Psalm 119 pt V: It is good for me that I have been afflicted

From Psalms

Psalm 119 v:65-80

(Teth)
⁶⁵Thou hast dealt well with thy servant,
      O Lord, according unto thy word.
⁶⁶Teach me good judgment and knowledge:
      for I have believed thy commandments.
⁶⁷Before I was afflicted I went astray:
      but now have I kept thy word.
⁶⁸Thou art good, and doest good;
      teach me thy statutes.
⁶⁹The proud have forged a lie against me:
      but I will keep thy precepts with my whole heart.
⁷⁰Their heart is as fat as grease;
      but I delight in thy law.
⁷¹It is good for me that I have been afflicted;
      that I might learn thy statutes.
⁷²The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver.

(Yodh)
⁷³Thy hands have made me and fashioned me:
      give me understanding, that I may learn thy commandments.
⁷⁴They that fear thee will be glad when they see me;
      because I have hoped in thy word.
⁷⁵I know, O Lord, that thy judgments are right,
      and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me.
⁷⁶Let, I pray thee, thy merciful kindness be for my comfort,
      according to thy word unto thy servant.
⁷⁷Let thy tender mercies come unto me,
      that I may live: for thy law is my delight.
⁷⁸Let the proud be ashamed; for they dealt perversely with me without a cause:
      but I will meditate in thy precepts.
⁷⁹Let those that fear thee turn unto me,
      and those that have known thy testimonies.
⁸⁰Let my heart be sound in thy statutes;
      that I be not ashamed.

One concept that I struggle with is that "It is good for me that I have been afflicted," from verse 71.  It has been good for me to have my sex addiction and alcoholism.  I understand that without them I would not have learned a true faith in God - or learned his statutes.  I've had to hand over probably the biggest struggles in my life.  Obviously that doesn't mean you have to be an addict to have fatih in God, but I've heard people attribute more things to the hand of God in a 12 step meeting than maybe anywhere else.  Nevertheless, to think that the pain the addictions has brought to me and those around me are somehow good.  That's where I struggle.

I guess it's easier for me to hear this concept in Laura Story's Blessings.  Somehow it makes sense when she sings it in this context.  This reminds me of another phrase I've heard while training for triathlons.  That is, "Pain is merely weakness leaving you body."  This, in a weird way, give me hope - for the process of pain and suffering is making me stronger and better equipped for what life has for me.  I guess its a lot like the cliche, "That which does not kill me only makes me stronger."  Nevertheless, its a common theme in psalm 119 that I pray that God may quicken me with his word.

Thanks for letting me share.