SERIES: Songs of Ascents
TEXT: Psalm 129
MESSAGE: “The Blessing of Suffering”
“In the secular view, suffering is never seen as a meaningful part of life but only as an interruption…Christianity teaches that…there is a purpose to it, and if faced rightly, it can drive us like a nail deep into the love of God and into more stability and spiritual power than you can imagine.” — Timothy Keller
Matthew 5:3–4 “You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule. You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.”
“The song recalls oppression by wicked people (v. 4) that has persisted for a long time (vv. 1–2) and has inflicted great pain (v. 3). In the OT historical narratives, Israel repeatedly experienced this kind of trauma, and the reference to “my youth” in v. 2 could hark back all the way to the time preceding the exodus, when the Israelites called out to the Lord to deliver them from slavery in Egypt.” — Daniel Estes
Q: How can God use suffering in our lives to become a blessing?
By…(1. Reflecting on suffering 2. Redemption through suffering 3. Realizing true suffering)
- Reflecting on suffering (v.1-2) “Greatly have they afflicted me from my youth”— let Israel now say— 2 “Greatly have they afflicted me from my youth, yet they have not prevailed against me.
“Suffering is unbearable if you aren’t certain that God is for you and with you.” — Timothy Keller
- Redemption through suffering (v. 3-4) “The plowers plowed upon my back; they made long their furrows.” 4 The Lord is righteous; he has cut the cords of the wicked.”
“Who can save a child from a burning house without taking the risk of being hurt by the flames? Who can listen to a story of loneliness and despair without taking the risk of experiencing similar pains in his own heart and even losing his precious peace of mind? In short: “Who can take away suffering without entering it?” ― Henri J.M. Nouwen, The Wounded Healer
“The survival of this people, so hated but so resilient, bore silent witness to their Preserver.” – Derek Kidner
- Isaiah 50:6 — “I gave my back to those who strike”
- Isaiah 53:5 — “with his wounds we are healed”
“Jesus lost all his glory so that we could be clothed in it. He was shut out so we could get access. He was bound, nailed, so that we could be free. He was cast out so we could approach. And Jesus took away the only kind of suffering that can really destroy you: that is being cast away from God. He took that so that now all suffering that comes into your life will only make you great. A lump of coal under pressure becomes a diamond. And the suffering of a person in Christ only turns you into somebody gorgeous.” — Timothy Keller
- Realizing true suffering (v. 5-8) “May all who hate Zion be put to shame and turned backward!6 Let them be like the grass on the housetops, which withers before it grows up, 7 with which the reaper does not fill his hand nor the binder of sheaves his arms, 8 nor do those who pass by say, “The blessing of the Lord be upon you! We bless you in the name of the Lord!”
“If our pain isn’t transformed, it’s going to be transmitted.”– Tod Hall
“Those who hate Zion will prove transient (6), unsuccessful (7), unbefriended and excluded from the community of blessing (8).” — Alec Motyer
“There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, “Thy will be done,” and those to whom God says, in the end, “Thy will be done.” All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. Those who knock it is opened.” ― C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce
TAKEAWAYS: What can we learn from suffering? That it has the power to…
- Lead us to God
“And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” — 1 Peter 5:10
- Lead us to the Cross
- Lead us to others
“So many of us in the church bear invisible scars. And while over time they may fade into the background, they still bleed for some. They are a constant source of turmoil as we face haunting memories and fight to believe that there is enough redemption even for us. Jesus has scars, too. We cannot work hard enough to make ours disappear, but we can rest from all our striving and remember this: by his wounds we are healed (Isaiah 53:5).” — Kendra Dahl