Thinking About The Reward
Psalms 119:49-56
November 7, 2021
Tonight we return to our study of the 119th Psalm.
This is in fact our second time through this wonderful chapter on the word of God.
The first time we looked at this stanza we called it “The Path To Comfort”
And that is easily seen as two verses specifically mention it.
• (50) “This is my comfort in my affliction, That Your word has revived me.”
• (52) “I have remembered Your ordinances from of old, O LORD, And comfort myself.”
And we talked about last time how God’s word
Is the source of our comfort in a variety of situations.
• We saw it as comfort during affliction
• We saw it as comfort during derision
• We saw it as comfort during frustration
• We saw it as the ultimate satisfaction
And certainly we would still hold to all of those truths.
Tonight however, we are going to zoom in a little and focus on
One primary thought in regard to how God’s word comforts us.
Tonight we’re going to think about how God’s word brings comfort
Because God’s word is where we learn
That our faithfulness will be rewarded.
• Christians live in hope that their endurance will be worth it.
• Christians live in hope that the Lord is watching their affliction and will compensate them.
• Christians live in hope that all the pain and hardship here will be totally forgotten when the Lord affirms and rewards their labors.
FOR AN UNBELIEVING WORLD
Messages of a sure and certain judgment are horrifying realities,
But Christians read those verses totally different.
For example, on Sunday mornings we are studying Ecclesiastes.
We will soon come to that culminating passage:
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 “The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.”
For an unbeliever that verse should terrify them.
That God is watching and will bring to light every hidden thing.
But that verse is not terrifying to a believer.
In fact, when promising persecution to believers for going on mission Jesus actually uttered this promise:
Matthew 10:26 “Therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.”
Since we know that a believer is protected from condemnation.
Romans 8:1 “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
And so a believer does not fear a sure and thorough judgment.
• A believer longs for the hidden things to be revealed.
• A believer longs for the secret things to come to light.
Passages like Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 are WELCOMED NEWS to a believer
For it is then that we are rewarded.
Just this morning in our study we talked about Matthew 16
How Jesus warned that every deed will be brought to judgment.
Matthew 16:26-27 “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? “For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and WILL THEN REPAY EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS.”
But for a believer this is not a terrifying reality, but a welcomed one.
For we are those who have sacrificed this life for the next.
• We are told to endure reproach…
• We are told to respond with a blessing…
• We are told not to take our own revenge…
And all of this is done with the promise
That one day our Lord and righteous Judge will both
Render judgment on the wicked and reward those who are his.
And the only place in the whole world where we find this promise
Is in God’s word.
Only the Scripture gives us this reassurance.
The best a lost world can hope for us some sort of mystical belief in what they typically refer to as KARMA.
• It is really a sentimental hope that all things circle back around.
• If you do what is right then good will win and it will work out for you in the end.
• But history teaches repeatedly that this does not always prove true.
• There have been plenty of people who took the high road and suffered greatly in this life.
A Christian doesn’t hold to this sentimental belief of Karma.
• We know that the righteous can suffer…
• We know that the righteous can even die…
• We have a different and better hope!
The comfort we have comes from the promises contained in God’s word
That every deed will be judged before our Holy Heavenly Father
And on that day it will be worth it all.
This is the comfort that the Psalmist references tonight
And one that is good for us to spend a little time thinking on this evening.
So let’s look at this stanza a little tonight.
As always there are 8 verses contained in this stanza.
• As a whole it carries a very encouraging tone.
• 7 of the 8 verses directly reference themes of hope and encouragement.
We read of hope, comfort, faithfulness, singing, and assurance.
THE OVERALL MESSAGE is that in the midst of a frustrating situation
The Psalmist has found tremendous hope and comfort in God’s word
And he has found it to such an extent that he has decided to endure.
Only 1 verse seems to depart from this positive spin
That is Verse 53, where perhaps more than any other
The Psalmist gives insight to his situation.
(53) “Burning indignation has seized me because of the wicked, Who forsake Your law.”
While every other verse finds him in hope or comfort or assurance
This verse finds him in “burning indignation”.
There is an anger welling up inside of him and he is about to explode.
He says this anger has “seized” him.
• There is a consuming aspect here.
• He is total immersed in his rage at the moment.
And he tells us what it is.
It is “because of the wicked”.
In a generic sense we can see that
“the wicked” have set him off.
They have behaved in such a way
That he is literally overcome with extreme anger.
At this point then we realize that his “burning indignation”
Is Righteous Indignation.
He is angry at the same things that anger God.
There is a wickedness and an evil abounding that has infuriated our Psalmist.
And then he lists the behavior of the wicked that has so infuriated him.
“Who forsake Your law.”
Perhaps you’ll notice that “law” here is NOT CAPITALIZED.
That would indicate that this is not a reference to the Mosaic Law.
It is simply a reference to the common law of right and wrong
Which God has placed over all His creation.
• Certainly Israel was a covenant nation who entered into an agreement with God that they would keep all His Law which was revealed by Moses.
• And you are aware how extreme punishment was to be brought upon them if they failed to keep all the words of that Law.
But that is NOT the “law” the Psalmist is referring to.
The “law” here would be the law
Which Paul referred to that governed Gentiles.
Romans 2:14-16 “For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.”
We are just talking about that universal law of right and wrong
Which God has imprinted on the conscience of every human.
That even a Gentile who did not have the Law of Moses still instinctively knew that
MURDER was wrong and LYING was wrong and STEALING was wrong.
So we understand that what has the Psalmist so upset
Is not that Israel is breaking God’s Law,
But rather it is the world living as though there is no law at all.
It is the world thinking that they can live however they want with no repercussion whatsoever.
Lying, stealing, murdering, adultery, corruption, etc.
It is a carnal world which has seared their conscience and who now live totally oblivious to the expectations of the One who created them.
Paul described them in:
Ephesians 4:18-19 “being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.”
• They are just totally pagan and sensual people.
• No different than a stray dog they just do whatever feels good at the moment with no thought at all to the God who created them.
Has such godlessness ever filled you with anger?
Well it did the Psalmist too.
“Burning indignation has seized me because of the wicked, Who forsake Your law.”
There is a deep-seeded frustration occurring with our Psalmist here.
And that is NOT THE ONLY PLACE he alludes to the problem.
(51) “The arrogant utterly deride me, Yet I do not turn aside from Your law.”
Here he doesn’t call them “the wicked”,
Here they are referred to as “the arrogant.”
• They are the same group.
• They are the people who have arrogantly become a god to themselves
• And thus fallen into every manner of wickedness.
On one hand the Psalmist is angry because of the way they live,
But his frustration clearly ALSO ENCOMPASSES the fact that,
“the arrogant utterly deride me”
And now the situation is taking shape.
• He lives in a godless and wicked world.
• While he tries to honor the Law of God and live righteous,
• He lives in a world that has totally forsaken the law of God and lives wicked.
This is bad enough, but to make matters worse he suffers derision from the wicked for the way he lives.
• They mock him.
• They make fun of him.
• They “utterly deride” him.
His day is now filled with a mixture of ANGER and HUMILIATION.
His day is filled with a mixture of INDIGNATION and REPROACH.
There is another Old Testament figure who felt this unique struggle.
Jeremiah 20:7-10 “O LORD, You have deceived me and I was deceived; You have overcome me and prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all day long; Everyone mocks me. For each time I speak, I cry aloud; I proclaim violence and destruction, Because for me the word of the LORD has resulted In reproach and derision all day long. But if I say, “I will not remember Him Or speak anymore in His name,” Then in my heart it becomes like a burning fire Shut up in my bones; And I am weary of holding it in, And I cannot endure it. For I have heard the whispering of many, “Terror on every side! Denounce him; yes, let us denounce him!” All my trusted friends, Watching for my fall, say: “Perhaps he will be deceived, so that we may prevail against him And take our revenge on him.”
You hear it also in Jeremiah don’t you?
• I try to do what is right…
• I preach God’s word…
• It only results in derision and reproach…
• I would quit, but my heart is filled with burning indignation…
• I can’t stop speaking the truth, but it brings terrible humiliation down on me…
Some of you have felt this very dilemma in your life.
• Some of you know exactly what the Psalmist and Jeremiah are dealing with.
I might go on to say that if you have never felt this
Then I sincerely hope that someday you do,
For that is a tremendous badge of honor on your life.
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.”
• Jesus said that people who get persecuted and blasphemed and lied about
because of their commitment to righteousness are blessed.
• Jesus said that those people have joined the company of the prophets who
walked before them.
• That is a tremendous accomplishment and it brings a tremendous blessing,
If you have not felt that in your life, I certainly hope at some point you do.
BUT, IT IS NOT EASY.
1 Peter 4:4 “Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. For the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties and abominable idolatries. In all this, they are surprised that you do not run with them into the same excesses of dissipation, and they malign you;”
It is a hard place to be, but a Christian is called to be in this place.
Now, BASED ON WHAT WE’VE TALKED ABOUT the last few minutes
You’d think that our Psalmist must be in a real pit of depression.
Based on verse 53, and the first half of verse 51
You’d think that our Psalmist must really be a miserable man.
AND YET, as we also said, this stanza is one of the most positive and upbeat in the whole chapter.
• Despite his indignation…
• Despite his affliction…
• This Psalmist is singing about hope and comfort and assurance.
(49) “Remember the word to Your servant, In which You have made me hope.”
That is the only request of the stanza.
Everything else simply falls into words of praise or gratitude.
The only request he renders is this.
“Remember the word to Your servant, In which You have made me hope.”
God said something to the Psalmist through His word on which the Psalmist is hanging his hate.
• There was a verse somewhere that God said…
• There was a promise somewhere that God had uttered…
That promise has meant everything to the Psalmist.
It has become the basis of his hope.
Despite the indignation…
Despite the affliction…
The Psalmist has hope and it’s all because of something God has said.
And so his only request is that God remember it too!
And he goes on.
(50) “This is my comfort in my affliction, That Your word has revived me.”
God, You have to remember the promise You made.
• It is my only source of hope…
• It is my only source of comfort…
When I walk down the street and I am enraged at their behavior.
When I walk down the street and I am attacked with their derision.
• There is only one thing that soothes the fire of my burning indignation.
• There is only one thing that comforts the sting of their reproach.
It is that promise that You have made.
And it is a promise of such importance to the Psalmist
That he was not only comforted,
But that promise also gave him the strength to faithfully endure.
Look at 51 again:
(51) “The arrogant utterly deride me, Yet I do not turn aside from Your law.”
The arrogant and the wicked have but one goal
And that is to bring the Psalmist down off of his high horse.
THEY DESIRE TO CORRUPT HIM.
They want him to join them in their crude language and their crude behavior.
And indeed the moment would be much easier if he would.
(It would be much easier just to give in and blend in)
But whatever it is that God has promised to the Psalmist,
He has seen it to be so valuable that
Day after day he has chosen to endure their reproach.
(52) “I have remembered Your ordinances from of old, O LORD, And comfort myself.”
• When he walks through the crowd and the point and curse…
• When he walks through the crowd and they mock and abuse…
• Immediately to his mind enters the “ordinances” of God.
• This promise which God has made.
And when the Psalmist again brings that truth to mind he is able to once again comfort himself.
• He is able to ignore what they say.
• He is able to see the folly in their behavior.
• He is able to reassure himself that he is walking the correct path.
Even though he is filled with anger as we saw in verse 53
He is able to stay the course and remain faithful.
IN FACT, he is not only able to control his anger,
But he is actually able to respond with a song!
(54) “Your statutes are my songs In the house of my pilgrimage.”
Oh, I love this one!
A “pilgrimage” is a journey.
Now, you’d expect him to say
“The ROAD of my pilgrimage”
As if to indicate that this path he is walking
Is a temporary journey but he is able to sing while he walks along.
But that isn’t what he calls it.
He calls it “the HOUSE of my pilgrimage”
He isn’t just passing through, at least not today.
HE LIVES HERE.
• He lives here as an alien in a foreign land.
• His citizenship is somewhere else.
• He is a foreigner, he is a misfit, he is an outcast.
• He doesn’t belong.
And the locals have noticed.
• Just as Abram was derided as “the Hebrew” (one who crosses over)
• So this man is also a stranger and an alien in a foreign land.
And the natives mock and deride him as they see him in the streets.
But he is not going anywhere.
• Not today, not tomorrow…
• For the time being, this is his home.
• It is certainly temporary, but his home none the less.
Yet despite the derision and frustration our Psalmist is singing.
He isn’t just barely surviving because he clings to God’s word,
He is rejoicing in God’s word!
With every jab and every attack he clings the harder to God’s word
And he grows to love it even more.
And then, when he GOES HOME AT NIGHT and he is finally alone, but he is forced to remember the awful things he heard and saw.
And when his mind would carry him into despair
Over having to face all the cruelty again tomorrow,
The Psalmist again retreats to his oldest and dearest friend.
(55) “O LORD, I remember Your name in the night, And keep Your law.”
• Even at night when his thoughts might get the better of him.
• Even at night when the hours can be long, he remembers who God is and the
law God has given.
And his confidence is renewed.
And all of this culminates in that final statement.
(56) “This has become mine, That I observe Your precepts.”
He says, “I have one thing that sets me apart, I have one thing on which I hang my hat. I do what God commands.”
And now here, having examined the whole of the stanza
WE FINALLY BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THIS PROMISE IS.
For a while I wondered if it was God’s promise to judge the wicked.
• I sort of wondered if this was perhaps a hidden imprecatory prayer.
• But he doesn’t mention the judgment of the wicked anywhere.
• Furthermore, he doesn’t close the stanza by saying, “But this I know, they have offended You.”
That is not his focus.
HE IS FOCUSING ON THE FACT THAT
Each day, and when he returns home at night
He is able to take comfort and rejoice in the fact
That he has done what God has asked.
WHY IS THAT COMFORTING TO A BELIEVER?
IT ISN’T, UNLESS
You have read in God’s word
That He will one day reward those who obey Him.
AND INDEED HE HAS MADE THAT PROMISE.
I think of Paul as he faced trials and affliction.
Romans 8:16-25 “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. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.”
There is a certainly a mouthful there, but do you see THE MAIN IDEA.
“the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory that is to be revealed to us”
• Creation knew it…
• The Spirit inside of you knows it…
Paul says, “For in hope we have been saved…[and] with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.”
Despite the current frustrations and hardships and sufferings
He would cling to the hope and comfort that one day it will all be worth it!
He said the same to the Corinthians:
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.”
You can easily see our Psalmist there.
• He knew that things today where hard,
• But he continually encouraged his heart with the truth
• That one day it would be worth it.
TURN TO: HEBREWS 10
Hebrews 10:32-39 is a solemn call to hold fast and not shrink back and not be dismayed.
• Yes, you live in a world where you are maligned and mistreated.
• Yes, you live as a stranger in a foreign land.
• But don’t give up, don’t give in.
And do you see at the heart of that passage THE BASIS for the call?
(36-38) “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.”
“so that when you have done the will of God,
You may receive what was promised.”
Do you see the same truth the Psalmist was hanging on to there?
And then of course you realize that the writer of Hebrews gives you
An entire chapter of examples of people who did what is asking you to do.
We call it the “Hall of Faith”
Look at how these people lives.
(11:8-10) “By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise; for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.”
• Do you see Abraham living daily as an alien?
• Do you see him on his “pilgrimage”?
• But he did not stop, he did not give in because he was looking for the city which God was building.
There was a reward to be had!
(11:13-16) “All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.”
• Again you see them as “strangers and exiles on the earth”
• But they won’t go back.
• They want “a better country”
• They are looking to the reward!
(11:35-38) “Women received back their dead by resurrection; and others were tortured, not accepting their release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection; and others experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.”
• Here people even willfully endure horrific treatment.
• They keep facing hardship.
• They wouldn’t even accept a release because they wanted “a better resurrection”
It was not about this life, it was all about the coming reward.
But then look at the ultimate example:
(12:1-3) “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”
• Jesus went through greater affliction than any of them and He did it “for the joy set before Him”
Are you getting the point?
• As Christians we hang our hat on this.
• As Christians this is the source of our hope and our comfort.
Though the evil of this world causes us “burning indignation”
Though the derision and persecution of this world is a stinging insult.
We do not retreat.
We do not give in.
We faithfully cling to God’s word and to obedience.
WHY?
Because God’s word promises that
• One day His Son will return to judge the living and the dead.
• Every secret thing will be revealed.
• Every secret sin of every unbeliever will be exposed and he will reap the full judgment of God for it.
• And every righteous deed of every saint will also be revealed and he will receive a full reward for it.
Matthew 10:40-42 “He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me. “He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. “And whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward.”
We cling to that!
As the disciples watched The Rich Young Ruler walk away…
Matthew 19:27-29 “Then Peter said to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?” And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life.”
That was the type of promise that sustained our Psalmist
While living as a persecuted alien in an evil land.
That is the promise that will sustain you as well.
• One day, it will be worth it all.
• One day you will be rewarded.
• One day every secret thing will be revealed
• And you will rejoice that you determined to obey God.
This is our hope.
This is our comfort.
We have a reward!
