Title: In Trouble and Tribulation
In the midst of suffering and tribulation 2007-04-11
I. Text Commentary
Today's reading is a poem of supplication. It is believed to be a poem that David wrote during a very painful time. The poet says that he is in trouble (困苦) and tribulation (患亂). Suffering can be seen as a description of the inner side of the person who is being tried, and the tribulation can be seen as a description of the outside of the person who is being tried. No matter how difficult it is, if the heart is not difficult, it is not called tribulation. The depth of the environment and the depth of the soul are combined to make our trials a tribulation. The psalmist is telling us how God's children should behave when faced with such trials.
II. in agony and tribulation
A. Looking back on our relationship with God
The psalmist prays, “Look at my affliction and my affliction, and forgive all my sins.” The poet may have been deeply convinced of his sin, but this prayer is a prayer that uses suffering and tribulation as an opportunity to reflect on his relationship with God. Joseph saw his relationship with God reflected in his life because he had faith that all things would be done according to God's ordained purpose. The Bible emphasizes that God not only created everything in the world, but that everything is in God's hands. So the Lord said that not a single bird flying in the air would fall unless it was God's will. All things in the world are under God's order, so how much more can they care more about us, God's beloved children?
In all these tribulations and trials, God's will resides in them all. A fool sees only the sensual and carnal order of the world. However, there is definitely a reason for the “stick of man and the whip of life” that God strikes. Observe the order of all people and things around us. When we dance and sway according to the change of relations or the existence of matter in a changing world, we stumble and sway in the unspeakable tiredness of our souls. Augustine said. “Once you hate your body, it's easy. But it is very difficult not to think in the fleshly way.” But the wise man thinks of the sovereignty of God beyond all this worldly affairs. So, a wise person reflects on himself with the eyes of faith, and comes to reflect on what kind of person he is before God who is beyond. This is the first step to escape from tribulation and trials. Seeing God in this way causes a wonderful change in our consciousness.
a. Desire and hate disappear
The first change is the disappearance of desire and hatred for people. When you see someone who annoys you, think, “You are using such a person for my relationship with God!” That person is Joseph. When his father Jacob died and he looked at his brothers who were worried about their well-being, he said, “You did evil to me, but God turned evil into good,” and he forgot all the wounds of the past caused by them. The wound was so great that he became prime minister, gave birth to his first son, and named him Manasseh, which means “I want to forget.” But, “God gave me trials and tribulations to bring me here! Without God's deep will, I would not have been able to get here." If you examine your relationship with God in the midst of tribulation and trials, gratitude will spring up and hate will disappear.
b. A desire to live right
B. Pray
Man is ultimately dependent on himself, and at the point of his denial, there is only one God he can depend on. Why do people trust themselves so much? Why is it bad? People trust the 'self', but that 'self' does not exist forever. It is something that will disappear someday. It cannot be the object of perfect and eternal love. The object of perfect and eternal love is only God. When we become distrustful of ourselves, we cannot depend on our neighbors or even our hearts. The best way to approach God is prayer, not body devotion, contemplation, or fantasies. The decisive moment of meeting the Lord deeply is the moment of prayer.
III. Conclusion and application
When you are in trouble, pray first. Take off the shoes of your righteousness, and go through the blood of Christ on the cross, through the veil torn from above, and into the presence of the holy God. God's love is always waiting for your child to return to himself. “Come back quickly into the broad arms of our Lord who beats and caresses you.” Are you still holding on to people, hating them, making excuses, and blaming your luck? life is short How precious is your time? Let us not delay and return to God. 2007-04-11