“I know, O LORD, that thy judgments [are] right, and [that] thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me. Let, I pray thee, thy merciful kindness be for my comfort, according to thy word unto thy servant. Let thy tender mercies come unto me, that I may live: for thy law [is] my delight. Let the proud be ashamed; for they dealt perversely with me without a cause: [but] I will meditate in thy precepts.” (Ps 119:75-78 AV)
I know I have written about the first verse above. Affliction from God is a manifestation of His faithfulness toward us. He loves us and knows that sometimes, the only way to learn lessons is to learn them the hard way. God does not intend our afflictions for anything but good. They are sent to bring about a change in us, or to strengthen our trust in the LORD. Either way, the afflictions of life are a gift from God to be appreciated and not resented. Yet, afflictions are still afflictions. They are not pleasant. Otherwise, they would not be called afflictions. It is that second verse into the third that is our prayer this morning. The LORD may send afflictions, but He doesn’t expect us to endure them without His mercy. The psalmist asks for God’s merciful kindness and His tender mercies to ease the experience of the affliction. He does not ask for the afflictions to be taken away. He simply requests God’s kindness to better endure the affliction.
Modern medicine is a miracle. Things that are possible today were not possible just a few decades ago. I was recently reading about the vast improvement in cancer treatment and survival. It was no minor improvement. When I was a lad, if someone receives a cancer diagnosis, it meant an automatic death sentence. There was little or no hope. Much has changed in the last two decades. No longer the case, someone who is diagnosed with certain types of cancers can survive much longer. There is also a plethora of treatments and therapeutics for those suffering from this horrible disease. In our own case, we have learned there are a number of options and just because we are fighting this disease does not mean our lives have to be defined by it. The affliction is always there. It will be until eternity comes knocking. What that doesn’t mean is that we have to suffer with this affliction to the fullest extent. God, in His mercy, has provided one of the nation’s top specialists to treat our cancer. He has, in His mercy, provided a health care facility that is on the cutting edge of treatments and technologies. By God’s grace, we have received a health care team that collaborates across many specialties and maintains effective communication to deliver the best care possible. I am amazed at how good God has been in all this. Truly, everything is of the LORD.
Sometimes we fixate on the affliction and ask questions that make no difference to the term or extent of the affliction. In eternity, the ‘why’ of it all will come to light. We need not know it now. It may seem to ease the suffering, but if we did know why, it may only make it worse. ‘How long’ is another question that may not be the wisest of ones to ask. If we knew how long the LORD intended our affliction to last, we may seek to end it before the time appointed. ‘How bad is it going to get’ is another. Looking down the road to circumstances that may never come to pass is asking for anxiety that doesn’t need to come. In short, while afflictions last, the mercies of the LORD are the only things that will get us through. I cannot explain exactly what the mercies of God might be. God’s mercies can often take various forms. It could be a verse or two of scripture, a kind text from a friend, or mediation led by the Spirit, which is the mercies He provides. It could be more information, a test result, or the reassuring words of a health care professional. The prayers and well wishes of the saints go a long way as we plow through our afflictions. The mercies of God come in many forms and are more than we realize. It is not the affliction we need eased. It is the mercies of God that we need increased!
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