Week 41: Psalms 119:49-128
Questions: Psalms 119:49-128
- What is your usual response to affliction or hardship?
- This Psalm tells us that God has made promises to us. How many can you name or find? Use these promises to encourage yourself or someone else today!
Devotion
“It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes.” Can you say that? Can you believe that? In the midst of this love letter to the law of God, to his rules and his precepts, the psalmist turns his eyes on the trouble that is happening in his life and sees affliction as the goodness of God. He sees it as God’s grace to teach him to cherish and love God’s law. In this section of Psalm 119, we name God’s law as a comfort, as a blessing, as better than gold, sweeter than honey, a light to our feet and a lamp unto our path. These all come while recognizing the brokenness of the world and our relationships. Our experience on earth is filled with sorrow and pain - our souls long for God’s salvation! Where is our hope in the midst of the darkness? Is it in humanity, politics, science, power, or ourselves? Is it an easy life, entertainment, financial success and security, a stocked pantry, or safety from violence? None of these can provide lasting comfort. None of them can be counted on to deliver. Let us say with the psalmist, “If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction.” What heritage can we leave to our communities and to our children and the generations who come after us? What will they say was the encapsulating joy of our hearts? What was the song that leapt to our lips? Oh LORD, let it be, “I hope in your word!”
- Andy Stites