Thinking About Confidence
Psalms 119:41-48
October 31, 2021
The last time we covered this passage the sermon was entitled,
“How To Answer Wisely”
That was taken primarily from the dilemma which was revealed in verse 42. “So I will have an answer for him who reproaches me…”
The Psalmist was clearly dealing with the issue
Of being able to answer those who persecuted him.
Even in the last stanza of Psalm 119
We discovered how fear of reproach had greatly impacted our Psalmist.
Psalms 119:39 “Turn away my reproach which I dread, For Your ordinances are good.”
In the previous stanza the Psalmist actually prayed that God
Would turn away these sort of negative reproaches from him.
And certainly we understand that mentality.
After all Jesus taught us to pray:
Matthew 6:13 “‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’”
I certainly don’t have a problem with praying
That I can avoid persecution or attack.
And yet, we also know that because of the condition of this world,
Some reproach is absolutely unavoidable.
It is coming.
And so while the Christian may certainly pray to escape reproach,
The Christian at the same time must be prepared to answer it.
And that is what we discussed last time we studied this stanza.
We talked about how to make that wise answer.
We’re not going to rehash that entire sermon here,
But I do think some discussion is certainly necessary.
Peter addressed this topic sort of head on.
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;”
There was a sense in which Peter understood that if you do what is right
Then you should be able to avoid most confrontation and reproach.
However, Peter also knew that is not always true.
There will come times that you will “suffer for the sake of righteousness”
Jesus taught:
Matthew 5:10-12 “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “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.”
And that is what Peter was talking about.
• Peter knew that there would be times when the righteous would suffer simply because they are righteous.
• Peter knew about reproach.
And at that point Peter gave some stellar advice.
• “Do not fear”
• “Do not be troubled”
• “sanctify Christ as Lord in your heart”
• “always be ready to make a defense”
• “always be ready to give an account for the hope that is in you”
• “give an account with gentleness and reverence”
That is all sound advice.
It was directed to people just like this Psalmist.
Avoid reproach if you can, but when it comes
And you are called to give an account, then give a splendid account!
You may remember the early church here.
TURN TO: ACTS 4:23-31
• On the previous day, Peter and John had been going to the temple to pray where they encountered a crippled man and Peter healed him.
• This drew a crowd and Peter began to preach about Jesus and the necessity that Israel repent and return.
• The chief priests came up with the Sadducees and arrested Peter and John and put them in jail.
• On the next day the intimidation began.
• Peter and John were surrounded by Annas and his entire mobster family in order to intimidate them.
• But Peter and John remained confident and boldly proclaimed that they must obey God rather than men.
• Verse 21, “When they had threatened them further, they let them go…”
Peter and John went to the church and told them all about it.
• The miracle
• The sermon
• The arrest and night in jail
• The interrogation
• The threats
In some sense the church was just put on notice.
How do you respond?
Here is how the early church responded:
(READ 23-31)
• No fear, no intimidation.
• They sanctified Christ as Lord
• And they prayed
Verses 29-30, “And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that Your bond-servants may speak Your word with all confidence, while You extend Your hand to heal, and signs and wonders take place through the name of Your holy servant Jesus.”
They wanted confidence.
They wanted to know what to say and they wanted the boldness to say it.
The church began to contemplate how to respond to reproach.
This is something that the church must do.
• We certainly desire to live in peace with all men.
• We certainly desire things like unity and harmony.
• We certainly desire to get along in our society.
But there are times when the church must also
Voice both her dissent and her response.
Certainly this is a requirement for elders.
Titus 1:9 “holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.”
But you are also aware that
You may not always be in the company of your pastor.
There may very well come a time
• When you are called upon to give an account.
• When you are called upon to “have an answer for him who reproaches”
Now this stanza of Psalms 119 actually outlines responsibilities here.
• Verses 41-43 speak to what would be God’s responsibility.
• Verses 44-48 speak to what would be our responsibility.
You notice the Psalmist’s prayer to God.
(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 Psalmist prays first and foremost for God to provide
• “lovingkindness” and “salvation”
• Just as God has promised or “according to Your word.”
During that reproach he is asking God to be loyal to me and to save me.
We might better understand it as him asking,
“Be on my side, and bail me out!”
I need You to show up and give me an answer.
And this is certainly warranted.
Jesus said:
Matthew 10:19-20 “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.”
And that was certainly proved true with Peter and John for even when they were surrounded by the Chief Priests we read:
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.”
It is clear that in that instance Christ was for them
And Christ delivered them or saved them.
• He gave them wisdom.
• He gave them confidence.
• And even though they were uneducated and untrained in debate, Jesus bailed
them out.
That is what the Psalmist wants.
Help me God in that situation.
The Psalmist also prays (43) “And do not take the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, For I wait for Your ordinances.”
It is a call very simply that God would not let him forget the Scripture.
Remember what Jesus told the apostles:
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.”
• That was a promise given to the apostles and it is such that allowed them to
record the New Testament.
• We might simply pray that God help us remember His word any time we are
called to give an account.
But simply we see at the outset that the Psalmist understands
That a certain part of this burden falls on God.
He is not going into this battle alone.
• He prays that God will show him loyalty.
• He prays that God will deliver him.
• He prays that God will bring His word to mind so he’ll have an answer.
And all of those are really good prayers.
I highly recommend you pray all of that
Any time you are called to give an account.
Tonight as we think about confidence that is a very important part of it.
IT IS CONFIDENCE IN GOD.
• It is confidence that God will not fail you.
• It is confidence that God is for you.
• It is confidence that God will deliver you.
• It is confidence that God will bring His word to your mind.
Your confidence in that situation rests upon who God is & what God does
We certainly never miss that.
But the thing I want to look at a little more closely TONIGHT
Is the SECOND HALF of this stanza.
It is in verses 44-48
Where the Psalmist talks about his responsibility in this process.
I hesitate to say that applying these principles will give you confidence.
I think certainly it is best that all our confidence be in God.
But I will say that FAILING TO APPLY these principles
Will CERTAINLY ERODE any confidence that you might have.
To put it another way.
If you aren’t faithful to take care of your responsibility in this area,
It is going to make it extremely difficult for you to be confident
When you are called to give an account even with God on your side.
Let me explain what I mean.
In these last 5 verses the entire emphasis shifts to the Psalmist expressing to God what he will do.
• (44) “I will keep Your law continually”
• (45) “I will walk at liberty”
• (46) “I will also speak of Your testimonies before kings”
• (47) “I shall delight in Your commandments”
• (48) “I shall lift up my hands to Your commandments”
• (48) “I will meditate on Your statutes”
They are statements of commitment.
They are statements of action.
And this is what I want you to understand.
You should never be confident in your own ability or knowledge or faithfulness, but if you don’t do the things the Psalmist mentions here you’re going to have a really tuff time being confident even in God.
So let’s look at the Psalmists commitment; his responsibility.
There are 3 main things here you should see.
#1 HIS COMMITMENT TO OBEY GOD’S LAW
Psalms 119:44-45
You see the commitment very easily.
• “I will keep Your law continually”
• He goes on to add “Forever and ever.”
I know we can get into the gospel implications of this and recognize that no man has ever obeyed the law continually or forever and ever except for Christ.
That we understand.
And yet, no Christian ever goes to God and says,
“God I’m committed to obey 75% of Your word.”
Though we certainly fail
The Christian ambition & commitment is exactly what this Psalmist says
• It is the goal…
• It is the objective…
• It is the ambition…
• To “keep Your law continually, Forever and ever”
Let me ask you WHY?
Certainly because it’s God’s law and we want to please Him.
But more than that…
• We are talking about the dilemma of being called to give an account.
• We are talking about have “an answer for him who reproaches”
WHY IS OBEDIENCE SO IMPORTANT IN THAT SCENARIO?
(45) “And I will walk at liberty”
Very simply put the Psalmist recognizes that
There is a freedom that is only found in being a law-keeper.
We know that in a judicial sense in our own country.
If you break the law you lose your freedoms.
While it is true that you may lose your freedoms even if you are obedient to the law, you will certainly lose them if you disobey it.
Remember what Jesus said
As He prepared the disciples for their first missionary journey.
Matthew 10:16 “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves.”
What is He saying?
When the world wants to beat you in the head,
Don’t supply the hammer.
1 Peter 4:15-16 “Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler; but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name.”
Think about the many trials of Jesus.
• It would have been far easier for them to condemn Him if they actually had any evidence against Him.
• Now to be sure, they hated Him so much that they invented false charges but the point is that He didn’t make it easy.
If you want to be able to give a defense to those who reproach you I can promise you that your defense will be much easier
If you are actually innocent.
It will be much easier for you to defend the truth you proclaim
If you have lived the truth you proclaim.
The fastest way our world discredits the Christian message
Is by pointing out the inconsistent living of Christian people.
Part of being able to give a good defense is by living an obedient life.
1 Peter 2:11-12 “Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul. Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.”
1 Peter 2:15 “For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men.”
That is also why when Peter told you to be ready to give an account he began by saying, “but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts”
Nothing will derail your defense of the gospel faster
Than when people start pulling out all your instances of disobedience.
But even beyond that, nothing will erode your confidence faster
Than your own awareness of your failures.
Have you ever contemplated sharing the gospel or preaching repentance to someone only to have this thought: “Who am I to tell them to repent?”
You may have been extremely convicted about the truth of your message
But it was your own disobedience that eroded your confidence.
YOU WERE AFRAID, not because you were wrong,
But because YOU WERE HYPOCRITICAL.
You had yet to deal with the log in your own eye
And knew you were not equipped to deal with the speck in theirs.
It is a real dilemma.
If you want to maintain your confidence
On the day when you are called to give an account
That will be much easier if you have been obedient.
• So obey the Scriptures.
• And in those areas where you have not obeyed, repent of your disobedience.
• Make it your ambition to live an obedient life
• And I promise you it will be far easier to give an account to those who reproach you.
You need a commitment to obey God’s Law
#2 A COMMITMENT TO PROCLAIM GOD’S LAW
Psalms 119:46
Here the Psalmists commitment is still clear.
“I will also speak of Your testimonies before kings And shall not be ashamed.”
We’ve talked about this many times.
• We’ve read Paul’s famous “I am not ashamed of the gospel”
• We’ve listened as Paul told Timothy “Do not be ashamed”
• We remember our Lord saying to “Confess Me before men”
We know the passages and we understand the calling.
Where I think we often fail is in the preparation.
I heard John MacArthur say one time that “Sermons should never be the primary goal of your Bible study, they should only be the overflow of it.”
And I certainly understand the point
That there is primarily a desire in our study of God’s word
To commune with God and to know Him better.
However,
I would point out that even though the majority of Christians may not study the Bible with an eye to writing a sermon…
Every Christian should study the Bible with the expectation
Of sharing what they have learned with someone.
Certainly we study the Bible to see God and to learn truth.
• But when you study the Bible do you give any thought to how you might explain the passage to someone else?
• When you study the Bible do you give any thought to how you might apply it to a situation or someone’s life?
• When you study the Bible do you contemplate how this truth confronts the culture and how you might use it to do so?
I love the specific word the Psalmist uses here.
He says, “I will also speak of Your TESTIMONIES before kings”
• God’s word is certainly called His “law” as something we are to obey.
• God’s word is certainly called His “precepts” as guides for living.
• God’s word is certainly called His “statutes” as that which is engraved in iron and immovable.
• God’s word is certainly called His “ordinances” as that which governs life.
But God’s word is also called His “testimonies”
As that which is to be proclaimed.
When we read God’s word there must be an understanding,
Even a commitment to realize that some day
I will be called upon to proclaim these truths I am learning.
Do you remember the rebuke that the writer of Hebrews gave to his congregation?
Hebrews 5:11-14 “Concerning him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.”
Do you think of yourself as a teacher?
• The Bible calls us a kingdom of priests, does that not include teaching?
• We are lights in darkness.
• We are salt to the tasteless.
There is very much an EXPECTATION
That you will be the one to disseminate truth to the world.
2 Timothy 3:13-17 “But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”
Again we understand that God has given His word to be shared.
• That we will use it to confront an evil culture.
• That we will use it to bear witness to Christ.
• That we will use it to give an account of our own hope.
• We use it to teach.
• We use it to reprove.
• We use it to train in righteousness.
The Psalmist knew this in his study.
He wasn’t just studying God’s word as some sort of elective in life. It wasn’t just some hobby. He was training for battle.
He was learning God’s word and digesting it
Because one day he might be given the opportunity to testify of it.
And this is yet another reason why so many Christians
HAVE NO CONFIDENCE to share the word of God.
• They have never considered in their own mind that this is their job.
• They have never made that inward commitment like this Psalmist that they
are going to share God’s word.
• They have always sort of side-stepped the job to someone else.
• And so they have no confidence to do it.
Now again, no man shares God’s word in his own strength.
Our confidence most certainly is in God,
But at the same time
IF YOU HAVE NOT yet begun to consider yourself a bearer of truth
Then I promise in the moment you’ll have no confidence to do so.
You need a commitment to obey God’s Law
You need a commitment to proclaim God’s Law
#3 A COMMITMENT TO LOVE GOD’S LAW
Psalms 119:47-48
The language is great here isn’t it!
• “I shall delight in Your commandments, WHICH I LOVE”
• “I shall lift up my hands to Your commandments, WHICH I LOVE”
• “I will meditate on Your statutes.”
This reality feeds the first two commitments.
We read the Psalmists prayer in verse 43,
“And do not take the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, For I wait for Your ordinances.”
It is a cry that God will let him both understand and remember His word.
And we read about
• How God will bring to your remembrance all that He said.
• How not to worry when you stand before kings for God will supply the words.
BUT HERE IS THE QUESTION.
Have you filled up the storeroom?
One thing we are NOT LOOKING FOR on the day of reproach
Is some NEW REVELATION.
Nor are we seeking to argue in our own logic.
When we are called to answer a reproach
There is only one thing we want to answer with
And that is THE WORD OF GOD.
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?”
• We have no desire to give men our anecdotes…
• We have no desire to wow men with our logic…
• We have no desire to show men our experiences…
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.”
What else would we give?
But the question to be asked now is have you feasted on it?
• Have you delighted in it?
• Have you loved it?
• Have you submitted to it? (“lift up my hands to”)
• Have you meditated on it?
Do you really expect on the day of reproach
That God is simply going to pop into your head
Some Bible passage that you have never read?
Or is it far more likely that God will bring to your remembrance that passage that you have studied and meditated on and loved?
Carrie shared her testimony during Disciple Now
(If you haven’t watched it, you should, it is great)
Even before I heard her share I knew some of the verses she would use.
• I knew Matthew 16:24 was coming out (“deny yourself”)
• I knew Philippians 3 was coming out (“count them but dung”)
• I knew Lamentations 3:22 was coming out (“mercies new every morning”)
Carrie was being called to give an account of the hope that is in her.
And those are the passages
That she has wrestled with perhaps more than any other.
• Those are the ones she has studied.
• Those are the ones she has meditated on.
• Those are the ones she has lifted up her hands to.
• And therefore those are the ones that she loves!
We all have them.
Romans 1:16 – “I am not ashamed of the gospel…”
2 Corinthians 5:21 – “He made Him who knew no sin…”
Romans 8:1 – “There is therefore now no condemnation…”
What are yours?
Those verses that you’ve digested and meditated on and perhaps wept over and finally submitted to and lifted up your hands to?
Are those not now the verses that you love?
And are those not now the verses that you are more prone to proclaim?
Well that’s great, now go get some more!
That is the commitment that is needed.
And again, it’s not that your confidence
Will ever be in your own Bible knowledge,
But I can promise you a lack of Bible knowledge
Will not help your confidence
In the day you are called to give an account.
When Paul spoke of the gospel armor he wrote:
Ephesians 6:15 “and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE;”
• You stand on this.
• This is your traction.
• Your foundation is this gospel of peace.
• Be prepared for it.
2 Timothy 2:15 “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.”
BE READY.
So tonight as we just think a little bit about
Having confidence to answer him who reproaches
I simply want you to contemplate your own preparation.
• Be committed to obedience
• Be committed to proclamation
• Be committed to loving God’s word
It’s not that you should be confident in your own abilities,
That comes in God.
But a failure to be committed to those things
Will most certainly rob your confidence.
