Appreciating Affliction (Psalms 119:65-72)
Appreciating Affliction
Psalms 119:65-72
October 9, 2011
Tonight as we study this 119th Psalm
We are going to talk a little bit about APPRECIATING AFFLICTION.
I know that is a thought that none of us particularly want to entertain.
After all affliction is almost always viewed in a negative sense in our lives.
Much of our prayer, much of our resources, much of our decisions in life
Tend to go towards ending our affliction.
The reason is because affliction is not pleasant.
We tend to gravitate towards comfort, not affliction.
And you will probably remember, as we studied a couple of weeks ago,
Desiring comfort is not a wrong thing.
We read in
Psalms 119:50 “This is my comfort in my affliction, That Your word has revived me.”
And we talked about how comfort comes from God.
He is the God of all comfort.
And so if comfort is from God, it cannot be a bad thing,
Nor can seeking it be wrong.
So this most certainly is not a sermon intended to make you feel bad
If you are afflicted and long to be comforted.
That is in many ways; a God-given desire.
Rather, this is a sermon
Meant to help us look at affliction differently.
I GET TO SPEAK WITH PEOPLE WITH AFFLICTION A LOT
And most of the time the affliction is beyond my ability to fix.
And afflicted people are often looking for answers to two questions.
• The first is WHY?
• The second is WHAT?
What it reveals though is that most people tend to think that
Their affliction is the direct result of something they did wrong.
Now, it is true that if you make bad decisions and persist in sinful behavior, you will be afflicted.
Sin afflicts people, it ruins lives, and so if you engage in it,
Get ready to be afflicted.
But not all affliction is the direct result of bad choices.
Nor is all affliction simply for the purpose of punishment.
Consider the children of Israel.
They spent 70 years in Babylon; why?
2 Chronicles 36:20-21 “Those who had escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon; and they were servants to him and to his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its sabbaths. All the days of its desolation it kept sabbath until seventy years were complete.”
The children of Israel had not given the land it’s rest.
The children of Israel were idolatrous.
The children of Israel were disobedient.
God afflicted them with Babylon in order to purify them.
So their affliction was the result of sin, but it was for the purpose of purity.
And so sometimes the purpose of affliction is PURIFICATION.
Another reason in Scripture is PROOF
Consider Job.
He was afflicted as much as any man ever was.
And yet it was not because of his sin.
Job 1:6-8 “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. The LORD said to Satan, “From where do you come?” Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.” The LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.”
Job was used as proof that nothing Satan could do
Could cause one of God’s children to forsake Him.
Another reason for affliction is PRUNING
John 15:2 “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.”
We know that God isn’t finished with us,
But that He is molding us into the image of Christ.
That is a work that requires molding and shaping.
Some things must be removed and some must be added.
This is what James had in mind when he wrote:
James 1:2-4 “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
This is what the writer of Hebrews had in mind when he wrote:
Hebrews 12:11 “All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”
And so we understand that not all affliction is a result of bad behavior.
Rather, affliction is a necessary tool in the hands of God
To move us from where we are to where we need to be,
And to put the work He has done in us on display for others to see.
That means that while affliction is not a pleasant thing,
It most certainly is not a bad thing.
And if we learn to look at our affliction through proper perception We might even grow to appreciate affliction in our lives.
CERTAINLY THIS PSALMIST DOES.
So let’s look at our text tonight.
I will get you to somewhat of an outline in a moment,
But first let me just show you the setting where we find our Psalmist.
And this setting is easily seen in verses 69-70.
“The arrogant have forged a lie against me; With all my heart I will observe Your precepts. Their heart is covered with fat, But I delight in Your law.”
It isn’t difficult to see the affliction that our Psalmist faces.
“The arrogant have forged a lie against” him.
The arrogant in this case are certainly those
Who have no regard for the word of God.
• We said last week that the greatest form of humility is obedience, because it willingly says that God’s plan is better than my own.
• The flip side is that disobedience is the greatest form of arrogance, because it says that my plan is better than God’s.
Here the arrogant are those who do not regard God’s word.
In verse 70 he continues about his attackers,
“Their heart is covered with fat,”
That is an interesting statement.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
I heard one pastor refer to this verse and call them
“The Church with High Cholesterol”
He likened it to the medical condition ARTERIOLE SCLEROSIS
Which is a hardening of the arteries.
This would mean they are hard hearted.
At the very least they are “thick-hearted” and the word is not penetrating.
They are pictured as ones who do not let God’s Word into their heart.
They do not hear it, they do not want it.
They are Hard-hearted and Arrogant.
Beyond that, they have “forged a lie” against the Psalmist.
I like the word “forged”.
It paints the picture of a well-schemed, carefully planned,
Piece of deception meant to do the most damage necessary.
This is not some off-the-cuff lie about a person.
This is not just cheap gossip.
Whoever started this lie put some effort into making it a good one.
They developed a scheme.
They “forged a lie”
No doubt the arrogant are trying to ruin the Psalmist.
Yet the Psalmist seems to be taking it all in stride.
He isn’t whining, he isn’t complaining.
Instead, he reemphasizes his commitment to God.
“With all my heart I will observe Your precepts.”
They are attacking him, but he isn’t leaving God’s Word.
He remains committed.
In verse 70 he says, “But I delight in Your law.”
AND THE SETTING BECOMES CLEAR.
Here is a man who is afflicted, maybe even because he loves God’s Word,
But he isn’t quitting.
So we have a definite presence of affliction,
And yet we see quite a resilient commitment in spite of it.
He is afflicted, but that affliction has intensified his commitment to God.
What then becomes evident is that the remainder of this Psalm
Indicates a revelation of his.
The affliction drove him to the truth, and thus he had a revelation.
He learned some things.
Tonight I want you to see his conclusions.
There are 5.
#1 GOD IS AT WORK
Psalms 119:65
Notice the tense of this statement.
“You have dealt”
He recognizes that to some degree, these afflictions
Are merely evidence that God is working on his life.
He can see that in the midst of all this hardship,
God has been at work on him.
Furthermore he recognizes that God’s work has been good.
“You have dealt well with Your servant,”
God has been working, and what God is doing is good.
God is doing a good thing in me.
And He is doing it “according to Your word”
In other words, he sees that all that he has walked through
Has been God at work in him, just as God promised in His word.
So he is afflicted, that drove him to God’s word and he realized
That this affliction means that God is at work in him.
God is at Work
#2 GOD ISN’T FINISHED
Psalms 119:66
How do we know God isn’t finished?
Because he isn’t finished.
God doesn’t discipline us for the fun of it.
God disciplines us to His end and not one second longer.
The Psalmist seems to know that.
Because he sees some of what he still needs to learn.
“Teach me good discernment and knowledge, For I believe in Your commandments.”
Our Psalmist seems to recognize that there are at least two things
That he has yet to fully grasp.
One is “good discernment” the other is “knowledge”
He recognizes that both of these things have been void in his life.
He hasn’t been one who discerned what he was seeing very well,
And that largely in part because he didn’t fully know the truth.
So he wants both.
And since he recognizes that he does not yet have them,
He knows that God is not yet finished on him.
God is at Word, God isn’t Finished
#3 GOD IS EFFECTIVE
Psalms 119:67
What a great statement!
He can see that what God has been doing in his life is actually working.
When he takes inventory of his life,
He can see that he is not yet where he needs to be,
But he can also see that he is much better off than he used to be.
God has been effective.
God has used affliction to bring about a positive change in the Psalmist.
WHAT IS THAT CHANGE?
Obedience.
“Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word.”
And so even though he is still a work in progress,
He can see that God has been effective in His work thus far.
And let’s just take a moment
And sort of digest these three concepts here for a moment.
For this is the first step in having
A proper perspective in the face of affliction.
We all know what affliction is.
We may not all have the same kinds, but we all know what it is.
You may even be in the midst of it now.
And if you are, let me ask you three questions.
1) CAN YOU SEE THAT GOD IS AT WORK IN YOU THROUGH THIS AFFLICTION?
• Do you recognize that God disciplines those He loves and chastises those He receives?
• Do you recognize that God refuses to leave us like we are, and that at times affliction is His forming tool of choice?
• Do you see that?
It is important that you understand that the hard things we endure
Are actually used by God to deal with us, and to deal well with us.
2) CAN YOU SEE THAT GOD STILL HAS WORK YET TO ACCOMPLISH?
• Can you see that He isn’t finished?
• Can you see that you still have some rough edges?
• Can you see that you do not yet look exactly like Christ?
If you were a completed project, you’d be in heaven with Him,
But you aren’t.
There is still shaping and molding left to do.
Remember the church at Philadelphia?
Revelation 3:10 “Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.”
God was finished with them.
They had passed the test.
God had no more test for them.
When you are finished, God will be too.
But can you see that there is still more God can do on you?
The Psalmist lacked “good discernment and knowledge”,
What do you lack?
Can you see that God is at work in you through this affliction?
Can you see that God still has work yet to accomplish?
3) CAN YOU SEE THAT GOD HAS BEEN EFFECTIVE IN HIS WORK SO FAR?
• Can you see how this affliction has already brought about major changes in your life?
• Can you see areas where you are now more like Christ?
• Can you see areas that God has now purified?
The Psalmist recognized a new-found obedience to God’s Word
That wasn’t there before.
And while he is not yet a completed project,
He can see that he is getting better.
Do you see that?
It is important that you see those three truths.
• God is working through this affliction
• God isn’t finished, because you are finished
• What God has done has been effective
Those are three things the Psalmist saw,
And because he saw those three, he could now see the fourth.
#4 GOD IS GOOD
Psalms 119:68
Because he has realized that God is at work for his own good,
He can now see that God is also good.
Too many people walk into affliction
And quickly come to the conclusion that God is bad.
Why did God do this?
How could God let this happen?
The reason they come to that conclusion is because
They have failed to see that God is working on them and in them
For their own good.
And if they would stop and take inventory like the Psalmist did,
They would see that while this affliction is difficult,
God only has their best interest in mind.
God is good.
The Psalmist said:
“You are good and do good;”
Some today would say, “God is good, but He didn’t treat me good”
Not the Psalmist.
Not only is God good, but God does good.
God has my best interests at heart.
God cares about me.
God is working for my benefit.
But before you can come to that conclusion,
You must first recognize that the affliction He is allowing
Is simply an act of love to help you out in the long run.
When you realize that, you can also see that God is good.
God is at Work, God isn’t Finished, God is Effective, God is Good
(And then comes the most staggering of all)
#5 AFFLICTION IS GOOD
Psalms 119:71-72
Did you see what the Psalmist said?
“It is good for me that I was afflicted”
Now stop there for a moment.
And substitute your affliction in for the word afflicted.
“It is good for me that I got cancer…”
“It is good for me that I lost my job…”
“It is good for me that people forged lies about me…”
I remember my dad when going through “Wilderness University” that I’ve told you about before.
He wouldn’t let his preacher pray that he find a job.
That is what the Psalmist said.
“It is good for me that I was afflicted,”
WHY?
“That I may learn Your statutes”
It was the affliction that caused him to run to God’s Word.
It was the affliction that caused him to learn God’s Word.
Had it not been for the affliction, he would not have bothered.
And let me show you what he thinks of God’s Word.
(72) “The law of Your mouth is better to me Than thousands of gold and silver pieces.”
I think we can agree that he values what he received.
In fact, he cannot put a value on what he has learned.
Psalms 19:7-11 “The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether. They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them Your servant is warned; In keeping them there is great reward.”
And so now we see why he counts his affliction as a good thing.
It was the affliction that led him to God’s word,
Something he would not have done in times of ease,
And in God’s word he found his most valuable treasure.
And now you can see how he can say
That God is good for bringing that affliction.
Now you can see how he can even call the affliction good.
Now, bring that back to your life.
• For the psalmist, the affliction produced obedience.
• For my dad, it produced trust in God’s provision.
Your affliction may produce something entirely different.
But the secret to appreciating your affliction
Is to see what you have gained in the midst of this affliction.
Recognize that you might not have ever gained it
Had it not been for the affliction.
And then ask
“IS WHAT I GAINED MORE VALUABLE THAN WHAT I LOST?”
The Psalmist said it was.
I think we would find our answer to be the same.
But we must first be willing to see what we have gained.
We must first look beyond the hardship
And see what God has done in our lives through this hardship.
And when we take the time to see that,
It becomes clear that God was not afflicting us,
God was blessing us.
And we too can appreciate affliction.
ANYTHING THAT LEADS YOU DEEPER INTO GOD’S WORD
IS A BLESSING,
AND SO THE PSALMIST CALLED HIS AFFLICTION GOOD.
Psalms 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.”
