God’s Eternal Providence
David spoke in Psalm 119 about experiencing affliction. This is the longest chapter in the Bible. It contains 22 stanzas and is written as an acrostic poem, containing 176 verses. In eight stanzas, David referred to God dealing with him according to His Word. He asked God to teach him His good judgement, for he believed in His commandments. He said that before he was afflicted, he went astray, but afterwards he kept His words. He thanked God for his goodness and spoke of the proud forging lies against him, but he would keep the precepts of the Lord. He considered their hearts as fat as grease, but he delighted in the law of the Lord. In verse 71, David said that it was good that he was afflicted, that he may learn the statutes of the Lord.
Again, in the ninth stanza -Yod, in verse 75, David mentioned that he knew that the judgments of the Lord are right, and, in his faithfulness, God afflicted him. The word affliction refers to experiencing pain or harm, so David’s mention of affliction being related to God’s faithfulness can be a bit difficult to wrap our heads around. He continued to pray for God’s merciful kindness as a source of comfort, according to God’s word to him as His servant. He prayed for God’s tender mercies to come to him, so he may live, for God’s laws were his delight. If we follow the journey of David’s life, we see where he experienced significant highs and some extremely low points in terms of affliction and grief.
We first encountered David in the Bible when the prophet Samuel visited his house to anoint a new King. His father, Jesse, gathered all his seven sons for the ceremony with Samuel, except for David who was left in the field tending sheep. After God confirmed to Samuel that none of the seven sons were his choice, Jesse sent for David who was anointed king (1 Samuel 16). Soon after David’s anointing ceremony, an opportunity came for him to play the harp for Saul who was tormented by an evil spirit. Perhaps this was divinely orchestrated by God as a training ground for David to be the new king. ‘Whenever the spirit from God came on Saul, David would take up his lyre and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him’ -- 1 Samuel 16:23.
In the next chapter, David killed Goliath and soon became a warrior in Saul’s army, which led to Saul’s jealousy and his efforts to kill David. He spent years hiding and running from Saul, until Saul fell on his own sword and David became king. The next season when David would have experienced affliction was after he slept with Uriah’s wife, killed Uriah and God killed the child of the adulterous relationship. Perhaps it was during this season when David might have said that it was good that God afflicted him, because then it caused him to return to the fear and the presence of God. Throughout David’s life, his highs and lows, times of turmoil, elevation and eventual fall into sin and then restoration, God’s divine guidance and care remained on his life.
This can be referred to as God’s divine providence, that even when David failed, he sent his prophet to warn him about his error and restored him back to fellowship. God’s hand of protection stayed with David, so that Saul could not kill him, despite his military power and relentless pursuit. Somehow, all the trails and challenges that David went through, was serving an eternal purpose. ‘For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory’ -- 2 Corinthians 4:17.
Questions for Reflection:
1) Considering the story of David, how have you seen the providence (divine guidance and care) of God in your life?
2) Is it easy for you to consider affliction as God’s guidance and protection?
3) Looking back over your life, are there times when you experienced affliction when you can say that this worked out for your good?
