Psalm 119: Resh

As I started reading this stanza today, I was reminded of a Jeremy Camp song that uses these same words!  We know that the Psalms are poems and songs written for praise, so it is really cool when a modern day singer takes the lyrics and puts a tune to them.  Before moving further in our reflection, let’s listen to it!  Maybe even read over the passage while the song is playing.  The lyrics of the song don’t exactly match up to the original writing, and of course it depends upon the translation you use.  Here is the song:

There are numerous references throughout the Scriptures that talk about worshipping God amidst our hardship and struggle.  Yet when we are in that dark place, it is hard to feel the joy joy joy joy down in your heart to belt out one of those happy-go-lucky Sunday school songs, isn’t it?  In those times we feel more like, “bah humbug” and may not have an idea where to turn to “worship” God.  This song by Jeremy Camp, once I discovered it, is one that I turn to when things are going wrong.  It isn’t necessarily a “regular” worship song, as it is literally a cry for help!  I love it because it gives context to worship in difficulty.

Why is a cry for help also worship?  Because when we cry out to God, we are declaring that He is our Savior!  We don’t ask for help from people that we don’t think can help us, do we?  That would be ridiculous.  But when we ask God to revive us in our time of trouble, we are identifying that He is the only One who can.

Now, the psalmist is bold enough to state in various ways how he is doing everything he is supposed to, but still his enemies and persecutors are coming against him.  Maybe it isn’t even people, but it could be disease, sadness, depression, or a handful of other things.  “Consider my affliction,” he writes.  Have you ever experienced a time in your life when you felt that God seemed to have “skipped over” your struggle and has forgotten about you?  That’s exactly how he felt!

As we read through Psalm 119:153-160, there is a common human thought process that we all struggle with, which is revealed.  He writes about how he is doing everything right but is still afflicted!  That is a hard concept for us to accept and deal with.  Why do bad things happen to good people?  It is such a common question and quite frankly, one of the biggest challenges to God’s goodness.  We know the seed of this question comes from our spiritual enemy, tempting us to call into question God’s character…in contradiction with His Word.  Yet, as in most cases, the question is misdirected.  This is where spiritual formation is helpful in dealing with these struggles.

By judging God’s character on our present circumstances, we actually make it about us and not Him.  Additionally, we take the concept of God’s unconditional love and make it conditional.  If we are doing all that God has commanded us to do, why are we going through such difficult circumstances?  Because our circumstances, positive or negative, are not always directly related to our personal goodness!  If God’s love and salvation is not dependent upon our own ability to earn it, than neither is the affliction which we are experiencing.

I will admit, it is at this very point that I am tempted to use the all-too-often-quoted phrase, “somehow it is part of God’s plan and we have to trust Him.”  While that is true, the other truth is that the phrase offers no relief or answers and honestly sometimes makes the affliction worse.  It causes us to continue questioning God’s goodness and process.  Sure, His ways are better than my ways and His thoughts are not my thoughts.  Bah humbug! “And don’t you dare quote Romans 8:28 right now because I’m not in a good place and it never helps!”  I understand the struggle, believe me.  This isn’t a place or time to offer good Christian platitudes with quick one liners from the bible.

The short answer to this conundrum, however, is that we need to understand the depth of what it means to live in a fallen and broken world coupled with our own spiritual depravity.  The combination of these two things makes the devil smile, because it distracts us from the truth of God and the ability to live in it.  But what if we come to understand God’s purpose in our worldly suffering?  This is not a feel good message, nor is it meant to diminish or relieve your suffering, but instead to help us shift our focus amidst the suffering.  Those of us who are saved and following Christ know the alternative: an eternity in a place where the presence of God is absent, a place of crying and gnashing of teeth, as the bible says. What if, instead of judging the absence of suffering as a litmus test for God’s goodness we use the presence of suffering as a tool to gauge God’s goodness to us? You might think I have lost my mind, but follow me on this.  In John 16:33, as Jesus is preparing His disciples for His own journey to the cross, He says:

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.

Peace isn’t the opposite of affliction or even the result of being a “good Christian,” it is the evidence of the presence of God.  Later, He tells His disciples that he must go away so that He can send a Helper, a.k.a. the Holy Spirit, which in His love He sends to help us through the affliction.  We know through reading the bible that God very rarely took His people out of pain and suffering but instead walked with them through it.  What if our personal afflictions are for our own good so we have an opportunity to learn how to rely on God and experience His goodness despite our tribulation?  It’s not comfortable and it’s not easy, but if our purpose on earth as created beings is to bring God glory, then how could we truly do so as selfish, broken beings without going through hardship?  In the Marines, we have a saying that helps us to reframe the difficulties of life.

I picked this version specifically because it included the Marine Corps motto: Semper Fidelis, which is a perfect juxtaposition given the topic.  Always faithful, this is exactly what the psalmist is writing!  He is faithful to God’s Word and it is an example and encouragement to us.  What if our pain and suffering isn’t about a measure of how much of a good person we are or how good God thinks we are, but rather a blessing to sanctify us.  Job 13:15 is a bold statement of faith, that even if God kills me, I will still trust in Him.  I will remain steadfast despite how difficult it gets.  Peter said it to Jesus a different way.  “Where else will we go? You have the Words that give life.” (John 6:68).

I believe this is why it seems the wicked have it easy and the faithful have it hard.  It’s not because God favors them over us, it is because God favors us over them!  Consider what Paul writes in Romans 5:

Therefore, because we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only this, but we also boast in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces patient endurance, 4 and patient endurance, proven character, and proven character, hope, 5 and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Our suffering in this life, while at time excruciating, confusing, and downright depressing, is the result of God’s love for us because He knows the fruit it will produce.  It is the testimony we give that His presence in our lives is not about sunshine and rainbows, it’s about the strength to endure.  The hope we have in Him is that we are not alone, we are moving forward, and one day it will no longer be a reality.  It’s to glorify Him, because He alone deserves it.  It is not about our own comfort and satisfaction, but to be able to praise the only One in the universe who truly deserves it.  Otherwise, we would instead honor ourselves, our money, our doctor, or anything else that can bring us relief.  He allows us to experience yet endure affliction so that His purpose of reconciliation of the world may come to pass.  If you don’t believe these words, at least consider those who had to suffer before you in order that you may come to know Christ as Savior and Lord.  It was worth the trouble for you, so it is also worth it for the next person that you tell of God’s goodness as well.