Psalm 119:65-72
“Why do we suffer in this world if God loves us so much?”
THE PROBLEM OF SUFFERING AND EVIL
QUESTIONS LEAD US TO JESUS.
QUESTIONS ARE NOT NEW
9 What has been is what will be,
and what has been done is what will be done,
and there is nothing new under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 1:9
8 God said to Satan, “Have you noticed my friend Job?
There’s no one quite like him—honest and true to his word, totally devoted to God and hating evil.”
9-10 Satan retorted, “So do you think Job does all that out of the sheer goodness of his heart? Why, no one ever had it so good! You pamper him like a pet, make sure nothing bad ever happens to him or his family or his possessions, bless everything he does—he can’t lose!
Job 1:8-9
12 God replied, “We’ll see. Go ahead—do what you want with all that is his. Just don’t hurt him.” Then Satan left the presence of God.
Job 1:12
11-13 Three of Job’s friends heard of all the trouble that had fallen on him. Each traveled from his own country—Eliphaz from Teman, Bildad from Shuhah, Zophar from Naamath—and went together to Job to keep him company and comfort him. When they first caught sight of him, they couldn’t believe what they saw—they hardly recognized him! They cried out in lament, ripped their robes, and dumped dirt on their heads as a sign of their grief. Then they sat with him on the ground. Seven days and nights they sat there without saying a word. They could see how rotten he felt, how deeply he was suffering.
Job 2:11-13
Three things we CAN do when others are suffering:
Anyone who has spent time with a suffering friend knows how hard it is to remain present without trying to give answers. It is excruciating to suffer silently with a friend who must rebuild life piece by piece, without any certainty about the outcome. Our instinct is to investigate what went wrong and identify a solution. Then we imagine we can help our friend eliminate the cause and get back to normal as soon as possible. Knowing the cause, we will at least know how to avoid the same fate ourselves. We would rather give a reason for the suffering — be it right, be it wrong — than to accept the mystery at the heart of suffering.
Theology of Work, Commentary
13-20
“Still, if you set your heart on God
and reach out to him,
If you scrub your hands of sin
and refuse to entertain evil in your home,
You’ll be able to face the world unashamed
and keep a firm grip on life, guiltless and fearless.
You’ll forget your troubles;
they’ll be like old, faded photographs.
Your world will be washed in sunshine,
every shadow dispersed by dawn.
Full of hope, you’ll relax, confident again;
you’ll look around, sit back, and take it easy.
Expansive, without a care in the world,
you’ll be hunted out by many for your blessing.
But the wicked will see none of this.
They’re headed down a dead-end road
with nothing to look forward to—nothing.”
Job 11:13-20
As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
The disciples regarded this man as an unsolved riddle. They showed no interest in helping the man, but in discussing the cause for his condition. Jesus will soon show a different way. He won’t dwell on the theological puzzle, but on actually helping the man.
David Guzik
3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.
John 9:1-3
Jesus shifted the question from, “Why is this man suffering?,” to, “What can God do in spite of this suffering?”
WE WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO FIND TRUTH IN SUFFERING IF WE DON’T KNOW WHAT THE TRUTH IS.
“THIS ISN’T HOW IT’S SUPPOSED TO BE.”
11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.
John 9:1-3
You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they can find peace in you.
Augustine of Hippo
A THEOLOGY OF SIN (We need to understand the magnitude of sin)
10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;
11 no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.”
Romans 3:10-12
The confession of evil works is the first beginning of good works.
Augustine of Hippo
When a man is getting better he understands more and more clearly the evil that is still left in him. When a man is getting worse he understands his own badness less and less.
C.S. Lewis
A THEOLOGY OF SUFFERING (We need to understand the purpose of suffering)
7 In the days of his flesh, Jesus[a] offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. 8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. 9 And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, 10 being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek
Hebrews 5:7-10
67 Before I was afflicted I went astray,
but now I keep your word.
Psalm 119:67
I am certain that I never did grow in grace one half so much anywhere as I have upon the bed of pain
Charles Spurgeon
I never knew the meaning of God’s word, until I came into affliction. I have always found it one of my best schoolmasters.
Martin Luther
Yet we must guard against the misunderstanding that seasons of affliction automatically make one better or godlier. Sadly, there are many who are worse from their affliction – because they fail to turn to God’s word for wisdom and life-guidance in such times. The worst affliction of all is a wasted affliction, wasted because we did not turn to God and gained nothing from it.
David Guzik
A THEOLOGY OF...
