God’s Grace and Your Sufferings.

Notes on John Piper's Book - Suffering and the Sovereignty of God, Chapter 7. Chapter 7 is written by David Powlison.

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Often faith and love shine most clearly, simply and courageosuly in a dark place.

• When you are in that dark place, hold that suffering in one hand and this hymn (How Firm a Foundation) in the other:

• Stanza 1

• How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,

  1. Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!

  2. What more can He say than to you He hath said,

  3. You, who unto Jesus for refuge have fled?

• Stanza 2

• " Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,

  1. For I am thy God and will still give thee aid;

  2. I’ll strengthen and help thee, and cause thee to stand

  3. Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand."

• Stanza 3

• "When through the deep waters I call thee to go,

  1. The rivers of woe shall not thee overflow;

  2. For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,

  3. And sanctify to thee thy depest distress."

• Stanza 4

• "When through fiery trials thy pathways shall lie,

  1. My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;

  2. The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design

  3. Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine."

• Stanza 5

• "Even down to old age all My people shall prove

  1. My sovereign, eternal, unchangeable love;

  2. And when hoary hairs shall their temples adorn

  3. , Like lambs they shall still in My bosom be borne."

• Stanza 6

• "The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose,

  1. I will not, I will not desert to its foes;

  2. That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,

  3. I’ll never, no never, no never forsake."

• Notes:

  • Stanzas 2 -6 - This is God speaking to us in our suffering - - we sing it - -but it's actually us listening to God (note that stanzas 2- 6 include quotes)... A sufferer's primal need is to hear God talking and experince Him purposely at work.

• Stanza 2 -- when we suffer, it tends to result in a number of bad reactions. But here, we are listening to God, and He has something else to say. In stanza 2, God makes 7 promnises to us in our suffering - - which closely paraphrases Isaiah 41:10:

  • I am with you.

  • I am your God.

  • I will still give you aid.

  • I will strengthen you.

  • I will help you.

  • I will cause you to stand.

  • I will uphold you by my all-good, all powerful hand.

• Stanza 3 - Words from Isaiah 43:2 weave throughout stanza 3 with 4 truths:

  • God himself calls you into the deep waters of your life.

  • God sets a limit on the sorrows.

  • God is with you actively, bringing good from your troubles.

  • In distressing events, God changes you to be like Him.

• Stanza 4 - Our sinfulness has also become a significant suffering in this stanza. The "fiery trial" comes from Isaiah 43:2 but the stanza's core promise comes from 1 Peter 1:6-9. God shows that He designs significant suffering for 3 reasons:

  • To reveal His abiding generosity.

  • To remove all that is un-generous in you.

  • To make you abidingly generous.

    • The comment on the dross is important - indwelling sin is your worst cancer, most crippling disability, most treacherous enemy, and the single most most destructive force in your life.

• Stanza 5 - All that we've looked at continues down to old age - - aging will bring us into the shadow of death, the last enemy.... It shows great sensitivity to the human condition to write a hymn about growing old!

• Stanza 6 - You also have foes from hell.....In the stanza, the word "repose" does not mean a state of peace and tranquility, it means actively placing the weight of your life on Jesus. The key? He will never, ever forsake us !