Afflicted?

 Psalm 119 has always been one of my favorite Psalms, a celebration of God's law, God's word.  This week as I read it again I saw a progression that I had first seen many years ago.  It seemed written for me today.

    I love words and one word was repeated over and over.  The word was "afflicted" or a derivation, "affliction."My children and my students often heard me say, "Look it up in the dictionary," and that is what I do, seeking a glimpse of meaning I did not know.

    "To afflict" means to distress with mental or bodily pain; to trouble greatly or grievously." There's an obsolete definition which means "to humble."  The word "affliction " means "a state of pain, distress or grief; misery."  It may also mean "a cause of mental or bodily pain, as sickness, loss, calamity, or persecution."

Right now I can identify with the bodily pain, since I'm still recovering from knee replacement surgery.  Of course the goal there has been to replace temporary pain for long term pain. But other physical pain will always be with me.

Then there is loss, the last year and a half three of my close friends, one a friend of fifty years, one a friend of thirty years, one a friend of just a few years--all three have gone to Heaven ahead of me, leaving gaping holes in my life.  I also feel a sense of loss since the only two of my children who lived in Chattanooga have both moved away.  There are all kinds of loss.

I have had my share of grief, so I can understand the word "affliction." So what does Psalm 119 say about affliction?

First, verse 67 says, "Before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now have I kept thy word."  Verse 11 says, "I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you."  So affliction can send me to His word which will keep me from sin.

Second, verse 71 says, "It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes."  I admit that I do not understand God's choice of afflictions for me.  I know that everyone has their own afflictions, unseen by others, but part of a plan.  I do know that I have been driven to the Word by affliction.  During a particularly hard time in my life I made a CD of selected Psalms.  Each night that CD was my sleeping pill.  I played it every night until the words were deep in my heart and I quoted them with the CD.

Verse 75 says, "I know, O Lord, that thy judgements are right and that Thou, in faithfulness, has afflicted me."  Psalm 37:23 says, "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and he delighteth in his way."  If the Lord has ordered my steps, then He also has known and permitted my affliction.

Verse 92 says, "Unless thy law had been my delight, I should have then perished in my affliction."  How often I have clung to a Scripture as if it were my lifesaver, holding me just above the waves that threatened me.  I felt as if I would perish without that reminder.

Verse 107 says, "I am afflicted very much; quicken me, O Lord, according to your word."  Quicken means to make alive.  I wonder if affliction makes us more alive, more aware of the world and others' needs.  I think it should.

The last reference to affliction in Psalm 119 is verse 153, "Consider mine affliction and deliver me for I do not forget thy law."  I believe He can deliver us from our afflictions.  I know some of our physical afflictions, as well as our emotional and mental afflictions will never go away, but I am convinced that we can be delivered from the power of those afflictions.  Please understand that I am writing these words for myself, as well as for you to read.  Every single person has their own set of afflictions.  Maybe some of them are obvious like seeing a cane in someone's hand, but many more are hidden behind the careful smiles and nods.  

Afflictions have a purpose in our lives. God uses them to draw us to Himself.

                                                                    ~Faith Himes Lamb