It was Good for Me – Psalms 119:71

Psa 119:71  It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.

In the longest chapter of the Bible is found this fascinating statement: it was good for me that I have been afflicted. In our hedonistic, self-centered world, what a strange thought that must be!

If only we could begin to understand as did the Psalmist that there is something in affliction and suffering that we must needs go through! There is a reason we have sayings such as, ‘No pain, no gain.’ or ‘Adversity builds character.’ There is something in the suffering that has the potential to bring us ever closer to our God than comfort and ease ever could.

Was it not Paul who said, that I may know Him! The power of His resurrection and the FELLOWSHIP of His suffering! Was it because he understood that the only way to experience the power of the resurrection was through fellowship with His suffering?

Is it truly possible to know the statutes of God without affliction? It seems that there must be an element of adversity present, for the Psalmist himself declares, it was good that I should be afflicted! Why? That I might learn your statutes.

The law of God is not simply some moral code that has no ultimate impact on life. It is a law as real as the law of gravity. In fact, one could argue it’s more real than that. When we break the law, there is always a consequence as a result. As the apple falls from the tree, so to does every moral and immoral action of ours have an outcome though we may not know or connect them.

In our age of comfort, it has become more important than ever for us to embrace the suffering that we try so hard to avoid, then perhaps we can begin to wrestle with and comprehend the depth of what the Psalmist had discovered when he could finally say, ‘It was good for me to be afflicted!’