A strange way the Psalm speaks to us. God’s Word is not a light to our eyes, but to our feet and path. Why not the eyes? Because what we see leads us astray. All around we see boasting and pride, despair and death. What we see with our eyes deceives us. But with the ears comes something different, something higher.
Our eyes say, “You will not prevail.” But the Word says, “Christ is risen, He has prevailed.”
Our eyes say, “The wicked triumph.” But the Word says to our ears, “The wicked shall be put to flight.”
Our eyes gaze in the mirror and say to us, “I am imperfect, I am getting older, I shall die, and perhaps alone.” Our ears hear God say to us, “You are never alone, you are My beloved child, in whom I am well-pleased.”
Our eyes gaze in the mirror of the Law and say to us, “I am a sinner, and I shall surely be damned.” Our ears hear God say to us, “I forgive you all your sins.”
Thus God’s Word is not a light to our eyes, but a light to the path we go on in the darkness. The world is a darkness of sin to us, but also a darkness of unknowing. We know not what the rest of this night will bring, much less the rest of this year or the rest of our life. But the Word enlightens the feet that travel by faith on God’s path, the Word enlightens the ear that trusts His guiding voice.
And this darkness that blinds our eyes also afflicts our souls. This is especially true of the Christian. Do not think that if you suffer this means you are cursed by God. The very opposite may well be the case. In tonight’s Psalm, God’s Word teaches us to sing, “I am severely afflicted.” This word afflicted covers so very much. It can mean to be humbled, like in losing a contest; or it can mean to be depressed, filled with sadness; it can mean to be put into chains as a slave or in prison.
So the sadness you feel, the experience of trouble or bondage – this comes upon the servants of God to work upon them a heart open to His grace, a heart that finds God alone as mercy and strength.
This affliction that the Christian confesses is an affliction Christ Himself experienced. Holy Isaiah says that the Messiah “was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter.”
The life that you want, you need to stop expecting. God gives you the life He wants, to shape you to be His woman, His man, a receptacle for His grace and a distributor of His mercy to those whom God has placed in your path as neighbor.
The life you need is not the life found in the ideal house or spouse, the ideal work or social life. The Life God gives is much bigger than all these. “I am severely afflicted,” the Psalmist says; “I am severely afflicted,” you say; “give me life, O LORD, according to Your Word.”
This short life ends in a vanishing breath. “Meaningless, meaningless, all is meaningless,” says Solomon the wise. Life is not found in an abundance of riches or pleasures. Life unto the ages is the Life God’s Word gives.
So rejoice and be glad, you afflicted ones, for blessed are you. In your affliction, in your sorrow, in your depression, in your humiliation, God is creating a home for His life. And this life shall carry you far beyond these vanities into the resurrection kingdom of the City built by God.