I believed, therefore have I spoken: I was greatly afflicted:
The verse expresses the spirit of faith in which firm belief that the truth entrusted by God is reality compels a person to speak it openly. Such open speaking means speaking honestly, without deceit, without distortion of God's word, and without concealment of conviction. It refuses cowardly conformity to the opinions of the world in order to gain wealth, honor, or pleasure.
This speaking continues amid great affliction, danger and suffering, in constant peril and with daily expectation of martyrdom. Paul shared and exemplified this spirit of faith in his preaching, as firm belief in the truth made him speak openly despite expecting martyrdom.
The speaker is sustained in that suffering by confident assurance that God will raise him from the dead. That assurance rests on the fact that Christ died and rose again, whose mighty power will raise the faithful speaker from the grave and present him together with all who accepted his labors to the Father.
The verse expresses the spirit of faith in which firm belief that the truth entrusted by God is reality compels a person to speak it openly. Such open speaking means speaking honestly, without deceit, without distortion of God's word, and without concealment of conviction. It refuses cowardly conformity to the opinions of the world in order to gain wealth, honor, or pleasure.
This speaking continues amid great affliction, danger and suffering, in constant peril and with daily expectation of martyrdom. Paul shared and exemplified this spirit of faith in his preaching, as firm belief in the truth made him speak openly despite expecting martyrdom.
The speaker is sustained in that suffering by confident assurance that God will raise him from the dead. That assurance rests on the fact that Christ died and rose again, whose mighty power will raise the faithful speaker from the grave and present him together with all who accepted his labors to the Father.