Psalm 119:73-77

"Your hands made me and formed me; give me understanding so that I can learn your commands..."

I don't know if you have put something together, but it's quite a cool thing. It's always cool to see the progress of the project as it goes from being formless to being a complete creation. As the creator you hold great power over the creation. There are instructions and purposes that you have for your creation. As our creator, God has commands and purposes for us. He knows what is best for us and has a powerful use for us, if we will seek to understand these commands.

We know that these commands are fair and that God is just because the psalmist tells us so in v. 75. He states that God has afflicted Him fairly. The pain and struggles that the psalmist has faced are fair. God is sovereign to have allowed such difficulty. In v. 71 the psalmist writes that it was good for him to be afflicted because this taught Him God's statutes. The darkest days of the psalmist's life taught Him about who God was. It taught Him that God is sovereign and that He has purpose in all that He does and allows. We know that God provides His faithful love to comfort us (v. 76) and that He provides compassion also so that we can live and be delighted by God's instructions (v. 77).

It's common to hear a health and wealth type gospel preached today. It's taught that God is a God who wants to bless us with perfect health and an over abundance of money and possessions. As we read throughout the Bible, and even as we experience our own lives, we come to quickly realize that even the most faithful and devoted of Christians experience some great tragedies. Most of their life may even be filled with difficulty, without great material wealth or stable health. While it is true that God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28), it never tells us how God exactly works it out, or through what means. It could be through the blessing of finances, but it could also be in the loss of a loved one from a terrible accident. I am convinced that we probably learn more about who God is from the hardships of life. When He is all we have to depend on, we begin to see how frail, weak, and corrupt human life can be and we see how powerful, loving, faithful, and holy our Creator is.

Thank you Father for even the hardest of times because I know you are teaching me more about who You are and who I am in light of You. Amen.