It is one thing to say “God is good,” or as the popular saying,” God is good- All the time.” Does that include times of “Affliction?” Painful Difficulties, trying times? Does God’s goodness extend to the use of afflictions? Or is that the time the voices of those who would say,” God is good- all the time,” go quiet, perhaps a bit confused even. Silence the deafening sound. The quietness of the “Hallelujahs.” Hard to see let alone say along with the Psalmist,”…it is good for me that I was afflicted…” not for affliction sake but what it produced in his heart, “… that I may learn Your statutes.”- (v 71). He was turned to God and His Word! That is a manifestation of God’s goodness to him! Indeed Paul in Romans says “It is the kindness (goodness ) of God that leads to repentance.”-{Romans 2:4}

The Psalmist testifies of one of the benefits,” Good” that God had brought forth from his “afflictions” when he uses two words in the following verse, “BEFORE” and “NOW,” in verse 67.

“Before I was afflicted I went astray, But now I keep Your word.”

“Before” he was afflicted he went his own way, went astray but then Affliction came into his life, got his attention and God used it to turn him from going astray to going His Way! God got his attention yes, but more important to see the kindness of God who was so interested in his life that He took personal care to turn him around to walk in the right path and the evidence? “…Now I keep Your Word!” He became a man of the Word! Obeying it! He turned to the Word of God because he knew whose word it was. God’s. And God in His goodness turned his life around!

And then listen to his testimony about God,

“You are good and You do good;

Teach me Your statutes.”-(v68).

He was not bitter but acknowledged God’s blessing and loving care for him by turning him from going astray to keeping His Word. He had a new direction and affection, devotion, occupation! And in it, he saw that indeed God was “good” and “do good,” even using afflictions for his “good!”

He saw God in his afflictions! What spiritual maturity. While most of us “see” God is “good,” when He does something we like, we want, we do not, cannot fathom that afflictions could be part of God’s goodness to us and for us!

Spiritual Maturity comes in many ways, and one is the ability to see life through the lens of Scripture and to have God’s perspective in life. And this involves bowing to God’s sovereignty and embracing His Word, will, and ways.

The afflictions that narrow our focus and lead and leave us with a hunger, desire, and affection for God’s Word and knowing God more intimately, as hard, difficult, and painful as the affliction maybe is a “ blessed affliction,” because of where and with Whom it leaves us with- God Himself! That is not to DENY EVIL,  or to call evil “good,” BUT  it is to say along with Jospeh, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to keep many people alive.”{Genesis 50:20} and Paul echos this in Romans 8:28- “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

“God is good – All the time.” – The Psalmist did not say that the afflictions were easy…. he didn’t. He didn’t say “Oh just get over it,” he didn’t. He acknowledges the reality and pain of them but he did not end with them but he did end with God and His goodness in what He brought out of them, namely turning him from going astray to going God’s way and desiring to learn His Word, and declaring that God IS God and Does good- and that includes afflictions! And he declares in faithfulness it is the LORD God who has afflicted him! By all the time working on his behalf to bring about good, a change of direction to a change of affection and loyalty to God Himself and His Word the means to do so!

And that includes seeing God’s goodness in our afflictions, that turns us to his Word, desiring, delighting, searching to know more of Him, learning to trust Him more and more, and we can say with the Psalmist…

  • “Before I was afflicted I went astray, But now I keep Your word.” -(v 67)
  • “It is good for me to be afflicted that I may learn Your Commandments…
  • I know O LORD Your Judgments are righteous and In Faithfulness You afflicted me.”- (Psalm 119:71,75)

 

God BLESS

Aidan,