This morning I have been reflecting on all of Psalm 89. This is such an interesting Psalm, in that it starts out praising God, reflecting on His goodness, then waxes eloquent about how God blessed David (It wasn't written by David) and finally ends in some serious complaints against God, before finally finishing with one last praise. I have copied a few snippets as examples - Psalm 89:1-2,28-29,34-39,46-47,50-52 NIV:
[1] "I will sing of the Lord's great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations.
[2] I will declare that your love stands firm forever, that you have established your faithfulness in heaven itself.
[28] I will maintain my love to him forever, and my covenant with him will never fail.
[29] I will establish his line forever, his throne as long as the heavens endure.
[34] I will not violate my covenant or alter what my lips have uttered.
[35] Once for all, I have sworn by my holiness---and I will not lie to David---
[36] that his line will continue forever and his throne endure before me like the sun;
[37] it will be established forever like the moon, the faithful witness in the sky.”
[38] But you have rejected, you have spurned, you have been very angry with your anointed one.
[39] You have renounced the covenant with your servant and have defiled his crown in the dust.
[46] How long, Lord? Will you hide yourself forever? How long will your wrath burn like fire?
[47] Remember how fleeting is my life. For what futility you have created all humanity!
[50] Remember, Lord, how your servant has been mocked, how I bear in my heart the taunts of all the nations,
[51] the taunts with which your enemies, Lord, have mocked, with which they have mocked every step of your anointed one.
[52] Praise be to the Lord forever! Amen and Amen."
As I mentioned I was reflecting on the totality of the psalm, and was just thinking how strange it is that the Lord allowed this to be included in Scripture. I mean it starts out well enough, and is really beautiful in parts, even flowing with some Messianic imagery, and but once you get to verse 38, basically it is a complaint against God.
In my Bible, I highlight the sections and verses I like and the last verses from 38 - 51 are definitely not highlighted. I like to read positive, uplifting, and encouraging stuff like the first 37 verses, and that is quite normal I suspect.
So, the question in mind this morning is why are there verses like 38-51, or even the whole book of Lamentations found in our Scriptures? Why do we find in the middle of Isaiah's Messianic prophecy a section titled the suffering servant (Is. 53: 1-12)? I believe this, more than anything, shows us that God is real, and not what we think He is like, or what He would be like if we had our way.
There is in our worldwide Christian fellowship of believers, whole streams that associate anything bad with sin, and blessing as proof of God's favor on you. In other words, anything bad happening to you is the result of your own bad behavior. While I like the sound of some of that, especially the blessing for favor, that Gospel derivation does not match up to the scriptural record, and these verses from PS 89, are just some examples of people struggling through difficult times, trying to understand them, and complaining to God about them.
In these verses the psalmist is reminding God of His promises and comparing those promises to their present experience and they don't seem to match up! I like to think of these verses as a sort of, "Hey, this isn't what I signed up for!" example. As I reflect on why they are in the scripture, I think God allows them to say He understands our situation, and wants us to understand we are not the first or the last to struggle with these things. I for one don't like reading these types of verses, but they are part of our scripture and we must not leave them out. I once heard a well respected leader I knew commenting about some of the prosperity Gospel proclamations, and how they were basically leaving out the Cross, and how that really isn't the Gospel at all. We must not reduce the Gospel or the Bible to just what we want to read, for to do so creates our own religion and makes our feelings our own 'god".
In a related thought, I am reminded of Paul's listing of his sufferings for the sake of the Gospel that is found in 2 Corinthians 11:23-27 NIV: "Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. [24] Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. [25] Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, [26] I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. [27] I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked."
Imagine looking at Paul's life and trying to explain all this from a prosperity Gospel perspective! Again, Paul considered these struggle to be part of His testimony, and he was unashamed of them.
So back to the question at hand, why do we see these types of struggles, as Christians, and why are they in the Bible? First, we live in a fallen world, one that is affected by man's sin. Second, man was given free-will by God, and although He could intervene and remove our free-will, He doesn't, and this allows for mankind to continually mess up. Third, God's redemption of man, His salvation of the world includes His Son suffering and dying, as payment for all sin. Why is this the requirement, I don't know, but I do know suffering and dying for the ones you love is still considered one of the highest examples of love. Fourth, our lives end in death, everyone of us, and while sudden in some cases, this is generally after a long period of decline, or lessening health and ability, and one could even say suffering. Our human experience is full of pain, loss and difficulty, and to present a Gospel that does not allow for this is unrealistic and untruthful. Finally, our faith in the midst of struggles, God's intervention and help are meant to be a witness to the world around us that there is a different path (See Matt 7: 13-14)
I believe the truth of the matter is that God loves us right in the midst of our lives, regardless of whether or not they are full of joy and blessing or struggles. God is aware of this all, is reaching out to us in the midst of it all, and is just fine with our complaining and understands and has compassion for us in our struggles. Paul, surely struggled and might even have complained, and must have cried out in the midst of his situations, and God sustained him.
God, in His infinite goodness is always good, just not always the way we think He should be, with us at the center of all His plans. He is always faithful, always loving, always righteous, always just, and even though we can't make sense of it all, He is! God doesn't wait for us to get our lives in order, rather He meets us right in the middle of our struggles and loves us, and He provides assistance, and encouragement and relationship.
Finally, God's plans for us do include eternal life, and while this world is far from perfect, that continued existence or eternal life in His presence is perfect. Our reward isn't always found here on earth in our present lives. We can experience some of that life here, enjoying the fellowship of believers, God's Kingdom being demonstrated and experienced here, but the fullness will never be experienced this side of eternity, and always in context of these mortal bodies, these "earthen vessels" as Paul calls them.
While this in no way provides a comprehensive overview nor clarity for every situation, I know for me it has been helpful. Our struggles are not examples of God punishing us, that view from Psalm 89 is expressed prior to the revelation of Christ, and His suffering and death. We are invited into relationship with God, and His commitment is to be with us, to help us, to guide and ultimately to bring us into eternal life. Our lives of faith, in spite of our difficulties and struggles are meant to bear witness to our relationship with Him, to give encouragement and comfort to others in similar straits. I am reminded of Paul's comments in his second letter to the Church in Corinth, as follow - 2 Corinthians 1:3-7 NIV:
[3] "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, [4] who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. [5] For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. [6] If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. [7] And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort."
Amen and Amen!
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