How King David Viewed His Suffering
Psalm 119 has been my “go to” chapter in Scripture for about three decades now, whenever I need renewal or revival.
And I’ve learned a great deal about how to handle suffering in its variety of forms from its author, King David.
In this study, I want us to see how David links suffering and revival or renewal together as we focus on six different verses that give us encouragement and the right perspective in the midst of our suffering.
The first four verses give us this insight: suffering ought to draw us to God – the One who best knows how to comfort us – and one of the greatest ways He comforts us is through His Word:
25 My soul cleaves to the dust;
Revive me according to Your word.
50 This is my comfort in my affliction,
That Your word has revived me.
71 It is good for me that I was afflicted,
That I may learn Your statutes.
107 I am exceedingly afflicted;
Revive me, O LORD, according to Your word.
I would much rather have God to go to in my suffering than anything or anyone else; this is precisely what David teaches us in this Psalm.
Suffering that is Self-Inflicted
We often hear the refrain that experience is one of our best teachers and that we frequently learn “from the school of hard knocks.”
In effect, this is what David teaches us about the kind of suffering that we bring on ourselves, in v.67 (in the previous four verses, David doesn’t tell us why he was suffering, though we may assume the suffering was due to circumstances outside of his control):
67 Before I was afflicted I went astray,
But now I keep Your word.
It’s frustrating to do unnecessary things that bring about our own suffering, but even in those situations, David teaches us that God can bring about good for us.
Another lesson we learn from David about suffering is that God either allows us or puts us into situations where we suffer in order for us to grow in areas that we ordinarily would not grow in apart from suffering:
75 I know, O LORD, that Your judgments are righteous,
And that in faithfulness You have afflicted me.
Romans 5:3-5 gives us a progression of insight into one reason that God allows us to suffer: Suffering teaches us perseverance – one of the greatest and necessary qualities we can have.
In addition, Rom. 5:4 tells us that suffering results in “proven character.” I always like to say, “If we lose our character, what else do we have?”
When our character is established, we develop “hope” (v.4). The biblical definition of “hope” refers more to an assurance of what will happen in the future, while we wait for that assurance to come to pass.
Finally in Rom. 5:5 we find a connection between “hope” and God’s love: We can have true biblical hope because we trust in a God who is faithful, reliable and steady with His love toward us.
Friend, are you enduring some sort of suffering right now? If you are, may I encourage you to open up your Bible to Ps. 119 and read slowly through it – but before you do, pray first and ask God to speak to you?
If you do this and take your time in and through Ps. 119, I believe you’ll come away with the encouragement and perspective you need to overcome.
Let me know how it goes for you!