Praise Him for the trials?

In our passage for today, the writer of Psalm 66 tells us to praise God together when we see His providential goodness -- in using trials for our ultimate good.

Oh, wow.

That's one of those things that we'd rather not talk about, right? I mean, trials are not fun. In fact, they're downright painful. Let's read these verses carefully:

Praise our God, all peoples,
    let the sound of his praise be heard;

he has preserved our lives
    and kept our feet from slipping.
 For you, God, tested us;
    you refined us like silver.
 You brought us into prison
    and laid burdens on our backs.
 You let people ride over our heads;
    we went through fire and water,
    but you brought us to a place of abundance. (vs. 8-12)

These verses are like the psalmist was making us a sandwich. Right now, I hear you saying, "WHAT???" 

Yes, a sandwich. Nice, soft, delicious bread. It may be a "filling" that's not one of our favorites. In fact, it's one we don't like at all. Then another piece of soft bread.

It's a technique that we've had to use in business meetings. Nice to know it's actually an ancient practice!

So first, something good. Something that sounds nice. Then, the not-so-pleasant. The stuff we really need to think about. Lastly, another "good" sounding verse; one that makes us relax and thank the Lord.

Ready?

In verse eight, the songwriter invites all the people of the world to "bless our God" and praise Him. He says it is because He keeps us in life and does not allow our feet to slip. He brings up a mental image of our carefully placing each foot on a steep path, and reaching for the hands that will steady us. Those hands will catch us if we lose our balance, or if a stone rolls under our feet. God will not allow our feet to slip. The world can see that God keeps us; it's easy to see that He preserves us -- it's not that we are so strong and sure-footed! We can praise God for the fact that we're alive and that we've not fallen away from Him......that's due to His grace!

Now for the sandwich filling. The not-so-pleasant stuff like . . . I don't know. Maybe stinky cheese or meat that we don't like. 

The psalmist lists the ways that God has "tried" and "refined" His people, in much the same way that precious metals are refined.

• He brought them into a net. 
• He laid a burden upon them. 
• He made men ride over their heads.
• He made them go through fire, and then through water.

Some of those refer to their being in captivity, which is a "everyone is in the same boat" kind of thing. The fire and water can refer to that, or it can refer to individual trials and testing. 

BUT!!

The end of these terrible tests is in the last part of verse twelve: "But you brought us to a place of abundance."

The word translated "abundance" is only used ONE other time in the Old Testament. Want to guess where? In Psalm 23:5, where David says, "My cup overflows."  Filled to the rim. Flowing over the edge. Blessings in abundance.

Did you notice that the songwriter told us that God brought these trials to His people? He says several times that "You" meaning God, made things happen. These experiences didn't happen by accident. It wasn't because of bad luck, or that they lost their lucky rabbits' feet. 

Next, and this is an important point to remember: even though God does these things through evil people, He will judge them for their sin and He is not responsible for the evil. That's really important, especially when an agnostic or atheist wants to pin us down on this concept. 

To really explain this, let's look in the book of Job, OK?

Satan afflicted Job by wiping out his possessions, killing his children, and destroying his health. Job attributed everything to the Lord:

"The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away." (Job 1:12b)

In Job, we read that the Sabeans were used by Satan to slaughter Job's servants, steal his livestock and more. They were responsible for their terrible crimes. Job knew the truth - God was not responsible for any evil in the whole situation. But it's correct to say that He is the One Who did it.

In the same way, here in the Psalms, the writer is talking about when the Lord used a pagan army to ride "roughshod" over His people - for the purpose of refining them. The pagans were sinful. They were sinning when they did this, and they were to be judged for it. But God was without sin and used it for His own sovereign purpose.

That purpose? God brings difficult trials on us through sinful people for our good. His final purpose is to bring us into a place of abundance.

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. (Hebrews 12:11)

It's important to submit to God's dealings with us. Hebrews 12 tells us that we should take this seriously and not faint when He reproves us. We must remember that He disciplines us for our good, because He loves us as a Father.

We can (through faith) make His praise glorious even in our trials, as we trust Him to accomplish the best for us.