I have kept the ways that are hard...

 I HAVE KEPT THE WAYS THAT ARE HARD...

That my mouth might not speak of the works of men, for the sake of the words of Your lips, I have kept ways that are hard. Psalm 16:4

"I have kept ways that are hard, my God; so that my mouth might not speak of the works of men; so that I might not be preoccupied with their transgressions, and their proud and corrupted thoughts. So that my mouth might not seek vanities - for the mouth utters that which is contained in the heart - and so that I might refrain from the foolishness and futility of men, I have kept ways that are hard." I have, in other words, lived an austere and difficult life of self-denial. No one can enter paradise in comfort. In the words of Saint Isaac the Syrian, no one has ever been known to enter Heaven while living an easy life. Thus, when we read Holy Scripture, when we consider God's law, and especially when we look at our life in light of God's words, it can all seem rather hard, and often we wish to cry out: The saying is hard (Jn 6:60). However, it is precisely in the midst of such hard and difficult situations that our love for God is tested and deepens.

Whether we wish to or not, we are going to experience suffering. God will ask us to make many sacrifices and expect many deprivations in our life. How will we be able to endure them all? In the same way that David did, namely, for the sake of the words of Your lips. Let us recall that this is the moment when David’s suffering was at its greatest. He is under tremendous physical and mental stress. He is being pursued, hunted like an animal. He could be killed at any moment, and his soul is shaken by the threat of imminent death. To be sure, his entire life has been a protracted drama, a prolonged struggle between life and death. He has tried to understand why, but there is no explanation. Everything seems irrational, without meaning or purpose. He can’t explain why it is that he suffers, or why he is being made to endure so much. But the man of faith knows the reason: For the sake of the words of Your lips. It is enough for me to know, O Lord, that this is what You have asked for; that this is what You have willed for me. There is only one way to explain our difficulties: they are exactly the things that God wants us to experience and endure, and so for the sake of the words of Your lips I have kept ways that are hard. David senses that, not only has the law been ordained by God, but so too have his sufferings, which are likewise expressions of the divine will. He sees God, as it were, standing before him, and God speaks to him and says: "I want you to suffer this, to pass through this experience of suffering. I want you to keep ways that are hard." "And since You ask this of me, my God, how can I not obey? That is my answer." But it’s not an easy answer.

- Archimandrite Aimilianos of Simonopetra (+2019)