Psalm 129

 “Jesus Christ, my joy, please be with me!”

The cries of afflicted souls go up to God all over the world. There is not a moment of rest. Thousands upon thousands do not know what else they can do. Their only hope is to send their empty hearts up to God for healing. They feel like their hope is almost gone.

This is not abnormal. It is a part of the journey, both in Old Testament times, and in New. It is what happens to us in a world of sin and misery.

The apostle Peter writes in 1 Peter 4:12-13,

“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.

It is not a strange providence for the godly to suffer. There is a way to rejoice in this test. If you suffer, you share a small taste of what your Savior endured for you. Your suffering is not a sign that you are unloved or rejected. You can face it differently if you consider it today's privilege. God has let you feel a small part of what His Son passed through on His way to glorious joy. He suffered for you. Paul writes in 2 Timothy 4:5, “Endure suffering.”

Songs for the journey have blue notes. Don't remove them. You will ruin the song. God is sovereign and wise and He loves Israel. Yet she could sing on her way to Jerusalem about the affliction that she had suffered from her early days up to the present moment. Yet by the Lord's grace, her enemies had not completely prevailed over her. This is not just an Old Testament song. This is the story of the church just as much as it is the story of Israel. Is it your story today?

The Lord is aware of your sorrow and pain. He cares for you. He is the reason you will endure to your appointed end. You are only facing a very small part of what the Son of God endured for you. When you willingly relate to His suffering in some small way, you discover His sympathy for thousands upon thousands of broken souls who are crying out in desperate affliction to Him at this very moment. To have compassion for them is another gift to you that comes from your own experience of trouble. This gift cannot be exchanged for unending joy until the right time comes for you to be with Jesus in glory.

Meanwhile, if you suffer at the hands of oppressors, pray for those who persecute you. They will have to stand before a just God, and their only hope in that day will be in Jesus Christ, who will defend you.

Today is still a day of mercy for those who will hear the Voice of the Son of God and repent of their sins. But the day of final judgment swiftly approaches. The enemies of the Lord will face dreadful trouble on that day. There will be no fruitful yield for those who do not repent.

Until that day, the New Testament ethic applies. Turn the other cheek. Bless those who curse you. If your enemy is hungry, give him something to eat.

Eventually that day of gospel mercy must give way to the Lord's conquest; not just of Canaan, but the final conquest of God over the whole earth. Then the enemies of the Lord's people will never again hear words of invitation and blessing from the Lord's suffering servants.

But as for you and me, the Lord who suffered for us hears our cries. He is blessing us even now.