When we understand that the, afflictions, trials, and heartaches we endure in this world are not accidents or the result of blind fate, but rather the works of our heavenly Father, when we understand that they are brought to pass for the specific purpose of making us grow in faith, in grace, and in the knowledge of Christ, our hearts are comforted and our souls strengthened. Those things that might otherwise cause us to faint in the way become, instead, the very things that inspire faithfulness, devotion, and perseverance. Therefore, we read in verses 5 and 6, ― “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.”
These chastisements are divine rebukes, and should be received as such. Let us not faint when we are “rebuked of him.” Our heavenly Father has many ways of rebuking, reproving, and convincing us. He does this by his Word, his Spirit, the preaching of the gospel, and by his wise, unerring, good providence. He rebukes us for our sins, convinces us of them, and graciously forces us to acknowledge them and confess them, not because he is angry with us, but because he loves us. Afflictions are the black dogs by which God chases the evil he hates from the people he loves.
Paul tells us not to faint under the stroke of our
Father’s rod and tells us why we shouldn’t. ― "For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth
every son whom he receiveth" (v. 6). Our Father’s chastisements are
tokens of his love for us. This statement is both a declaration of
distinguishing love and an assurance of divine care. And it is a promise of
divine acceptance. The fact that he will not leave us to
ourselves, the fact that he disciplines us in an indication that he has
received us in Christ as his own children.
In verses
7-8 the Holy Spirit tells us that the difference between believers and those
who merely profess to be believers is this: ― While
religious hypocrites rebel against God’s providence, believers humbly submit
themselves to the will of God. I do not mean that there is no rebellion in the
believer. Every child of God knows better than that. But the Scriptures do
clearly teach that the man or woman who trusts Christ will, by the grace of
God, bow to Christ. ― "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" (vv. 7-8).
When our Father lays his rod upon our backs our only and our wisest
course is to bow to him. Snuggle up as close as you can. The closer you snuggle
up to him the lighter will be the strokes of his rod. One of
Luther’s friends who was terribly sick, covered with sores, and bed-ridden, was
asked how he felt. Pointing to the ulcers that covered his body, he
said, “These are God’s gems and jewels wherewith he
decks his best friends. To me they are more precious than all the silver and
gold in the world.” God’s corrections are pledges of our adoption. We should
always look upon them as distinct tokens of his distinct love and favor. God
deals with us as with sons, when he refuses to leave us alone (1 Cor.
In verses 9-10 the Lord shows us his wise and gracious purpose in
chastening us with his rod. Thank God, he is not like us! He never chastens his
children when there is no need, without a purpose, or because he is angry! His
rod is a rod of love, not of anger and
wrath. Did he not say, “Fury is not in me” (Isa. 27:4)? Our Father’s
object in our afflictions is that we might grow in faith and in love, that we might grow in grace. He never strikes without
purpose. His rod is the rod of instruction. The fact is, we read God’s Word
most clearly when our eyes are wet (Ps. 94:12; 119:65-72). God’s purpose in all
things, and distinctly in the exercise of his rod, is “that we might live,
that we might be partakers of his holiness” (Pro.
Read verse 11 and learn what our
Father’s ultimate end is in all our temporary adversities, trials, heartaches,
and afflictions. ― "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." The more you
beat a walnut tree, the more fruit it gives The more
God chastens his children, the more fruitful they are. His vine is most
productive when it bleeds. He prunes it to make it fruitful (Gal.
Don Fortner