God’s discipline is not a punitive sentence for the failures of His children, nor is it a sign of His anger. For those in Christ, discipline is a gracious means by which God draws us away from the futility of self-reliance and into the reality of Christ as our only refuge and rest. This is not a secondary matter—it is the very heart of the covenant, the difference between living as slaves under law or as sons under grace.
Discipline: Invitation, Not Threat
Psalm 116 lays bare the true nature of God’s dealings with His people. When the psalmist was surrounded by the “sorrows of death” and the “pains of hell,” he did not cower in fear of divine retribution. Instead, he called upon the Lord:
“The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow. Then called I upon the name of the LORD; O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul.”
(Psalm 116:3-4)
This is the mark of one who knows God as Father, not taskmaster. God’s discipline is not a threat to drive us away, but an invitation to draw near. He trains us, not to expose our lack, but to reveal Himself as our sufficiency. The psalmist’s confidence is rooted in this reality:
“Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.”
(Psalm 116:2)
The End of Self-Righteousness
God’s discipline is designed to break the back of self-righteous striving. Trials and distress are not random hardships, nor are they a call to double down on self-effort. They are God’s means of training us to cease from our own works and enter into the rest that is only found in Christ. The alternative—clinging to our own righteousness—leaves us restless, anxious, and unable to enjoy the inheritance secured by Christ’s finished work.
“For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.”
(Hebrews 4:10)
To persist in self-effort is to refuse the rest Christ purchased. It is to live as though the cross were insufficient, as though sonship and inheritance still depended on our performance. This is not a minor error—it is a denial of the gospel’s core. If you accept the logic of works, you forfeit the assurance, rest, and experiential knowledge of Christ as your life. The loss is total: justification is undermined, inheritance is obscured, and the conscience is left uncleansed.
Receiving the Cup of Salvation
The result of God’s discipline is not a life of endless striving, but the discovery that God Himself is our portion and inheritance. The psalmist does not ask, “What must I do to repay the Lord?” but rather, “What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me?” The answer is not more effort, but humble reception:
“I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD.”
(Psalm 116:13)
This “cup of salvation” is Christ Himself—our righteousness, our rest, our very life. To drink deeply of Him is to walk before the Lord in the land of the living, enjoying the fullness of His presence and grace.
“Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee.”
(Psalm 116:7)
“Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful.”
(Psalm 116:5)
The Pathway of Grace
Every trial, every distress, every moment of discipline is a pathway of grace, not a detour from it. God is not seeking to expose your weakness so you will try harder; He is exposing it so you will finally rest in Christ. His discipline is the means by which you are trained to call upon Him, to receive from Him, and to walk in the reality of your inheritance as a son.
To reject this is to return to the barren wilderness of self-effort and fear. But to receive it is to walk before the Lord in the land of the living—resting, rejoicing, and drinking deeply of the One who is your refuge, your righteousness, and your life.
Verses Referenced:
- Psalm 116:3-4 – “The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow. Then called I upon the name of the LORD; O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul.”
- Psalm 116:2 – “Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.”
- Psalm 116:7 – “Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee.”
- Hebrews 4:10 – “For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.”
- Psalm 116:5 – “Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful.”
- Psalm 116:12 – “What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me?”
- Psalm 116:13 – “I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD.”
- Psalm 116:9 – “I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living.”
