Psalm 119:75 says: “In faithfulness You have afflicted me”. These words may appear odd to us at first. One might well ask: How is it “in faithfulness” that God has afflicted him?

— First, God is faithful to His PURPOSES. When we are afflicted, it is not that we might be destroyed, but it has an end purpose, to make us like Christ, and to further God’s kingdom work through us (Romans 8:28). God is faithful to His purposes in our afflictions.

— God is also faithful to HIMSELF: He acts in faithfulness to all of His essential qualities, like love (as we shall see) and holiness (everything He does is holy), and goodness, and wisdom. He never compromises His innate qualities in His actions towards us. Thus we can have confidence that He is doing wise, good, holy, loving things towards us – no matter what our affliction! II Timothy 2:13 says “Though we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.” God will always act in faithfulness to His own character, even in our afflictions.

— Finally, God is also faithful to His LOVE for us during our afflictions. We may feel like we have been abandoned by God, or like He is angry with us, but the truth is, God IS love (I John 4:8), so everything He does to/for us is always in love.

Since God’s word applies to us today, we can know that these things are true in our afflictions too. Are you “afflicted” today; perhaps wondering what is going on and why God is doing this? Even if you have unanswered questions, you can be certain of this: if you belong to the Lord, you are “afflicted in faithfulness”: God will always be faithful to His purposes for you, to His own holy character, and especially to His love for you. And you can stake your soul on it, for His faithfulness to those things will never change!