is involved in everything that happens to us.
When times are tough, it’s easy to conclude, “Lord, this must be a mistake.” But consider how the psalmist puts it: “In faithfulness you have afflicted me.” Somehow he sees beyond his current misery, past the pain of difficult circumstances, and through the fog of many unanswered questions to apprehend the hand of a loving and faithful God who is working in, with and through his troubles to accomplish his divine purposes. What a high view of sovereignty this is. Even the attacks of his enemies cannot happen apart from God’s gracious permission. Not even Satan himself can touch him unless God wills it so. No weapon formed against him can prosper, and any evil weapon that touches him must be allowed to do so, not in spite of God’s faithfulness but because of it.
Five Simple Suggestions
In light of all of this, how should we respond to the trials, troubles and afflictions of life? Here are five simple suggestions:
a) Thank God for your troubles.
b) Look for God’s fingerprints in your life.
c) Immerse yourself in God’s Word.
d) Have faith in God.
e) When your learning becomes knowing, share what you’ve learned about God with someone else.
The psalmist declares that he now knows three things as a result of his afflictions:
a) Everything God says is right.
b) God is faithful even in our troubles.
c) He is involved in everything that happens to us.
When times are tough, it’s easy to conclude, “Lord, this must be a mistake.” But consider how the psalmist puts it: “In faithfulness you have afflicted me.” Somehow he sees beyond his current misery, past the pain of difficult circumstances, and through the fog of many unanswered questions to apprehend the hand of a loving and faithful God who is working in, with and through his troubles to accomplish his divine purposes. What a high view of sovereignty this is. Even the attacks of his enemies cannot happen apart from God’s gracious permission. Not even Satan himself can touch him unless God wills it so. No weapon formed against him can prosper, and any evil weapon that touches him must be allowed to do so, not in spite of God’s faithfulness but because of it.
Five Simple Suggestions
In light of all of this, how should we respond to the trials, troubles and afflictions of life? Here are five simple suggestions:
a) Thank God for your troubles.
b) Look for God’s fingerprints in your life.
c) Immerse yourself in God’s Word.
d) Have faith in God.
e) When your learning becomes knowing, share what you’ve learned about God with someone else.
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