"Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all."
Psalm 34:19
“And they lived happily ever after….” How many of our childhood stories ended with those words? My generation grew up with the idea that if we are good enough people only good things will happen to us, life will be a bed of roses, we will have no conflicts, and certainly no issues with other people. Life is supposed to be filled with unicorns, rainbows, sweet smelling flowers, and beautiful sunsets! I don’t know about you, but my life hasn’t been exactly like this. Not that it’s been an especially problematic life, but amid the blessings and joys there have been sprinklings of pain, sorrow, and a multitude of difficulties. How about yours?
Aren’t you thankful for the honesty of the Bible? God’s Word doesn’t mask over the realities of life with images of God’s people never having any problems. On the contrary, the scriptures tell us truthfully what life is really like and what we can expect to find as we walk through it.
In our verse for today we can see the reality of what life is like for the believer. “Many are the afflictions of the righteous.” But this should not be a surprise to us for as we study the earthly life of our Savior we can see that His life was full of affliction, and He taught that “The servant is not greater than his lord,” (John 13:16; 15:20). Jesus said that “If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you….” A vital word in our verse is the “righteous” man. We are told how things will be for the “righteous.” Here is the person, though not perfect, but is walking with his LORD through a personal relationship with Him. This is one of God’s redeemed children. The goal of his life is to live in such a way as to bring glory to his God and Savior. This person is striving to live life “right.”
These “afflictions” in our verse are “bad, unpleasant, evil,”1 painful, miserable, and unhappy things that “the righteous” man encounters from all different directions. So one thing we can count on in life, is that we who know the LORD will face hard times. If we had to stop here in our devotion we would get the wrong idea that life is only a series of depressing events strung together by our misery. But look at the rest of the verse!
“…But the LORD delivereth him [“the righteous”] out of them all.” Can you see here that I am not the one who delivers me out of my troubles. I cannot, I do not have the ability nor wisdom in and of myself to get myself out of trouble. My dependence is on God. My deliverance from my afflictions is by the hand my “Deliverer,” my LORD. Please note there is no timeframe mentioned here. He doesn’t tell us how long we must endure the trial, but He does promise that He will deliver us. Could it be that in His wisdom He leaves me in the trial long enough to learn the lessons that He knows I need. We know that God’s timing is perfect so we must patiently wait in His time for our rescue.
Which problem does the LORD promise to help us with? “Out of them ALL!” Aren’t you thankful for that little word “all?” Someone has said in defining “all,” that “all means all, that’s all — all means.” God has His eye on each of our needs!
Your Creator, the God who loves you, made you, and saved you, is the One who promised to help you with all of your problems in life. Search the scriptures, get godly counsel, talk with your LORD, and He will deliver you.
Oh believer, will you not trust the LORD to meet your needs? You trusted Him with your eternal soul when He saved you, now trust Him to provide for your daily needs.
1. Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Definitions, electronic version in eSword.