The Psalmist writes “This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life”, which I find to be a useful concept. We all go through affliction in our lives, but fortunately there is more to life than just sorrow and crying. The affliction is helping us develop characters that are more like God’s character, as the writer acknowledges – “it is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes”, and again “in faithfulness you have afflicted me.”
More than that, God has given us a promise of a better future, of eternal life. Focusing on that promise can help us endure the affliction of daily life, just as it provided comfort to the Psalmist. “Let your steadfast love comfort me according to your promise to your servant. Let your mercy come to me, that I may live.”