Ps. cxix. 71. It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.
DAVID had " been afflicted from his youth up "
and we think it highly probable that to that
very circumstance he was indebted, under God, for those extraordinary attainments in devotion and holi- ness, which have rendered him a pattern for the
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saints in all future ages. By means of his trials he was constrained to take refuge in his God : and by constant communion with God, he obtained a deep insight into his revealed will, and a rich experience of his superabounding grace. This seems at least to have been his own view of the case, long after his afflictions had ceased : for to his familiarity with affliction he ascribes his enlarged acquaintance with the statutes of his God : " It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes."
In confirmation of his testimony, we shall shew, I. The benefit of affliction, as leading to knowledge — •
Affliction, in itself considered, is an evil : but, if viewed in connexion with the benefits resulting from it, it may justly be esteemed " a good." Thousands there are who have reason to bless God for it, as in- strumental to the bringing of them to the knowledge of a Saviour, whom, without such trials, they would have continued to neglect. Indeed it is eminently and extensively useful in this view :
1. It opens our ears to instruction —
[People who are at ease, however eager they may be after human knowledge, have no desire after that which is spiritual and divine. If it be tendered to them, they reject it: if it be pressed upon them, they cast it behind their backs with indig- nation and scorn. To one who would instruct them in arts or sciences, they would feel thankful : but to one who would lead them to the knowledge of the true God, they make no return, but that of contempt and hatred3.
But when heavy affliction is come upon them, they are softened : they will listen to advice ; they will even be thankful for it : they will read the Scriptures, or some other religious book : and will pay considerable attention to those subjects which hitherto have provoked only their derision.
With this view, and for the production of this very effect, God frequently vouchsafes to send itb : and those who are brought by it to this measure of thoughtfulness about their souls, have reason rather to be thankful for it as a benefit, than to complain of it as a judgment.]
2. It makes us sensible of our need of better things than this world can give —
a John iii. 19. Matt. vii. 26. b Joh xxxvi. 8—10.