Proverbs 13:24; Hebrews 12:5-11; Romans 8:28
He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.
Ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
WILLIAM JAY (1769-1853): Consider the design of affliction.
THOMAS BROOKS (1608-1680): The grand design of God in all the afflictions that befall His people is to bring them nearer and closer to Himself.
C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): The sufferings of the righteous here are not punitive, they are corrective…It is not the sword of the judge, it is the rod of the father, which falls upon the believer—the sword of justice no longer threatens us, but the rod of parental correction is still in use…All His corrections are sent in love, to purify thee, and to draw thee nearer to Himself. Surely it must help thee to bear the chastening with resignation if thou art able to recognize thy Father’s hand.
A. W. PINK (1886-1952): Ah, dear reader, there is no real rest for your poor heart until you learn to see the hand of God in everything.
MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714): “Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest,” Psalm 94:12. Here David looks above the instruments of trouble, and eyes the hand of God, which gives it another name and puts quite another colour upon it…Now it is here promised, that God’s people shall get good by their sufferings—the afflictions of the saints are fatherly chastenings, designed for their instruction, reformation, and improvement.
A. W. PINK: “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord,” Psalm 37:23, yet the path He appoints is not the one which is smoothest to the flesh.
WILLIAM JAY: The people of God may suffer. They may “eat the bread of adversity, and drink the water of affliction,” Isaiah 30:20; their purposes may be broken off, even the thoughts of their hearts—and their schemes frustrated; they may suffer calamity in their worldly circumstances; they may suffer from the loss of health and friends; their trials may be painful and repeated, and “deep may call unto deep,” and they may exclaim, “All thy waves and thy billows have gone over me,” Psalm 42:7.
OCTAVIUS WINSLOW (1808-1878): Such is the nature of Christ’s religion, and such are the terms of His discipleship—suffering and self-denial. This is a truth hard to understand for those who are not initiated into the mysteries of the kingdom of grace. To them it is inexplicable how one who is loved by God, whose sins Christ has forgiven, whose life appears holy, useful, and honoured, could be the subject of divine correction and, perhaps in some instances more than others, seem smitten by God and afflicted. But to those who are students of Christ, who learn at the feet of Jesus, this is no insoluble problem. They understand, at least in a measure, why the most holy are frequently the most chastened.
WILLIAM JAY: It is not only to possess your souls with patience―it is not only to submit yourselves under the mighty hand of God―but to acquiesce in the pleasure of the Almighty. It is not to say, “This is my grief, and I must bear it;” but, “Here I am, let Him do what seemeth to Him good.” But you cannot render a voluntary, and cheerful, and grateful resignation till you see the righteousness, the wisdom, and, above all, the kindness of His dispensations towards you.
OCTAVIUS WINSLOW: Oh, let this be the one desire and earnest resolve of your soul: “That I may know Him,” Philippians 3:10. “Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord,” Philippians 3:8. Such, then, as have learned of Christ can understand why a child of God should be a child of affliction—why the Lord “trieth the righteous,” Psalm 11:5. Declarations such as these have significant meaning they comprehend very well: “I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction,” Isaiah 48:10. “Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.” “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten,” Revelation 3:19. When the present and hallowed results of the divine dealings are somewhat realized and the heart is awakened to more prayer, Christ is more precious, sin is more hated, self is more loathed, holiness is more endeared, and the soul is brought into greater nearness to God.
JEREMY BURROUGHS (1599-1647): Among others, this is one special means whereby an afflicted condition comes to be useful for the increase of grace, because in it the soul gains much experience of God and of His ways. It experiences the goodness and faithfulness of His Word, as we read in Psalm 107: “those who go down into the sea see the wonders of the Lord;” much more do those who come into the seas of troubles and afflictions. How do they see the wonders of the Lord? They can tell their friends much of the wonders of the Lord towards them. Israel in the time of trouble cried out, “My God, we know thee,” Hos. 8:2. They knew God more then than before affliction and experiencing of the evil of sin.
SAMUEL RUTHERFORD (1600-1661): It is much to come out of the Lord’s school of trial wiser, and more experienced in the ways of God.
GEORGE SWINNOCK (1627-1673): God’s rod, like Jonathan’s, is dipped in honey.
OCTAVIUS WINSLOW: When the suffering Christian reviews the divine supports he has experienced in his affliction—remembering how God encircled him with the everlasting arms, how Christ pillowed his languid head, how the Holy Ghost comforted and soothed his anguish by unfolding the sweetness and fullness of the Scriptures, sealing promise upon promise upon his smitten heart—his chastened spirit can well exclaim, “Thou hast dealt well with thy servant, O Lord, according unto thy word,” Psalm 119:65. Thou hast broken only to bind up; hast wounded only to heal; hast emptied only to replenish; hast embittered only to sweeten; hast removed one blessing only to bestow another and a greater.
MATTHEW HENRY: David could speak from experience: “It was good for me, that I have been afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes,” Psalm 119:71; many a good lesson he had learnt by his afflictions, and many a good duty he had been brought to which otherwise would have been unlearnt and undone. Therefore God visited him with affliction, that he might learn God’s statutes; and the intention was answered: the afflictions had contributed to the improvement of his knowledge and grace. He that chastened him, taught him.
JOHN WESLEY (1703-1791): Those afflictions which are accompanied with Divine instructions are great and true blessings.
J. R. MILLER (1840-1912): It is a sad thing when we allow life’s disappointments to make us despondent. The problem of Christian living in this world is not to escape experiences of hardship, but to retain sweetness of spirit in all such experiences…You must have hardships, losses, sorrows. But see to it that you retain through all these a heart gentle as a little child’s, and full of trust and hope.
GEORGE MÜLLER (1805-1898): Our desire, therefore, is not that we may be without trials of faith, but that the Lord would graciously support us in the trial, and that we may not dishonour Him by distrust—In a thousand trials, it is not just five hundred of them that work “for the good” of the believer, but nine hundred and ninety-nine, plus one.
