Being Tortured As At A Slow Fire!

Pastor John Calvin has many things to his credit, and one of them is the richness of his language, especially his homely turns of phrase. In his commentary on Ps.119, he speaks about the severity of the trials that God's people have to endure in life.  They are tested and wounded to the quick. "In comparing himself to a wineskin, he [David] intimates that he was, as it were, parched by the continual heat f the adversities."  Sorrow of that intensity as to reduce a man to that level of wretchedness must be most severe.  He was like a shrivelled wineskin that had almost dried up.

But in this part of Ps.119, David wants to point out, not just the severity of the afflictions, but their longevity - they were of a lingering nature.  And here's the term that really caught my eye: "that he was tormented, as it were, at a slow fire;"  In the experience of the Christian believer, trials and afflictions can go on for what seems like an eternity.  One thing has no sooner finished when another comes hard on its heel.  It is one trouble after another - just as if one was being tormented at 'a slow fire.'  The pain has no let-up which is not overly severe but enough to tell you that you are suffering.  When one day gives way to another, the pain continues; and you never seem to get a break from it.

How is the Christian to respond to such a situation?  First, he has to recall that he is a child of God who is living in a hostile world.  This world is NOT his home, and it is certainly not a playground;  his home is a veritable battlefield, and he is at the front line!  Suffering will come as sure as day follows night.  This is normal.  Second, the suffering of the believer is in God's sovereign and gracious control.  He will not allow you to suffer beyond what you are able to bear.  Third, This is ultimately for your spiritual good. Now that is hard to see when you are going through it, but God works all things for the good of His children, and that includes us!  Fourth, God's ultimate purpose is His own glory demonstrated in the defeat of the devil in your life.  He is already defeated - at Calvary and at the garden Tomb - but he is to have his nose rubbed in it when God defeats him yet again in the weak, frail, sinful, rebellious, ungrateful life that you live!  If the devil can be defeated in a sinful and fallen human life, then he is defeated indeed.

So rejoice!  Rejoice in the Lord always!  The joy of the Lord is your strength.  Despite how things might appear at the present, you are on the victory side.  Think about that!