Thinking About Hope
Psalms 119:81-88
December 12, 2021
Tonight we come to perhaps
The darkest moment of the entire 119th Psalm.
We’ve been actually DESCENDING to this point for a few stanzas.
We really first saw affliction show up on the scene 5 stanzas ago.
Psalms 119:50-51 “This is my comfort in my affliction, That Your word has revived me. The arrogant utterly deride me, Yet I do not turn aside from Your law.”
It was sort of the beginning of affliction
And our Psalmist showed great poise and commitment.
And the affliction continued
Psalms 119:61 “The cords of the wicked have encircled me, But I have not forgotten Your law.”
Still the Psalmist held fast.
He even learned to appreciate his affliction as that which had a purifying effect on his life.
Psalms 119:67 “Before I was afflicted I went astray, But now I keep Your word.”
Psalms 119:71 “It is good for me that I was afflicted, That I may learn Your statutes.”
He was doing his best to assign true redemptive value to the affliction
Which he had been walking through.
And even in the last stanza, though he didn’t understand why this affliction endured, he was still showing tremendous perspective that God knew what He was doing.
Psalms 119:75 “I know, O LORD, that Your judgments are righteous, And that in faithfulness You have afflicted me.”
But you see how this affliction has just sort of been hanging around.
• He has been committed
• He has tried to look at the bright side
• He has tried to make lemonade out of his lemons
• He has tried to walk in faith
• He has really focused on showing true perspective
And yet despite his commitment and prayer and perspective
The affliction has only gotten worse
And his circumstances have not seemed to improve.
And when we get to this stanza
We see that the Psalmist has HIT THE BOTTOM.
We covered this quite a bit last time, but I think it’s worth recapping a little here.
(81) “My soul languishes for Your salvation”
“languishes” there is KALAH
It means “complete, finished, or spent”
It is most often translated “finished”
What the Psalmist is saying is “My soul [is spent] for Your salvation”
“I’m done, I’m completely poured out, I’ve got nothing left”
He’s simply talking about that inner drive;
That determined fortitude that people exhibit.
Whatever that drive is to pick yourself up off the mat one more time,
The Psalmist says, I can’t any longer.
(82) “My eyes fail with longing for Your word”
It is a picture of a man who has sat by the window watching
Until he can’t watch any more.
Clearly when he says he is looking for “salvation” or “Your word”
He means that he is waiting for the fulfillment of God’s promises.
• He actually says in verse 82 “When will You comfort me?”
• Later in verse 84, “When will You execute judgment on those who persecute me?”
That is what he’s been looking for.
• He’s been watching for it.
• He’s been gazing at the horizon waiting for his Savior.
• He has been holding on by his fingertips as he watched for deliverance.
But it hasn’t come.
His soul is seemingly spent and his eyes can’t watch anymore.
He has been pushed to the brink by his affliction.
(83) “Though I have become like a wineskin in the smoke…”
The picture there is of total ruin.
• Certainly on one hand he could be describing his physical appearance as dirty
and old, but it is more than that.
• Wineskins were made of new leather that was pliable and even that could
expand when needed.
He compares himself to an old wineskin that has been hanging in the smoke and now it is dry and cracked and totally ruined.
It is worthless for its intended purpose.
That is how he describes his life.
It’s as though the affliction has gone too far.
The tribulation has taken its toll.
He can’t imagine ever being fully restored at this point.
In verse 84 that frustration seems to sort of boil over.
“How many are the days of Your servant? When will You execute judgment on those who persecute me?”
That is to say, “I’m almost out of time”
It is likely that he is an old man and he realizes that
If deliverance doesn’t come soon then it will be too late.
You put all of that together and it is clear that
Though our Psalmist was once resolved to handle affliction the right way,
The deliverance has been much slower coming than he ever anticipated.
• He never thought he’d have to hold on this long…
• He never thought he’d still be watching…
• He never thought his ruin would be so extreme…
• He never thought his time would be so far gone…
And again he reminds God that his affliction has been incredibly severe.
(85) “The arrogant have dug pits for me,”
• That is to say they are setting traps for me everywhere.
• It’s not just one guy, it’s a lot of them.
• It’s not just one trap, they are everywhere.
(86) “They have persecuted me with a lie;”
• They continually attack me and lie about me.
(87) “They almost destroyed me on earth”
You can hear his frustration can’t you?
And, as we have said in recent weeks
I’m not sure if I know anyone who has walked with God
Who has not at some point reached such a level of frustration.
Affliction is difficult.
And even when we gear ourselves up to be ready to handle it, there have been many times that we were shocked when it endured longer than expected.
• We saw frustration like that in Job
• We saw frustration like that in Moses
• We saw frustration like that in Eljiah
• We saw frustration like that in Habakkuk
• We saw frustration like that in Paul
We certainly don’t want to make light of the degree of hardship our Psalmist has had to endure.
For 6 stanzas we have seen him doing his best to make the most of it,
But you get the feeling by the time we reach this stanza
That he is out of answers and he is past pretending it’s all ok.
• His soul is finished
• His eyes are failing
• His life feels ruined
• His time is up
• His affliction is real
That we see.
However, what we NOTICED THE LAST TIME we studied this Psalm and what we still recognize again is that his ENDURANCE HAS NOT FAILED.
In fact, we are seriously encouraged by his endurance.
LOOK AT IT.
(81) “My soul languishes for Your salvation; I wait for Your word.”
• His soul is finished, but he is still waiting.
(82) “My eyes fail with longing for Your word, While I say, “When will You comfort me?”
• His eyes are failing but he is still watching for deliverance.
(83) “Though I have become like a wineskin in the smoke, I do not forget Your statutes.”
• His life feels ruined but he still remembers God
(87) “They almost destroyed me on earth, But as for me, I did not forsake Your precepts.”
• Obedience has become seriously dangerous, but he still does it.
And beyond that, look at his plan for the future.
(88) “Revive me according to Your lovingkindness, So that I may keep the testimony of Your mouth.”
That’s endurance isn’t it?
• Waiting when you can’t wait any longer…
• Watching when you can’t watch any longer…
• Remembering when you don’t see any deliverance…
• Obeying when obedience gets you in trouble…
• Remaining committed when tomorrow is not promised…
That is tremendous endurance.
And THE LAST TIME we studied this stanza our MAIN FOCUS was in fact on the Psalmist’s endurance.
We read
Hebrews 10:35-39 “Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. FOR YET IN A VERY LITTLE WHILE, HE WHO IS COMING WILL COME, AND WILL NOT DELAY. BUT MY RIGHTEOUS ONE SHALL LIVE BY FAITH; AND IF HE SHRINKS BACK, MY SOUL HAS NO PLEASURE IN HIM. But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.”
• And we talked about the great faith that is required to endure as seen in the
faith chapter of Hebrews 11.
• We even talked some more about that perspective of Hebrews 12 about
understanding that God is bringing necessary discipline.
But this time, I want to peel back this Psalmist’s onion a little deeper.
The endurance is easy to see.
It sits right out there on the surface.
I want us to peel a layer back and see the power behind this endurance.
And so TONIGHT, as you notice by the title of the sermon,
We are going to think a little about HOPE.
At first glance that seems a little off
Since no where in this stanza is hope mentioned at all.
In fact, one could possibly argue that the Psalmist’s hope is fading.
After all statements like:
• “I have become like a wineskin in the smoke”
• “How many are the days of Your servant?”
Such statements might suggest that his hope is in jeopardy
He almost sounds like a man about to give up.
And yet, this is exactly why we are using this stanza to discuss hope.
It is possible that much of the time
When we think about the reality of hope
That we consider it purely on a human level.
The concept of hope is often attached to
That person with a positive attitude.
If we run across a person who is optimistic in their affliction we say, “They have lots of hope”
If we run across a person more like this Psalmist and who is a little negative we say, “They don’t have much hope”
Well that is true regarding the human aspect of hope.
As humans our hope is actually really fickle and even fragile.
• It can ebb and flow with the latest piece of information that we receive.
• We get a good report and we are hopeful and the very next minute we get a
bad report and our hope is gone.
That is NOT the kind of hope we want to discuss tonight.
We might call that “Human hope” or “Natural hope”
By that we DON’T MEAN that it is HOPE IN HUMANS for help
As though people with this hope aren’t trusting God.
No, we simply mean it is the hope that we muster within ourselves.
It is the hope that we produce based upon our reading of the circumstances.
It is the hope we sort of cling to by our own determination.
It is just natural hope or human derived hope
What we want to talk about is “SUPERNATURAL HOPE”
It is the hope that genuine believers possess (and get this)
That they may not even realize they have.
(That is why I picked this stanza to discuss it.)
I would tell you this.
While the natural hope of this Psalmist seems about to run out,
This Psalmist is actually gushing with supernatural hope.
HOPE IS NOT something that you as a believer are meant to concoct or produce or in some cases fake so as to put on a good show.
HOPE IS something that God supernaturally places into the heart of a believer.
Furthermore:
The EVIDENCE of these two types of hope are totally different.
• You tell if a person has natural or human hope by their demeanor or by the
positivity of their words.
But positivity is NOT the evidence that someone has supernatural hope.
• The evidence that someone has supernatural hope is endurance.
While you don’t see a lot of positivity from our Psalmist
You do see gobs of endurance.
That is sort of THE PREMISE that I want to throw out there to you.
Now let me show it to you.
I want to discuss with you 4 points as we think about hope.
• And I apologize in advance for this being sort of topical in nature,
• Tonight I’m really just using our Psalmist as an illustration
• But I’m going to take this liberty since we are working through this Psalm a second time and looking at things a little differently.
#1 BASIS FOR SUPERNATURAL HOPE
I told you that there is a difference between
Natural hope and supernatural hope.
I think perhaps the easiest passage to sort of see the difference
Comes from Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians.
1 Thessalonians 4:13 “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.”
Cleary there Paul is speaking with reference to when someone dies.
Now, our world can have all kinds of hope before death
Namely that something may change and spare a person’s life.
However after death occurs that hope is totally gone.
All that remains at that point is a supernatural hope.
But you also see here that is NOT MANIFESTED by outward optimism.
Both parties in this scenario are grieving.
So we learn that a grieving Christian does not indicate a hopeless one.
• Just because they are sad…
• Just because they aren’t “optimistic”…
• That doesn’t mean they don’t have hope.
That is clear.
We are talking then about a supernatural hope
Which God places in a believer
And that which transcends emotion or feelings.
Romans 15:13 “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
• There Paul talks about abounding in hope “by the power of the Holy Spirit”
That is clearly not a natural hope, that is a supernatural hope.
It is hope that IS NOT driven by human fortitude,
It is a hope that IS driven by supernatural power.
2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 “Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word.”
• There Paul calls it “good hope” and he says that it comes to us “by grace”
So we are talking about a supernatural hope
• It is a hope that is given to us by grace
• It is a good hope which strengthens us for work
• It is a hope that is not revealed through optimism but through endurance
It is far greater and far different
Than what the world typically identifies as hope.
(there’s your distinction)
But let’s talk some more about it.
#2 SUPERNATURAL HOPE CAUSES ENDURANCE
The passage I would point out to you here comes from the book of Romans.
Romans 8:24-25 “For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.”
Now first we would point out again
This hope is not recognizable by positivity or “putting on a happy face”
We might call that “hope that is seen”
And that is the world’s kind of hope.
But Paul reminds that “hope that is seen is not hope”
It’s called hope but that’s not really what it is.
Supernatural hope is different.
And the point to be made here is that, though you don’t see it,
Supernatural hope is actually the engine behind your endurance.
Notice what Paul says:
“But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.”
Did you catch that?
“if we hope…we wait”
Now let me show you our Psalmist again.
(81-84) “My soul languishes for Your salvation; I wait for Your word. My eyes fail with longing for Your word, While I say, “When will You comfort me?” Though I have become like a wineskin in the smoke, I do not forget Your statutes. How many are the days of Your servant? When will You execute judgment on those who persecute me?”
I know he doesn’t mention hope at all.
But do you see him waiting? Yes
WHY?
Because he hopes for what he does not see.
NO ONE in the world would call him a person of hope
Because he comes across so negative.
But we don’t measure hope by positivity,
We measure hope by endurance and our Psalmist is full of endurance.
And whether he realizes it or not, the reason he endures
Is because he has been given supernatural hope from God.
He is having trouble seeing the hand of God in his affliction.
• He is looking forward to the future
• Trying to figure out when God is going to show up and bring deliverance.
• He can’t see the intervention of God.
That is because thus far God has been behind him
• Holding him up
• and supernaturally giving him the hope that produces endurance.
I don’t know if our Psalmist realizes that yet, but he is about to.
When you get to the next stanza notice what he will say:
Psalms 119:89-91 “Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven. Your faithfulness continues throughout all generations; You established the earth, and it stands. They stand this day according to Your ordinances, For all things are Your servants.”
Psalms 119:93 “I will never forget Your precepts, For by them You have revived me.”
By the next stanza he will begin to realize that the secret to his endurance
Was not his own personal commitment to cling to God’s word,
But rather it was that God’s word was producing endurance in him.
In short, God was there all along providing hope through His word,
And thus causing our Psalmist to endure.
He thought his endurance was almost gone,
But in reality it was being supernaturally supplied to him
Through the grace of God and it was never actually in danger.
Supernatural hope causes endurance.
Now, since that is true, we can also then state the reverse as true.
#3 ENDURANCE PROVES SUPERNATURAL HOPE
The next question we might ask is:
How do I know if I have this kind of hope?
• How do I know if God is supernaturally pouring this “good hope” into my life?
Well again, it’s NOT necessarily positivity or smiling.
You will know that you have supernatural hope when you endure.
Endurance proves supernatural hope.
Let me show you another passage.
Romans 5:3-4 “And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope;”
Paul speaks of a scenario in which
You can actually begin to “exult” in your tribulations.
HOW?
It’s a progression.
“tribulation brings about perseverance”
Tribulation doesn’t cause perseverance but it does reveal it.
In other words, you don’t know how much perseverance you have
Until you are tested a little.
And when you endure the trial what does that reveal?
“and perseverance, proven character”
So you face a trial and you endure, what does that reveal?
That you are the real deal.
How does that prove you are real?
• Because where does endurance come from?
• What produces it?
Supernatural, God-given Hope right?
“if we hope…we wait”
And that is what Paul says next.
“and proven character, hope”
When I face a trial and I am able to endure it,
That DOES NOT PROVE to me that I am stronger than other people,
IT PROVES to me that God has done a supernatural work in my heart.
It is revealed to me that God has given me
That supernatural hope whereby I was able to endure the trial.
And that actually causes me to rejoice in my trial.
So follow me here a second.
1. There is a supernatural hope from God
2. This hope causes you to endure in affliction
3. And when you endure it proves that you have this hope
Now there is one more point to make about this hope
#4 HOPE WILL NOT DISAPPOINT
Let’s add one more verse to the one we just looked at
Romans 5:3-5 “And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
Paul just spoke about how it has been proven that you have this supernatural hope from God.
• God brought a trial into your life.
• You endured and proved yourself to be a recipient of God’s hope.
And then Paul says
“and hope does not disappoint”
“disappoint” there is KATAISCHYNO (ka-tie-schoo-no)
It literally means “dishonor” or “disgrace” or “to be ashamed”
It can even refer to “one whom hope has deceived”
2 Corinthians 7:14 “For if in anything I have boasted to him about you, I was not put to shame; but as we spoke all things to you in truth, so also our boasting before Titus proved to be the truth.”
“put to shame” is the same word.
So what Paul is saying is this:
When you have this supernatural hope from God
Then you can be sure of 1 thing
THAT SHAME WILL NEVER HAPPEN TO YOU.
Once you learn that you are a recipient of God’s supernatural hope,
The hope that causes endurance,
You can rejoice that you will never suffer the humiliation of failing to endure.
Now think on that for a second.
When you contemplate all the possibilities of persecution and tribulation that could come upon you in this world does it cause at least a little anxiety that you might not be able to handle it?
• Have you ever read a book of martyrs?
• Christians have been treated pretty terribly at times in this world.
• And you read those stories and you wonder, “Can I do that?”
• Would I be able to endure that?
Well what is the answer?
YES!
Why, because you’re so strong?
No, but because you have a supernatural hope that will cause you to endure.
Look at what Paul says.
“hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
This hope will not fail you.
And then Paul explains it a little deeper.
Notice how Paul explains hope in your life
• He describes it as “the love of God” which has been “poured out” in your
heart.
DON’T MISREAD THAT.
It is NOT a reminder that God loves you, though He does.
The love that has been poured into your heart is a love for God.
God, through His Holy Spirit, has poured into your heart
A supernatural love for him that will hold fast through any tribulation.
Now, there is ONE MORE PASSAGE I want to show you here.
Romans 8:35-39 “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, “FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
People love the end verse about how nothing can “separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
And the most common explanation of that verse
Is that nothing can make God stop loving us.
Well that is certainly true, but that’s NOT what is being talked about here.
Look at the context.
Paul starts by asking a question:
“Who will separate us from the love of Christ?”
Is Paul asking who will make Christ stop loving us?
Or is he asking: Who will make us stop loving Christ?
And this is important
Because one of those is actually a bit of a concern for me.
I’m not worried about Christ stopping to love me.
But what if I am facing a literal cross for Christ, will I love Him that much?
That’s a serious question
I’m aware of His commitment, the concern here is my commitment.
So which is Paul talking about?
Is he asking if Christ will stop loving me,
Or is he asking if I will stop loving Christ?
Well, keep going.
“Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?”
Well based on that
The only possible scenario is that the second option is in view.
There is no way that me being persecuted
Is going to cause Christ to stop loving me,
The fear is if those things will cause me to fall away from Christ.
That is what Paul is asking.
Can “tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword” cause me to stop loving Christ?
That seems like a legitimate question
Since, as Paul notes, those things are happening.
“Just as it is written, “FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.”
CHRISTIANS ARE BEING SO TREATED,
So if that can cause us to fall away then we have a problem.
But notice what Paul says.
He answers the question.
Can tribulation cause a child of God to quit loving Christ?
The answer: NO
“But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Paul says that we are winning that battle over and over every day!
We “overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us”
It’s not our strength that is producing the victory it is His strength.
But why?
Because we have “the love of God poured into our hearts”
And nothing can “separate us from the love of God”
Let me clarify it a little more.
• Do you know why you endure trials, even bad trials?
• Do you know why this Psalmist endured?
Because God gives a supernatural hope to His children.
What is this hope?
More specifically it is a supernatural love for God
That He pours into the hearts of his children
That causes them to hold fast to Him.
What other reason did this Psalmist have for holding fast to God?
Not a single expectation of his had been answered and yet he remained.
There was something supernatural going on
That perhaps even he was unaware of.
AND IT GETS EVEN BETTER
This love that you have been given is said to be “in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Do you understand it?
The love God pours into your hearts, the basis for your hope,
Is nothing less than the love that Jesus has for the Father.
That is why you have endured.
That is why you will endure.
That is why this Psalmist endured.
That is Christian hope.
It is much deeper than some sort of fortitude or stubbornness
Or positivity that the world might call hope.
Our hope is supernatural and it is given by God
So that you will endure even the strongest storms and trials.
• This Psalmist was emotionally spent
• But he endured because he had hope
• It was a supernatural hope God had given him
• It was a hope that would not let him fail
