Suffering is Not Punishment
“Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?”
“Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?”
1 O God, we have heard with our ears, our fathers have told us the work that You did in their days, in the days of old.
2 You with Your own hand drove out the nation, then You planted them. You afflicted the peoples, then You spread them abroad.
3 For by their own sword they did not possess the land, and their own arm did not save them, but Your right hand and Your arm and the light of Your presence, for You favored them.
4 You are my King, O God, command victories for Jacob.
5 Through You we will push back our adversaries. Through Your name we will trample down those who rise up against us.
6 For I will not trust in my bow, nor will my sword save me.
7 But You have saved us from our adversaries, and You have put to shame those who hate us.
8 In God we have boasted all day long, and we will give thanks to Your name forever.
Selah
9 You have rejected us and brought us to dishonor, and do not go out with our armies.
10 You cause us to turn back from the adversary and those who hate us have taken spoil for themselves.
11 You give us as sheep to be eaten and have scattered us among the nations.
12 You sell Your people cheaply, and have not profited by their sale.
13 You make us a reproach to our neighbors, a scoffing and a derision to those around us.
14 You make us a byword among the nations, a laughing stock among the peoples.
15 All day long my dishonor is before me and my humiliation has overwhelmed me,
16 Because of the voice of him who reproaches and reviles, because of the presence of the enemy and the avenger.
17 All this has come upon us, but we have not forgotten You, and we have not dealt falsely with Your covenant.
18 Our heart has not turned back, and our steps have not deviated from Your way--
19 Yet You have crushed us in a place of jackals and covered us with the shadow of death.
20 If we had forgotten the name of our God or extended our hands to a strange god,
21 Would not God find this out? For He knows the secrets of the heart.
22 But for Your sake we are killed all day long. We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.
23 Arouse Yourself, why do You sleep, O Lord? Awake, do not reject us forever.
24 Why do You hide Your face and forget our affliction and our oppression?
25 For our soul has sunk down into the dust, our body cleaves to the earth.
26 Rise up, be our help, and redeem us for the sake of Your lovingkindness.
A popular question in todays Christian circles is, “Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?” The tone in this psalm in one of complaining to God. These complainers lacked faith and trust--to know and do the will of God. They did not trust in God for the future plan He has promised them. But judgment may come to those who lack this faith and belief.
How many of us do the same thing? We lack that same trust and have trouble believing the promises He has made for His people. In reality “there are no good people." Each of us at our birth were tainted by sin. Romans 3:9 -20 teaches us “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away... there is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Romans 5:6-11 declares “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us...” God loves us. He loved us enough to die to take the penalty for our sins. When we accept this gracious gift, rather than what we deserve, we are given eternal life in heaven if we come to Christ in faith. Bad things do happen to people who are often underserving -- but God allows things to happen for His reasons, whether or not we understand them.
Romans 5:6-11 declares “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us...” God loves us. He loved us enough to die to take the penalty for our sins. When we accept this gracious gift, rather than what we deserve, we are given eternal life in heaven if we come to Christ in faith. Bad things do happen to people who are often underserving -- but God allows things to happen for His reasons, whether or not we understand them.
We must remember that God is good, just, loving, and merciful. Often things happen to us that we simply cannot understand. However, instead of doubting God's goodness, our reaction should be to trust Him. ”Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your path.” Proverbs 3:5-6
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