AP

Psalm 119:75-76  I know, LORD, that your laws are righteous, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me.  May your unfailing love be my comfort, according to your promise to your servant.

Back in 2011 I wrote on these verses:

“The psalmist is expressing two important, but often hard to accept, truths here: that our afflictions are part of God’s predetermined plan for us; and that he is righteous and faithful in his unfailing love for us.  These verses are a good answer to the age-old conundrum: If God is all powerful and all loving, why does evil exist? … or, more particularly, Why do good people suffer?  The psalmist is sure that God is sovereign over all things – otherwise he would not be God.  He is sure that God acts fairly in all he does, and consistently with his revealed will.   Once he has established these facts in his mind, he can rest in the consolation that, whatever unknown and unrevealed, and even confusing, purpose God might have in inflicting pain on those he loves, he is able to comfort them – and he will always do so because he remains faithful to his promises.  Hard as it is to hold to these truths when we are burdened with affliction – or even harder when the sufferer is a loved one – we are assured of his faithfulness, and experiencing his comfort draws us closer to him.”

Today I am able to testify that, what I believed then as a fairly ‘theoretical’ proposition, is really true in practice.  My wife of 58 years has been diagnosed with stage 4 incurable lung cancer, and the oncologist’s prognosis was 1-2 years.  So, by God’s amazing grace, we are now learning to experience the truth of the Apostle Paul’s promise: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).

Yes, we are praying earnestly for healing, and we know that our all-powerful God is not confined by human skill and knowledge, but we rest in the assurance that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28), as I have quoted more than 73 times in TQW.  I know that this experience is not unique to us, as many of my readers can testify, but perhaps the greatest blessing that comes from unexplained, God-inflicted suffering is the chance to actually experience the truth of God’s faithfulness, comfort and unfailing love (’ches-ed’) just as the author of Psalm 119 was obviously doing.

– Bruce Christian