#DailyDevotion Your Suffering & Pain Are Not Meaningless
Psalm 38 13I am like a deaf man, who cannot hear, and like a mute, who cannot speak. 14I have become like a man who doesn’t hear anything and has no arguments to offer.
The previous verses and these here besides applying to David and his situation look forward to Christ’s trial and crucifixion. Isaiah saw in in Is. 53, “7Like a lamb He was led away to be slaughtered. Like a mother sheep is silent before the men who cut off her wool, so He doesn’t open His mouth.” So in Matt. 27 it is recorded, “14But Jesus didn’t answer him in regard to anything that was said, so that the governor was very much surprised.” It recorded in Mark 15, “40There were women watching from a distance. Among them were Mary from Magdala and Mary, the mother of James the Less and of Joseph, and Salome.” So Jesus does not respond to the charges and traps his enemies set for Him. As He was crucified those who were closest to Him looked on from a distance. He had taken our sins upon Himself. He was not going to make any excuses to get out of it. He was going to pay the price to set us free and to redeem us.
15But I look to You, O LORD, for help. O Lord, my God, You will answer.
David looks to the LORD alone for help. He has given up all other worldly resources. He does not rely upon his own power, wealth or strength. He believes and trusts the LORD his God will answer him. He has every reason to trust in the LORD. Jesus also upon the cross entrusts Himself into the Father’s hand His spirit as He breathes His last. He looks to the resurrection which is to take place in three days. We too should look to the LORD Jesus Christ and put our trust in Him in every situation. In every trial, tribulation and trouble our faith should be in our LORD. We should realize though, some of these will not be solved until the resurrection and the judgment where we shall receive the help and justice we have prayed for.
16For I have already said, “Don’t let them gloat over me. When my foot slips, don’t let them ridicule me.” 17I’m about to break down — I’m always in pain.
David reminds the LORD about his previous petitions. He does not want his enemies to be able to gloat over him and ridicule him. Jesus though experiences the gloating and ridicule of His enemies. He is receiving in Himself those things which we deserve. David does not feel he can go on much more. Whatever it is that has come upon him has broken him. He is always in pain. Jesus has taken this upon Himself, not just what David is experiencing, but what everyone in the world has ever experienced. Jesus in the garden, to the cross, and to the grave in the other garden has entered into communion with all that our sinful nature has caused us to experience. He will nail it to the cross and bury it in the grave.
You may wonder then why you still experience it. Paul writes in 2 Cor. 1, “As Christ’s sufferings overflow to us, so Christ makes our comfort overflow.” The hymn, “In the cross of Christ I glory” has us sing, “Bane and blessing, pain and pleasure, By the cross are sanctified…” So what we experience in our lives of faith in Christ, though seeming meaningless, are not. They have been sanctified by Jesus bearing them on the cross. We undergo them to share in the glory of Jesus and to bear the weight of eternal glory. (2 Cor. 4) You can read more of how the LORD uses our suffering in Romans 5. It is not without purpose. It is not meaningless. The LORD knows what we need to be in communion with Him.
Heavenly Father, we give you thanks and praise for having Jesus join us in our suffering to give it meaning in this life and the next. Grant us faith to believe this and to not lose hope but always look to the resurrection and glory. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.