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.”

 

When God is Your Portion

Psalms 119:57-64

October 2, 2011

 

In 1905 Civilia Martin wrote the well-loved lyrics:

“Why should I feel discouraged, why should the shadows come, Why should my heart be lonely, and long for heav’n and home, When Jesus is my portion? My constant Friend is He: His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;”

 

The song was inspired by her friendship with a handicapped couple,

Who remained happy throughout their afflictions.

 

The secret to this happiness was that

“Jesus is my portion” and “He watches me”

 

In other words this couple of extreme difficulty did not mope in their poor condition, but yet considered themselves to be rich simply because they had the most valuable thing of all.

 

They knew Jesus.

 

Paul said it like this:

Philippians 3:7-8 “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ,”

 

Peter said this:

1 Peter 2:6-7 “For this is contained in Scripture: “BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A CHOICE STONE, A PRECIOUS CORNER stone, AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.” This precious value, then, is for you who believe;”

 

It was without a doubt that the apostles of the New Testament

Counted their relationship with Christ as more valuable

Than any other thing they could have in life.

 

Peter even said:

Matthew 19:27a “Then Peter said to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You…”

 

• We have seen James and John leave their father.

• We have seen Matthew leave his tax booth.

• We saw Paul leave his religion.

 

And the reality is that everyone who wants to enter the kingdom of heaven

Must value a relationship with Christ exactly that much.

 

Matthew 13:44-46 “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.”

 

In other words salvation can be viewed as

TRADING EVERYTHING FOR A RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST.

 

He becomes more valuable than all.

He literally becomes our portion.

 

Now this thought is actually rooted in the Old Testament.

• We remember the 12 tribes of Israel.

• God allotted out the promised land to each tribe except for one.

Levi received no inheritance in the land.

 

Numbers 18:20 “Then the LORD said to Aaron, “You shall have no inheritance in their land nor own any portion among them; I am your portion and your inheritance among the sons of Israel.”

 

And by the way, we are now a kingdom of priests.

 

1 Peter 2:9 “But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION,A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;”

 

And God is our inheritance as well.

Romans 8:16-17 “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.”

 

And all throughout the Old Testament we see people realize

That there was no greater inheritance than to possess God.

 

Jeremiah 10:16 calls God “the portion of Jacob”

 

Psalms 16:5-6 “The LORD is the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You support my lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me.”

 

And perhaps my favorite came from Asaph.

(The man who was envious of the rich)

When he finally learned that earthly treasures

Aren’t nearly as valuable as knowing God, he wrote:

 

Psalms 73:25-28 “Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For, behold, those who are far from You will perish; You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to You. But as for me, the nearness of God is my good; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, That I may tell of all Your works.”

 

And the point to be made is that salvation is a realization that

I am forsaking all to have a relationship with the living God.

 

He becomes my treasure

He becomes my inheritance

He becomes my portion

Now I say all that to sort of lead in to the text tonight.

 

For you will notice that our Psalmist has precisely that same mindset.

“The LORD is my portion;”

 

And so from the outset we know where the Psalmist’s heart lies.

He is the real deal.

 

• He would rather have God than any other thing.

• He would forsake all for the sake of knowing God.

• God is His portion and the lines have fallen to him in pleasant places.

 

This is a true believer.

All he has is God, and that is enough.

 

We see where he is, and we understand that

This is where we should all be as well.

 

What I want to show you tonight is the life of a man

Who believes that the LORD is his portion.

 

I want to show you how a person who treasures God

Above every other thing lives.

 

This is not a stanza showing you how to make God your portion,

But rather it is a stanza that shows us how a person lives

When God is his portion.

 

Obviously then we can use this stanza to evaluate our own lives.

We can see if my heart is like that of Asaph, or the Apostles, or even this Psalmist.

 

Tonight I am going to show you 9 realities in a life

Where God is the only portion.

 

#1 COMMITMENT

Psalms 119:57b

 

“I have promised to keep Your words.”

 

Here our Psalmist recounts the commitment he made to God

On the day he chose God over everything else.

 

• He had made a commitment to obey God.

• He had made a commitment to submit to God.

 

You and I know that this type of commitment is at the heart of salvation.

 

After all, salvation is a Lordship issue.

Salvation is a submission issue.

• That is why you must “confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord”

• That is why you must obey the Lord’s command to “Follow Me”

• That is why you must listen when He says, “Take My yoke upon you”

 

Christ doesn’t accept half-hearted commitments.

We learned that last week with the parable of the sower.

 

Christ wants the one who will commit his/her life to Him.

 

The Psalmist did:

He “promised to keep [His] words.”

 

So our first question is AM I COMMITTED TO OBEDIENCE?

When the Lord is our portion we are.

 

All we want is Him and obedience strengthens that relationship.

 

Commitment

#2 SEEKING

Psalms 119:58

 

Isn’t that a great statement?

“I sought Your favor with all my heart;”

 

Who do you want to please in this life?

It is not hard to see who the Psalmist wanted to please.

He wanted to please God.

 

Certainly this is not seen in a legalistic sense.

We know that Christ makes us pleasing by reason of His justification.

 

But practically we still live this life,

And so we want to do that in a way that delights God.

 

Paul told the Colossians

Colossians 1:10 “so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;”

 

He told the Corinthians

2 Corinthians 5:9 “Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him.”

 

It was all about living in a way that pleases God.

 

And this is the heart of a man who truly sees God as his portion.

He wants to live his life in a way that makes God proud.

 

And even at that, he is counting on God to help him find it.

 

“Be gracious to me according to Your word.”

In other words.

He knows God’s word says that

We will seek and find if we seek with all our heart.

 

And so as he seeks to please God, he asks God to honor his word

By being gracious to reveal Himself.

 

The point to be made here is that he really wants

To achieve a pleasing lifestyle before God.

 

He doesn’t just want to be credited with saying he wants to please God.

He actually wants to please God.

 

And he wants it so badly that he asks God to graciously help him.

 

This is the mindset of a man when God is his portion.

So I have to ask: DO I SEEK GOD’S FAVOR?

 

Commitment, Seeking

#3 HUMILITY

Psalms 119:59

 

This is really a great statement.

“I considered my ways”

 

How many people are even willing to do this anymore?

It is the practice of self-evaluation.

 

He was willing to take an honest and objective view

Of what he really looks like.

 

• He questioned his actions…

• He listened to the words that came out of his lips…

• He evaluated the feelings he had in his heart…

 

He looked intently into what kind of man he was.

 

Very few do that today.

Most today just want to feel good about themselves

And would really rather not know the truth.

 

But not this man, he took inventory.

 

And once he saw what he was, he made a decision,

“and turned my feet to Your testimonies.”

 

Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.”

 

This man lived that.

He didn’t hold his own way of thinking above God’s.

 

He looked honest at his life, saw where it did not measure up,

And made a conscious decision to align with God’s word.

 

We call that humility.

 

Obedience is the greatest form of humility.

 

Humility is not about what you say,

“Oh, I’m not good enough…”, “Oh, I’m not worthy…”

 

Anyone can say that.

People do, and yet prove their arrogance

By insisting upon their own way over God’s.

 

If you want to prove yourself humble,

Take every area of your life that is inconsistent with God’s way

And change it to match His.

 

Let go of your own ideas and solutions, and trust God’s.

That is humility.

 

The Psalmist had that.

DO I?

 

DO I CONSIDER MY WAYS AND TURN TO WALK IN GOD’S?

 

#4 EAGERNESS

Psalms 119:60

 

And here is a beautiful thought.

Not only was he willing to obey God’s word over his own thoughts.

He was eager to do it.

 

“I hastened and did not delay to keep Your commandments”

• He hurried…

• He went now…

• He did not procrastinate…

 

His desire was obedience and that is what he did.

 

This certainly validates that his desire was genuine.

 

A person that gives lip service to how much they desire to obey,

But yet never obeys, leaves doubt as to how genuine his desire is.

 

We know that this man genuinely wanted obedience,

Because when the first opportunity for obedience arose, he ran to it.

 

He was eager.

AM I?

DO I WANT OBEDIENCE THAT BADLY?

 

Commitment, Seeking, Humility, Eagerness

#5 PERSEVERANCE

Psalms 119:61

 

Here we find that life wasn’t always a bed of roses for our Psalmist.

 

“The cords of the wicked have encircled me,”

• This man has been surrounded…

• This man has been ensnared…

• This man has been tempted…

• This man has been persecuted…

 

In short, living a life where God alone is your portion is not an easy life.

 

There are plenty of temptations

And even opportunities to run to other things.

But this man didn’t.

 

God was his portion, and he was sticking with it.

 

So even when he was persecuted, he said,

“But I have not forgotten Your law.”

 

It wasn’t easy, but he wasn’t leaving.

 

I like Peter’s answer in John 6.

Nearly all of Jesus’ disciples had forsaken Him and departed.

 

John 6:66-69 “As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore. So Jesus said to the twelve, “You do not want to go away also, do you?” Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. “We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.”

 

Peter wasn’t saying that it was easy.

He was saying that he wasn’t going anywhere else.

 

You are our portion.

How could I leave?

 

That is the attitude of a man who believes God is his portion.

He won’t forsake him due to hardship.

 

And again, I must ask: DO I CLING TO GOD’S WORD EVEN WHEN IT IS HARD TO DO SO?

 

DO I TREAT GOD LIKE HE IS MY INHERITANCE?

 

#6 GRATITUDE

Psalms 119:62

 

There is beauty for you.

 

Even amidst hardship there is always a sense

That I still have it better than I deserve.

 

Psalms 103:10 “He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.”

 

Sure it was hard.

In order for God to be your portion,

There can at times feel like you have lost nearly everything.

 

But the reality is you haven’t.

You just need to see differently.

 

God was his portion, but he wasn’t upset about it.

God was his portion, and he didn’t feel cheated.

 

He felt blessed to know that he had inherited the Lord.

 

And so, “At midnight I shall rise to give thanks to You because of Your righteous ordinances.”

 

He was grateful for God and His word.

Gratitude is obviously an important part of the Christian life.

 

Colossians 3:15-17 “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.”

 

God calls us to be thankful,

Because the reality is that we got a good deal.

 

• I know life is hard…

• I know you didn’t get to keep your fishing business or your tax booth…

• I know people mock you now…

 

BUT YOU ARE FORGIVEN, AND YOU ARE AN HEIR OF GOD!

• Was that not a good trade?

• Was that not worth it?

• Have you not still come out on top?

 

If God is willing to be our portion, than we got a great deal!

Be grateful.

 

ARE YOU?

 

#7 FELLOWSHIP

Psalms 119:63

 

Here we find that not only is God His portion,

But that he loves to be in the company of other people

Who have inherited God as well.

 

And really, how can you claim that God is your portion,

When you are too busy in the world

To want to commune with God’s people?

 

This man wanted to be around the obedient.

Certainly Jesus did.

 

Matthew 12:46-50 “While He was still speaking to the crowds, behold, His mother and brothers were standing outside, seeking to speak to Him. Someone said to Him, “Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak to You.” But Jesus answered the one who was telling Him and said, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, “Behold My mother and My brothers! “For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother.”

 

Certainly the early church did.

Acts 2:46-47 “Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.”

 

Those who trust in God as their portion,

Naturally want to commune with one another.

 

It is a brotherly love that God has instilled in us.

It is a fellowship of the Spirit that is supernatural.

 

And those who forsake this world that they might gain Christ,

Naturally want to be around others who have done the same.

 

DO YOU?

DO YOU LONG FOR THE FELLOWSHIP OF OTHER BELIEVERS?

 

Commitment, Seeking, Humility, Eagerness, Perseverance, Gratitude, Fellowship

#8 PERCEPTION

Psalms 119:64a

 

“The earth is full of Your lovingkindness, O LORD;”

 

In other words, it is hard to be down in the dumps

And negative all the time when you are an heir of God.

 

If we have truly forsaken this world in order to gain Christ,

Then it is hard to grieve the loss of it

As though we have been wronged.

 

“Why should I feel discouraged, why should the shadows come, Why should my heart be lonely, and long for heav’n and home, When Jesus is my portion? My constant Friend is He: His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;”

 

Those who have gained Christ, have a unique perspective on life,

And that is that God’s mercy is everywhere.

 

Let me recount His blessings to me just today…

Let me recount my benefits from knowing Him just today…

 

I’m living, I’m breathing, I have shelter, I have food, I have friends, I am forgiven, I have hope, I have righteousness, etc.

 

The Psalmist had a vast inheritance.

 

God was his portion, and as he looked around,

He saw that was a good thing, for God is merciful all over the place.

 

IS THAT MY PERCEPTION?

Or am I bitter that life isn’t the way I want it?

 

#9 GROWTH

Psalms 119:64b

 

The Psalmist closes his list by saying, “Teach me Your statutes.”

 

In other words, I want to continue.

 

Remember Paul?

After he gained Christ…

 

Philippians 3:12-14 “Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

 

 

Peter said:

2 Peter 3:17-18 “You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”

 

And certainly the early church did this:

Acts 2:42 “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”

 

These were people who wanted

Everything they could get out of the relationship.

 

DID YOU EVER GET A NEW CELL PHONE?

(and you spend days playing with it to learn all the features)

 

Well, it stands to reason that when you inherit God,

You ought to really spend some time

Learning all about what you just inherited.

 

This man wanted to continue to grow and learn.

 

The point is that it is not hard to spot someone

Who truly has made God his portion.

 

 

• They are Committed to His word

• They are Seeking His favor

• They are Humbly changing their ways to match His

• They are Eager to obey what God has taught

• They are Perseverant to obey even when it is hard

• They are Grateful for all that God has given them

• They desire Fellowship with others like them

• They Perceive that God is good to them

• They desire to Grow even more in the knowledge of God

 

For all those today

Who would claim that they have a relationship with God,

It is not hard to spot those who really do possess Him.

 

When God is your portion it is obvious in life.

It was in the Psalmist’s life.

 

Let it be obvious in yours.

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

 

The Path to Comfort

Psalms 119:49-56

September 25, 2011

 

Well tonight let’s talk a little bit about comfort and how to get it.

 

None of us would underestimate the importance of comfort in our lives.

From everything from financial security, to physical comfort,

To spiritual comfort, we all want it.

 

You could possibly argue that at times we even seek after comfort too much,

And run the risk of allowing our desire for comfort

To actually compromise our desire for obedience.

 

Certainly we never desire to choose comfort over obedience to God.

But that doesn’t mean that comfort is a bad thing.

 

The fact is comfort comes from God.

2 Corinthians 1:3-7 “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. But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer; and our hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that as you are sharers of our sufferings, so also you are sharers of our comfort.”

 

God gives comfort, and so if God gives it, it cannot be a bad thing.

Furthermore in that passage you see how badly Paul wanted it,

Not only for himself, but also for the Corinthians.

 

He desired comfort.

And so do we

When things happen and life hurts it is our desire to be comforted.

When others suffer or our hurt, it is our desire to give comfort.

 

BUT WHERE DO YOU FIND IT?

 

Well, because of our present study, you already know

That we are going to talk about comfort coming through the Word of God.

And so that is no surprise.

 

What I want to show you more specifically tonight

Is some of the areas where God’s word is able to give you comfort.

 

And I want you to see that in those areas

God’s Word is the only thing that will work.

 

#1 HE IS AFFLICTED

Psalms 119:49-50

What we notice is that the Psalmist initially begins

With a request or a plea.

 

“Remember the word to Your servant, in which You have made me hope.”

 

Obviously the Psalmist is banking on a promise from God, to be fulfilled.

He has placed his trust in something God has said,

And now he is asking God to “Remember” what He said.

 

Now obviously the Psalmist is not concerned that somehow

God might have forgotten the promise He made.

 

Rather, what we see here is that what God said is so important to the Psalmist, that he can’t forget and he continually brings it up before God.

 

Carrie and I don’t tell our kids when they are going to maw-maw’s… they will drive you crazy.

 

That is where this Psalmist is.

He isn’t actually worried that God had forgotten, but what God said was so important to him, he just can’t quit focusing on it.

 

This Psalmist is depending on what God said as that which had to work.

 

WHY?

(50) “This is my comfort in my affliction…”

 

This Psalmist finds himself afflicted.

We don’t know how, we don’t know to what degree.

 

But however he was afflicted, we know he wanted comfort,

And that comfort depended upon God fulfilling what His word said.

 

“This is my comfort in my affliction, that Your word has revived me.”

 

It lets us know exactly where the affliction had taken this man.

Whatever the affliction, it had obviously overwhelmed him.

His affliction had obviously thrown him down and caused him to despair.

 

We know that because he had to be “revived”.

 

And when he was down, it was God’s word that did the reviving.

 

Picture a man depressed in prison…clinging to the words of the warden

“Two months and you are free.”

 

That is our Psalmist.

He was on the brink, in despair, and yet God’s word lifted his spirits,

Gave him hope, and revived him.

Now certainly we can identify with the Psalmist.

We know that affliction comes in this life.

 

Listen to Paul recount his:

2 Corinthians 1:8-9 “For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead;”

 

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 7:5 “For even when we came into Macedonia our flesh had no rest, but we were afflicted on every side: conflicts without, fears within.”

 

I suppose we could go on to talk about Job, or Daniel, or even Christ

And see the various types of affliction.

 

But I don’t have to keep giving you examples,

For you already know what it is.

 

We have all struggled in various ways.

Financially Physically

Emotionally Mentally

 

Beyond that we understand persecution from the enemy,

And even discipline from our heavenly Father.

 

BUT WHERE DO YOU GET COMFORT WHEN YOU ARE AFFLICTED?

WHERE DOES YOUR HOPE COME FROM?

The word of God.

 

How many times have we heard these two verses quoted?

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.”

 

Romans 8:28 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

 

I love 1 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.”

 

And I know often times we quote:

Philippians 4:6-7 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

 

Now obviously reading those promises don’t instantly cause the affliction to stop, but they do give hope that revives the soul.

 

They do bring hope, they do bring revival of the soul.

 

This Psalmist knew that.

God’s word revived him in the midst of his affliction.

 

He is afflicted

#2 HE IS DERIDED

Psalms 119:51-52

 

There we see another one of his problems.

“The arrogant utterly deride me,”

 

“deride” means “to mock or make fun of”

 

And so not only is he experiencing affliction,

But he is also made fun of or mocked because of it.

 

And this mocking comes at the hands of “the arrogant”

 

WHO ARE THE ARROGANT?

 

They can be those who have life at ease:

Psalms 73:3-9 “For I was envious of the arrogant As I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no pains in their death, And their body is fat. They are not in trouble as other men, Nor are they plagued like mankind. Therefore pride is their necklace; The garment of violence covers them. Their eye bulges from fatness; The imaginations of their heart run riot. They mock and wickedly speak of oppression; They speak from on high. They have set their mouth against the heavens, And their tongue parades through the earth.”

 

They can also be those who love sin:

1 Corinthians 5:1-2 “It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father’s wife. You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst.”

 

They can be those who are self-righteous:

Luke 18:11 “The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.”

 

And I’m sure it can be any number of other types of people.

 

What is clear here is that the arrogant in this case

Mock his stubborn refusal to abandon God’s word.

 

Which is why he says:

“Yet I do not turn aside from Your law.”

 

Obviously part of their mocking is that

They see him as foolish for clinging to God’s word.

 

But despite their mocking he will not leave it.

WHY?

 

(52) “I have remembered Your ordinances from of old, O Lord, and comfort myself.”

 

He won’t leave it because that is where he finds comfort

In the midst of being derided.

 

When he gets mocked by other people,

He turns to God’s word to soothe the sting.

 

We know that derision and mocking are all a part of this life as well.

 

Consider Paul again:

2 Corinthians 10:10-11 “For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but his personal presence is unimpressive and his speech contemptible.” Let such a person consider this, that what we are in word by letters when absent, such persons we are also in deed when present.”

 

• Who can forget the Athenians calling him an “idle babbler”

 

• We remember Lot being called “an outsider” and “a judge” by the homosexual mob at Sodom.

 

• Abraham was called “The Hebrew” which means “one who crosses over”. (In today’s term we would call it a “wet-back”)

 

• Even Jesus was mocked and scorned as a servant of Beelzebul.

 

We all know what it is to be mocked and scorned.

And we know that words of mocking can sting.

 

Whoever said, “Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” Obviously never got mocked.

 

James said it better:

James 3:8 “But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison.”

 

Paul quoted the Old Testament passage about sinners and said:

Romans 3:13 “THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE, WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING,” “THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS”;

 

That is deadly force.

 

Point being mocking hurts,

And we have all felt the scorn of another person’s tongue.

 

But when you are mocked, where do you go for comfort?

To the Word of God.

 

How often we read passages like:

Matthew 5:11-12 “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

 

1 Peter 4:14 “If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.”

 

There is comfort when we are mocked and go to God’s Word

And find that derision only indicates that we are living correctly.

 

It is comforting to know that being derided

Is a consequence of Godly living.

 

No wonder the Psalmist said, “I have remembered Your ordinances from of old, O Lord, and comfort myself.”

 

He is Afflicted, He is Derided

#3 HE IS FRUSTRATED

Psalms 119:53-55

 

It could be that the word frustrated is an understatement.

 

“Burning indignation has seized me because of the wicked, who forsake Your law.”

 

The Psalmist isn’t just frustrated, he is fighting mad.

He is surrounded by those who do not obey God’s Word,

And as one who loves God’s Word, that infuriates him.

 

Certainly we have seen this sentiment in Scripture.

 

Just watch Jesus clear out the temple.

 

Or listen to Jesus with the fickle crowd:

Matthew 17:14-18 “When they came to the crowd, a man came up to Jesus, falling on his knees before Him and saying, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic and is very ill; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. “I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him.” 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 Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured at once.”

 

Or listen to Stephen before the Sanhedrin

Acts 7:51-53 “You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did. “Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become; you who received the law as ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it.”

Or listen to Paul with the Galatians

Galatians 3:1 “You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?”

 

Galatians 4:20 “but I could wish to be present with you now and to change my tone, for I am perplexed about you.”

 

• Paul was frustrated with this church that wouldn’t follow the truth.

• Stephen was frustrated with Jewish leaders who wouldn’t obey God.

• Jesus was frustrated with the fickle crowds who wouldn’t believe.

 

That is where this Psalmist is.

He loves God’s Word, he wants to obey God’s Word,

But he is surrounded by those who won’t, and he is angry about it.

 

Certainly we have had times of frustration and anger like that.

 

It is extremely frustrating to try and obey Scripture

Only to be opposed by those who are not interested.

 

And that type of frustration can lead to

Anger, Bitterness, and even Discouragement.

 

It was this type of opposition that had Timothy wanting to quit at Ephesus.

 

So when you are frustrated, where do you go for comfort?

The Word of God

 

(54-55) “Your statutes are my songs in the house of my pilgrimage. O Lord, I remember Your name in the night, And keep Your law.”

 

A “pilgrimage” is a journey.

He saw these moments of opposition and frustration

As part of the journey he was on.

 

And during those times of frustration

He runs to God’s “statutes” which become his “songs”.

 

And even through the dark of “night”

It is his remembrance of God and God’s Word that sustains him.

 

And how we get comforted when we turn to Scripture!

 

We get comfort to know that our obedience is rewarded by God.

Philippians 1:27-30 “Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; in no way alarmed by your opponents — which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too, from God. For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, experiencing the same conflict which you saw in me, and now hear to be in me.”

We even get comforted to know that the opposition of the disobedient will not last forever.

2 Thessalonians 1:6-10 “For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed — for our testimony to you was believed.”

 

And we get comfort to know that God is working and that their hearts can be changed.

 

This is what Paul told Timothy when he was frustrated:

2 Timothy 2:24-26 “The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.”

 

And that is encouraging.

That is what this Psalmist found.

 

• If he was afflicted, he went to God’s word for revival and hope.

• If he was derided, he went to God’s word for comfort.

• If he was frustrated, he went to God’s word for joy and victory.

 

#4 HE IS SATISFIED

Psalms 119:56

 

I love how this statement reads.

 

“This has become mine,”

He speaks of ownership.

He speaks of something secure and steady.

 

“This has become mine, That I observe Your precepts.”

 

What we find here is the pinnacle of assurance.

We find the ultimate encouragement and comfort.

 

He knows who he is, and he knows what he is

Because of his obedience.

 

Because of his obedience he knows that he and God

Are on the same side.

 

And there is no greater comfort than the assurance of knowing

That you and God are on the same side.

 

I’ll never forget the black preacher at a funeral here a few months ago.

“I hear a lot about insurance and how Geico can give you insurance. But what you really need is the blessed assurance”

 

He is right.

Insurance is man’s version of security.

Assurance is God’s version of security.

 

And the assurance of God is the ultimate comfort.

 

• What can be better than to know that God is for you and that God will not forsake you?

 

• What can be better than to know that God is on your side, and that you are on God’s side?

 

This man knows this, WHY?

Because he observes God’s precepts.

 

1 John 2:3 “By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.”

 

That is great affirmation!

John 14:15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”

 

John 15:10-11 “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. “These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.”

 

It is great confirmation to know that I am God’s and He is mine.

 

Furthermore this is the greatest comfort of all.

• Affliction is bad, but it is only temporary

• Derision is bad, but it is only temporary

• Frustration is bad, but it is only temporary

 

But doubt in regard to eternity is a horrible way to suffer.

This Psalmist doesn’t have that

Because God’s Word proves to Him that He is God’s.

 

“This has become mine, That I observe Your precepts.”

The Psalmist clings to that above every other hope.

 

And there is nothing greater than to know God is on your side.

 

Psalms 73:25-28 “Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For, behold, those who are far from You will perish; You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to You. But as for me, the nearness of God is my good; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, That I may tell of all Your works.”

 

Habakkuk 3:17-19 “Though the fig tree should not blossom And there be no fruit on the vines, Though the yield of the olive should fail And the fields produce no food, Though the flock should be cut off from the fold And there be no cattle in the stalls, Yet I will exult in the LORD, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord GOD is my strength, And He has made my feet like hinds’ feet, And makes me walk on my high places.”

 

There it is from those men as well.

Comfort in the most trying of situations,

Only because they knew God was near.

 

That is the secret to comfort,

And it all hinges upon what you do with the Word of God.

 

• Do you want hope in affliction? – run to God’s Word

• Do you want comfort in derision? – run to God’s Word

• Do you want joy in frustration? – run to God’s Word

• Do you want peace in eternity? – run to God’s Word

 

 

I’m all about comfort, even in this life.

And Scripture is clear that God’s Word is the only place we find it.

So run to it and be comforted.

 

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

 

How to Answer Wisely

Psalms 119:41-48

September 18, 2011

 

We have talked a lot recently about the tongue on Sunday mornings.

 

Jesus gave us that startling truth that “Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks”

And “Every careless word that people speak, they will give an accounting for it on the day of judgment.”

 

When you couple that with James warning

That not many should desire to be teachers because as such

“they will incur a stricter judgment”,

 

It almost makes us totally gun-shy about talking at all.

Given those ramifications, one might almost assume

That talking only gets you in trouble.

 

We quote: “Silence is golden”

Or “Better to keep your mouth closed and be thought of a fool, than to open your mouth and prove it.”

 

We have all found times when silence was preferred.

 

However, you and I know that silence is not the answer.

After all, even our Lord did not have issue with the tongue,

But rather the heart that drove it.

 

The problem isn’t talking, in fact you and I know

That a Christian is commanded to do so.

 

1 Peter 3:13-15 “Who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. AND DO NOT FEAR THEIR INTIMIDATION, AND DO NOT BE TROUBLED, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;”

 

According to Peter, a Christian should be ready

At a moment’s notice to deliver the truth.

 

Our Lord said:

Matthew 10:27 “What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops.”

 

There can be no such thing as a silent witness.

We are called to proclaim the truth.

 

Put another way, one person said, “Sometimes silence is golden, other times it is just plain yellow.”

 

We know we are called to answer.

We cannot fear the reproach of the enemy and refrain from testifying.

 

But fear of reproach is only part of the problem.

In fact, I would tend to say that it is the lesser part of the problem.

 

The main thing that keeps Christians from speaking or responding

Is not a fear of repercussion, but fear of saying the wrong thing.

 

It is obvious that Jesus perceived that fear in His disciples.

For when He was about to send them out, He addressed that very issue.

 

Matthew 10:16-20 “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves. “But beware of men, for they will hand you over to the courts and scourge you in their synagogues; and you will even be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. “But when they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you are to say; for it will be given you in that hour what you are to say. “For it is not you who speak, but it is the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.”

 

Luke’s gospel records it like this:

Luke 21:12-15 “But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, delivering you to the synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for My name’s sake. “It will lead to an opportunity for your testimony. “So make up your minds not to prepare beforehand to defend yourselves; for I will give you utterance and wisdom which none of your opponents will be able to resist or refute.”

 

Christ knew they were concerned about knowing what to say,

And so He promised to give them the words.

 

You may remember that He even reiterated this promise

On the night before He died.

 

John 14:26 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.”

 

Jesus promised that the apostles would never be at a loss for words.

They would be under constant scrutiny, but never without an answer.

 

And the book of Acts certainly bears that out.

Acts 4:13-14 “Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus. And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they had nothing to say in reply.”

 

• Listen to the brilliance of Peter’s sermon at Pentecost.

• See Philip presenting the gospel to the Ethiopian Eunuch.

• Listen to Paul preaching on Mars Hill.

 

The point is that Christ promised His apostles that He would equip them with what to speak, and He did.

 

But move to us.

Does God promise to give us the words to speak?

 

And the answer is yes, in fact, He already has.

God has given us His word, it is what the apostles left behind.

 

God promised to give them the full revelation:

John 16:12-13 “I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.”

 

And now they have recorded it for us.

 

We have the words of God, we have what God wanted us to know,

And we have everything we need in order to answer wisely

In a world filled with skepticism.

 

And that is a truth that is reiterated in our text this evening.

 

For here we find our Psalmist caught in a dilemma,

And needing to know what to say.

 

So let’s study our stanza from the 119th Psalm tonight.

 

3 things.

#1 HIS DAILY PROBLEM

Psalms 119:41-43

 

It really isn’t hard to see the dilemma our Psalmist finds himself in.

 

(42) “So I will have an answer for him who reproaches me,”

He is a man under reproach.

 

And certainly this is not a new concept.

Even in our last stanza we heard the Psalmist asking God

To take his reproach away.

 

We know that “reproach” is something a Christian can expect in this life.

 

Jesus said:

Matthew 10:22 “You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.”

 

And so we know that criticism, and confrontation are all part of the job.

We can expect that if we don’t live like the world lives,

Our differences will not be tolerated.

 

1 Peter 4:4 “In all this, they are surprised that you do not run with them into the same excesses of dissipation, and they malign you;”

We can expect to endure reproach.

And certainly it is not a one-time thing,

But a Christian can expect it frequently, if not daily.

 

The gospels record Christ literally bombarded on a continual basis

In regard to His convictions and preaching.

If we endeavor to live like Christ, we can expect the same.

 

So the reproach isn’t surprising.

But the reproach itself is not his concern.

 

He is not here asking God to take his reproach away.

He is not here asking God to make his opponents stop.

 

His request here is merely that

God will give him the right answer to their reproach.

 

(41-42) “May Your lovingkindness also come to me, O Lord, Your salvation according to Your word; So I will have an answer for him who reproaches me, For I trust in Your word.”

 

The Psalmists request is that God give him the answer.

He wants to be able to answer wisely.

 

It is also very important that you and I understand

Exactly what the Psalmist had in mind.

 

• He was not looking for some new profound prophecy to speak.

• He was not expecting some deep revelatory insight by which to confound his opponents.

 

In short he wasn’t looking for something new.

HOW DO I KNOW?

 

(43) “And do not take the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, For I wait for Your ordinances.”

 

He just wanted to speak God’s word.

And he wanted God to help him.

 

This is what Jesus did.

How many times do we read of Him being caught under reproach and responding by saying:

• “Have you not read..?”

• “It is written…”

 

Jesus was always going back to the authority

And guidance of the word of God.

 

And our Psalmist seeks to answer the same way.

 

He is under reproach and he must give an answer,

But he wants to make sure he answers wisely,

And so he asks God to be merciful and give him His word.

 

We have to understand that God’s word is the answer we seek as well.

WHAT COULD WE POSSIBLY GIVE ON EQUAL WITH THAT?

 

Jeremiah 23:28-29 “The prophet who has a dream may relate his dream, but let him who has My word speak My word in truth. What does straw have in common with grain?” declares the LORD. “Is not My word like fire?” declares the LORD, “and like a hammer which shatters a rock?”

 

Adrian Rogers illustration:

(Hebrews 9:27 – “It is appointed for man once to die, and then comes judgment”)

 

There is no wiser answer, and so the Psalmist asked for it.

 

His Daily Problem

#2 HIS DAILY PLEDGE

Psalms 119:44-46

 

We already know that it is God’s word he longs to speak,

But let me show you how committed he is to it.

 

First of all he pledges that if God will give His word, then he will obey it.

 

(44) “So I will keep Your law continually, Forever and ever.”

 

It is certainly a hypocritical man who only wants God’s word that

He may preach it to others with no intention of obeying it himself.

 

This man wants an answer for those who reproach him,

But it is not as though he is only interested in Scriptures

That relate to their lives.

 

He also wants Scripture that relates to his own life.

 

Furthermore it is a tremendous commitment to find a man

Who can be reproached for his obedience

And yet still long to be obedient.

 

This was the same conviction we found in the apostles.

Acts 4:13-20 “Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus. And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they had nothing to say in reply. But when they had ordered them to leave the Council, they began to confer with one another, saying, “What shall we do with these men? For the fact that a noteworthy miracle has taken place through them is apparent to all who live in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. “But so that it will not spread any further among the people, let us warn them to speak no longer to any man in this name.” And when they had summoned them, they commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

 

The disciples wanted obedience even in the face of their reproach.

So must we.

 

And this is also important to understand.

 

When we fall under the reproach of men for our obedience to Christ

And we seek to answer their accusations.

 

Our answer is only partly verbal.

Part of our answer to them is how we verbally respond,

But part of the answer is how we continue to live.

 

This Psalmist wanted to answer well on both counts.

 

Second he pledges that if God will give His word, then he will trust it.

 

(45) “And I will walk at liberty, For I seek Your precepts.”

 

Now we do know that this man is under reproach,

But we don’t know any other circumstances.

 

Based on the fact that in verse 46 he is going to talk to “kings”

I suppose it is reasonable to assume that he is at least held under arrest.

 

It could be in fact that he has been arrested

And is about to be brought before a king.

(Just as Peter and John were, just as Paul was, just as Jesus was)

 

And it could be very likely that he is actually under arrest awaiting trial.

 

If that is true, this statement is even more uplifting.

“I will walk at liberty”

 

I will be free!

 

“For I seek Your precepts”

 

DOES HE SUPPOSE THAT HIS WISE ANSWER ACCORDING TO GOD’S WORD WILL RESULT IN HIS FREEDOM?

 

Maybe, maybe not.

But freedom of the soul

Has nothing to do with freedom of the body.

Paul understood this.

2 Timothy 2:8-10 “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descendant of David, according to my gospel, for which I suffer hardship even to imprisonment as a criminal; but the word of God is not imprisoned. For this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory.”

 

The freedom of Paul was freedom of soul.

It was the freedom of knowing that you are in the middle of God’s will.

 

And this man knew that freedom came from

Obedience to the word of God.

 

He knows his freedom is not found in answering according to the will of his accuser, but in answering according to the word of God.

 

He trusts that God’s word sets him free.

 

John 8:31-32 “So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

 

The Psalmist gets that.

 

So he is committed to obey God’s word

He is committed to trust God’s word

 

Thirdly, if God will give His word, he is committed to proclaim it.

 

(46) “I will also speak of Your testimonies before kings and shall not be ashamed.”

 

I absolutely love this statement.

• What words are fitting to speak before a king?

• What words are fitting to answer those who reproach you?

 

There is no higher word than the very word of God.

 

And even when the world calls it foolishness…

And even when the world calls it ignorance…

Even then the Psalmist said, I “shall not be ashamed”

 

Can’t you hear Paul here?

Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”

 

• Or how about when they called him an “idle babbler” in Athens?

• Or how about when Festus said, “Paul, you are out of your mind! Your great learning is driving you mad.”

 

Paul knew what it was to be considered a fool.

But Paul never tried to wow them with anything else.

• It was never about philosophy…

• It was never about humor…

• It was never about history…

 

It was always about proclaiming the word of God,

And he was not ashamed to do it.

 

And there we find our Psalmist.

• Committed to obey God’s word

• Committed to trust God’s word

• Committed to proclaim God’s word

 

And believe me; that MUST be the attitude of a man who asks for it

 

Do we suppose that God grants His word to those who have no intention of obeying it, trusting it, or proclaiming it?

 

James put it this way:

James 1:5-8 “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

 

Our Psalmist did it right.

 

He requested God’s word that He might answer wisely,

And he was committed to whatever word God revealed to him.

 

His Daily Problem, His Daily Pledge

#3 HIS DAILY PRACTICE

Psalms 119:47-48

 

And we find his example here to be of the utmost importance.

 

We find ourselves in dilemma’s where we need to answer.

We find ourselves in predicaments where a response is required.

 

And we may be afraid that we will not answer well,

So at the moment we cry out to God for an answer to give.

And there is certainly nothing wrong with that.

 

But what I want you to understand is that waiting until the dilemma is upon us to start seeking the answer is not the intention.

 

We must find ourselves committed to God’s word

Before we ever find ourselves in the situation where an answer is required.

 

Notice that is what this man does.

 

Look at his daily practice.

 

TO SEEK IT

(47) “I shall delight in Your commandments, Which I love.”

 

It is just a general love for the word of God.

Obviously it implies a continual reading of God’s word.

 

TO SUBMIT TO IT

(48a) “And I shall lift up my hands to Your commandments, Which I love;”

 

This is obviously an act of worship directed toward the word of God.

 

It is funny to me even today the number of people

Who try to separate worship of God from obedience to His word.

How can you possible praise God and ignore His word?

 

The Psalmist beautifully states that his worship

Includes worship of God’s word.

 

We submit to it.

We honor it through our obedience.

We extol it through our commitment to it.

 

TO STUDY IT

(48b) “And I will meditate on Your statutes”

 

“meditate” is one of my favorite words.

 

I don’t mean to sit “Indian style”

With a blindfold and your palms turned out.

 

Rather it is to continue pondering on what God has said,

Even after you have quit reading it.

 

To chew on it.

To converse on it.

To practically apply it over and over in your mind.

To dig in it.

To question more.

 

I have found this absolutely essential in my life.

 

The Psalmist shows that he doesn’t just want to read it,

He wants to know it.

He wants to get it right.

 

WHY DOES HE DO THIS?

• Why does he seek it?

• Why does he submit to it?

• Why does he study it?

 

BECAUSE HE WANTS AN ANSWER

FOR HIM WHO REPROACHES HIM

 

And he is not waiting until the moment of reproach

For a supernatural thought.

He is preparing himself ahead of time to be able to answer.

 

Listen, those promises about “it will be given in that hour” were promises given to the apostles. (Men who wrote the New Testament)

 

Now, I’m not saying that God never aids our memory in the heat of battle.

But He does not give new revelation.

 

God brings His word to your mind,

So it is imperative that you have first placed His word in there.

 

Consider Apollos (not an apostle)

Acts 18:24-28 “Now a Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by birth, an eloquent man, came to Ephesus; and he was mighty in the Scriptures. This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he was speaking and teaching accurately the things concerning Jesus, being acquainted only with the baptism of John; and he began to speak out boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. And when he wanted to go across to Achaia, the brethren encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him; and when he had arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace, for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, demonstrating by the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.”

 

Consider Timothy

2 Timothy 2:15-16 “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness,”

 

These men did not depend on some supernatural answer

To come during the point of attack.

 

These men were ready for reproach long before the reproach ever came.

It was a spiritual discipline.

 

DID THEY WANT TO ANSWER WISELY? – yes

DID THEY KNOW GOD’S WORD WAS THE ANSWER? – yes

 

And they proved it by studying it ahead of time.

 

This is the call for us as well.

If we believe God’s word is the answer,

Then prove it by studying it ahead of time.

We are all familiar with the Believers Armor.

Remember this piece?

 

Ephesians 6:15 “and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE;”

 

• We are called to be prepared.

• We seek God’s word

• We submit to God’s word

• We study God’s word

 

So that we will be able to give an answer to all who demand it.

 

This haunted me as a young preacher.

I had preached 14 sermons when I started at Crawford, and to say I was ignorant of the Scriptures is an understatement.

 

So I set out to read the Bible through 3 times a year.

 

I thought, I can’t have someone come up and say, “What in the world is Habakkuk talking about, and me not have an understanding.”

 

If you want to answer wisely…

 

Then obviously you must answer according to the word of God,

There is no greater wisdom.

 

But if you want to know the word of God,

Then you must commit yourself to studying it now.

 

It is awfully hard to give what is not in stock.

And woe to us all if we ever give people

Is our opinion on the matter.

 

We are called to answer wisely.

And we do it through careful study of God’s Word.

 

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