No Pain, No Gain – It’s Biblical


Psalm 119:65-72 – Teth
65You have dealt well with your servant, O Lord, according to your word.
66Teach me good judgment and knowledge, for I believe in your commandments.
67Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word.
68You are good and do good; teach me your statutes.
69The insolent smear me with lies, but with my whole heart I keep your precepts;
70their heart is unfeeling like fat, but I delight in your law.
*[Their hearts are callous and unfeeling] NIV
71It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes.
72The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces.
* I added the NIV translation of verse 70a, because – well – “unfeeling like fat” is a bit unusual, colorful but unusual

The catch phrase “no pain, no gain” defines the sentiment of these 8 verses the most succinctly. If you Google that slogan, you will find that it has a long history but came to prominence back in the early 1980s as Jane Fonda was building her exercise empire. She would regularly say these words, along with “feel the burn” as she dragged her followers through the aerobic routines. (Doctors later said that "no pain, no gain" might be a bad way to go when it comes to exercise. I wouldn’t know. And it also makes the ESV translation of verse 70 somewhat ironic, even humorous. Can you tell it’s Friday?) Many, throughout the millennia, have expressed this same idea but this psalm seems to be the earliest source.

Of course, the psalmist was not discussing exercise of the body, but exercise of the spirit. He saw the afflictions of life as arrows pointing him directly back to God and His Word. And the human experience would say that we all need those strong reminders to remain in the Lord, for “we like sheep have gone astray.” It’s difficult to be grateful for the struggles, but they do serve to call us back to our source of strength. Learning God’s law in the smooth times will lead to strength in the troubles. It’s an oft repeated truth found throughout the Bible, but maybe that’s because we need constant reminders.

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