Christian recognition of the Sovereignty of God in suffering (v. 7)
"All Your waves and billows have gone over me." These are also the words of Jonah, in his deep-down Whale belly prayer. All spiritual depression takes place in the lower depths. All spiritual depression is a deep-down-whale-belly place to be. Let's look at that prayer in Jonah, chapter 2. Jonah's prayer of deliverance included, (1) Affliction in verse 2: "I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction;" (2) Awareness of God's Sovereignty in His Affliction in verse 3: "For you cast me into the deep . . . all Your billows and Your waves passed over me;" (3) Gospel hope in Affliction through a Redeemer in verse 6b: "Yet you have brought up my life from the pit" and (4) A time of Worship that comes out of Affliction in verse 9: "But I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving."
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The place of sorrow has been sanctified as this man, like the Psalmist of Psalm 42, cries out to His God. And it is true that your place of sorrow, whether explainable or inexplicable, is the place where we must be honest with God about our condition, be trusting in God about His sovereignty, see our Savior walking into the darkness to succor us in our sorrow, and come to praise Him through the very darkness which seeks to snub us out.
This is the faith that sings with hymn writer Margaret Clarkson: "O Father, you are sovereign, the Lord of human pain, transmuting earthly sorrows to gold of heav'nly gain. All evil overruling, as none by Conqu'ror could, your love pursues its purposes — our souls' eternal good."
Christian hope in the Sovereignty of God for Good (v. 8)
"The Lord will command his loving-kindness in the daytime and in the night His song shall be with me — a prayer to the God of my life"
This is reminiscent of what we find in Paul's words, "All things work together for the good . . . " and in Joseph's words, "You meant it for evil but God meant it for good . . . "
Now in all of this, we need to see that this is a work of the Holy Spirit. This is not a moralistic sermon, which says, "When you get down, just think happy thoughts." No. This is the God of all comfort coming to you through His Word applying His Spirit. The Gospel in this passage is that Christ Himself became the Man of Sorrows, but also the New Man, the Resurrected Man. There is a new power at work in the world, anticipated by this Psalmist, but now fully enjoyed by God's people.