The Thorn in the Flesh
You who have shown me many troubles and distresses will revive me again, and will bring me up again from the depths of the earth. Psalm 71:20 NASB
Revive – Don’t jump too quickly to those comforting thoughts about revival. Pay attention to the beginning of this verse. Who is the one who showed the poet’s many troubles and distresses? It’s God. The verb (“to show”) is rāʾâ, but the metaphorical use is extensive:
The extended and metaphorical senses in the Qal include to regard, perceive, feel, understand, learn, enjoy; Niphal, to be seen or to reveal oneself; Pual, to be seen; Hiphil, to cause to see, show, make to feel or know or enjoy; Hophal, to be made to see, to be shown; Hithpael, to look at one another.[1]
Does the psalmist claim that God caused all his troubles? Not exactly. We could read this as if God only revealed what was already the case. “Look here! Don’t you see what’s really happening to you,” without being the active agent of the circumstances. But the Hebrew world doesn’t have this nice separation between God’s hand and Man’s experience. We might not “see” how God plays a role in all our ups and downs, but Hebraic thought assumes He does, even if He’s not explicitly mentioned. My guess is that the poet is hinting that God is somehow responsible for his many troubles and distresses. Of course, that’s not the same as blame. Perhaps these troubles and distresses serve a higher purpose. Perhaps they’re necessary to keep the psalmist on track. At least that’s the way Paul interpreted his troubles.
“Because of the extraordinary greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself!” 2 Corinthian 12:7 NASB
You will notice that this necessary difficulty was a messenger of Satan given by God. At least that’s how Paul saw it. Of course, Paul’s view is based on verses like these: “For He inflicts pain, and gives relief; He wounds, but His hands also heal” (Job 5:18) and “I am the Lord, and there is no one else, the One forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being and creating evil; I am the Lord who does all these things” (Isaiah 45:6-7).
Maybe we rush to “revive me” because we know all-too-well those “many troubles and distresses.” ṣārar (“to be hemmed in, distressed”) and rāʿâ (“bad, evil, misery”) are, fortunately, followed by ḥāyâ, the verb of life (“live, have life, remain alive, sustain life, live prosperously, live forever”[2]). Troubles and distresses aren’t forever, nor are they God’s final purpose. Once we’ve actually confronted the divine intention of our misery, revival is in the wings, no matter how far down we’ve sunk. Just remember who’s behind it all.
Topical Index: ṣārar, distressed, rāʿa, evil, misery, ḥāyâ, life, Psalm 71:20
[1] Culver, R. D. (1999). 2095 רָאָה. R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 823). Chicago: Moody Press.
[2] Smick, E. B. (1999). 644 חָיָה. R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 279). Chicago: Moody Press.
