# LIX: Judgment explained — Verses on Various Occasions

> Chapter companion for Verses on Various Occasions by John Henry Newman.

## What happens

The speaker prays to be spared from David's fate and asks God to choose his own suffering, reflecting on the nature of divine punishment and the redemptive value of an angel's scourge.

## Themes in this chapter

### Sin and Redemption

The speaker seeks to avoid divine punishment and chooses a redemptive suffering akin to David's.

### Suffering and Humility

The poem contrasts despair and random ill with the acceptance of a holier, angelic pain.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown

The speaker who prays for guidance and deliverance from divine judgment.

### David

Referenced as a figure who chose a holier pain, serving as a model for the speaker's plea.

### Lord

Addressed as the one who wields the rod and from whom the speaker seeks mercy.

### Angel

Mentioned as the bearer of a scourge that is considered gain, contrasting with human and satanic wrath.

### Satan

Described as a tool of wrath alongside man, opposed to the angel's scourge.

## Key lines

> If e’er I fall beneath Thy rod, As through life’s snares I go, Save me from David’s lot, O God! And choose Thyself the woe.

If I ever suffer your punishment while navigating life's traps, spare me from David's fate and instead let you decide my suffering.

_The speaker asks God to choose a form of suffering rather than leaving him to the consequences of his own choices._

> Satan and man are tools of wrath, An Angel’s scourge is gain.

The devil and humans are instruments of anger, but the punishment from an angel is beneficial.

_Contrasts destructive wrath with the constructive, redemptive pain sent by a divine messenger._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/verses_on_various_occasions_se/chapters/lix-judgment
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/verses_on_various_occasions_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/verses_on_various_occasions_se/chapters