Sometimes It Hurts
Psalms 129:2-3
2 Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth: yet they have not prevailed against me.
3 The plowers plowed upon my back: they made long their furrows.
KJV
Sometimes life in its self is not easy. Sometimes it hurts. And sometimes why what happened that hurts so much happened and
why it hurts so much cannot be explained. The apostle Paul went through much physical and mental abuse. Suffering hurt and
pain beyond what we like to even think about. Partly it was for the spreading of the gospel. But could he not have spread the
gospel without all the mental and physical abuse he went through. All the scripture says is the Holy Ghost says bonds and
afflictions wait for you every where you go. But he does not say why except that the things that have fallen out unto him have
caused the other brothers to become bolder spreading the gospel. Or why was Bartimaeus born blind and lived seeming to miss
so much of God's goodness for so much of his life. Why did the beggar die with the dogs licking his sores at the rich man’s gate?
And here in our text we find a man who for no apparent reason suffered horrible abuses. How long had he gone through this?
The years in number I don't know. He said they plowed long the furrows on his back. So what we do know are two things. One he
had been going through this horrible abuse since he was a child. The second thing we know is they never prevailed. They never
made him give up on life, his dreams of life or the work to accomplish those dreams. No matter how hard they tried or how often
they afflicted him or how hard the affliction was. He did not go into self pity through comparison of what others seem to never go
through yet seem to have every thing.
The one statement he made and all he needed to make is they never prevailed against him. Surely it was because he fortified
himself in the Lord as his refuge and fortress and the Name of the Lord was his strong tower. He did not quit and quitting was not
an option. He hurt. He endured through the might of the Lord. He endured not just to live but to live reaching his Jeremiah 29:11
Jeremiah 29:11
11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected
end. KJV
And the only retaliation we see is his prayer in the rest of this psalm. That prayer was to let the vengeance of the Lord speak for
him.
Life is sometimes hard and unexplainable but with God's grace it is always livable in the victory of Jesus.
I have gone through some hard, painful almost unbearable things since being in Viet Nam. Things I will never share with anyone.
All I can say is after sometimes months of this abuse they did not prevail. I offer no my fault, your fault or any reasoning. I only
leave you with three of the many scriptures that have sustained me. .
Deuteronomy 29:29
29 The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for
ever, that we may do all the words of this law. KJV
1 Corinthians 13:10
10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. KJV
1 Peter 5:10
10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace [Who imparts all blessing and favor], Who has called you to His
[own] eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will Himself complete and make you what you ought to be, establish and ground you securely,
and strengthen, and settle you. AMP
And really the truth be known, it is not the fact that you were not prevailed against and the Lord brought you through it all. Better
than all the answers to the why's which after you have heard, are no better off.
But in knowing God brought you through you are better off because the mercy of God endureth forever and if need be and as
often as need be he will bring you through again. And when he brings you through you will be like the children crossing the red
sea and reaching dry land. You will be on higher ground.