“Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word….It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes.”

The psalmist noted that he had been drifting from God. There was some lack of obedience in his life. Then affliction came! The result was that he stopped the drifting and returned to keeping the Lord’s word.

Then he stated the lesson in another way. He admitted that the affliction that had come into his life had actually resulted in good for him. “It was good for me that I was afflicted.” Why? Because he learned from God’s word as he went through the trial.

In this recent difficulty in my life this exact process was occurring in me! The affliction drove me to open the Bible more earnestly, to seek wisdom from God more pointedly - and while I was doing so I began to repent of the drifting in my life. God forgave, and revived, and I sensed again the fresh communion with God over His word!

Ah yes, it was good for me that I was afflicted!

The psalmist didn’t mention what exactly the affliction was. I think he omitted that on purpose. If he had mentioned it we may have read it and said to ourselves, “Well, I don’t have that particular problem, so my affliction isn’t good for me!”

But we can’t say that. It is the nature of God’s purposes in affliction, that they work good for the people of God.

What about you? Are you feeling the stress of difficulty? Get back in God’s word in an earnest, seeking way and re-enter into that close communion that you once had but have recently missed. Repent of whatever God shows you - and enjoy again His reviving. And say again with the psalmist, It was good for me that I was afflicted!

“…one died for all, therefore all died.”

He was speaking, of course, about Jesus Christ and His death for others - “one died for all.” But notice that he then says that those other people have died - “therefore all died.” In other words, the ones that are included in Jesus’ death are in some way also dead.

What does this mean? Well, since this is a blog site and not a conversation I cannot ask you questions to probe your understanding. I’ll just get to the point and pray that as you read this God helps you to understand some more of His word that perhaps you haven’t understood up to this point.

What does this mean? It means that God counts you as having died. If you are joined to Christ by faith, then God counts you as having died in Christ’s death.

And remember what His death was! It wasn’t some accident or unfortunate turn of events. No, it was an execution - a carrying out of judicial justice. In that human event, in which the Roman soldiers participated, God was carrying out a satisfaction of Divine justice. God the Father was pouring out the punishment for sinners onto His Son. His Son was substituting Himself for the sinner and taking away the sinner’s punishment.

Now, if a sinner trusts in Jesus that sinner is counted by God as having been executed for his/her sin! That sinner is “identified with Christ.”

The wonder and beauty and joy of this truth is worth the prayer and thought that it takes to comprehend it!

So, I ask again: Have you died?

“This is my comfort in my affliction, that Your word has revived me.”

The person that wrote that psalm had known difficulty and suffering. He even called it “affliction.” It was tough. He didn’t like it. He probably wished, from one perspective, that it had never happened. But it had indeed happened and he had felt afflicted.

What did he do in that situation? Apparently, he went to the word of God. “This is my comfort in my affliction, that Your word has revived me.” I’m sure that he found some help in his friends and fellow-believers. I’m sure he found some help in good food and rest - retaining his physical stamina. But what is it that he mentions as that which gave him comfort? The word of God.

Perhaps you are struggling with an issue right now? Maybe the stress of life is threatening to bring you down? I know the feeling. Affliction afflicts! It isn’t pretty. It isn’t fun.

Perhaps you are like me. Sometimes when I am going through difficulty I feel unmotivated to get into the word of God. The very thing that will bring comfort is the very thing I do not hunger for. At times I can find myself praying, “Lord, help me read Your word.”

He gives that help. I pick up the Bible. I open it. I begin to read. And, God begins to speak to me. Comfort comes. And it is personal.

Did you notice in that verse how personal it all is? “My comfort;” “my affliction;” “Your word;” “revived me.” It is the psalmist and God. God is meeting with the psalmist personally.

He’ll meet with you personally too.

And maybe, just maybe, that is one of the reasons that suffering is in the world right now.

We started off on this trip by contemplating John 8:31-32. It says, “Jesus therefore was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, ‘If you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.’”

We noted that a distinguishing mark of a disciple of Christ is that he or she abides in the word of God. That word abide is interesting. It means ‘to continue in,’ or ‘to remain in.’

We practiced the discipline of reading a verse slowly, thinking carefully about it, and making as many observations from the verse as we could. This is different from reading large portions of Scripture quickly. Of course, there is benefit from doing that too, but our emphasis this past weekend was that of settling into just a few verses and seeing as much as possible within them.

I liken this practice to sitting quietly in the woods rather than walking quickly through the woods. When you walk through the woods you notice some wildlife, see the plants, feel the air, smell the forest…but you miss so very much! If instead, you find a log to sit on and quietly remain there with you ears alert and your eyes wide open…then you’ll really see the woods!

We saw wildlife when we were walking - birds especially. But it was when I took a break and sat down, and stayed there for a while, that this White-tailed Deer came close. We watched each other for about five minutes, and then she moved on. ‘Abiding’ in the woods gave me the opportunity to see more than merely walking through the woods!

The wild blueberries were plentiful and sweet! I picked them by the handful and ate! But if I hadn’t slowed down enough to see what was beside the trail, I would have missed them.

This guy was missed by a couple of the men. They walked just a few feet away, but didn’t see the snake. Someone else had eyes wider open, and saw the Eastern Timber Rattler!

A fast pace would have missed this splash of orange in the midst of the green and brown underbrush! But again, the slower pace revealed more of God’s creation.

And so it is when we read the Bible. If we slow down and deliberately try to see how much we can glean from the verses we are reading, the blessings flow!

Try camping in His word! And, may the Lord give you eyes and ears, and a heart to sit and listen and look, so that you will see all that He has for you in His word!