“Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word” [Psalm 119:67]

“Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word”. The Psalmist thanked God for the affliction he had experienced. When everything is going right, one often finds that if there is faith at all it is filed away in a drawer only to be brought out if needed.
But then affliction comes, the bottom drops out of your world, you cannot do as you want any more. And while you cry ‘Why has God done this to me’, you know the affliction has drawn you to the Lord. And it takes a lot of affliction to knock the spiritual pride out of some of us. When you find that the way of the transgressor is hard, you take steps to keep to the straight and narrow way.
You can thank God for the affliction when it brings you in line with God’s Word in your life.