“Trouble and anguish have come upon me, yet Your commandments are my delight.  Your testimonies are righteous forever; give me understanding that I may live.”  Psalm 119:143-144

Anguish is the inward response to trouble.  For those with a balanced perspective, anguish is reserved for extreme circumstances.  The Hebrew word used is derived from the word for a narrow place.  Therefore, in this context, the connotation is a place of confinement or disability.  That’s exactly what anguish does to us mentally; it makes us feel hemmed in and incapacitated.  It is both suffocating and immobilizing.  Even so, the writer of Psalm 119 expresses delight in God’s commands when faced with trials.  While at first blush it may seem odd to experience both anguish and delight in the same circumstance, as Christians, there are several reasons to be delighted in dire situations.

If we focus on our troubles and our limited ability to remedy them, we only sink further into anguish.  Verses 130 and 105 of Psalm 119 speak to the light of God’s word; the first speaks to the understanding that it provides while the second views it as a light to one’s path.  In the context of trouble and anguish, the understanding of God’s word lifts our gaze from our overwhelming circumstances to the hope of revival or God’s salvation as well as from our weakness to God’s strength.  Further, it lights the path that moves us from a place of anguish and confinement to that of joy and mental freedom.  Finally, verse 24 reminds us that God’s testimonies are not only a delight, but are our counselors.  Put another way, they speak the truth of God into our darkened minds allowing us to understand more clearly and completely. Consequently, we are delighted, even in the worst of circumstances, because we know that our faithful God will use His word and His commands to illuminate our situation and bring peace to our souls.

While it is the longest of the Psalms, please consider reading it in its entirety (Psalm 119).  As I did, I found the following reasons to be delighted in God, His word and His commands even in times of trouble.

• God’s character allows us to request His: love, compassion, instruction, help, and revival.
• God’s righteousness brings redemption and revival.
• God’s ordinances: are good and true; remind us of God’s righteousness, faithfulness, and lovingkindness; prevent shame and bring delight; are an inheritance; and through them, our Lord provides hope and revival.
• God’s word: teaches us godly fear; shows us that we are foreigners in this world and reminds us that we have companionship in fellow believers.

Note the theme of revival.  Through the cycle of trouble, anguish and revival, we are taught experientially so that God’s wisdom and commands move from our minds to our hearts and souls becoming a part of who we are rather than what we know.  Through this understanding we learn: obedience; to put our hope in God rather than ourselves; to look at things from His broad view rather than our confined one and, ultimately, endurance.  With endurance comes delight.  Not delight in the difficulties themselves, but rather delight in what God does in and through them while drawing us closer to Himself.  When we delight in God and His work in us, He delights in us.

May our God delight in you as you fear Him and put your hope in His unfailing love.

Will