Conquering Affliction

Psalms 119:89-96

October 30, 2011

 

Well, I suppose this is finally the sermon we have been waiting for.

We have seen our Psalmist suffering with affliction for weeks.

 

He has certainly maintained a spiritual mindset of maturity throughout the entire process, but his circumstances have definitely been difficult.

 

Last week was probably the hardest to see as we actually heard our Psalmist say, “I have become like a wineskin in the smoke,”

 

We saw our Psalmist at the end, at the bottom, and full of despair.

He still did not abandon the Lord…

He still did not deny…

He still did not defect…

But he had been given to despair.

 

And that is why the request of his mouth was:

(88) “Revive me according to Your lovingkindness, so that I may keep the testimony of Your mouth.”

 

He needed to be picked up.

 

Well, how refreshing to find his statement in this next stanza.

(93) “I will never forget Your precepts, for by them You have revived me;”

 

And so it is obvious that our Psalmist is doing better.

He is no longer in the pit…

He is no longer despairing…

He has been revived.

 

He has conquered his affliction.

 

Romans 8:35-37 “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.”

 

Paul understood affliction, and he understood what it meant to conquer it.

He knew what it was to despair, and he knew what it was to be revived.

 

And that is where we find our Psalmist.

He has been revived.

 

But please don’t misunderstand.

OUR PSALMIST HAS BEEN REVIVED,

BUT HIS AFFLICTION HAS NOT BEEN REMOVED.

This is not a stanza that celebrates the removal of hardship or affliction.

For that has not happened.

This is a stanza that celebrates revival in the midst of it.

 

His affliction is still present

(94) “I am Yours, save me;”

(95) “The wicked wait for me to destroy me;”

 

So it is obvious that our Psalmist is still in hot water.

He is still being afflicted.

He still needs God to rescue him.

He is still in the cross-hairs of the wicked.

 

We are not rejoicing that his affliction is gone.

We are rejoicing that in his affliction he has found revival.

 

For even though he is still afflicted, he is no longer despairing.

 

(92) “If Your law had not been my delight, Then I would have perished in my affliction.”

 

(93) “I will never forget Your precepts, For by them You have revived me.”

 

And so even though his affliction remains,

Our Psalmist has somehow found revival

And come to a place of rejoicing and hope even in the midst of it.

 

He obviously learned something.

He obviously began to understand something.

 

I suppose the question is, WHAT DID HE LEARN?

 

Certainly anyone who is in the midst of affliction

Would like to find what he found and learn what he learned.

 

3 Things in our text

#1 THE TRUTH HE SAW

Psalms 119:89-91

 

We wanted to know what the Psalmist saw, and here he shows us.

 

3 things he saw:

1) GOD’S WORD IS SETTLED (89)

 

This is indeed a wonderful statement.

It is statement that resonates with the permanence of God’s word.

 

“Forever”

Not for a time

“Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled”

 

God’s Word is not vacillating, God’s word is not temporary.

He didn’t see God putting His word out on a trial basis

As something He might change later.

 

He said that God’s word is forever “settled”

Nothing can change it.

Nothing can alter it.

Nothing can undo it.

Nothing can defeat it.

If God says it, it is so.

 

I suppose it is also important to recognize where it is settled.

“Your word is settled in heaven.”

 

There are times when God’s word is not settled in our hearts.

God’s word is certainly not settled amidst an unbelieving generation.

 

This world seems to think God’s word is not reliable, or is not trustworthy.

At times we suffer and begin to doubt that God will do what He says.

 

But not in heaven.

In heaven, God’s word is settled.

 

That is why Jesus taught us to pray in “The Model Prayer”

Matthew 6:9-10 “Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. ‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.”

 

In heaven God’s word is never questioned

And His will is never disregarded.

 

God’s word is settled.

It isn’t going to change, it isn’t going to fail, it isn’t going to leave.

 

Isaiah 40:8 “The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.”

 

2) GOD’S WORD IS SURE (90)

 

Here again we see a testimony to God’s word as that which is enduring;

That which accomplishes what it desires.

 

He recognizes that God’s “faithfulness continues through all generations;”

 

In short, there has yet to be a time when God wasn’t faithful.

Furthermore there will never be a time when God isn’t faithful.

 

BUT WHAT DOES HE BASE THAT ON?

 

“You established the earth, and it stands.”

 

The Psalmist knows God is faithful and that His word is sure,

Because of something that continues to stand.

That something is creation.

 

“You established the earth, and it stands.”

 

Tell me, HOW DID GOD ESTABLISH THE EARTH?

Genesis 1:3 “Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.”

 

Genesis 1:6 “Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.”

 

Genesis 1:9 “Then God said, “Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so.”

 

Genesis 1:11 “Then God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them”; and it was so.”

 

Creation was established by the word of God.

And because God told it to stand, it will stand until God tells it otherwise.

 

They can talk global warming all they want…

They can talk nuclear war all they want…

They can talk holes in the ozone layer…

 

But this world isn’t going anywhere until God tells it to,

Because He is the One who told it stay put.

 

2 Peter 3:5-7 “For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water, through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water. But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.”

 

And the Psalmist saw that as a tremendous testimony

To the certainty of God’s Word.

 

If the sun fails to rise…

If the tide fails to ebb & flow…

If the seasons fail to come…

Then you can question the certainty of God’s Word,

But creation proves that when God says something, it is sure.

 

You may remember when God gave the new covenant to Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 31:31-34 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD. “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. “They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the LORD, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

 

Certainly that was a great promise in the midst of dark affliction.

Certainly the people would have been prone to question such a promise.

 

So God gave them proof that His word is certain.

Jeremiah 31:35-37 “Thus says the LORD, Who gives the sun for light by day And the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; The LORD of hosts is His name: “If this fixed order departs From before Me,” declares the LORD, “Then the offspring of Israel also will cease From being a nation before Me forever.” Thus says the LORD, “If the heavens above can be measured And the foundations of the earth searched out below, Then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel For all that they have done,” declares the LORD.”

 

You may be prone to question My promise of a new covenant,

But before you question My word, just look at My track record.

 

If you see creation (which I command to function properly)

Stop functioning properly, then you can doubt My word about this too.

 

Point being, God’s word is sure.

Creation proves that.

 

God’s Word is Settled God’s Word is Sure

3) GOD’S WORD IS SOVEREIGN (91)

 

We not only see that God’s word doesn’t vacillate,

And we saw that God’s word accomplishes what it says.

 

Isaiah 55:11 “So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.”

 

Here we find that nothing argues with God’s word.

 

God is not a God who just intends for things to happen

And then hopes nothing interferes.

 

God’s word is so certain that nothing can interfere.

 

The Psalmist said, “They stand this day according to Your ordinances”

 

“They” = the things of earth

 

The earth doesn’t stand because man takes such good care of it.

The earth stands because God told it to.

 

And despite the desires of the enemy to undo,

What God has done, nothing can undo it.

 

“For all things are Your servants.”

 

That is to say, everything has to do what You say.

Nothing can resist Your will.

 

Isaiah 14:27 “For the LORD of hosts has planned, and who can frustrate it? And as for His stretched-out hand, who can turn it back?”

 

Isaiah 43:13 “Even from eternity I am He, And there is none who can deliver out of My hand; I act and who can reverse it?”

 

And the illustrations of this are endless.

Satan couldn’t touch Job apart from God’s permission.

Joseph’s brothers couldn’t sell Joseph apart from God allowing it.

 

In fact Joseph said:

Genesis 45:7-8 “God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance. “Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt.”

 

Want to see a real shocker?

 

Look at the death of Jesus.

Acts 2:23 “this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.”

It was all up to God.

 

And the Psalmist recognizes that.

• God’s word isn’t temporary and subject to change.

• God’s word isn’t doubtful or ever prone to fail.

• God’s word isn’t so weak that anyone can change it.

 

His word is Settled, Sure, and Sovereign.

THIS IS WHAT CHANGED THE PSALMISTS MINDSET

 

Here he had been in despair

Namely because he wasn’t sure God would do what He said.

 

Yes, he hoped God would, but he wasn’t certain.

He knew what God’s word said and he hoped for it’s fulfillment,

But it is obvious he wasn’t certain that it would ever happen.

 

AND THEN HE LOOKED AT CREATION.

And he said, wait a minute.

 

Creation is proof that when God tells something to happen, it happens.

When God tells something to stay put, it does.

God’s word is settled,

God’s word is sure,

God’s word is sovereign.

 

And that doesn’t just include the commands of creation,

But the promises He has made in the midst of my affliction.

Promises of comfort…

Promises of deliverance…

Promises of good…

Promises of blessing…

 

The Psalmist knows that he can believe what God said,

Because if God said it, it is final.

 

And that knowledge pulled him out of his despair.

Now he doesn’t just hope, he has hope.

 

This was the same hope Paul had in his affliction.

2 Corinthians 4:7-10 “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.”

 

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

 

That was the new perspective of our Psalmist.

He now knew that God’s promises would not fail.

 

The Truth He Saw

#2 THE TESTIMONY HE SHARES

Psalms 119:92-93

 

Now that he knows God’s word is faithful,

He is encouraged when he reads it.

 

He is encouraged when he remembers the promises.

 

And notice what he says.

1) GOD’S WORD SUSTAINS (92)

 

He said that God’s word has proven now to be enough for him.

 

All he had was God’s word and that proved to be enough

To sustain him and to keep him from perishing.

 

Psalms 27:13 “I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living.”

 

I love the song by Laura Story, “Great God who Saves”

“Oh the promises of God, The rock on which I stand. The Truth to which I cling. His love that knows no bounds; He showers us with grace. Withholding no good thing. When I stumble And my faith is small, I will call your name; Great God who saves.

I would have despaired If I had not believed That You would come to me Great God who saves In my darkest hour Your mercy and Your power Are reaching out to me Great God who saves.”

 

That is what the Psalmist said here.

I would have perished.

I would have died.

 

And yet, Your law was “my delight” and in it I found hope.

 

Charles Spurgeon said:

“With that word we are charmed; it is a mine of delight to us. We take a double and treble delight in it, and derive a multiplied delight from it, and this stands us in good stead when all other delights are taken from us. We should have felt ready to lie down and die of our griefs if the spiritual comforts of God’s word had not uplifted us; but by their sustaining influence we have been borne above all the depressions and despairs which naturally grow out of severe affliction. Some of us can set our seal to this statement. Our affliction, if it had not been for divine grace, would have crushed us out of existence, so that we should have perished. In our darkest seasons nothing has kept us from desperation but the promise of the Lord: yea, at times nothing has stood between us and self-destruction save faith in the eternal word of God. When worn with pain until the brain has become dazed and the reason well-nigh extinguished, a sweet text has whispered to us its heart-cheering assurance, and our poor struggling mind has reposed upon the bosom of God. That which was our delight in prosperity has been our light in adversity; that which in the day kept us from presuming has in the night kept us from perishing.”

(Expositions of the Psalms – pg 316)

 

That was the mindset of the Psalmist.

Furthermore that is his testimony as well.

 

I learned God’s word is sure, and so now I testify that God’s word sustains.

 

2) GOD’S WORD SUPPORTS (93)

 

Here he reminds that God’s word will always be a part of his daily meal,

For he always finds revival there.

 

It was “by them” that God revived him.

 

God’s revival did not come through a friend…

God’s revival did not come through a purchase…

God’s revival did not come through a power bar or nutrient shake…

 

God’s revival came by His “precepts”

 

And this is the testimony that the Psalmist shares with us.

Psalms 19:7a “The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul;”

 

And that is what the Psalmist wants you to know.

 

And so we see the Truth He Saw We see the Testimony He Shares

#3 THE TRUST HE SHOWS

Psalms 119:94-96

 

Obviously this is no time to neglect God’s word now, and he doesn’t.

 

We notice that his affliction is still present,

But also notice that he is clinging to the word of God now more than ever.

 

And again we see his trust exhibited in three areas.

1) GOD’S WORD SAVES (94)

 

Certainly he credits God as the Savior.

We know simply reading the Bible does not save.

 

Believing the promises of the God who made them is what saves,

And that is what the Psalmist says.

 

“I am Yours, save me; For I have sought Your precepts.”

 

You see he knows that God promises to save those who seek Him.

God’s word taught him that.

 

And since he now knows beyond a shadow of a doubt

That God’s word is faithful, he can confidently ask for salvation.

 

Joel 2:32 “And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the LORD Will be delivered; For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem There will be those who escape, As the LORD has said, Even among the survivors whom the LORD calls.”

 

Jesus Himself said:

Matthew 7:7-11 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. “Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? “Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!”

 

The Psalmist knew that, he believed that.

He places his trust in that.

 

God’s Word Saves

2) GOD’S WORD STRENGTHENS (95)

 

Again we recognize that he is still caught in the midst of his afflictions.

“The wicked wait for me to destroy me;”

Well what do you do?

“I shall diligently consider Your testimonies”

 

He said, I am going to the word of God.

I’m going to read the testimonies of God’s faithfulness

Throughout all generations.

 

More than that, I will “consider” them.

More than that, I will “diligently consider” them

 

WHY?

Because he has come to find strength in the testimonies of God.

 

He is still hated.

He is still hunted.

But he finds strength in the word of God.

 

Don’t you have passages that give you strength?

I can’t tell you how I love to read God’s promise through Peter:

1 Peter 5:10 “After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.”

 

That is strengthening to me.

The Psalmist is running to that as well.

 

3) GOD’S WORD SATISFIES (96)

 

“I have seen a limit to all perfection”

 

Isn’t that the truth!

 

Tell me what is perfect about this earth.

The Economy

The Weather

The Culture

 

Or how about something you own, is any of it perfect?

How about your children?

How about your job?

How about your past?

 

Give up searching, there isn’t anything that is perfect.

 

Except God’s word

“Your commandment is exceedingly broad.”

 

The NIV says, “but your commands are boundless”

 

The Psalmist says I continue to go to your word for everything,

Because while everything else has proven to be less than perfect,

I have never found a flaw in Your word.

 

Psalms 19:7a “The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul;”

 

AND WHAT A CHANGE IN OUR PSALMIST!

 

Last week he was on the brink of despair,

Comparing himself to a wineskin in the smoke.

 

Here, although still afflicted, he has a much more positive outlook, even saying he has been revived.

 

It is because of THE TRUTH HE SAW

He looked at creation and said:

 

God’s Word is Settled

God’s Word is Sure

God’s Word is Sovereign

 

This pulled him out of despair, knowing that the promises of God are trustworthy because God’s word never fails.

 

That led him to share a TESTIMONY

 

God’s Word Sustains

God’s Word Supports

 

And even though he is still afflicted his TRUST endures, for:

 

God’s Word Saves

God’s Word Strengthens

God’s Word Satisfies

 

What a great deliverance!

THAT IS HOW YOU CONQUER ADVERISTY

 

This life promises hardship.

In fact Jesus said:

John 16:33 “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

 

Hardship comes, and even if you get delivered out of this one,

Rest assured another is on its way.

 

But when we reach the place the Psalmist reached

To have full assurance in the promises of God

Then we are more than conquerors.

 

Romans 8:31-39 “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. 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.”

 

And that is the testimony of our Psalmist.

All because of the word of God.

 

Psalms 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.”

 

A Picture of Endurance

Psalms 119:81-88

October 23, 2011

 

As you know we are studying through the 119th Psalm.

And we are learning of this great treasure we call “The Word of God”.

 

And yet at the same time we are coming to realize that

While God’s Word is without a doubt the main topic of discussion,

The Psalmist also has a great deal to say about the topic of “affliction”

• We’ve seen him acknowledge affliction

• We’ve seen him appreciate affliction

• We’ve seen him ask for it to go away

 

And yet, through all those emotions, the one constant is

That in affliction he always seeks out the word of God.

 

His attitude reminds me quite a bit of Paul’s attitude.

2 Corinthians 4:7-11 “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.”

 

Like Paul, this man had the right perspective.

 

He never let his affliction drive him away from God,

But rather always allowed his affliction to drive him closer.

 

Nowhere was that seen better than in verses 71-72

Psalms 119:71-72 “It is good for me that I was afflicted, That I may learn Your statutes. The law of Your mouth is better to me Than thousands of gold and silver pieces.”

 

And so we have seen this man afflicted,

But we also seen him handle that affliction well.

 

Tonight we see him in the midst of his affliction one more time.

 

And it is obvious that this time, our Psalmist has hit bottom.

(81) “My soul languishes…”

(82) “My eyes fail…”

(83) “I have become like a wineskin in the smoke,”

(85) “The arrogant have dug pits for me…”

(86) “They have persecuted me with a lie…”

(87) “They almost destroyed me on earth,”

 

I mean I think it is obvious that this man has a better handle on affliction

Than do most people.

And it is also obvious that he has hit the bottom.

He is near death, he near the point of hopelessness, he is hated

And he estimates himself to already be ruined.

 

(That is what “like a wineskin in the smoke” means.)

 

This man has hit the bottom.

 

And so here, like no other place, we find a picture of endurance.

He hangs on simply because hanging on is the right thing to do.

 

And so tonight let’s learn a little about endurance.

 

Before we work through our text, let me reiterate to you quickly

THE IMPORTANCE OF ENDURANCE.

 

TURN TO: HEBREWS 10

 

You are aware that Hebrews was written to three groups of Jews.

1) The skeptic who did not believe Jesus was the Christ

2) The intellectual, who knew Jesus was the Christ, but wouldn’t confess Him.

3) The persecuted who had confessed Jesus, but wanted to quit

 

It is to that third group that the writer is dealing with here.

(VERSES 32-39)

 

And we noticed there in verse 36 why endurance is so important.

Because if you do good today, but then quit tomorrow,

Then you lose the reward of today.

 

You will notice from there that the writer goes into the faith chapter.

He is giving examples of people who endured with great faith.

 

We know the individual examples, but look at his point.

(VERSES 11:13-16)

 

We see there that the writer applauds Abraham and Sarah

For their endurance even though they never received what was promised.

 

Go on a little further as the list grows longer and longer.

(VERSES 11:39-40)

 

And there again these men did not get all they hoped for.

 

The true promise was Christ and His kingdom.

They did not receive that, though they waited for it.

And they all had to endure in their journey.

 

Then the writer comes back to the present.

 

First he tells us to endure like they did, and like Christ did.

(12:1-3)

 

And then he explains the necessity of our endurance.

(12:4-11)

 

And finally he comes back full circle asking us to endure.

(12:12-13)

 

And so you understand still the necessity of endurance.

Don’t quit.

 

• You are at your wits end…

• You are suffering for more than you anticipated…

• You have suffered far longer than you anticipated…

• You think you are already ruined like a wineskin in the smoke…

KEEP GOING

 

And it isn’t until those moments that endurance really defines itself.

It isn’t the first leg of the race that requires the most endurance,

It is the final leg.

 

And that is where we find our Psalmist.

 

Now, I must forewarn you.

This is not a happy Psalm. This is a real Psalm.

 

This stanza does not end happy.

He ends still in the midst of his affliction.

And that is what makes it such a great picture of endurance.

 

And since we have need of endurance, let us see what it looks like.

 

Four points tonight

#1 HIS PRESENT CONDITION

Psalms 119:81-83

 

I actually love reading these three verses.

Not because I find joy in this man’s misery,

But I find tremendous inspiration from this man’s faithful endurance.

 

Look at what he says:

(81) “My soul languishes for Your salvation”

 

“languishes” means “grows feeble” or “loses vitality”

 

It actually translates the Hebrew word “KALAH”

It means “complete, finished, or spent”

It is most often translated “finished”

And that is what this man says.

“May soul [is spent] for Your salvation”

 

I am done.

I am spent.

I am finished.

I have lost vitality.

He has nothing left.

 

Now that is not all we see.

 

(82) “My eyes fail with longing for Your word,”

 

So now, not only is his soul spent, but now his eyes fail.

He has watched to the point of blindness.

 

(83) “Though I have become like a wineskin in the smoke,”

 

And as we said earlier, this is an indication that he is ruined.

A wineskin in the smoke dries out and cracks

And is no longer useful for anything.

 

That is this man.

His affliction has lingered too long…

His persecution has inflicted irreparable damage to him…

He doesn’t see himself as useful any longer.

 

Now, I think we can all agree that

This is a harsh condition he has found himself in.

 

He is struggling to say the least.

 

But now let me show you his commitment.

(81) “My soul languishes for Your salvation; I wait for Your word.”

 

“My soul is spent, but I am waiting”

 

Psalms 27:14 “Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD.”

 

Psalms 37:7-9 “Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes. Cease from anger and forsake wrath; Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing. For evildoers will be cut off, But those who wait for the LORD, they will inherit the land.”

 

Psalms 62:5-8 “My soul, wait in silence for God only, For my hope is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation, My stronghold; I shall not be shaken. On God my salvation and my glory rest; The rock of my strength, my refuge is in God. Trust in Him at all times, O people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us.”

 

And of course who could forget:

Isaiah 40:31 “Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.”

 

That was where our Psalmist was.

His soul was spent.

His soul was finished.

BUT HE CONTINUED TO WAIT

 

We call that endurance.

When all you can do is wait on God, that is what he did.

 

(82) “My eyes fail with longing for Your word, While I say, “When will You comfort me?”

 

There he indicated that his eyes were tired and failing.

BUT I AM WATCHING

 

He paints the picture of a man watching road,

Waiting eagerly for deliverance to arrive.

 

He could have given up, or stopped hoping, but he didn’t.

He will watch until he can’t physically watch any more.

 

The story is told of a blind man who used to read the Bible by brail.

One day he contracted an illness that caused him to lose feeling in his fingers, whereby he could no longer read the Scripture.

 

In despair he leaned to kiss his bible good-bye,

Only to find that his lips were more sensitive than his fingers had ever been, and thus he began to read with his lips.

 

That is the type of man we see here.

Endurance

 

Look at the next example of his endurance

(83) “Though I have become like a wineskin in the smoke, I do not forget Your statutes.”

 

“My life is ruined, but I remember”

 

He can’t presently see the value in his life,

But that doesn’t stop him from continuing to honor God

With his life to the best of his ability.

 

• So His soul was weak, but he waited.

• His eyes were failing, but he watched.

• His life was ruined, but he remembered.

 

We call that endurance.

 

Charles Spurgeon, “It was by perseverance that the snail entered the ark.”

 

Certainly endurance matters.

Hebrews 10:36 “For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.”

 

His Present Condition

#2 HIS PATIENT CONCERN

Psalms 119:84

 

To call it a patient concern is a bit of a sarcastic statement,

For he doesn’t appear all that patient.

(He is, for he hasn’t left the Lord)

 

But he is getting antsy and frustrated.

 

And here he we see his concern in the form of two questions.

“How many are the days of Your servant?”

 

We understand this statement.

How long will this last?

 

And this seems to be a common thread

That runs through most people’s affliction.

 

I don’t know if I have ever seen a person yet

Who was ready for their affliction to last as long as it did.

 

Psalms 6:2-3 “Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am pining away; Heal me, O LORD, for my bones are dismayed. And my soul is greatly dismayed; But You, O LORD — how long?”

 

Psalms 13:1-3 “How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, Having sorrow in my heart all the day? How long will my enemy be exalted over me? Consider and answer me, O LORD my God; Enlighten my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death,”

 

Psalms 89:46-47 “How long, O LORD? Will You hide Yourself forever? Will Your wrath burn like fire? Remember what my span of life is; For what vanity You have created all the sons of men!”

 

But this wasn’t just limited to the Psalmist and life’s adversity.

 

When Isaiah found

That his mission would not produce converts, but rather condemnation, his question was:

Isaiah 6:11 “Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He answered, “Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant, Houses are without people And the land is utterly desolate,”

When Jeremiah faced the opposition in his ministry, he asked:

Jeremiah 12:1-4 “Righteous are You, O LORD, that I would plead my case with You; Indeed I would discuss matters of justice with You: Why has the way of the wicked prospered? Why are all those who deal in treachery at ease? You have planted them, they have also taken root; They grow, they have even produced fruit. You are near to their lips But far from their mind. But You know me, O LORD; You see me; And You examine my heart’s attitude toward You. Drag them off like sheep for the slaughter And set them apart for a day of carnage! How long is the land to mourn And the vegetation of the countryside to wither? For the wickedness of those who dwell in it, Animals and birds have been snatched away, Because men have said, “He will not see our latter ending.”

 

Listen to Habakkuk as he witnessed the evil of his day:

Habakkuk 1:2 “How long, O LORD, will I call for help, And You will not hear? I cry out to You, “Violence!” Yet You do not save.”

 

And even Jesus felt this frustration.

Matthew 17:17 “And Jesus answered and said, “You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me.”

 

And certainly we understand, this Psalmist wants to know

How much longer he can possible stand this.

 

His next question was:

“When will You execute judgment on those who persecute me?”

 

And he isn’t alone in this either.

Revelation 6:9-11 “When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, ” How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also.”

 

The cry for vindication is not a seldom used prayer.

Many a persecuted man has wondered

How long God will let the enemy go free.

 

And so you can see the concerns of this man’s heart.

 

I point this out so that we will understand

That his situation is not an easy one.

 

His soul is spent

His eyes are tired

His life is ruined

And his hope is fading

And yet he endures.

 

His Present Condition His Patient Concern

#3 HIS PASSIONATE CRY

Psalms 119:85-86

 

Here again we see his affliction.

This time he outlines their evil towards him.

 

“The arrogant have dug pits for me, Men who are not in accord with Your law.”

 

You may remember earlier it was different:

Psalms 119:61 “The cords of the wicked have encircled me, But I have not forgotten Your law.”

 

But here they have not only encircled him,

But they are plotting to do away with him permanently.

 

It is easy to see Joseph here about to be done away with by his brothers.

 

We also see the second part of verse 86

“They have persecuted me with a lie;”

 

That is not the first time we have seen that.

He is not only attacked, but he is also falsely accused and slandered.

 

In fact, you can even look down to verse 87,

“They almost destroyed me on earth”

 

They just nearly killed him.

 

And so his affliction is not made up.

It is not a figment of his imagination.

His situation is real.

His enemy is real.

The danger is real.

 

Now, despite all that, he still endures.

(86) “All Your commandments are faithful;”

 

He is afflicted, but he has not lost his commitment to the word of God.

 

The one thing we do notice however,

Is that his frustration is about to boil over.

 

Verse 86 ends with a passionate cry, “Help me!”

 

This is not a request…

This is not a plea…

This is a man who has had enough.

He wants God to fix it and fix it now.

 

Now, certainly we are not promoting the concept of giving God orders,

Nor are we judging this man for wanting help.

 

We are merely pointing out again that this man is struggling.

 

I think we must agree that regardless of our affliction

It would be hard to see ourselves any worse off than this man.

 

His suffering is real, and he really wants it over.

 

That is what makes his endurance so encouraging to us.

 

His Present Condition His Patient Concern His Passionate Cry

#4 HIS PERSONAL COMMITMENT

Psalms 119:87-88

 

And there again we see that endurance shine forth.

 

“They almost destroyed me on earth, But as for me, I did not forsake Your precepts.”

 

We certainly all understand affliction.

I am not sure we all understand death threats.

 

I don’t know if any of us know what it feels like

For your life to hang in the balance if you choose to obey God.

This man did, and yet he endured.

 

The pressure on him was to forsake God’s Word and he refused.

Even upon pain of death he would not forsake.

 

And that is endurance.

 

Furthermore look at his present request.

(88) “Revive me according to Your lovingkindness, so that I may keep the testimony of Your mouth.”

 

WHAT A STATEMENT!

 

I am weak, I am worn, I am broken, I am beaten.

 

Please strengthen me to keep obedience,

Because that is what the enemy wants to keep me from doing.

 

He just wants to endure.

He just wants to continue.

 

What a tremendous picture.

 

We know that endurance is important.

Hebrews 10:36-39 “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 here we see what it looks like.

 

• It is waiting when you can’t wait any longer.

• It is watching when you can’t watch any longer.

• It is remembering when you don’t see any hope.

• It is obeying when obedience gets you in trouble.

• It is just refusing to forsake when the pressure mounts.

 

We call it endurance and this man gives a great example of it.

 

May we be encouraged to be faithful to God’s Word

In exactly the same way.

 

Psalms 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.”

 

“First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men…therefore I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and dissension.” (1 Timothy 2:1,8)

Join us Friday mornings at 6:00am in the Pastor’s office for a time of prayer among men.  We pray for our church, we pray for our community, we pray for our family, we pray for each other.  It is a tremendous time of fellowship.

And then, for those who so desire, we travel to the Turnaround Café for breakfast and fellowship.  We are usually done around 7:15.  Come join us!

7 Requests of the Afflicted

Psalms 119:73-80

October 16, 2011

 

As you know we are studying through this 119th Psalm

And we are primarily learning the infinite value and sufficiency

Of the word of God.

 

Most recently we have been dealing with the topic of affliction.

 

Back in verses 49-50 the Psalmist credited God’s Word

As being his source of comfort in affliction.

 

Psalms 119:49-50 “Remember the word to Your servant, In which You have made me hope. This is my comfort in my affliction, That Your word has revived me.”

 

Last week we saw that God’s word had taught him to appreciate affliction.

Psalms 119:71-72 “It is good for me that I was afflicted, That I may learn Your statutes. The law of Your mouth is better to me Than thousands of gold and silver pieces.”

 

And so twice now we have seen affliction,

And twice we have seen the value of God’s Word in the midst of it.

 

Both as a comfort, and as reward.

 

Tonight we still find a Psalmist in the midst of affliction.

(And after all, it is only right that so much of his time be spent on the topic

As much of our lives is spent dealing with it.)

 

This time he mentions his affliction

With a very mature and perceptive understanding of it.

 

(75) “I know, O Lord, that Your judgments are righteous, And that in faithfulness You have afflicted me.”

 

There he attributes his affliction as coming from God,

And he attributes it as being justified.

 

That is extreme humility.

He doesn’t argue, he doesn’t complain.

 

But he comes at it with extreme spiritual maturity.

God has afflicted me and He is just to do so.

 

And so we see a man again afflicted.

 

What we see tonight are the requests of an afflicted man.

Specifically, I would like us to see what he requests.

 

Being in the midst of affliction can be a confusing thing.

It is especially confusing when we have a delight in the sovereignty of God.

It places us in a bit of hamster wheel.

I know God is sovereign and has good plans for me.

I desperately want relief from my affliction.

 

So do I ask for relief, or do I ask for God’s will?

 

Is it actually a lack of trust in God’s sovereign plan

That I should ask God to deliver me now?

 

Consider Christ.

Matthew 26:39 “And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.”

 

Now there, we notice that Christ definitely wanted the will of God.

BUT we also notice that He asked specifically for deliverance.

 

Did Christ have a lack of faith?

Was Christ selfish?

As Paul would say, “May it never be!”

 

No, Christ was simply fully human.

He had human desires, he had human needs, and He expressed those.

 

He just didn’t allow those human desires to trump God’s will.

 

BUT DID YOU KNOW THAT ISN’T THE WHOLE STORY?

 

Matthew 26:42 “He went away again a second time and prayed, saying, “My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Your will be done.”

 

WHAT IS THAT?

He actually asked a second time?

 

Was that a lack of faith?

Was that selfishness?

NO – Christ was simply afflicted.

 

The point I am making is that it is perfectly OK

To make requests of God while in the midst of affliction.

 

There is nothing wrong with praying for relief.

 

Furthermore, asking for relief does not make you a faithless person.

Asking for deliverance does not make you a quitter.

 

Christ did.

 

And by the way, God tells us to do this.

Philippians 4:6 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

1 John 5:14-15 “This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.”

 

There we are told we can give our requests to God.

That does not indicate a lack of faith in God’s sovereignty,

But rather a dependence upon God’s ability.

 

So let me show you the 7 requests this Psalmist makes.

 

And obviously you will notice that his requests are themed.

They all have to do with the word of God.

 

WHY?

Because this is where his trust comes in.

 

Christ asked for deliverance and then said, “Thy will be done”

 

The Psalmist asked for deliverance, and yet asked for it

While desiring to stay close to the word of God.

 

This indicated his desire for God’s will as well.

 

He definitely has requests, but the fact that they all involve God’s word

Indicates that he still desires the will of God.

 

#1 UNDERSTANDING OF YOUR WORD

Psalms 119:73

 

Now you easily see the request part.

“Give me understanding”

 

And how many times we have been afflicted and asked for understanding.

 

Well, the Psalmist asks that.

But he doesn’t ask it in selfishness.

 

For he doesn’t want understanding of his situation.

WHY DOES HE WANT UNDERSTANDING?

 

“Give me understanding, that I may learn Your commandments.”

 

All that he asks for here is the ability to know what God wants him to do.

He simply wants to learn God’s will.

 

That brings about a great point of it’s own.

WHY IS HE SO BENT ON FINDING GOD’S COMMANDS?

 

It seems if God is the One who he credits with the affliction,

That he might not be so eager to find out what God wants.

And yet from the midst of his affliction he wants to know his orders.

WHY?

 

Look at the first line.

“Your hands have made me and fashioned me.”

 

Let me put that statement to you another way.

“You are the potter, I am the clay”

 

Let us remember something very important.

 

God is not God on a trial basis.

We are not letting Him lead so long as we continue to like where we go.

 

He will always be the Creator, we will always be the creation.

He will always be the Potter, we will always be the clay.

 

It is never His responsibility to learn our will,

It is always our responsibility to learn His.

 

EVEN WHEN HIS SOVEREIGN PLAN TAKES US TO A PLACE

WE WOULD NOT HAVE TAKEN OURSELVES.

 

Psalms 100:3 “Know that the LORD Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.”

 

And the Psalmist knows that.

 

So please note his first request from the midst of affliction.

He wants Understanding of Your Word.

 

He hasn’t changed his mind about whether he is following God.

He still wants God’s will.

 

In the midst of our affliction, we must maintain that same mindset.

 

Understanding of Your Word

#2 PATIENCE FOR YOUR WORD

Psalms 119:74

 

Here again we first recognize the request portion of this verse.

“May those who fear You see me and be glad,”

 

I think you certainly understand his point.

 

How many times have we seen people claim to have an abiding relationship with Christ, and then in times of affliction walk away from God entirely?

 

Jesus promised they would, He called them the rocky soil.

John called the apostates.

But they grieve us none the less.

 

It is not a time of rejoicing when we see a supposed believer

Get afflicted and turn away from the Lord.

 

On the flip side, you know what it does for your faith

When a fellow believer is afflicted and yet remains strong.

 

1 Peter 5:8-10 “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.”

 

The Greek word there is: EPITELEO

It means “to complete”

 

We get encouraged when others gain victory in their suffering.

 

Here, the Psalmist wants to be that encouragement to others.

 

I try to point this out to people all the time.

Don’t overlook what you are doing for the body, just by faithfully enduring.

 

And so the Psalmist wants to be an encouragement.

 

BUT HOW DOES HE PLAN TO BE THAT ENCOURAGEMENT?

“May those who fear You see me and be glad, BECAUSE I wait for Your word.”

 

Running ahead of God wouldn’t encourage other believers…

Bailing out on God wouldn’t encourage other believers…

 

But waiting on God would send a resounding testimony

That God remains trustworthy and a sure source of deliverance.

 

Isaiah 40:31 “Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.”

 

And we want to encourage others to wait as well.

Psalms 69:5-7 “O God, it is You who knows my folly, And my wrongs are not hidden from You. May those who wait for You not be ashamed through me, O Lord GOD of hosts; May those who seek You not be dishonored through me, O God of Israel, Because for Your sake I have borne reproach; Dishonor has covered my face.”

 

It is a similar request here.

 

Help me be patient for your word because I want to encourage others.

WHAT A GREAT REQUEST!

Understanding of Your Word Patience for Your Word

#3 COMFORT ACCORDING TO YOUR WORD

Psalms 119:75-76

 

Now we certainly applaud the perception and faith of this man.

He is afflicted, but he is not bitter.

He is suffering, but he doesn’t blame God.

 

In fact he upholds the righteousness of God.

“I know, O Lord, that Your judgments are righteous, and that in faithfulness You have afflicted me.

 

He may not know why he is afflicted, but he knows it doesn’t mean

That God isn’t just, or that God isn’t faithful.

 

And so we have no doubts this man is a man of faith and trust.

 

His requests do not indicate a disdain for God’s will or God’s plan.

But his request is still obvious.

 

“O may your lovingkindness comfort me,”

 

Now we already talked about this to a greater degree

A couple of weeks ago.

 

While it is possible to seek comfort to an unhealthy level that can even cause disobedience to God’s mandates; comfort is not a bad thing.

 

• God is the “God of all comfort”

• God is the one who comforts us in our afflictions.

• God even gives the spiritual gift of mercy so that we can comfort others.

 

And when we are afflicted, it is ok to ask for comfort.

WHY?

Because God’s word offers it.

 

See what the Psalmist said:

“O may Your lovingkindness comfort me, According to Your word to Your servant.”

 

WHERE DOES GOD’S WORD PROMISE COMFORT?

Isaiah 40:1 “Comfort, O comfort My people,” says your God.”

 

Isaiah 51:3 “Indeed, the LORD will comfort Zion; He will comfort all her waste places. And her wilderness He will make like Eden, And her desert like the garden of the LORD; Joy and gladness will be found in her, Thanksgiving and sound of a melody.”

 

Isaiah 61:1-2 “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the LORD has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners; To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn,”

And who can forget the infamous 23rd Psalm?

Psalms 23:4 “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”

 

BUT WHAT ABOUT THE NEW TESTAMENT?

 

Matthew 5:4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”

 

Acts 9:31 “So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase.”

 

In fact we know the name of the Holy Spirit: (KJV)

John 14:16 “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;”

 

And of course we remember Paul’s words to the Corinthians.

2 Corinthians 1:3-5 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ.”

 

The point is friends, God has already promised comfort,

It is not a lack of trust to ask for it, or to expect it.

 

#4 DELIVERANCE FOR YOUR WORD

Psalms 119:77

 

The Psalmist here actually reminds me quite a bit of Hezekiah.

 

Remember when he got the boil and Isaiah told him he was going to die, and he asked for God’s deliverance?

 

This Psalmist is similar.

 

Again, we don’t know all the facts about his affliction,

But it is obvious that the affliction is serious enough,

That the Psalmist sees death as a very present reality.

 

So not only is he hoping for comfort in the midst of this affliction,

But he is also hoping for deliverance from it.

 

The point to be made here, is that it is ok to hope for deliverance.

It is ok to ask for deliverance.

It is ok to desire deliverance.

 

Furthermore desiring deliverance is not a mark of spiritual immaturity.

We are dealing here with a Psalmist who is as submissive and perceptive as you will find and yet he even desires deliverance.

 

And I want you to know that just because you want to be delivered Does not mean you don’t trust the sovereign plan of God.

 

Now if deliverance doesn’t come immediately

Certainly we don’t turn on God, but it isn’t wrong to desire it.

 

Listen to Paul’s hope.

2 Corinthians 1:9-10 “indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us,”

 

It didn’t make Paul faithless because he wanted deliverance.

 

In fact, there was a reason why this Psalmist wanted deliverance.

“May Your compassion come to me that I may live, For Your law is my delight.”

 

He asks God to save him because he wants to obey God.

 

Listen to what Hezekiah said:

Isaiah 38:18 “For Sheol cannot thank You, Death cannot praise You; Those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness.”

 

There have been many upon their death bed ask for deliverance,

Only so they can continue with a life of sin.

 

Not this man.

He asks for deliverance so he can continue a life of obedience.

 

Understanding of Your Word Patience for Your Word

Comfort According to Your Word Deliverance for Your Word

#5 VINDICATION BY YOUR WORD

Psalms 119:78

 

Here we actually get another partial peek into his affliction.

 

We know God has at the very least allowed it.

But here it appears that part of his affliction is the gossip he has endured.

 

“May the arrogant be ashamed, for they subvert me with a lie;”

 

And in the midst of that, he has a request.

He wants “the arrogant to be ashamed”

 

He wants God to set the record straight and vindicate him.

 

“But I thought we were supposed to die to self and surrender our reputations and all of that…”

We are, and we do.

The Psalmist didn’t reject God’s purposes

Simply because he lost his reputation.

 

But if you ask him what he hopes for, he hopes God will restore it.

 

We even know he isn’t concerning himself with fixing his reputation.

“But I shall meditate on Your precepts”

 

He is focusing on God’s word.

But he is definitely hoping God will vindicate him.

 

And if you have walked through trials of this kind,

It is not a lack of submission to hope for God to vindicate you.

 

Some time read 2 Corinthians.

 

Some time read Elijah’s prayer on Mt. Carmel:

1 Kings 18:36 “At the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “O LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, today let it be known that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and I have done all these things at Your word.”

 

The point is, when you stand for God,

It isn’t wrong to hope that God will vindicate you.

 

#6 FELLOWSHIP WITH YOUR WORD

Psalms 119:79

 

“May those who fear You turn to me, Even those who know Your testimonies.”

 

DO YOU KNOW WHAT HE WANTS HERE?

HELP

It isn’t that he refuses to stand alone…

It isn’t that he is concerned about popularity…

 

But he would sure like someone else of like faith to come to him.

Maybe encouragement…

Maybe deliverance…

Maybe companionship…

 

And preferably “those who know Your testimonies.”

 

And that is not a bad hope.

Even Jesus sent out the twelve in two’s.

 

It isn’t a lack of faith to want someone to walk with us.

It isn’t selfish to hope for someone who will come along side us.

 

It is ok to hope for a human helper and encourager.

#7 OBEDIENCE TO YOUR WORD

Psalms 119:80

 

“May my heart be blameless in Your statutes, So that I will not be ashamed.”

 

And what a fitting way to close his requests.

He does want for comfort.

He does want deliverance.

He does want vindication.

He does want help.

But above all, he wants to be found faithful.

 

DOES THAT SOUND LIKE JESUS?

Matthew 26:39 “And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.”

 

And that is my point to you tonight as well.

 

WE KNOW AFFLICTION COMES.

But don’t let someone hold up some “holier than thou”

Standard over you simply because you ask for God to deliver.

 

God tells us to give Him our requests.

God tells us He is the God of comfort.

Even Jesus asked for deliverance, and that from the cross.

 

But when deliverance didn’t immediately come, He did not lose faith.

And neither should we.

 

The important thing is to understand that God’s purposes,

Even His purposes in our affliction,

Are heavily intertwined with His revealed word.

 

• And deliverance without obedience…

• Or comfort without obedience…

• Or affliction without faithfulness…

COMPLETELY MISSES THE POINT

 

When affliction happens, present your requests to God,

But continue to walk in faith as you do,

Always seeking His revealed word.

 

That is what the Psalmist did.

 

Psalms 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.”

 

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.”