Title: God Who Makes You Cry
God who makes you cry
“17. Fools are afflicted because of their transgression and iniquity; 18. Their soul hates every kind of food, and is near the gates of death. 19 Then in their anguish they cried out to the LORD, and he saved them from their affliction” (Psalm 107: 17-19)
I. Text Commentary
It is difficult to pinpoint who the poet is in the text, but the poet went through many ups and downs in his life as a covenant people, where he experienced how God rebukes, forgives, and guides him. The poet is a wretched person, and the picture appears of that person agonizing before God in his suffering.
II. The cause of suffering: foolishness
A. The suffering of the poor
The poet specifically describes the suffering of the poor, stating that the cause of this suffering is “foolishness.” It is said, “Our souls hate all kinds of plants, and are close to the gates of death.” When a person is full of worries and anxieties and becomes distressed, the first thing he hates is eating. Therefore, they lose the will to receive overflowing energy through food. The dislike of plants here refers to a person who has lost the will to live because of an overflowing heart. When we say that the gate of death is near, the ‘gate’ here is a symbol of power and dignity. To say 'close to the gate of death' means that the energy of death has already taken over him with great power, and 'close to the gate' means that he is very close to death. The state of this person who is portrayed by the poet today is the state in which the energy of death permeates deeply into the body as well as the mind and soul and loses all will to live.
B. Crime and the consequences of sin
Despite being a covenant people and a child of God, why did this man hate plants so much and are so close to the gates of death that he is put in a position of suffering as a poor man? One day, this poet must have lived a life of faith in the blessings of God's grace, love, and vitality. What was the reason that such a person was so exhausted in spirit that he hated plants and was at the gates of death? The psalmist said elsewhere, "Man sits in darkness and in the shadow of death, and is chained in torment and chains, because he disobeys the word of God and despises the will of the Most High." The painting depicted here is a figure of a prisoner who has committed a crime and is imprisoned in a deep dungeon with his hands and feet tied with chains and immobilized.
In the Bible, it is nailed that the suffering of such an afflicted person is “the result of crime and iniquity.” That's why the Bible says, "Because of our transgressions and sins, we suffered." Whenever we suffer, we need to look back on what I did wrong to reap the fruits of these sufferings and trials, take an opportunity to reflect on ourselves before God and repent, and be humble. It is very unfortunate and wrong to once again blame others, add evil to sin, and add the sin of unbelief in the midst of our suffering. Rather, we must become people who can look back on themselves in pain, repent deeply before God, and listen to and understand the voice that is given to us through suffering.
The Lord gives us the opportunity to turn back when we do not live right. The Lord speaks the word of God countless times to return your heart, and teaches you to personally call your name and return to His love. God allows you to hear the voice of your conscience in various ways, through worship and the preacher's teaching about God's Word, and through fellowship with the saints, God constantly appeals to your character and hears the Lord's cries give However, you cannot hear the detailed voice of the Lord because you have sinned and turned away from God, and your hearts are already burning with the lusts of this world. So, the more trials and tribulations overlap, the more time we need to face God quietly and pray earnestly to Him. The depth of the earnestness of prayer is proportional to the depth of understanding to understand the Word of God. This is the reason why you should worship with all your heart as the trials and tribulations become deeper.
What are the great privileges of a child of God? God is our Father and Christ is our Bridegroom. When we go to the Father by relying on the Bridegroom to confess our sins and ask for forgiveness, God always remembers our sincerity and Jesus died on the cross for our sins. He sees Christ and forgives our sins. God has promised His people infinite forgiveness of sins and the infinite grace of God necessary for obedience. There is a fact that I regret most deeply after being converted. It was the many trials of my life before I returned to the Lord. After believing in the Lord, looking back on the past, the countless trials that happened in my life were the voices of the Lord calling me sadly to return to Him.
C. No wisdom
Foolishness refers to lack of wisdom. What is wisdom? There is natural wisdom and divine wisdom. Natural wisdom refers to the understanding of the order of things in this world, the natural order of living. A person without wisdom is so engrossed in the ever-changing facts of the world that he cannot see the great order behind it all. That is no wisdom in this world. But the wisdom the poet speaks of today is divine wisdom. All those who fear God and love God also love the light of truth. It is the wisdom to always see people and see situations while receiving grace under the light of God's Word. You don't live a hard life when you have this. When the word of truth lives in us, every judgment is clear. Because the poet became foolish, he suffered in crime and iniquity and fell into despair.
III. God who makes you cry
As a way to heal such a person, today's Bible teaches that it is a 'God who makes us cry'. Through earnest cry of prayer, God heals their broken things. Prayer is the active movement of the soul. It is the pumping of the blood of our souls. However, formal prayers offered while asleep and sleeping do not move the muscles of our souls even by the tip of a hair. Even if I pretend to pray for a long time, the pride that I still have time to pray builds up, but nothing changes in my soul. However, while receiving the influence of the Word, they fix their souls before God in a difficult and painful environment before God and cry earnestly. It is as if we were determined to transcend life and death in this world and to meet God alone without clinging to anything in this world, and we cling to God with all our hearts and tears. What the Lord hates the most is living courageously. When we live alone and courageously without relying on God, God causes us to fall greatly.
IV. conclusion
In the midst of a desperate cry, we pour out the dirty evils and impure motives of life that have been stuck in our minds. It is about praying earnestly before God. The Lord leaves us living in affliction until we cry out like this. So, the many days of not relying on God make you realize how sinful it is, and even now, God calls those who cry to Him, forgives them again, and God gives them the strength to live again. 2011-07-24