Conquering Affliction (Psalms 119:89-96)
Conquering Affliction
Psalms 119:89-96
October 30, 2011
Well, I suppose this is finally the sermon we have been waiting for.
We have seen our Psalmist suffering with affliction for weeks.
He has certainly maintained a spiritual mindset of maturity throughout the entire process, but his circumstances have definitely been difficult.
Last week was probably the hardest to see as we actually heard our Psalmist say, “I have become like a wineskin in the smoke,”
We saw our Psalmist at the end, at the bottom, and full of despair.
He still did not abandon the Lord…
He still did not deny…
He still did not defect…
But he had been given to despair.
And that is why the request of his mouth was:
(88) “Revive me according to Your lovingkindness, so that I may keep the testimony of Your mouth.”
He needed to be picked up.
Well, how refreshing to find his statement in this next stanza.
(93) “I will never forget Your precepts, for by them You have revived me;”
And so it is obvious that our Psalmist is doing better.
He is no longer in the pit…
He is no longer despairing…
He has been revived.
He has conquered his affliction.
Romans 8:35-37 “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written,
“FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.”
Paul understood affliction, and he understood what it meant to conquer it.
He knew what it was to despair, and he knew what it was to be revived.
And that is where we find our Psalmist.
He has been revived.
But please don’t misunderstand.
OUR PSALMIST HAS BEEN REVIVED,
BUT HIS AFFLICTION HAS NOT BEEN REMOVED.
This is not a stanza that celebrates the removal of hardship or affliction.
For that has not happened.
This is a stanza that celebrates revival in the midst of it.
His affliction is still present
(94) “I am Yours, save me;”
(95) “The wicked wait for me to destroy me;”
So it is obvious that our Psalmist is still in hot water.
He is still being afflicted.
He still needs God to rescue him.
He is still in the cross-hairs of the wicked.
We are not rejoicing that his affliction is gone.
We are rejoicing that in his affliction he has found revival.
For even though he is still afflicted, he is no longer despairing.
(92) “If Your law had not been my delight, Then I would have perished in my affliction.”
(93) “I will never forget Your precepts, For by them You have revived me.”
And so even though his affliction remains,
Our Psalmist has somehow found revival
And come to a place of rejoicing and hope even in the midst of it.
He obviously learned something.
He obviously began to understand something.
I suppose the question is, WHAT DID HE LEARN?
Certainly anyone who is in the midst of affliction
Would like to find what he found and learn what he learned.
3 Things in our text
#1 THE TRUTH HE SAW
Psalms 119:89-91
We wanted to know what the Psalmist saw, and here he shows us.
3 things he saw:
1) GOD’S WORD IS SETTLED (89)
This is indeed a wonderful statement.
It is statement that resonates with the permanence of God’s word.
“Forever”
Not for a time
“Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled”
God’s Word is not vacillating, God’s word is not temporary.
He didn’t see God putting His word out on a trial basis
As something He might change later.
He said that God’s word is forever “settled”
Nothing can change it.
Nothing can alter it.
Nothing can undo it.
Nothing can defeat it.
If God says it, it is so.
I suppose it is also important to recognize where it is settled.
“Your word is settled in heaven.”
There are times when God’s word is not settled in our hearts.
God’s word is certainly not settled amidst an unbelieving generation.
This world seems to think God’s word is not reliable, or is not trustworthy.
At times we suffer and begin to doubt that God will do what He says.
But not in heaven.
In heaven, God’s word is settled.
That is why Jesus taught us to pray in “The Model Prayer”
Matthew 6:9-10 “Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. ‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.”
In heaven God’s word is never questioned
And His will is never disregarded.
God’s word is settled.
It isn’t going to change, it isn’t going to fail, it isn’t going to leave.
Isaiah 40:8 “The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.”
2) GOD’S WORD IS SURE (90)
Here again we see a testimony to God’s word as that which is enduring;
That which accomplishes what it desires.
He recognizes that God’s “faithfulness continues through all generations;”
In short, there has yet to be a time when God wasn’t faithful.
Furthermore there will never be a time when God isn’t faithful.
BUT WHAT DOES HE BASE THAT ON?
“You established the earth, and it stands.”
The Psalmist knows God is faithful and that His word is sure,
Because of something that continues to stand.
That something is creation.
“You established the earth, and it stands.”
Tell me, HOW DID GOD ESTABLISH THE EARTH?
Genesis 1:3 “Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.”
Genesis 1:6 “Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.”
Genesis 1:9 “Then God said, “Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so.”
Genesis 1:11 “Then God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them”; and it was so.”
Creation was established by the word of God.
And because God told it to stand, it will stand until God tells it otherwise.
They can talk global warming all they want…
They can talk nuclear war all they want…
They can talk holes in the ozone layer…
But this world isn’t going anywhere until God tells it to,
Because He is the One who told it stay put.
2 Peter 3:5-7 “For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water, through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water. But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.”
And the Psalmist saw that as a tremendous testimony
To the certainty of God’s Word.
If the sun fails to rise…
If the tide fails to ebb & flow…
If the seasons fail to come…
Then you can question the certainty of God’s Word,
But creation proves that when God says something, it is sure.
You may remember when God gave the new covenant to Jeremiah.
Jeremiah 31:31-34 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD. “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. “They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the LORD, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
Certainly that was a great promise in the midst of dark affliction.
Certainly the people would have been prone to question such a promise.
So God gave them proof that His word is certain.
Jeremiah 31:35-37 “Thus says the LORD, Who gives the sun for light by day And the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; The LORD of hosts is His name: “If this fixed order departs From before Me,” declares the LORD, “Then the offspring of Israel also will cease From being a nation before Me forever.” Thus says the LORD, “If the heavens above can be measured And the foundations of the earth searched out below, Then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel For all that they have done,” declares the LORD.”
You may be prone to question My promise of a new covenant,
But before you question My word, just look at My track record.
If you see creation (which I command to function properly)
Stop functioning properly, then you can doubt My word about this too.
Point being, God’s word is sure.
Creation proves that.
God’s Word is Settled God’s Word is Sure
3) GOD’S WORD IS SOVEREIGN (91)
We not only see that God’s word doesn’t vacillate,
And we saw that God’s word accomplishes what it says.
Isaiah 55:11 “So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.”
Here we find that nothing argues with God’s word.
God is not a God who just intends for things to happen
And then hopes nothing interferes.
God’s word is so certain that nothing can interfere.
The Psalmist said, “They stand this day according to Your ordinances”
“They” = the things of earth
The earth doesn’t stand because man takes such good care of it.
The earth stands because God told it to.
And despite the desires of the enemy to undo,
What God has done, nothing can undo it.
“For all things are Your servants.”
That is to say, everything has to do what You say.
Nothing can resist Your will.
Isaiah 14:27 “For the LORD of hosts has planned, and who can frustrate it? And as for His stretched-out hand, who can turn it back?”
Isaiah 43:13 “Even from eternity I am He, And there is none who can deliver out of My hand; I act and who can reverse it?”
And the illustrations of this are endless.
Satan couldn’t touch Job apart from God’s permission.
Joseph’s brothers couldn’t sell Joseph apart from God allowing it.
In fact Joseph said:
Genesis 45:7-8 “God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance. “Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt.”
Want to see a real shocker?
Look at the death of Jesus.
Acts 2:23 “this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.”
It was all up to God.
And the Psalmist recognizes that.
• God’s word isn’t temporary and subject to change.
• God’s word isn’t doubtful or ever prone to fail.
• God’s word isn’t so weak that anyone can change it.
His word is Settled, Sure, and Sovereign.
THIS IS WHAT CHANGED THE PSALMISTS MINDSET
Here he had been in despair
Namely because he wasn’t sure God would do what He said.
Yes, he hoped God would, but he wasn’t certain.
He knew what God’s word said and he hoped for it’s fulfillment,
But it is obvious he wasn’t certain that it would ever happen.
AND THEN HE LOOKED AT CREATION.
And he said, wait a minute.
Creation is proof that when God tells something to happen, it happens.
When God tells something to stay put, it does.
God’s word is settled,
God’s word is sure,
God’s word is sovereign.
And that doesn’t just include the commands of creation,
But the promises He has made in the midst of my affliction.
Promises of comfort…
Promises of deliverance…
Promises of good…
Promises of blessing…
The Psalmist knows that he can believe what God said,
Because if God said it, it is final.
And that knowledge pulled him out of his despair.
Now he doesn’t just hope, he has hope.
This was the same hope Paul had in his affliction.
2 Corinthians 4:7-10 “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.”
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
That was the new perspective of our Psalmist.
He now knew that God’s promises would not fail.
The Truth He Saw
#2 THE TESTIMONY HE SHARES
Psalms 119:92-93
Now that he knows God’s word is faithful,
He is encouraged when he reads it.
He is encouraged when he remembers the promises.
And notice what he says.
1) GOD’S WORD SUSTAINS (92)
He said that God’s word has proven now to be enough for him.
All he had was God’s word and that proved to be enough
To sustain him and to keep him from perishing.
Psalms 27:13 “I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living.”
I love the song by Laura Story, “Great God who Saves”
“Oh the promises of God, The rock on which I stand. The Truth to which I cling. His love that knows no bounds; He showers us with grace. Withholding no good thing. When I stumble And my faith is small, I will call your name; Great God who saves.
I would have despaired If I had not believed That You would come to me Great God who saves In my darkest hour Your mercy and Your power Are reaching out to me Great God who saves.”
That is what the Psalmist said here.
I would have perished.
I would have died.
And yet, Your law was “my delight” and in it I found hope.
Charles Spurgeon said:
“With that word we are charmed; it is a mine of delight to us. We take a double and treble delight in it, and derive a multiplied delight from it, and this stands us in good stead when all other delights are taken from us. We should have felt ready to lie down and die of our griefs if the spiritual comforts of God’s word had not uplifted us; but by their sustaining influence we have been borne above all the depressions and despairs which naturally grow out of severe affliction. Some of us can set our seal to this statement. Our affliction, if it had not been for divine grace, would have crushed us out of existence, so that we should have perished. In our darkest seasons nothing has kept us from desperation but the promise of the Lord: yea, at times nothing has stood between us and self-destruction save faith in the eternal word of God. When worn with pain until the brain has become dazed and the reason well-nigh extinguished, a sweet text has whispered to us its heart-cheering assurance, and our poor struggling mind has reposed upon the bosom of God. That which was our delight in prosperity has been our light in adversity; that which in the day kept us from presuming has in the night kept us from perishing.”
(Expositions of the Psalms – pg 316)
That was the mindset of the Psalmist.
Furthermore that is his testimony as well.
I learned God’s word is sure, and so now I testify that God’s word sustains.
2) GOD’S WORD SUPPORTS (93)
Here he reminds that God’s word will always be a part of his daily meal,
For he always finds revival there.
It was “by them” that God revived him.
God’s revival did not come through a friend…
God’s revival did not come through a purchase…
God’s revival did not come through a power bar or nutrient shake…
God’s revival came by His “precepts”
And this is the testimony that the Psalmist shares with us.
Psalms 19:7a “The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul;”
And that is what the Psalmist wants you to know.
And so we see the Truth He Saw We see the Testimony He Shares
#3 THE TRUST HE SHOWS
Psalms 119:94-96
Obviously this is no time to neglect God’s word now, and he doesn’t.
We notice that his affliction is still present,
But also notice that he is clinging to the word of God now more than ever.
And again we see his trust exhibited in three areas.
1) GOD’S WORD SAVES (94)
Certainly he credits God as the Savior.
We know simply reading the Bible does not save.
Believing the promises of the God who made them is what saves,
And that is what the Psalmist says.
“I am Yours, save me; For I have sought Your precepts.”
You see he knows that God promises to save those who seek Him.
God’s word taught him that.
And since he now knows beyond a shadow of a doubt
That God’s word is faithful, he can confidently ask for salvation.
Joel 2:32 “And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the LORD Will be delivered; For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem There will be those who escape, As the LORD has said, Even among the survivors whom the LORD calls.”
Jesus Himself said:
Matthew 7:7-11 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. “Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? “Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!”
The Psalmist knew that, he believed that.
He places his trust in that.
God’s Word Saves
2) GOD’S WORD STRENGTHENS (95)
Again we recognize that he is still caught in the midst of his afflictions.
“The wicked wait for me to destroy me;”
Well what do you do?
“I shall diligently consider Your testimonies”
He said, I am going to the word of God.
I’m going to read the testimonies of God’s faithfulness
Throughout all generations.
More than that, I will “consider” them.
More than that, I will “diligently consider” them
WHY?
Because he has come to find strength in the testimonies of God.
He is still hated.
He is still hunted.
But he finds strength in the word of God.
Don’t you have passages that give you strength?
I can’t tell you how I love to read God’s promise through Peter:
1 Peter 5:10 “After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.”
That is strengthening to me.
The Psalmist is running to that as well.
3) GOD’S WORD SATISFIES (96)
“I have seen a limit to all perfection”
Isn’t that the truth!
Tell me what is perfect about this earth.
The Economy
The Weather
The Culture
Or how about something you own, is any of it perfect?
How about your children?
How about your job?
How about your past?
Give up searching, there isn’t anything that is perfect.
Except God’s word
“Your commandment is exceedingly broad.”
The NIV says, “but your commands are boundless”
The Psalmist says I continue to go to your word for everything,
Because while everything else has proven to be less than perfect,
I have never found a flaw in Your word.
Psalms 19:7a “The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul;”
AND WHAT A CHANGE IN OUR PSALMIST!
Last week he was on the brink of despair,
Comparing himself to a wineskin in the smoke.
Here, although still afflicted, he has a much more positive outlook, even saying he has been revived.
It is because of THE TRUTH HE SAW
He looked at creation and said:
God’s Word is Settled
God’s Word is Sure
God’s Word is Sovereign
This pulled him out of despair, knowing that the promises of God are trustworthy because God’s word never fails.
That led him to share a TESTIMONY
God’s Word Sustains
God’s Word Supports
And even though he is still afflicted his TRUST endures, for:
God’s Word Saves
God’s Word Strengthens
God’s Word Satisfies
What a great deliverance!
THAT IS HOW YOU CONQUER ADVERISTY
This life promises hardship.
In fact Jesus said:
John 16:33 “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”
Hardship comes, and even if you get delivered out of this one,
Rest assured another is on its way.
But when we reach the place the Psalmist reached
To have full assurance in the promises of God
Then we are more than conquerors.
Romans 8:31-39 “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, “FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
And that is the testimony of our Psalmist.
All because of the word of God.
Psalms 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.”
