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of chastening. We are warned against "despising the chastening of the Lord" (Job. 5: 17;
Prov. 3: 1; Heb. 12: 5). We are assured that chastening and love go together
(Heb. 12: 6), and that it is indeed a sign of sonship (Deut. 8: 5, Heb. 12: 7). Looking
once more at the verse that gives us our theme, we observe that the first and third lines
correspond, the first speaking of present chastening, and the third of rest from the days of
adversity.
In Heb. 12: there is a "nevertheless afterwards", and in the verse under consideration
there is an "until": "Until the pit be digged for the wicked" (Psa. 94: 13). Abraham's
seed had to suffer affliction in Egypt because the iniquity of the Amorite was not yet full.
A patient trust in the God of all grace, Who is dealing with iniquity, and training His
children for future glory, should enable those of us who are "sons" to realize that it is
indeed a blessing to be chastened, disciplined, corrected and warned, while others, left
without discipline, tread the road that leads unto death:--
"When we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned
with the world" (I Cor. 11: 32).
The epistle to the Hebrews gives a prominent place to the story of Israel's failure in
the wilderness (Heb. 3:, 4:), and to the need of chastening (Heb. 12:), and lays great
stress upon the grace of "endurance" and of "not drawing back".
And so we find that the second of the two blessings of this book of the Psalms insists
upon endurance:--
"Blessed are they that keep judgment,
And he that doeth righteousness AT ALL TIMES" (Psa. 106: 3).
A simplified structure of this Psalm is as follows:--
A | 1-7. HALLELUJAH. Righteousness at all times.
B | 8-12. Nevertheless.
C | 13-43. Sin and Deliverance.
B | 44-462. Nevertheless.
A | 47, 48. HALLELUJAH. From the age to the age.
The structure places the term "at all times" and "from everlasting to everlasting" (from
the age to the age) in correspondence. It seems to suggest the believer's association by
faith with longsuffering and patience of the Lord. He waits to be gracious. Let us wait
also and murmur not. It is comparatively easy to do right sometimes, but the great test is
to do right at all times, especially when adversity presses, when trials abound, when the
wicked appear to triumph, when the Lord hides Himself so that the ungodly say, "The
Lord shall not see". It is then blessed indeed to have received such grace that chastening
can be appreciated at its true value. Whether our efforts are attended by outward success
or by apparent failure, may we ever seek the blessedness of doing right at all times.