God's Word: Answers Amidst Affliction

Bow for a word of prayer Father, we thank you, Lord, for today We thank you for the fact that you did come down and that, Lord, glory does fill the soul of the lost when they repent of their sin, come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord We thank you, Lord, for what you do in the heart of a soul, how you transform it, and how, Lord, one day you will make us just like you Until that time, Lord, we prayed that during our stay on earth, we would honor your name You'd be pleased

That, Father, as we go through life, we would be able to be examples of the Lord Jesus Christ, who all we come in contact with, and that, Lord, most importantly, you'd be honored every single moment of our lives We pray in Jesus' name Amen Psalm 119, the 20th section of this great psalm, Psalm 119, verse number 153 We only have a couple more to go, but I tell you, they are very powerful

If you've missed them, I trust that maybe you get the CD or the tape to be able to listen to them, because I've had a great time studying this wonderful chapter and being able to understand where I am with my Lord And the psalmist once again talks to us about his affliction, his persecution, his distress It seems like that's what he always talks about, more so now at the end than at the beginning But it seems like his life is consumed with that And yet, he always has the proper perspective as he tells us what he goes through But the reason he keeps bringing it up is because it's not over

It just keeps going In fact, the more he walks with the Lord, the worse it gets And that's the way it is The more you walk with the Lord, the more the affliction and the persecution rises in your life The psalmist knew what Jesus would ultimately say way back or later on in the Gospel of John, when Christ said these words in John 15, verse number 18, If the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated you If you were of the world, the world would love its own But because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you

Remember the word that I said to you. A slave is not greater than his master If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you If they kept my word, they will keep yours also But all these things they will do to you for my name's sake, because they do not know the one who sent me Jesus simply says, because you're not a part of the world, they hate you If you were a part of the world, they would love you So it's always easy to conclude, if the world loves you, you're of the world If the world hates you, you're not of the world, you're of the Lord

That's a basic understanding that Christ was trying to get his men to grasp He would later go on to say these words, John 16, verse number 1, These things I have spoken to you that you may be kept from stumbling They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God And these things they will do, because they have not known the Father or me But these things I have spoken to you that when their hour comes, you may remember that I told you of them

And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you So Christ is concluding his time with his men and telling them, look, fellas, this is the way it's going to happen These things are going to come upon you, and I'm telling you this, so that when it happens, you will remember what I've said to you That's important, because they couldn't forget that God had warned them that these days would come

Later on in verse number 32, he says, Behold, an hour is coming, and it has already come for you to be scattered each to his own home, and to leave me alone, yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me These things I have spoken to you that in me you may have peace In the world you have tribulation, but take courage. I have overcome the world In me you have peace In the world you have no peace Instead in the world you have tribulation You have persecution, but it's okay. I have overcome the world

And then, later on in Matthew chapter 5, or earlier that, Matthew 5, Christ said if you live the beatitude kind of life, you will be persecuted You will face all kinds of difficulties If you live the godly life, if you live what it means to be poor in spirit, if you live what it means to be merciful, to mourn over your sin, if you are a peacemaker, guess what? You will be persecuted Christ says clearly Matthew chapter 5, these words, Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness For theirs is the kingdom of heaven

Blessed are you when men cast insults at you, and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely on account of me Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you So here we have the record of Christ's first sermon, there on the Sermon of the Mount, and there he explains at the outset of that sermon how it is when you live the kind of life I want you to live, you'll be persecuted At the end of his ministry, as he sits down with his men, he says, listen, persecution is coming

It's going to come upon you. I want you to be aware of it. I don't want you not to be aware. I want you to understand this will happen So the day it happens, you will remember the words I've spoken to you Important And then over in 2nd Timothy chapter 3, Paul says this, verse number 10, But you followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance, persecutions, and sufferings, such as happened to me at Antioch, and Iconium, and at Lystra What persecutions I endured, and out of them all the Lord delivered me

And indeed all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted So Paul is telling Timothy, look, you followed my teaching, you followed my instruction, you followed my way of life, but you also followed in my sufferings and in my persecution You know about them because you were an observer of them And know this, Timothy, that all those who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution Still, I'm not suffering persecution Then you've got to ask yourself, are you living a godly life? Paul said, those who desire to live a godly life will suffer persecution

And then Paul would say these words over in 1st Thessalonians chapter 3, verse number 1, Therefore, when we could endure it no longer, we thought it best to be left behind at Athens alone and sent Timothy, our brother and God's fellow worker in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you as to your faith, so that no man may be disturbed by these afflictions For you yourselves know that we have been appointed for this So Paul says the distress that we have, the afflictions we have, are all designed, all predestined, all appointed by God

You see, Paul was not caught unaware when he was persecuted because he knows that he was destined, appointed for this Philippians chapter 1, verse number 29, Paul wrote these as he was in prison He said, 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 Paul says, I'm in prison We'll let you know that I've been called to believe in Christ like you have

He speaks to those Christians at Philippi and says, but you've not only been called to believe in him, you have been also called to suffer for his sake and to follow me in my sufferings Why? Because that's the way Christianity is And then you need to understand what Peter says as he speaks to people who go through severe persecution unlike anything we can ever imagine People who were burned at the stake, people who were thrown into the lion's den, wrapped in animal skin so the lions would shred them apart

They faced all kinds of persecution and they could hear the screams of their fellow Christians in the night as Nero would light his guards up with the bodies of these Christians So they could hear the screaming They could smell the burning flesh They could hear the cry of those loved ones who lost family members They know that They know persecution And Peter says these words, 1 Peter chapter 2 verse number 18, servants be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable

So he says you need to be submissive to people who are unreasonable If you've got a boss who is unkind, unreasonable, not very gentle, you need to submit yourself to him For this, verse 19, finds favor If for the sake of conscience toward God a man bears up on his sorrows when suffering unjustly, this finds favor with God For what credit is there if when you sin and are harshly treated you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it, you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God So he kind of puts in parentheses this whole statement about suffering justly

And the parentheses are favor with God When you suffer unjustly for righteousness sake, this finds favor with God God is pleased with what's happening in your life Why? Read on He says, verse 21, for you have been called for this purpose Ah, for what purpose? Since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in his steps Christ is pleased because you're living a godly life You're following in his steps Therefore you're honoring him that pleases him

And because he's pleased with your persecution, not because you're in pain, but because you're godly, you're following his life And so Peter says, because he's pleased, what do you do? Number one, no transgression He says, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in his mouth Because you're following his example, there should be no transgression from your mouth Christ never said a dirty word, a nasty word, a word that would cut or hurt someone else when he suffered for righteousness sake There's to be no transgression from your mouth And there is to be no retaliation among men

It says, verse 23, and while being reviled, he did not revile in return While suffering, he uttered no threats, but kept entrusting himself to him who judges righteously No transgression from your mouth No retaliation toward man, but only, listen, only oblation toward your master Oblation, that's a great word It's a word that means to surrender It's a word that means to sacrifice It's a word that means to surrender your plans and purposes to the father That's what Jesus did He kept him trusting himself to him who judges righteously

And Peter says, when you suffer justly, this finds favor with God So make sure there's no transgression that proceeds from your mouth Make sure that there is no retaliation toward the men who persecute you And make sure there's nothing but oblation for the master you serve That's the way we're to live our lives But you know, isn't it kind of funny? We don't seem to face that kind of persecution today

You got to ask yourself the question, why? Why? We hear the whole gospel message about taking up your cross and following me and denying your life and denying those around about you and serving God And we hear that, we amen it on Sunday, but we can't even get in the car to come to church on Wednesday because it's raining Oh, that's kind of convicting, isn't it? Look around you

See, as God told Jeremiah, if you can't run with footmen, how can you ever run with horses? If you can't handle easy things, how are you going to handle the hard things? We got people saying, well, it's raining, man. I can't go to church. I can't drive in the rain Yet they want to serve God, take up the cross and follow him What is that? Think about it You know, in modern-day Christianity, it's really a sad indictment in terms of the reality of scripture in the lives of people

And so we've got to go back and reevaluate our lives because a psalmist who was a godly man, he wasn't a perfect man, but he was a godly man He was a progressing man He was the one who wanted to serve his God, faced persecution all the time because he was godly He lived a righteous life And so what he writes gives us the answers for us amidst our affliction because that's what God's word does

And so he was the kind of man who way before the time of Jesus and the words that Jesus would speak to those on the Sermon on the Mount, to those of his own men there in the upper room in Jerusalem, and that Paul would speak about and that Peter would speak about, men who had firsthand knowledge, firsthand experience of persecution And yet for some reason in modern-day Christianity, that doesn't seem to be too much a part of our lives Christ said it If you are of the world, the world would love you, but because you're not, the world hates you They hate you You should be hated by the world

They should not like you because they don't like your God They don't serve your God They don't love the word of God They're not going to love you They will hate you And so how does that work itself out in our lives? What happens when we face persecution or difficulty? What happens when we stand up to speak a word for Christ and have to receive the abuse from those in the classroom? Better yet, those in the family

See, I always think it's interesting to note what kind of people you know that have family members that are unsafe, yet you won't speak or your friend won't speak a word about Christ in front of the family at Thanksgiving or at Christmas or the holidays for fear of ruining the holiday season How often does that happen? We throw Christ out the window for the sake of maintaining a relationship with the ungodly Oh, yeah, but they're my mother, they're my father, they're my brother, they're my sister

Christ says, I came to bring sword, not peace. I came to separate you from your father and your mother, from your brother and your sister See, we don't want to do that It's too uncomfortable It's too, it's just, it's, it, I might be cut off from the inheritance See, let's get down to brass tacks My parents might not leave anything for me when they die Or my sister or my brother might not be able to take care of me anymore So we begin to compromise the truth of scripture because of our financial situation

It doesn't mean it's the case for you, but it's the case for a lot of people, isn't it? Think about it When you have a chance to stand for Christ, do you stand? When you have a chance to stand alone, do you stand alone? I was talking to my wife today, and we were talking about having, you know, our last child, Avery, and, you know, she was a girl She would have been a boy would have named her Antipas Revelation chapter 2 Antipas, remember his name means against all Antipas was rewarded by God because he was against all that was against God He gave his life What a great name

Hi, it's my son Antipas What a great name But no one wants to name their son Antipas because that means their son would be against everything that opposed God He would have no friends See? But, but, you know, it's just a great name because it signifies what we are to be like You see Antipas was was commended by God and for all those in that church in Revelation who stood against evil and would not bow to the ungodly You know times are going to get more difficult They are There's going to be become a day where that where persecution will be so severe and that's a good thing

Because we need to weed out the chaff We need to weed out the the the tares among among the wheat We'll talk about that in Luke 8 when we get to the parable of the sower and the soils. A lot of tares in the church There are more tares than wheat in the church my friend. A lot more tares in the church than wheat And yet we look around and we think oh that person's saved Oh that person's saved Really? How do you know? Well, they're here Just because they're here doesn't mean they're saved Well, they sing So they bring a bible It's a big one

So you see we we we tend to judge people based on the externals But I I am convinced that the majority of church people are deceived They're self-deceived They are so deceived They themselves are deceived into thinking they're Christians So when you talk about persecution, you talk about affliction, you talk about distress, you talk about people who want to deride you and to to run you out of there, they say well that doesn't I don't understand that The reason they don't understand it or they don't want to hear about it is because that's the truth See? That's the truth

So the psalmist as he concludes in Psalm 119, he emphasizes more and more that that difficulty he faces because you see when you're all done with Psalm 19, when it's all said and done, the persecution, the affliction, the distress will still be there The question is what did you learn in the 22 sermons in Psalm 119 that will help you live with those things? That's that's the answer See? And that's what we need to be able to understand So let's read it together Psalm 119 Hopefully you're there. I'll read the odd ones You read the even ones You know what happens next Verse 153

Look upon my affliction and rescue me for I do not forget thy law Salvation is far from the wicked for they do not seek thy statutes Many are my persecutors and my adversaries yet I do not turn aside from my testimonies Consider how I love thy precepts Revive me, O Lord, according to thy loving kindness Four things I want you to see First of all, his affliction And then I want you to see his assessment in that affliction And then I want you to look at his attackers And then I want you to see his attitude He's got a great attitude

Isn't it true that, you know, attitude speaks volumes, doesn't it? Perspective Attitude And I had a friend growing up saying, man, you always got to put gratitude in your attitude If it's not there, you're going to be in trouble And we as Christians should always be thankful And the attitude of this man is fabulous But let's look first of all at his affliction He prayed, consider my affliction Look upon my affliction Deliver me Rescue me Save me He understood that his adversaries were all around him He was truly hated by the world And he was hated by the enemy of God, Satan himself

You see, when Peter said in 1 Peter 5, 8, that Satan goes about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour You know, when you look at the life of Peter in the Gospels, and you read about what he wrote about in 1 and 2 Peter, that was, he was a changed man He knew He knew Satan went about like a roaring lion, seeking to devour you He knew what Christ said Peter, Satan has asked for you that he might sift you like wheat And so he understood the realm of his adversary and Satan and his desire to destroy his life And the psalmist, he understood it as well Satan had vexed his soul

So what does he do? How does he hold on? You see, one thing you learn about the psalmist, he is never at rest Listen, he is never at rest from affliction One thing you read about in the Psalms are men who are never at rest from affliction That's why Revelation 14, 13 is so good Blessed are they who die in the Lord, for they rest from their labors See, the Christian doesn't rest till he's dead Then he's free from the attacks of Satan He's free from the adversaries in the world who hate him because of his stand for Christ Blessed are they who die in the Lord

Why are they blessed? Because they finally get to rest And the psalmist, you see, he has no rest It's always someone who is speaking against him We've seen that throughout Psalm 119 He understands that So what does he do? How does he make it? He cries out to the only one who can rescue him To the only one who can deliver him To the only one with a merciful heart that's compassionate toward him And that is the Almighty God Listen to Psalm 69, a Messianic Psalm David was speaking, but it's prophetic because it deals with the circumstances around our Lord

Reproach has broken my heart. I am so sick. I looked for sympathy, but there was none. I looked for comforters and I found none See, that was our Lord And that was David And that is this psalmist You look for sympathy, where is it to be found? There's no one there to give you sympathy Well, you look for comfort Is there anybody there who can really comfort my soul and its longing? And there is no one Over in Psalm 22 Another Messianic Psalm Verse 11 Be not far from me for trouble is near for there is none to help Isn't that true? There's only one That's our merciful and faithful high priest

Who can sympathize with us because he understands your weaknesses and mine Listen, there's when you go through a situation where you are persecuted for righteousness sake and you are persecuted because you stand true on the gospel and people speak against you There's only one who understands your situation That's the Lord Jesus That's why he's that faithful and merciful high priest He knows He looked for sympathy There was none He looked for somebody to help and there was none to help They all forsook him and fled Mark chapter 14 They all left Except he said to his men, It's coming in time

We read it earlier John 16 where we you will all be scattered And I will be left what? alone But then he said what? But I will not be alone For my father is with me So he knew that See he wants you to know that He wants you to experience that He wants you to be able to experience the relationship he had with his father and how his father would sustain him in affliction Because that's what he wants to do with you He is your advocate He is your faithful high priest who will stand by you

He he is that sympathetic one That's why we cry to him remember back in exodus chapter 2 Exodus chapter 2 verse number 23 now it came about in the course of those many days that the king of Egypt died and the sons of israel sighed because of the bondage and they cried out and they cried for help Because their bondage rose up to god and so god heard their groaning and god remembered his covenant with abraham Isaac and jacob and god saw the sons of israel and god took notice of them God heard God saw God remembered God took note That says in chapter 3 verse number 7 and the lord said he's talking to moses I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in egypt and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters For I am aware of their sufferings So i've come down to deliver them from the power of the egyptians and to bring them up from the land That land to a good and spacious land to a land flowing with milk and honey I have come to Deliver him and that's his name

Yahweh jehovah That's his memorial name I am that I am That great tetragrammaton that speaks of the fact that he is the infinite deliverer savior redeemer of man So psalm says I ask the lord to consider my affliction And to be my deliverer To rescue me because that's the character and nature of god He's deliverer by nature He's a savior by nature And so he cries to the one who can save him he cries to the one who truly can deliver him because he needs to be Delivered judges 10 verse number 16 says his soul was grieved for the misery of israel

That's our god Isaiah 63 9 says in all his people's affliction He himself Was afflicted psalm 2 Speaks of it this way. I'm, sorry psalm 6 Speaks of it this way Listen to this Be gracious to me Oh lord For I am pining away Heal me Oh lord for my bones are dismayed and my soul is greatly dismayed but thou oh lord How long Return oh lord rescue my soul save me because of thy loving kindness for there is no mention of thee in death In sheol who will give thee thanks I am weary with my sighing every night. I make my bed swim I dissolve my couch with my tears My eye has wasted away with grief

It has become old because of all my adversaries Depart from me all you who do iniquity for the lord has heard the voice of my weeping The lord has heard my supplication the lord receives my prayer all my enemies Shall be ashamed and greatly dismayed they shall turn back they shall suddenly be ashamed psalmist knew There's one who could deliver There's one who could rescue So that's who you cry out to I love that that verse in isaiah chapter 63 Isaiah chapter 63 which speaks of the return of our lord When he comes to bozrah And when isaiah sees him This is the conversation he has Isaiah 63 verse number one Who is this who comes from edom with garments of glowing colors from bozrah the one who was majestic in his apparel Marching in the greatness of his strength

Isaiah asks Who is this? Here's the answer It is I Who's speaking righteousness? mighty to save Israel Is about to be destroyed by the antichrist And all of a sudden because the world is so dark the bible says in the book of matthew that the lord will appear In there will be great glory the glory the glory of the lord will shine all around and the lord will return He will save he will rescue he will deliver his people israel He will save that remnant as he promised He'll rescue them They will cry out to him

He will hear their cry He will return and he will rescue them Remember over in the book of daniel third chapter it was nebuchadnezzar who said to the men that they Shadrach meshach and abednego because they would not bow down to the golden image had to be thrown to the fiery furnace And these men understood in verse number 17 of daniel 3 If it be so our god whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire And he will deliver us out of your hand o king But even if he does not let it be known to you O king that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up Three men who believe that god was a deliverer And sure enough Threw him in the fiery furnace

They saw one working or walking among them one as a son of man the angel of the lord And nebuchadnezzar responded in verse 28 Blessed be the god of shadrach meshach and abednego who has sent his angel and delivered his servants Who put their trust in him? Violating the king's command and yielded up their bodies so as not to serve or worship any god except their own god They knew or he came to realize that their god was the ultimate deliverer And they remember daniel he had to face darius and daniel had some good friends Shadrach meshach and abednego were some good friends

Those are the kind of guys you want to go to war with So daniel, he's thrown into the lion's den because of his commitment to serve god He would not pray to anybody else but to his god And that was a violation according to to the laws of of king

Darius And it says in verse number 16 the king gave orders And daniel was brought in and cast into the lion's den And the king spoke and said to daniel your god Whom you constantly serve will himself deliver you Your god daniel is a deliverer He will deliver you he couldn't sleep Daniel couldn't i'm not daniel, but uh daniel probably didn't sleep either But but uh, it was it was uh, darius who couldn't sleep and he he woke and in didn't wake up But at daybreak he went to the lion's den And he he arose and it says in verse 22 and when he came near the den To daniel, he cried out with a troubled voice the king spoke and said to daniel daniel Servant of the living god has your god whom you constantly serve been able to deliver you from the lions See again, he asked the question has your god been able to deliver you has the deliverer delivered? see But notice the phrase the god whom you constantly serve Kingston it twice The god whom you constantly serve will deliver you the next morning the god who you constantly serve

Did he deliver you? See daniel was a constant server of his god Shadrach meshach and abednego the same way Sure enough Daniel spoke to the king O king live forever My god sent his angel Shut the lion's mouth They have not harmed me and as much as I found innocent before him and also towards you O king. I have committed no crime Then the king was very pleased and gave orders for daniel to be taken up out of the den So daniel was taken up out of the den and no injury

Whatever was found on him Because he had trusted in his god He trusted his god verse 26 Darius says I make a decree That in all the dominion of my kingdom men are to fear and tremble before the god of daniel For he is the living god and enduring forever And his kingdom is one which will not be destroyed And his dominion will be forever he delivers And rescues and performs signs and wonders in heaven and on earth Who has also delivered daniel? for the power of the lions You see darius came to realize that god was a deliverer Nebuchadnezzar came to realize that god Was a deliverer The psalmist the psalm 119 says I need you to rescue me. I need you to deliver me lord So I come to you. I need you to consider my affliction Look upon me See my distress And then I need you lord To deliver me That was his prayer The bible says in second peter 2 9 that the lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation the godly The lord knows how to deliver Paul said in second corinthians chapter 1 verse number 10

He delivered He will deliver And will ultimately deliver his own Why because you see that's who god is he's the deliverer And he wants to deliver you from your persecutors He wants to deliver you because you see his name is at stake And his name is a savior his name is Deliverer That's who he is He wants to make himself known in that way to you Now you got to love this last part of first 153 For I do not forget thy law I do not forget thy law In his affliction It did not drive out the memory of god's word Instead in the midst of his affliction

He remembered god's word That's why he could call upon god to deliver him because he knew the book of exodus He knew about the deliverer of his people israel And so he could call upon him and not forget the law of god verse 153 verse 157 Verse 16 verse 61 verse 85 verse 93 verse 109 verse 141 It's that constant theme. I do not I will not forget your law No matter what he faced And what he encountered He never forgot the law of god Because that was his only answer The word of the lord Listen to psalm 91 Verse number 14 Because he has loved me Therefore I will deliver him I will set him securely on high Because he has known my name He will call upon me and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble I will rescue him and honor him with a long life. I will satisfy him and let him behold my salvation Because he loves me Because he obeys me I will rescue I will deliver him psalm 31 verse number 7 Says it this way Psalm 31 verse number 7 Says I will rejoice and be glad in thy loving kindness because thou hast seen my affliction Thou hast known the troubles of my soul Isn't that good? God sees your affliction

He saw israel's in exodus 2 He in in all of your afflictions He is afflicted So the psalmist couldn't forget the word of the lord because he knows that god has said in his word He sees us in our affliction Verse number 19

How great is thy goodness which thou has stored up for those who fear thee Which thou has wrought for those who take refuge in thee before the sons of men Thou does hide them in the secret place of thy presence from the conspiracies of man Thou does keep them secretly in a shelter from the strife of tongues That's our god That's what he wants to do with your life and with my life and so in his affliction He asks god to consider His affliction and then he asks god to plead his cause You see this is important because we ask god to consider our affliction and then we decide to take matters into our own hands This almost doesn't He says verse 154 plead my cause and redeem me revive me according to thy word He carries his cause to god You see he knows That he is not the avenger of man He knows That the lord is That's his job Is it not true that that when someone says something that's not true about us

We are so quick to defend ourselves I didn't say it that way. I didn't say that No, this is what I said And we we want to convince people that we didn't say it that way or we didn't do it that way and we we do Make phone calls write letters do all we can to make sure our name is cleared And yet god is the one who wants to clear your name Why do we have to clear our names psalmist is plead my cause Lord you're my advocate You you got to you got to defend me Lord, you got to do it

He can do better than you can I know you think you're really good at it because you're a good word specialist and you can really say it Well, but god surely is better than you are I know it's hard for you for some of you to digest that fact, but that is the truth God is the one who who vindicates us He wants us to leave things in his hands psalmist did Listen to psalm 35 verse 1 psalmist says this Contend oh lord With those who contend with me In other words lord, you got to fight him Because I can't You contend with them Fight against those who fight against me take hold of buckler and shield and rise up for my help Draw also the spear And the battle axe to meet those who pursue me Say to my soul. I am your salvation Let those be ashamed and dishonored Who seek my life? Let those be turned back and humiliated Who devise evil? against me And then he says in verse number 19 these words Do not let those who are wrongfully my enemies rejoice over me Neither let those who hate me without cause wink maliciously For they do not speak peace But they devise deceitful words against those Who are quiet in the land And they opened their mouth wide against me they said aha Aha, our eyes have seen it Thou has seen it

Oh lord Do not keep silent Oh lord Do not be far from me Store up thyself and awake to my right and to my cause my god and my lord judge me Oh lord my god According to thy righteousness and do not let them rejoice Over me do not let them say in their heart Aha our desire Do not let them say We have swallowed them up Let those be ashamed and humiliated together Who rejoice at my distress? Let those be clothed with shame and dishonor who magnify themselves over me Isn't that good? See this psalmist knew lord

You gotta I can't contend with the enemy They're against me I can't fight I can't contain The negativism that's being spread. I can't contain the the falsehood that's being spread I can't contain the malicious statements that I can't I can't contain them. I I can't lord contend for me fight my cause See, that's what the psalmist was That's what he knew see In in his affliction

He knew where to go to He knew what to say I love jeremiah chapter 50 verse number 34 The redeemer is strong The lord of hosts is his name He will vigorously plead their case So that he may bring rest to the earth But turmoil to the inhabitants of babylon god Will plead your case the redeemer The lord of hosts yahweh sabbaoth the lord of armies He is your defender

He is the one who will protect you so The psalmist says I lord you got to plead my cause here because I am in desperate need And then he says revive me according to thy word Nine times the psalmist asked the lord to revive him Nine times he says lord

You gotta quicken me you have to enliven me You you have to lift my soul Because lord what they have said is wrong And I need help See god promises to do that But you gotta leave it in his hands You gotta let him do it That's so hard, isn't it? We are such control freaks We just need to do ourselves But let god plead your cause That's his affliction Oh, we gotta hurry Next is his assessments I had so much fun this week studying this passage

It was just such an eye-opener to me Listen to his assessment He says Salvation is far from the wicked See He doesn't experience that he's been saved But the people that are against him Salvation is far from them It's not even close So his assessment of the situation is that he has found mercy and they have not He has a rescuer They don't He has a deliverer He has a defender They don't They're all by themselves

Oh, they think they're great in number and therefore they're powerful, but he serves the lord of hosts And salvation is far from the wicked He understands their misery You see his assessment his assessment is not oh gee. I am just I am just in such turmoil Instead he says lord. I need you to please my cause Why because I can't defend myself, but you can defend me And you're going to defend me against people Who don't have a deliverer? Who are still in their misery Because they have yet to find your mercy There is no salvation for the wicked Listen what the bible says isaiah 55 verse 21

There is no peace for the wicked no peace Proverbs 15 8 their sacrifice is an abomination to god Ephesians 2 12 they are without christ having no hope In this world See he has a proper assessment of the unbeliever They have nothing They think they have everything but in reality they have nothing He sees that He's able to accurately assess his enemy Salvation is far from the wicked

Why for they do not seek thy statutes It's as simple as that They do not seek the law of god They want nothing to do with it the bible says In job 21 14 the wicked man says to god depart from me and christ says in matthew 7 to the wicked Depart from me. I never knew you See the wicked is condemned in his own attitude The wicked says lord, I want nothing to do with you. I do not seek your law depart from me And so god says okay Depart from me you practice iniquity. I never knew you The bible says in john 5 verse number 40 They will not come to god that they might have life They won't because they are so far from the law of god

Psalm 9 17 says the wicked are the ones who forget god The bible defines the wicked as those who forget god In fact over in psalm. I think it is, uh 10 It says the wicked verse 4 in the haughtiness of his countenance Does not seek him All his thoughts are there is no god Or literally all his thoughts are no god No I won't See, that's that's the characteristic of the unbeliever

He says no to god And the believer says yes to god The unbeliever says no god i'm not doing that and the believer says yes god I will follow him That's the difference between the christian and non-christian the non-christian rebels over and over against god but the christian submits to god And says yes god That's the difference that's why salvation is far from the wicked because they Do not seek The statutes of god and then he says great are thy mercies Oh lord

Revive me according to thine ordinances He realizes the only reason he's not one of the wicked is because of the mercy of god Great are your mercies That song in psalm 89 verses 1 or 2. I will sing of the mercies of the lord forever I will sing I will sing of the mercy of the lord Why because they are faithful they are true And and the psalmist says great are thy mercies His whole assessment is that these people who are against me are so far from god and I would be with them If it wasn't for the mercy of god So he had a proper assessment Of his situation And so he says Great are they mercies of the lord revive me according to thy judgments or thy ordinances revive me According to thy judgments

It's a sense of accountability

He puts himself under the authority of god's holy word in his life because he knows That obedience to god's word will revive his soul Because those who are wicked are so so far from god because they do not seek his statutes Well, this is the point number three his attackers verse 157 Many are my persecutors and my adversaries many many Why? Why does he have so many what's wrong with him? Can't he have a friend? Can he get a friend? What is wrong with this man? Many Are my persecutors and my adversaries Listen to psalm three verse number one Psalm three verse number one says this Oh lord How my adversaries? have increased Many are rising up against me Many are sane of my soul

There is no deliverance for him in god But thou oh lord Are to shield about me My glory and the one who lifts my head So the psalmist looks at his attackers and says they're all around there are so Many of them and then he says this Yet I do not turn aside from my testimonies No matter how bad it got No matter how many numbered against him

He still would not turn against the law of god The temptation to turn from god the temptation to compromise the law of god The temptation to not be as strong not stand all alone Did not cause him to sin Because He would keep the testimony Of god, you see satan wants you to deny the word of the lord He wants you to deviate from the truth He wants you to deny and to doubt god In the midst of your stand psalmist says no I will not do that He says I will not turn aside from my testimonies When everybody else does I will not because that's the characteristic of the unbeliever Not the believer Can we say as a psalmist did and in psalm 44 verse number 16 When the psalmist records these words Psalm 44 verse number 16 because of the voice of him who approaches and reviles Because of the presence of the enemy and the avenger all this has come upon us, but we have not Forgotten thee and we Have not dealt falsely with thy covenant Psalm says the avenger is all around the enemy is there everybody's speaking against me yet

We do not forget what you have said And we will not turn our back on the covenant of god the promises of god We won't do that That's the way we need to be those kinds of of people And you know what? Please understand the believer He won't turn He won't how do we know that? jeremiah 32 verse 40 And I will make an everlasting covenant with them That I will not turn away from them to do them good and I will put the fear of me in their hearts So that they will not turn away from me I won't See the believer never turns away from god See, well, I knew this guy man

He was saved and now he turned his back on god folks He was never saved He was never saved the new covenant promises They will not turn from me They won't why because I will put my fear in them Remember we told you on sunday psalm 130 verse number four There was forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared god says I will cause them to fear me and they will not turn against me My people will not turn The christian never turns against god the unbeliever does But the christian never does why because god's in him and god keeps him focused He'll have difficulty He'll have hardship

He'll sin But he won't ultimately turn away from his god because god says It won't happen I'll make sure it doesn't happen And then I would look at his attitude How much time I have left? Five minutes Okay good That's almost enough time Verse 159 Consider how I love thy precepts first

It was consider my affliction Now it's consider my affection Consider how I love thy precepts 10 times psalm 119 the thomas the psalmist speaks about how he loves the law of god 10 times How do you know you love the law of god all you got to do is read those 10 times he says it You know tell you whether you love the law of god

How do you know you love the law of god? Well, it's simple verse 163 I hate and despise falsehood But I love that law If you hate falsehood, you love the law of god Verse 165 those who love the law have great peace and nothing causes them to stumble You have peace You love the law of god Verse 167 my soul keeps my testimonies and I love them exceedingly Do you obey the word of god? Do you keep god's word? Then you know you love the law of god A good bible study for you would be to go through psalm 119 and look at all those occasions where he says I love the law of god. I delight in the love of thy law Oh how I love that law It is my meditation all the day How do you know you love the law of god? You just meditate on it all day all day all day So see we we pay lip service to the fact that we love god's law But if you read psalm 119, you'll be convicted

You don't love it that much. I don't I was convicted. I don't love the law of god nearly as much as I should the psalmist says I want you to consider my affection Can you can you do that with god? So lord, I want you to to take into account my affection for your law I love your law And I want you to examine my life lord That's what the psalmist attitude was And then revive me oh lord according to thy loving kindness Revive me oh lord He loved the book He loved the book it was seen in his attitude toward those who don't How do you know you love the law of god it's seen in your attitude toward those who don't He says verse 158. I beheld the treacherous and loathed them Because they do not keep your word it's a word that means to grieve Gratitude toward those who don't keep the word should be one of grief That's how you know You love the law of god That was a psalmist Verse 160 the sum of thy word is truth in every one of thy righteous ordinances is everlasting

Oh lord It's all about your truth The sum of your word is complete truth from genesis to revelation for the very first time A word was spoken and put into print to the very end when the book of revelations recorded All your words are true It's all true

It'll all come about And your righteous ordinances are everlasting They're forever Everything you said lord is true It will always be true Because you're the god of truth What an attitude consider my affection for you lord And understand my assurance In your truth that it's reliable It's everlasting And it will always endure forever So whatever god has said About his ability to deliver you It's true It's true Because all of us righteous ordinances are true And so may god give us the grace to understand His answers amidst our affliction Because it's his word That's true

That's pretty good father We thank you for today and in all that you do lord

You are so good So good Forgive us lord of Of not being the kind of people You want us to be We fail in so many areas and yet your loving kindness and mercy is is great The psalmist knew amidst all of his affliction that if it wasn't for your mercies, he would not have been saved And the unbeliever his persecutor his many adversaries They were far far from salvation Because they did not seek the law of god I pray lord that we would be those kind of seekers That father you would strengthen us in your word And that lord you would be with us every day and deliver us In our time of need in jesus name we pray amen