In Psalm 34:19 we read the following words, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.” When the psalmist speaks of afflictions he is not just referring to those that are physical, but also spiritual affliction. Many are the spiritual afflictions of God’s people as we walk by faith in this godless world. As the Heidelberg Catechism teaches, “And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one;” that is, since we are so weak in ourselves that we cannot stand a moment, and besides, our deadly enemies, the devil, the world, and our own flesh, assail us without ceasing, be pleased to preserve and strengthen us by the power of Your Holy Spirit, that we may make firm stand against them and not be overcome in this spiritual warfare, until finally complete victory is ours” (HC 127).
We are often afflicted by temptations from without and within, and many days we are greatly afflicted in our souls by the ungodliness of many people, both inside and outside the church. Nevertheless, the psalmist declares in our text that the Lord delivers us out of all our afflictions. Therefore, as a child of God, “remain steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Cor. 15:58). May the Lord continue to strengthen you by His wondrous grace in Christ as you look to Him by faith.
—Pastor S. Henry