Praise in the Pain: Psalm 119:105-112

Praise in the Pain

Psalm 119:105-112

The nature of the psalmist’s affliction is such that he is continually at risk. He is determined to be loyal to the Lord…His joy and determination to please the Lord are much greater than the constant affliction with which he lives.
VanGemeren 

Many of us have heard the story of Paul and Silas in the Philippian jail. In Acts 16, Paul and Silas had come to Philippi, and while preaching the gospel, Paul liberates a young girl from a demon. However, her masters who had gained profit through her fortune-telling are enraged and they bring Paul and Silas before the city magistrates. Paul and Silas are stripped, beaten with many blows with rods, thrown into prison, and their feet are fastened in stocks. However, God’s Word tells us that “about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them” (Acts‬ ‭16‬:‭25‬). In the dark hours of the night and the dark place of affliction, they were praying and singing hymns to God. They, like the psalmist from Psalm 119, were willingly offering praise to God at a time when their severe affliction could have left them discouraged and despairing. How can someone in such difficulties, like Paul and Silas, lift his voice in praise to the Lord? We are given some ideas in Psalm 119:105-112 how the psalmist, and we ourselves, can praise the Lord no matter what we are facing. 

The psalmist could praise the Lord because God's Word was his light and lamp (119:105). The pathway may be dark, but God's Word was shedding light upon his path. God was illumining his darkness (Psalm 18:28), and in God's light, he was able to see light (Psalm 36:9). Our affliction and pain may feel like a dark path, but we can look to the Lord and His Word to give the comfort, hope, truth, and light we need. Our lips can sing of the comfort and hope we are longing for, and we can sing of the truth and light we see, even while we walk a hard road.

The psalmist could praise the Lord because he had sworn to follow the Lord and he wanted to faithfully keep his oath (119:106, 109-110). He had committed himself to the Lord, and he would not turn back now when things were harder than they were at the beginning. He would not be a fickle follower of God. In our painful circumstances, we can remind ourselves of the commitment we made to the Lord. We acknowledged Him as Savior and Lord. We counted the cost. We said we would take up our cross and follow Him. We, too, can praise, because while our circumstances have changed, our God has not.

The psalmist praised the Lord in his pain because he trusted the Lord to revive him, to make the places of brokenness the place of rejoicing (119:107). He knew the Lord's power to bring life, to revive him again. He praised the Lord, even though his affliction was in abundance, he was confident that God would again bring him life in his inward being. Our Lord brings beauty from ashes, joy in exchange for mourning, hope in place of despair. We can learn to praise Him knowing He is working to revive us and to effect His resurrection power in our situation. 

The psalmist praised the Lord in his pain because he trusted the Lord to teach him (119:108). The psalmist is humbling himself under the mighty hand of God and submitting himself to the way the Lord had chosen to teach him. Many times suffering can be viewed as something to just endure. Yet for the psalmist and for the believer, the Lord has lessons for us to learn in the school of suffering that we could learn no other way. We can praise Him while going through affliction because He is tending to our souls. He is perfecting, confirming, strengthening, and establishing us in the faith (1 Peter 5:10).

The psalmist willingly offered his praise to the Lord because God's testimonies were the joy of his heart (119:111). The joy that filled his heart overflowed through his lips. He had delighted himself in God's Word, God's promises, God's truth. That delight had led to a constant meditation (119:97). Therefore, when his way grew dark, when he met with adversity from evildoers, when he was severely afflicted, he had an unalterable joy set on the unchanging Word of God. That joy would not be shaken but caused him to continue to praise God in his pain. For the believer, we have not only all the promises the psalmist had, but we have Christ and all He has accomplished on our behalf for our eternal joy. How much more should we willingly offer praise to our great God and Savior, whose own redeemed suffering made a way for all our suffering to be turned to eternal glory?

The psalmist praised the Lord because he had determined to incline his heart to the ways of the Lord "forever, to the end" (119:112). His determination to please the Lord 'forever, to the end' was much greater than the constant affliction with which he lived (VanGemeren). Is our determination to please God much greater than the affliction which looms large in our lives? As great as our pain is, is our desire to please Him in all things greater? He is worthy of our praise. He calls us to trust Him. He knows and understands the difficulties we face, and yet He tells us to count it all joy when we meet trials of various kinds (James 1:2). Will we incline our hearts to His way of counting things? Can we, like Paul and Silas, in the very midst of our severe affliction, pray and sing hymns to God? By His grace and for His glory, we can.

Let's pray through Psalm 119:105-112 to praise the Lord in our pain. 

119:105-106 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. I have sworn an oath and confirmed it, to keep your righteous rules. 
Heavenly Father, we pray:
▫️In our present pain, Your Word would be a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. When the way is smooth or when it is dark with affliction, You would guide our way with Your Word.
▫️We would faithfully continue to follow You, even now. Our commitment to faithfulness would flow out in praise to You, our Lord and King.

119:107-108 I am severely afflicted; give me life, O Lord, according to your word! Accept my freewill offerings of praise, O Lord, and teach me your rules. 
Heavenly Father, we pray:
▫️In our severe affliction, we would trust that You will revive us again and demonstrate Your resurrection power in our situation. What severe affliction are you facing today? Take a few moments to pray for God’s resurrection power to work that situation for your good. 
▫️We would willingly offer our praise and thanksgiving to You, our great God, because You are worthy of our praise.
▫️We would have a humble and teachable heart for Your lessons in our painful circumstances. Is there some way you see God perfecting, confirming, strengthening, and establishing you through this trial? Praise Him for His work in tending to your soul.

119:109-110 I hold my life in my hand continually, but I do not forget your law. The wicked have laid a snare for me, but I do not stray from your precepts. 
Heavenly Father, we pray:
▫️We would cling tightly to Your promises and not forget Your instructions. Even when our pain makes us feel very distracted, You would cut through the fog with the clarity of Your Word and Your hope.
▫️No matter what foe rises against us, we would not stray from Your precepts. We would keep Your commandments and walk in Your ways. Your Holy Spirit would strengthen our hearts to rejoice always for this is Your will for us in Christ Jesus (1 Thessalonians 5:17-18).

119:111-112 Your testimonies are my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart. I incline my heart to perform your statutes forever, to the end.
‭‭Heavenly Father, we pray:
▫️We would delight ourselves in Your Word, and it would become the joy of our hearts. 
▫️We would have an unalterable joy set on Your unchanging Word, and that joy would pass through our lips in praise to You in all circumstances. Is there a song that you could choose to sing today to direct your praise to the Lord and remind yourself of His goodness and truth?
▫️We would be determined to please the Lord. Our desire to please Him would be greater than any affliction or hardship we face. 

May the Lord do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, for His glory and our good. In Jesus’ name. Amen. 

Scripture quotations are from The ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All right reserved.


Photo credit to 8moments.

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