"Make us glad according to the days in which You have afflicted us, the years in which we have seen evil."
There is a very real sense in which the persevering churched Christian may hope, and even lay some claim to this Mosaic notion that God will bless our days, commensurate with the years we have had to suffer (in whatever form). Sometimes this actually occurs in *this* life down here. If not, it will definitely happen in the world to come.
The main point is that it is a good thing to be "glad" in the Lord. There is nothing wrong with this; and we should actually *seek* to be happy in Jesus--at all turns. We all "see" plenty of "evil." What we also need is a counter-balance of good. This is found by us in Jesus alone.
[Puritan quote of the day: "Repentance unravels sin and makes it as if it had never been." --Thomas Watson, in, "The Doctrine of Repent-
ance"]
