“You who have made me see many troubles and calamities
will revive me again; from the depths of the earth You will bring me up again”
(Psalm 71:20).
I have mixed feelings about this particular verse. It is a
precious promise of what God can do and will do for His children. And yet that
first phrase is a little scary. “You made me see troubles and calamities”? Does
God cause suffering? A parallel might be the opening of the book of Job. Satan
attacks Job, yet it is only by God’s permission. Or in Genesis 50:20, Joseph
tells his brothers, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it
for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive as they are
today.”
Scripture is clear that God is sovereign over all things,
yet He clearly allows evil things to happen even to people who love Him dearly.
And since our days were written “when as yet there was none of them” (Ps. 139:16),
God planned from the beginning exactly how He was going to use sin and
suffering for His own good purposes in our lives.
In my imagination, I picture God writing out the book of our
lives and asking Satan, “OK, what would you like to happen to this person? … Ah
ha, I’ll permit that and then flip it upside down so that they and their family
members come to rely on Me!” No matter what Satan comes up with, God holds the winning
card.
Although we don’t
know who wrote Psalm 71, it could certainly be a reflection of David’s life. As
a young man he was ignored or condemned by his brothers. He was chosen by God
to become the king, but spent years on the run from King Saul. He lived in an
era when war was an annual event, with some wins and some losses. He made some
bad decisions that included getting Bathsheba pregnant and then conspiring to
murder her husband. His own son plotted against him to steal the kingdom away.
And yet in all this he kept turning to God in faith over and over again. David
faced many troubles and calamities, but God was never far away.
I don’t know what God is planning to do through the things
that hurt me or those I love. I may never know in this lifetime. I hope that my
faith is growing stronger along the way, and that there are fewer valleys of doubt.
I have not arrived on the mountaintop nor can I see it ahead. But I can say
with certainty that I would not be where I am if it were not for God’s “many
and precious mercies” reviving me and bearing me up along the way. I believe that
we can hold onto Jesus’ promise to His disciples:
“Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament,
but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn
into joy… So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your
hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you” (John 16:20, 22).
© 2025 Dawn Rutan. Photo from one of my many hikes on the Rough Ridge trail near Blowing Rock, NC. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.