"You, God, tested us..."

Praise our God, all peoples, let the sound of his praise be heard; he has preserved our lives and kept our feet from slipping. For you, God, tested us; you refined us like silver. You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs. You let people ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance. Psalm 66:8-12

The Psalmist is looking back to a bad, hard time for Israel.

In the previous verses he has the event of the Exodus in mind, when God brought Israel out of slavery in Egypt - “He turned the sea into dry land, they passed through the waters on foot” - and it may be that’s what he’s still thinking of. Or it may be something more recent; we don’t know for sure.

But whatever, the words on which his whole psalm pivots are in verse 10: “You, God, tested us”.

We’re hearing a lot at the present time about testing, not least in relation to the pandemic. You may have said recently “I’m finding this a very testing time”, or some such words. And, of course, testing is a common theme in the Bible regarding the experience of God’s people in this world.

Well, I think Psalm 66 can be a great help to us, especially the few verses I have printed out. Here are three simple facts about testing that it suggests…

1. God doesn’t make his people immune from testing.

The Psalmist is addressing his words to his fellow-Israelites, the people of God, and there’s no doubt that things have been hard: “You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs. You let people ride over our heads; we went through fire and water…” Prison, burdens, fire, water: it doesn’t sound good, does it? And it was “You”, God, that let it happen.

The barber I used to go to enjoyed taking the mickey out of me for my faith. If something bad happened to Christians somewhere he was quick to make a point of it: “Him upstairs didn’t do a lot for them, did he?” 

I tried to explain to him that being protected from every trouble common to the human race is not part of the gospel package: on the contrary, there’s a sense in which troubles and testings get even harder when you become a Christian. But I’m not sure I got through to him.

No; being a Christian isn’t an insurance policy against the world’s woes – if it were, people would become Christians for all the wrong reasons, wouldn’t they? We follow a saviour, after all, who was severely tested in his earthly life – and not only in Gethsemane and on the cross.

James the brother of Jesus went so far as to tell his readers to “consider it pure joy (!) when you face trials of many kinds” (James 1:2). That’s asking a lot! But I’m sure he meant exactly what he said.

This leads to…

    2. God tests us for a purpose.

The Psalmist goes on, “You refined us like silver”.

There are few things I know less about than how silver – or any metal, come to that – is purified. But I do know that it involves great heat; and heat is often used as a metaphor for suffering.

As children of God we are like precious metal, and he uses testing times to burn the impurities out of us. That may seem hard, but it is in fact a sign of his fatherly love. Hebrews 12:7-13 makes this explicit: “God is treating you as children… discipline produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it”.

In a nutshell, God is busy making us like our brother Jesus, and Jesus trod the way of suffering. It’s a privilege to follow in his footsteps.

    3. God will bring our testing to an end.

Psalm 66 contains one of the Bible’s great buts. “But” is a word that turns things round – “We thought we might be about to lose her, but she rallied”; “We thought rain would ruin the game, but then the sun came out”. Look out for the Bible’s buts!

In Psalm 66 the writer describes the sufferings of Israel in a kind of crescendo. Why not read these words out loud, raising your voice in pitch after each set of dots? “You, God, tested us… you refined us like silver… you brought us into prison… you laid burdens on our backs… you let people ride over our heads… we went through fire and water…” And then, after a great roll of drums, “… BUT you brought us to a place of abundance”.

Aren’t those last nine words marvellous? God hadn’t abandoned his people! He didn’t leave them languishing in suffering and misery - any more than he left Jesus to decompose in the tomb.

So, whether it’s the normal troubles of life, or the hardships of the pandemic, or sufferings encountered because you are a precious child of God… don’t lose heart! It will end.

And until it does, your job and mine is clear: to hold on tight and to reflect the beauty of Jesus in everything we do and say. Yes? Yes!

O joy that seekest me through pain,/ I cannot close my heart to thee;/ I trace the rainbow through the rain,/ And feel the promise is not vain/ That morn shall tearless be. Loving Lord and dear Father, help me, whatever the trials may be, always to “trace the rainbow through the rain”. Amen.

Verse by George Matheson, 1842-1906