I remember counseling a young person who was being picked on. While I was able to address the one teasing him during a separate session, my meeting with this young man surrounded how to respond to unjust suffering. We looked at the life of Christ but also considered counsel from other passages. One of those that stuck out was Psalm 119:121-128. The opening verses describe someone facing oppression, not due to a sin they committed but to suffering they faced. The telling part of the passage is psalmist is not ultimately looking to relief from the oppression but is longing for salvation. He has a Godward perspective that is mindful both that God fulfills His promises and that God deals with him based on God’s steadfast love. This is a wonderful truth that highlights the gospel, where God does not deal with us according to how we live but on the person and work of Jesus Christ. Even in this psalm, while the passage describes the psalmist’s innocence, it does not base his requests on his character. This points back to a longing for the salvation that God provides. What the psalmist, my counselee, and I all need is salvation in the gospel. This not only changes our hearts but transforms how we view live, in particular times of unjust suffering. Rather than making it personal and focusing on how we have been offended, our concern is that God’s law is broken. For my counselee, more than him being picked on, his heart should be heavy that the one who is picking on him is disobeying the command to respect and value someone made in the image of God (James 3:9) and speaking against the God who has created them in His image. This way of thinking does not happen naturally. It happens when we humbly listen and learn from God. It happens when our hearts are changed to love God’s commands and see them as right and just. Only then, can we seek to live life right and just. That is what happens when we long for the salvation God provides in Christ.

Reflection Questions:

1. How does God’s dealing with us according to His character rather than ours provide hope and encouragement?
2. What offends you more during suffering: that you are wronged or that God’s law is broken?

By Steve Sering

Corrie Ten Boom was a Dutch watchmaker who hid Jews during the second world war in her home. She and her family rescued nearly 800 Jewish lives during the war and hid them in a secret room behind a bookcase in her family’s home. She later published a autobiography called The Hiding Place which was later turned into a movie. She was captured and imprisoned along with her sister Betsie, who later died in a concentration camp. Due to a clerical error, Corrie was released and then devoted the rest of her life to rescuing Jews and promoting the themes of radical love and forgiveness. Her compassion reached so far that she forgave a former captor. Her example of Christ-like love has inspired millions over the last half century (https://www.biography.com/activists/corrie-ten-boom).

The psalmist had a hiding place as well. In our passage today we see his reliance upon the Lord amidst trouble. In verse 114, we read, “You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your word.” Prior to this, he disdains the double-minded and confesses his love for God’s law. Focusing on the truth of God’s Word provides stability in the uncertain currents of our broken world. To hide in this instance is not to cower or be afraid. This means to come under the protection and provision of the Lord. Yahweh is a refuge and a shield for the believer. When we are assaulted by the enemy and even our own family and friends for our faith, we can trust in the Lord. He will deliver us and plead our cause! The flaming darts of the evil one are no match for our Mighty God (Eph. 6:16-17)!

Following this, verse 115 shows the steadfast faith and plea of the man of God to keep God’s commandments. The following verses are a familiar plea to be under the protection of God and for strength to endure opposition. “Uphold me” and “hold me up” are prayers for stamina in the spiritual battles he fought. God never abandons his own! Like a parent adopting an orphan child, God provides for and protects us. God spurns those who reject his commandments, the wicked who disregard the truth (v. 118-119). Dross is the impure material extracted from heated up metal in biblical times and represents the worthless and impure part of the metal. The heat of suffering reveals the true nature of our faith. Those who believe in Christ and follow his commands are like shining silver and gleaming gold in the hands of the Maker. The wicked are worthless in the hands of God and will be judged for their rebellion. 

Finally, verse 120 brims with humility from the author. His flesh trembled for fear of the Lord and his judgments. There is a healthy type of fear in which we marvel at the sheer power of God and the sobering nature of his judgments. Like refined silver, our faith is purified when we take heed of the Lord’s judgments. May we be champions of faith, bringers of hope, and obedient children for our loving Lord. The world is full of compromise. May we strive to live out our true faith in Christ.

Reflection Questions:

1. How can you encourage your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to hold fast to the Lord as their hiding place?
2. Are you trusting in Christ alone as your hiding place or in the comforts of this world?

My toddler does not like to enter a room without the light being on during the night. If he knows he is heading to a room that is dark, he asks us as his parents to turn on the light. Because I greatly care for my son, I do. In one of the those instances it occurred to me that the Lord cares for me in a greater, yet similar manner. Just as my son needed the light to enter the room, we need the light to see the path we are on so our feet will not stray but will stay on the right path. God’s Word does that for us. It is described as a lamp and a light that gives guidance toward the path of righteousness (vv 105-106). This lamp and loight of God’s Word does not mean the path won’t be hard or come without pain. There will be health struggles and relational strains in thsi life. However, if one lives according to God’s Word, they will find light as the light of God’s Word shows them home is in a relationship with God, not ultimately in their health. The relational conflict they face find a solution in the gospel as it exposes the source of our conflicts as our own sinful hearts and the solution as a humble and repentant heart only made possible by the power of the gospel of God’s grace. Yet, in the midst of those challenges, our eyes may veer from the path. That is why the psalmist’s words are necessary: we need the Lord’s instruction (v. 108) and we need to not forget His law and what He has said (v. 109). We will face opposition from the outside and temptation from the insider, so we must live in the light and recount the testimonies of God at work and a heart that desires to draw close to God. We do that by remaining in the Word, the Word that is our lamp and light.

Reflection Questions:

1. What is an area of your life where you currently need guidance from God’s Word?
2. How can you recount the testimonies of God at work in your life this week?