When Trials Come

By Keith and Kristyn Getty

When trials come no longer fear, for in the pain our God draws near to fire a faith worth more than gold.  And there, his faithfulness is told, and there, his faithfulness is told.

For the next few weeks at church, we will be talking about suffering and why suffering as a Christian can be a good thing. Being the musical person that I am, I thought today would be a great day to discuss three relationships between singing and suffering that we find throughout the Bible. (Full disclosure, I got these points from a sermon by John Piper on the Word and suffering.)

1. Singing is stopped by suffering
2. Singing sustains in suffering
3. Singing follows after suffering

Let us take a deeper look into these three singing/suffering relationships.

Singing is stopped by suffering.

Many people struggle through adversities in their life that get their spirits down and cause them to not feel like singing. This is what John Piper refers to as a “song suffering affliction.”

An example of a song suffering affliction was when the Israelites were exiled by the Babylonians. The Babylonians would try to force the Israelites to sing, but they just didn’t have the heart to do so.

By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. There, on the poplars we hung our harps, for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land? Psalm 137:1-4

There are just some hardships that may cause us to not want to sing, and that is ok. We all deal with tribulations in different ways and sometimes the suffering may feel like more than we can bear. You shouldn’t force someone to sing if they are not ready.

Like one who takes away a garment on a cold day, or like vinegar poured on a wound, is one who sings songs to a heavy heart. Proverbs 25:20

That being said however, if you are one of those people right now who is going through a song suffering affliction, know that the silence does not last forever!

Singing sustains in suffering.

God has given us the gift of singing, and we can use this gift to bare our sufferings. Think about King David, for example. The book of Psalms is filled with songs written by David when he was going through some sort of suffering. Whether it was suffering in sin or at the hands of his enemies, David still had a song in his heart and praised the Lord through it all.

With King David, we can look to Paul and Silas as an example of singing in the midst of suffering as well. While they were imprisoned, they sang to the Lord, and their singing ended up ministering to those around them.

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Acts 16:25

It was hard to chose which song to use for today’s Selah Saturday because there are so many great songs that can bring hope and comfort to the suffering soul. Think of songs like, “His Eye Is on the Sparrow,” or “‘Till the Storm Passes Over,” for example.

In his sermon, John Piper said, “The greatest song is born out of the greatest suffering.” Remember what the perfect son of God had to go through on the cross for us. Our praises to Jesus for his sacrifice and the forgiveness of our sins are the greatest songs we could ever sing, as they are born out of the greatest suffering there ever was.

Jesus suffered so that we could one day spend eternity with him and in the presence of our heavenly Father.

Singing follows after suffering.

One day, suffering will cease and singing will last forever. I don’t know about you, but that fact brings me so much hope and joy. Our hardships here on earth are only temporary, and it’s  time that we start looking at our sufferings as “steppingstones along a trail that’s winding always upward” (from the hymn “Until Then”).

Unhappiness on earth cultivates a hunger for heaven. By gracing us with a deep dissatisfaction, God holds our attentions…When we are unhappy, it makes us look forward to heaven all the more.” Max Lucado

When Trials Come

Over the next few weeks at CPC, as we learn more about what it means to suffer as a Christian, I would like to use Keith and Kristyn Getty’s “When Trials Come” as our theme song. I hope that it will encourage you and give you confidence as you face the storms of this life.

I will sing to the Lord all my life;

I will sing praise to my God as long as I live

Psalm 104:33

Click here to listen to “When Trials Come.”