Bitter or Better???

Reflection: I have often heard the saying that troubles can make you “better” or “bitter”!  Clearly the psalmist today is taking the former road when he exclaims,

²⁰ Though you have made me see troubles,
    many and bitter,
    you will restore my life again;
from the depths of the earth
    you will again bring me up.
²¹ You will increase my honor
    and comfort me once more.

²² I will praise you with the harp
    for your faithfulness, my God;
I will sing praise to you with the lyre,
    Holy One of Israel.

Notice to all the all-sufficiency of his relationship with God.  He acknowledges that God has allowed these things to happen and not just once, but also states his confidence that God will restore his life again.  And you get the sense that despite what he is going through that his joy triumphs over his trials.  Even in the process of declaring his faith in a sovereign God, that sees all things happen, he is declaring victory over his circumstances.  And notice the big shift from the “you will’s” to the “I will”.  Because of what God has done the psalmist makes a decision to praise God with his instruments.

Paul says something similar about the churches in Macedonia, including the church of Philippi.  He tells the Church of Corinth about their extreme joy which welled up in the midst of their giving sacrificially for the church in Jerusalem.  He says they gave as much as they were able and even beyond what they had.  We all know how hard stewardship campaigns can be so it is amazing when he says, “Entirely on their own they pleaded with us for this privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people.”  Wow that is pretty out of this world!

As you contemplate your troubles in this life don’t let them make you bitter.  There are plenty of bitter people out there, you don’t need to be one of them.  As you live with a worldview that God allows things to happen, and His all sufficient grace and power will lead you home, you can adopt the attitude of the psalmist by God’s grace working in you to show others that your joy and strength come from Him! 

Psalm 71:19-24

¹⁹ Your righteousness, God, reaches to the heavens,
    you who have done great things.
    Who is like you, God?
²⁰ Though you have made me see troubles,
    many and bitter,
    you will restore my life again;
from the depths of the earth
    you will again bring me up.
²¹ You will increase my honor
    and comfort me once more.

²² I will praise you with the harp
    for your faithfulness, my God;
I will sing praise to you with the lyre,
    Holy One of Israel.
²³ My lips will shout for joy
    when I sing praise to you—
    I whom you have delivered.
²⁴ My tongue will tell of your righteous acts
    all day long,
for those who wanted to harm me
    have been put to shame and confusion.

Proverbs 26

26 Like snow in summer or rain in harvest,
    honor is not fitting for a fool.
² Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow,
    an undeserved curse does not come to rest.
³ A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey,
    and a rod for the backs of fools!
⁴ Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
    or you yourself will be just like him.
⁵ Answer a fool according to his folly,
    or he will be wise in his own eyes.
⁶ Sending a message by the hands of a fool
    is like cutting off one’s feet or drinking poison.
⁷ Like the useless legs of one who is lame
    is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.
⁸ Like tying a stone in a sling
    is the giving of honor to a fool.
⁹ Like a thornbush in a drunkard’s hand
    is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.
¹⁰ Like an archer who wounds at random
    is one who hires a fool or any passer-by.
¹¹ As a dog returns to its vomit,
    so fools repeat their folly.
¹² Do you see a person wise in their own eyes?
    There is more hope for a fool than for them.

¹³ A sluggard says, “There’s a lion in the road,
    a fierce lion roaming the streets!”
¹⁴ As a door turns on its hinges,
    so a sluggard turns on his bed.
¹⁵ A sluggard buries his hand in the dish;
    he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth.
¹⁶ A sluggard is wiser in his own eyes
    than seven people who answer discreetly.

¹⁷ Like one who grabs a stray dog by the ears
    is someone who rushes into a quarrel not their own.

¹⁸ Like a maniac shooting
    flaming arrows of death
¹⁹ is one who deceives their neighbor
    and says, “I was only joking!”

²⁰ Without wood a fire goes out;
    without a gossip a quarrel dies down.
²¹ As charcoal to embers and as wood to fire,
    so is a quarrelsome person for kindling strife.
²² The words of a gossip are like choice morsels;
    they go down to the inmost parts.

²³ Like a coating of silver dross on earthenware
    are fervent lips with an evil heart.
²⁴ Enemies disguise themselves with their lips,
    but in their hearts they harbor deceit.
²⁵ Though their speech is charming, do not believe them,
    for seven abominations fill their hearts.
²⁶ Their malice may be concealed by deception,
    but their wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.
²⁷ Whoever digs a pit will fall into it;
    if someone rolls a stone, it will roll back on them.
²⁸ A lying tongue hates those it hurts,
    and a flattering mouth works ruin.

2 Corinthians 7:14-8:9

¹⁴ I had boasted to him about you, and you have not embarrassed me. But just as everything we said to you was true, so our boasting about you to Titus has proved to be true as well. ¹⁵ And his affection for you is all the greater when he remembers that you were all obedient, receiving him with fear and trembling. ¹⁶ I am glad I can have complete confidence in you.

The Collection for the Lord’s People

8 And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. ² In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. ³ For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, ⁴ they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people. ⁵ And they exceeded our expectations: They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us. ⁶ So we urged Titus, just as he had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part. ⁷ But since you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you—see that you also excel in this grace of giving. ⁸ I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. ⁹ For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.

The Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard. Isaiah 52:12

Paul and Barnabas related all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith for the Gentiles. Acts 14:27

All-powerful, all-knowing God, at times it is easy for us to forget all that you have done for us, and all that you continue to do. In the busyness and stress of everyday living, help us find your strength in us. Amen.