Only when we view God’s providence through the lens of Scripture will you and I be able to properly cope with tragedy when it strikes. Only then will we be able to trust God even when we do not understand.

Like a weaned child with his mother;
Like a weaned child is my soul within me.
Psalm 131:2b

Lesson #1: The trials envisioned and trust enjoined by this text are not extraordinary but normative for the covenant community.

The command to “hope” in verse three is very common throughout the Bible, especially in contexts of hardship, suffering, and persecution (e.g., Lam 3:24, 26). Thus, the Psalmist is not calling God’s people to do something extra-ordinary. He’s calling them to live a life of faith in a sin-cursed world. And that’s the kind of world we live in. As a result, trials and tragedies are not rare, but rather they are part of life (Job 5:7; 1 Peter 4:12). We may not all suffer the same trials. We may not all face the same mysteries. But sooner or later, God will bring difficulty into our life that we may not understand. Trusting God in such circumstances is what the Christian life is all about!

Lesson #2: God often intends the afflictions of one member for the good of the whole community.

In Psalm 119:71, David says, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn [God’s] statutes.” But it was not only good for David’s soul. It was also good for the entire community of Israel. God afflicted David, so that David might encourage God’s people to trust in the Lord. Such was also Paul’s experience—2 Corinthians 1:4: “[God] comforts us in all our tribulation that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble.”

Who are the great teachers in the church today? Not merely those with great intellect, rhetorical ability, and eloquent voice. No, the great teachers in the church are often those who like David have gone through deep waters and who have responded with humble trust. In light of this principle, those afflicted by God should feel a degree of honor and stewardship. You may say, “But I don’t know much theology. I haven’t learned the difference between supralapsarianism and infralapsarianism.” That may be true. But if you have learned to trust God even when life hurts, then you have something very valuable to teach the rest of us.

The rest of us in Israel should be ready to listen to those among us who have endured great trial. We might be tempted to think of our afflicted brethren as those God has “set-on-the-shelf.” Or worse yet, we may think of them as those God is judging for their sin” (e.g., Job’s “friends”). As a result, we might think they need to hear from us, not we from them. In some respects it may be the opposite. As we see in our Psalm, God had a message to convey to Israel, and He chose to convey that message through one of his afflicted children.

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