Scripture will give you hope when you feel hopeless.
Remember your word to your servant, in which you have made me hope. (v. 49)
When circumstances seem hopeless, how do we not despair? We open our Bibles and behold God’s salvation plan from Genesis to Revelation. God speaks to us through Scripture so we may know the hope to which he has called us (Ephesians 1:18). And what is this hope?
…the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places. (vv. 19-20)
Our circumstances may feel hopeless, but Scripture reminds us we are not. God raised Jesus from the dead, and with that same power, someday he will raise us to glory in his presence!
Scripture will right your perspective when trials come.
This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life. (v. 50)
Suffering shakes us from the delusion that this world is our home. It proves to us that our ultimate comfort can’t be in possessions, plans, or people — because any and all of these can be stripped from us. So when affliction comes, where do we turn for true comfort?
The psalmist prays in his affliction, “I know now that true comfort is found in the eternal reality that my soul is safe because of your salvation. And no affliction can strip that comfort from me.” God’s promise of eternal life gives us right perspective when trials come.
Scripture will anchor you in eternal realities.
When I think of your rules from of old, I take comfort, O Lord. (v. 52)
From beginning to end, God and his Word stay the same. He doesn’t change, even though our circumstances do. When trials come and people disappoint us and the future looks unclear, we can take comfort in God’s “rules from of old.” What a balm for our souls!
We can choose to open our Bibles every day, to “think of,” or meditate on, God’s Word to us. A sure and steadfast anchor, Scripture grounds us in eternal realities when temporal ones threaten to overwhelm our gaze and shake our confidence. Our comfort in our affliction is that we serve an immoveable God, even in impossible circumstances.
Scripture will help you endure the darkness.
I remember your name in the night, O Lord, and keep your law. (v. 55)
In the dark night of the soul, suffering shakes our faith and causes us to doubt God’s goodness. But Scripture will help us remember what’s true so we can endure.
God’s Word is our lifeline, leading us to truth when trials tempt us to believe lies. And it’s our food and water, when affliction saps us of spiritual strength. “In the night,” run to the Word, remember all God has spoken to you and promised in Jesus, and you will endure the darkness.
Scripture will sustain your obedience.
His blessing has fallen to me, that I have kept your precepts. (v. 56)
Suffering makes obedience hard. When all we want to do is control our circumstances, grow bitter, ignore the pain, turn inward, or despair, God’s Word will help us resist these things to walk in his Spirit. As we fix our eyes on Christ, we will be transformed into his likeness and filled with spiritual strength for obedience and faith — and this is a blessing from God’s hand.
Suffering and Scripture go hand-in-hand. So cling to God’s Word today — seek him in the pages of your Bible — and you will be comforted, even in your affliction, by God’s promise of life in Jesus Christ.
[written by Kristen Wetherell, a Bible teacher]
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