Psalm 119:50 | “This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life.”

The psalmist is suffering. The Hebrew word nechamah, translated “comfort,” is used only here and in Job 6:10, where it refers to relief from deep pain. His comfort is not found in ease or escape but in the promises of God. The word of the Lord gives him courage to trust and obey while he waits for God to fulfill what he has spoken. Spurgeon writes, “The worldling clutches his money-bag, and says, ‘this is my comfort’; the spendthrift points to his gaiety and shouts, ‘this is my comfort’; the drunkard lifts his glass and sings, ‘this is my comfort’; but the man whose hope comes from God feels the life-giving power of the word of the Lord, and he testifies, ‘this is my comfort.’” He continues, “Some have comfort and no affliction, others have affliction and no comfort; but the saints have comfort in their affliction.” The promises of God do not remove our pain, but they sustain us through it, reviving our hearts with the assurance that he will keep his word.