Many are the Afflictions…

The psalms are full of opportunities to experience the complexities of being in relationship with the “infinite personal” God.  I have read through the book of Psalms many, many times and I still find myself marveling at the vastness of experience that a very small number of human persons have written about within them.  If one would slow down and consider carefully each expression of relationship one finds, what richness would be found there!

Here is one of my experiences with the Psalms.  I was reading Psalm 34 a short time ago and I came across this verse:

“Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.” Psalm 34;19

I am in the habit of sharing a scripture as my status on Facebook, and this day I set this particular verse as my status.  After having explored it a bit in my journal, I was curious about what comments I might receive, so I encouraged those who might come across this verse to comment.  The first comment I received was “I’m not in favour of having many afflictions.”  I could not have asked for a better opener, because that is the sentiment that seems most logical, most human.  But in fact, it misses the point of this verse – in fact, of the whole book of Psalms.  The key is in the second part of the verse, but we almost always miss it because we are too busy trying to avoid, evade or deny afflictions.  Experiencing the deliverance of God out can make even the most severe affliction bearable, even an occasion for joy and celebration.  How can we experience deliverance if we have never faced affliction?

If the result of affliction is a deeper understanding of God’s kind disposition toward unworthy sinners, a more profound experience of His sustaining grace, a more intimate encounter with the Living God, then we who love God and are pursuing Him should welcome affliction.  I don’t mean we should actively seek out affliction, try to make it happen in our lives, cause our own difficulties and heartache, intentionally put ourselves in the way of affliction.  But I do mean that we should set our minds to see afflictions that we encounter or experience as an expression of God’s abundant and omnipotent care for us.  Our “infinite personal” God is also infinitely loving, and He knows better how to care for us than we ourselves know.  When these occasions of affliction come, we can look for His deliverance and encounter His love – and love is always a good thing!