A Picture of Endurance (Psalms 119:81-88)
A Picture of Endurance
Psalms 119:81-88
October 23, 2011
As you know we are studying through the 119th Psalm.
And we are learning of this great treasure we call “The Word of God”.
And yet at the same time we are coming to realize that
While God’s Word is without a doubt the main topic of discussion,
The Psalmist also has a great deal to say about the topic of “affliction”
• We’ve seen him acknowledge affliction
• We’ve seen him appreciate affliction
• We’ve seen him ask for it to go away
And yet, through all those emotions, the one constant is
That in affliction he always seeks out the word of God.
His attitude reminds me quite a bit of Paul’s attitude.
2 Corinthians 4:7-11 “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.”
Like Paul, this man had the right perspective.
He never let his affliction drive him away from God,
But rather always allowed his affliction to drive him closer.
Nowhere was that seen better than in verses 71-72
Psalms 119:71-72 “It is good for me that I was afflicted, That I may learn Your statutes. The law of Your mouth is better to me Than thousands of gold and silver pieces.”
And so we have seen this man afflicted,
But we also seen him handle that affliction well.
Tonight we see him in the midst of his affliction one more time.
And it is obvious that this time, our Psalmist has hit bottom.
(81) “My soul languishes…”
(82) “My eyes fail…”
(83) “I have become like a wineskin in the smoke,”
(85) “The arrogant have dug pits for me…”
(86) “They have persecuted me with a lie…”
(87) “They almost destroyed me on earth,”
I mean I think it is obvious that this man has a better handle on affliction
Than do most people.
And it is also obvious that he has hit the bottom.
He is near death, he near the point of hopelessness, he is hated
And he estimates himself to already be ruined.
(That is what “like a wineskin in the smoke” means.)
This man has hit the bottom.
And so here, like no other place, we find a picture of endurance.
He hangs on simply because hanging on is the right thing to do.
And so tonight let’s learn a little about endurance.
Before we work through our text, let me reiterate to you quickly
THE IMPORTANCE OF ENDURANCE.
TURN TO: HEBREWS 10
You are aware that Hebrews was written to three groups of Jews.
1) The skeptic who did not believe Jesus was the Christ
2) The intellectual, who knew Jesus was the Christ, but wouldn’t confess Him.
3) The persecuted who had confessed Jesus, but wanted to quit
It is to that third group that the writer is dealing with here.
(VERSES 32-39)
And we noticed there in verse 36 why endurance is so important.
Because if you do good today, but then quit tomorrow,
Then you lose the reward of today.
You will notice from there that the writer goes into the faith chapter.
He is giving examples of people who endured with great faith.
We know the individual examples, but look at his point.
(VERSES 11:13-16)
We see there that the writer applauds Abraham and Sarah
For their endurance even though they never received what was promised.
Go on a little further as the list grows longer and longer.
(VERSES 11:39-40)
And there again these men did not get all they hoped for.
The true promise was Christ and His kingdom.
They did not receive that, though they waited for it.
And they all had to endure in their journey.
Then the writer comes back to the present.
First he tells us to endure like they did, and like Christ did.
(12:1-3)
And then he explains the necessity of our endurance.
(12:4-11)
And finally he comes back full circle asking us to endure.
(12:12-13)
And so you understand still the necessity of endurance.
Don’t quit.
• You are at your wits end…
• You are suffering for more than you anticipated…
• You have suffered far longer than you anticipated…
• You think you are already ruined like a wineskin in the smoke…
KEEP GOING
And it isn’t until those moments that endurance really defines itself.
It isn’t the first leg of the race that requires the most endurance,
It is the final leg.
And that is where we find our Psalmist.
Now, I must forewarn you.
This is not a happy Psalm. This is a real Psalm.
This stanza does not end happy.
He ends still in the midst of his affliction.
And that is what makes it such a great picture of endurance.
And since we have need of endurance, let us see what it looks like.
Four points tonight
#1 HIS PRESENT CONDITION
Psalms 119:81-83
I actually love reading these three verses.
Not because I find joy in this man’s misery,
But I find tremendous inspiration from this man’s faithful endurance.
Look at what he says:
(81) “My soul languishes for Your salvation”
“languishes” means “grows feeble” or “loses vitality”
It actually translates the Hebrew word “KALAH”
It means “complete, finished, or spent”
It is most often translated “finished”
And that is what this man says.
“May soul [is spent] for Your salvation”
I am done.
I am spent.
I am finished.
I have lost vitality.
He has nothing left.
Now that is not all we see.
(82) “My eyes fail with longing for Your word,”
So now, not only is his soul spent, but now his eyes fail.
He has watched to the point of blindness.
(83) “Though I have become like a wineskin in the smoke,”
And as we said earlier, this is an indication that he is ruined.
A wineskin in the smoke dries out and cracks
And is no longer useful for anything.
That is this man.
His affliction has lingered too long…
His persecution has inflicted irreparable damage to him…
He doesn’t see himself as useful any longer.
Now, I think we can all agree that
This is a harsh condition he has found himself in.
He is struggling to say the least.
But now let me show you his commitment.
(81) “My soul languishes for Your salvation; I wait for Your word.”
“My soul is spent, but I am waiting”
Psalms 27:14 “Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD.”
Psalms 37:7-9 “Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes. Cease from anger and forsake wrath; Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing. For evildoers will be cut off, But those who wait for the LORD, they will inherit the land.”
Psalms 62:5-8 “My soul, wait in silence for God only, For my hope is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation, My stronghold; I shall not be shaken. On God my salvation and my glory rest; The rock of my strength, my refuge is in God. Trust in Him at all times, O people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us.”
And of course who could forget:
Isaiah 40:31 “Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.”
That was where our Psalmist was.
His soul was spent.
His soul was finished.
BUT HE CONTINUED TO WAIT
We call that endurance.
When all you can do is wait on God, that is what he did.
(82) “My eyes fail with longing for Your word, While I say, “When will You comfort me?”
There he indicated that his eyes were tired and failing.
BUT I AM WATCHING
He paints the picture of a man watching road,
Waiting eagerly for deliverance to arrive.
He could have given up, or stopped hoping, but he didn’t.
He will watch until he can’t physically watch any more.
The story is told of a blind man who used to read the Bible by brail.
One day he contracted an illness that caused him to lose feeling in his fingers, whereby he could no longer read the Scripture.
In despair he leaned to kiss his bible good-bye,
Only to find that his lips were more sensitive than his fingers had ever been, and thus he began to read with his lips.
That is the type of man we see here.
Endurance
Look at the next example of his endurance
(83) “Though I have become like a wineskin in the smoke, I do not forget Your statutes.”
“My life is ruined, but I remember”
He can’t presently see the value in his life,
But that doesn’t stop him from continuing to honor God
With his life to the best of his ability.
• So His soul was weak, but he waited.
• His eyes were failing, but he watched.
• His life was ruined, but he remembered.
We call that endurance.
Charles Spurgeon, “It was by perseverance that the snail entered the ark.”
Certainly endurance matters.
Hebrews 10:36 “For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.”
His Present Condition
#2 HIS PATIENT CONCERN
Psalms 119:84
To call it a patient concern is a bit of a sarcastic statement,
For he doesn’t appear all that patient.
(He is, for he hasn’t left the Lord)
But he is getting antsy and frustrated.
And here he we see his concern in the form of two questions.
“How many are the days of Your servant?”
We understand this statement.
How long will this last?
And this seems to be a common thread
That runs through most people’s affliction.
I don’t know if I have ever seen a person yet
Who was ready for their affliction to last as long as it did.
Psalms 6:2-3 “Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am pining away; Heal me, O LORD, for my bones are dismayed. And my soul is greatly dismayed; But You, O LORD — how long?”
Psalms 13:1-3 “How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, Having sorrow in my heart all the day? How long will my enemy be exalted over me? Consider and answer me, O LORD my God; Enlighten my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death,”
Psalms 89:46-47 “How long, O LORD? Will You hide Yourself forever? Will Your wrath burn like fire? Remember what my span of life is; For what vanity You have created all the sons of men!”
But this wasn’t just limited to the Psalmist and life’s adversity.
When Isaiah found
That his mission would not produce converts, but rather condemnation, his question was:
Isaiah 6:11 “Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He answered, “Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant, Houses are without people And the land is utterly desolate,”
When Jeremiah faced the opposition in his ministry, he asked:
Jeremiah 12:1-4 “Righteous are You, O LORD, that I would plead my case with You; Indeed I would discuss matters of justice with You: Why has the way of the wicked prospered? Why are all those who deal in treachery at ease? You have planted them, they have also taken root; They grow, they have even produced fruit. You are near to their lips But far from their mind. But You know me, O LORD; You see me; And You examine my heart’s attitude toward You. Drag them off like sheep for the slaughter And set them apart for a day of carnage! How long is the land to mourn And the vegetation of the countryside to wither? For the wickedness of those who dwell in it, Animals and birds have been snatched away, Because men have said, “He will not see our latter ending.”
Listen to Habakkuk as he witnessed the evil of his day:
Habakkuk 1:2 “How long, O LORD, will I call for help, And You will not hear? I cry out to You, “Violence!” Yet You do not save.”
And even Jesus felt this frustration.
Matthew 17:17 “And Jesus answered and said, “You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me.”
And certainly we understand, this Psalmist wants to know
How much longer he can possible stand this.
His next question was:
“When will You execute judgment on those who persecute me?”
And he isn’t alone in this either.
Revelation 6:9-11 “When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, ” How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also.”
The cry for vindication is not a seldom used prayer.
Many a persecuted man has wondered
How long God will let the enemy go free.
And so you can see the concerns of this man’s heart.
I point this out so that we will understand
That his situation is not an easy one.
His soul is spent
His eyes are tired
His life is ruined
And his hope is fading
And yet he endures.
His Present Condition His Patient Concern
#3 HIS PASSIONATE CRY
Psalms 119:85-86
Here again we see his affliction.
This time he outlines their evil towards him.
“The arrogant have dug pits for me, Men who are not in accord with Your law.”
You may remember earlier it was different:
Psalms 119:61 “The cords of the wicked have encircled me, But I have not forgotten Your law.”
But here they have not only encircled him,
But they are plotting to do away with him permanently.
It is easy to see Joseph here about to be done away with by his brothers.
We also see the second part of verse 86
“They have persecuted me with a lie;”
That is not the first time we have seen that.
He is not only attacked, but he is also falsely accused and slandered.
In fact, you can even look down to verse 87,
“They almost destroyed me on earth”
They just nearly killed him.
And so his affliction is not made up.
It is not a figment of his imagination.
His situation is real.
His enemy is real.
The danger is real.
Now, despite all that, he still endures.
(86) “All Your commandments are faithful;”
He is afflicted, but he has not lost his commitment to the word of God.
The one thing we do notice however,
Is that his frustration is about to boil over.
Verse 86 ends with a passionate cry, “Help me!”
This is not a request…
This is not a plea…
This is a man who has had enough.
He wants God to fix it and fix it now.
Now, certainly we are not promoting the concept of giving God orders,
Nor are we judging this man for wanting help.
We are merely pointing out again that this man is struggling.
I think we must agree that regardless of our affliction
It would be hard to see ourselves any worse off than this man.
His suffering is real, and he really wants it over.
That is what makes his endurance so encouraging to us.
His Present Condition His Patient Concern His Passionate Cry
#4 HIS PERSONAL COMMITMENT
Psalms 119:87-88
And there again we see that endurance shine forth.
“They almost destroyed me on earth, But as for me, I did not forsake Your precepts.”
We certainly all understand affliction.
I am not sure we all understand death threats.
I don’t know if any of us know what it feels like
For your life to hang in the balance if you choose to obey God.
This man did, and yet he endured.
The pressure on him was to forsake God’s Word and he refused.
Even upon pain of death he would not forsake.
And that is endurance.
Furthermore look at his present request.
(88) “Revive me according to Your lovingkindness, so that I may keep the testimony of Your mouth.”
WHAT A STATEMENT!
I am weak, I am worn, I am broken, I am beaten.
Please strengthen me to keep obedience,
Because that is what the enemy wants to keep me from doing.
He just wants to endure.
He just wants to continue.
What a tremendous picture.
We know that endurance is important.
Hebrews 10:36-39 “For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. FOR YET IN A VERY LITTLE WHILE, HE WHO IS COMING WILL COME, AND WILL NOT DELAY. BUT MY RIGHTEOUS ONE SHALL LIVE BY FAITH; AND IF HE SHRINKS BACK, MY SOUL HAS NO PLEASURE IN HIM. But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.”
And here we see what it looks like.
• It is waiting when you can’t wait any longer.
• It is watching when you can’t watch any longer.
• It is remembering when you don’t see any hope.
• It is obeying when obedience gets you in trouble.
• It is just refusing to forsake when the pressure mounts.
We call it endurance and this man gives a great example of it.
May we be encouraged to be faithful to God’s Word
In exactly the same way.
Psalms 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.”
