“My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life” (vs.50). This is a wonderful perspective that the psalmist expresses and one that we can echo with even greater confidence. You may encounter hardship and suffering, but you can take comfort in the fact that there is a promise over your life (if indeed you have entrusted your life to Jesus Christ). God is totally committed to his promises. The promise of God over your life is not to give you a life of constant pleasure and ease. He will indeed bless you with many pleasures, but this is not always assured in every situation. What God assures us, in every situation, is that he will fulfil his purpose in us and through us if we continue to walk with him. Nothing will be able to thwart the plan that God is bringing to fruition in our lives. Even the most terrible circumstances, things which God himself deplores (such as death, sickness, injustice, persecution etc.), will not thwart God’s purpose for us. In fact, in his wisdom, God will turn every bad situation to our advantage. So, whatever happens to you, you can be comforted with this thought: God will be at work in some way, despite and even through your circumstances. Let this thought preserve your life; let it preserve your hope and drive away any sense of frustration you might be experiencing. Your plans and desires may get frustrated. But God’s plans are never frustrated. Set your heart then, on God’s purpose for your life, and you will walk in peace and assurance.
Ask God to speak to you through whatever challenges you might be facing.
Read Psalm 119:49-56
