When Bad Things Happen to Good People Part 2: Pastor Mark Crawford (07/19/26)

Psalm 34:19 puts two truths right on the table. The afflictions of the righteous are many, so trouble ought not shock the people of God. Hardship is part of living in this world, and bad things do happen to good people. But the Lord also makes a promise, and that promise is worth shouting over: He delivers the righteous out of them all.

The promise does not belong to everybody in the same way. The righteous go through hard times with God, and the unrighteous go through hard times without Him. The call is to “choose your hard,” because sickness, loss, financial trouble, grief, and family pain come to saints and sinners alike. Righteousness becomes the place where God meets His people in the valley.

The pain gets deeper when “sometimes it be your own people.” David gives words to that wound in Psalm 55, saying that if an enemy had done it, he could have handled it, but it was a companion, a close friend, somebody from the house of God. Scripture shows that this kind of betrayal is not strange: Cain killed Abel, Absalom rose against David, Tamar was violated in her own family, and Judas betrayed Jesus from inside the circle. Yet Isaiah 54:17 still stands: no weapon formed against God’s servant will prosper.

Joseph’s life shows that same truth in motion. The coat of many colors marked favor, but it also stirred envy. His brothers stripped the coat, threw him in a pit, sold him into slavery, and lied to their father. Still, “the Lord was with Joseph” in Potiphar’s house, in prison, and finally in Pharaoh’s palace.

Joseph’s righteousness and integrity were his covering. Potiphar’s wife tempted him, but Joseph saw sin first as an offense against God. His concern was not just what people could see, because God sees in the dark places too. When God is the reason for doing right, there is no private room where wrong becomes safe.

God always has a purpose for pain, even when the “why” does not make sense. Romans 8:28 says all things can work together for good for those who love God. Scars turned over to Jesus can become comfort for somebody else. Forgiveness then becomes the doorway to healing, because bitterness keeps the wound open, but mercy puts the matter back into God’s hands.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Hardship is an experience, not home. Psalm 34 does not pretend righteous people avoid affliction. The word “experience” matters because trouble is not meant to become a permanent address. The danger comes when the problem gets more attention than the Deliverer, and the valley starts looking like the whole story. [14:20]
• 2. Righteousness keeps God in the valley. Joseph’s integrity was not based on who was watching him. Potiphar could miss the hidden thing, but God sees darkness like light. A life bent toward obedience becomes the covering where God’s presence, peace, power, and provision meet a person in the pit. [38:38]
• 3. Pain can become holy comfort. The question “why” may never receive an answer that satisfies the wound. The better question asks how God can get glory out of ashes that looked worthless. The comfort God gives in suffering can become the very language that helps another hurting soul breathe again. [51:19]
• 4. Forgiveness opens the scar to healing. Forgiveness does not minimize the evil that was done. Forgiveness refuses to let the enemy keep using that wound as a chain. The cross shows mercy spoken while pain is still present, and that kind of prayer begins to separate the person who hurt from the devil who meant to destroy.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [10:01] - When Bad Things Happen
• [13:06] - Many Afflictions, Sure Deliverance
• [15:07] - Choose Your Hard With God
• [17:51] - Sometimes It Be Your Own People
• [19:59] - David Names Betrayal’s Pain
• [22:21] - No Weapon Will Prevail
• [25:08] - Joseph, Favor, and the Coat
• [30:25] - The Lord Was With Joseph
• [38:38] - Integrity as a Covering
• [44:38] - God Has Purpose for Pain
• [53:28] - Healing Depends on Forgiveness

Bible Reading

Psalm 34:19
“Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.” [13:06]

Isaiah 54:17
“No weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, and you shall refute every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD and their vindication from me, declares the LORD.” [22:21]

Romans 8:28
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” [46:29]

Psalm 55:12-14
“For it is not an enemy who taunts me— then I could bear it; it is not an adversary who deals insolently with me— then I could hide from him. But it is you, a man, my equal, my companion, my familiar friend. We used to take sweet counsel together; within God's house we walked in the throng.” [20:08]

2 Corinthians 1:3-4
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”

Observation questions

1. In Psalm 34:19, what are the two truths held together about the righteous and their afflictions? [13:06]
2. In Psalm 55:12-14, what makes David’s pain especially sharp compared to trouble from an enemy? [20:08]
3. In Joseph’s story, what were some of the different places where “the Lord was with Joseph” is clearly seen? [30:25]
4. When Joseph refused Potiphar’s wife, what reason did he give for saying no? [31:31]

Interpretation questions

1. Psalm 34:19 says the righteous have many afflictions, but the Lord delivers them out of them all. How should that shape the way believers think about suffering and expectations in this life? [15:07]
2. “Choose your hard” is a plain way of saying everyone will face pain. What does it mean in real life to go through sickness, loss, or grief with God rather than without Him? [16:10]
3. Joseph saw his brothers’ evil actions, yet later said God had a saving purpose in it. How can a believer hold together both truths—that real evil was done and that God can still work good through it? [36:31]
4. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 says God comforts His people so they can comfort others. What might it look like for a scar to become a source of holy comfort instead of staying only a private wound? [51:46]

Application questions

1. Hardship is an experience, not home. What trouble has been trying to become “home” in the heart lately, and what would it look like to put more focus back on the Deliverer than on the problem? [14:44]
2. Righteousness is a covering. In a painful season, where is the strongest temptation to reach for relief in the wrong place—through anger, isolation, unhealthy comfort, or secret sin? [41:05]
3. Joseph cared about doing right because of God, not just because of people. What would change this week if the main concern was not “Who might find out?” but “How can this stay right before God?” [38:38]
4. Some wounds cut deeper because they came from “own people.” Is there a hurt from family, church, or close friendship that still feels unusually heavy? What makes that wound harder to hand over to God? [17:51]
5. God can bring purpose out of pain. Without forcing an easy answer to “why,” where might God already be forming compassion, wisdom, or strength through a painful part of life? [46:15]
6. The comfort received from God can become comfort offered to someone else. Has there been a time when a painful experience made it easier to understand and help another person? [52:03]
7. Forgiveness opens the scar to healing. Is there someone whose name still brings up bitterness, anger, or heaviness? What might the first honest step toward forgiveness look like, even if the wound is still tender? [53:28]