Temple Baptist Church - 6-9-2024
Psalm 119:153-160
Introduction:
A. Psalm 119: 176 verses broken down into twenty-two stanzas with each stanza correlating with one of the 22 letters in the Hebrew Alphabet. Each stanza is comprised of eight verses which, in the Hebrew Bible, each verse begins with the associated letter of the Hebrew Alphabet forming an Acrostic. What a wonder that we hold in our hands tonight!
B. Tonight, RESH – the twentieth letter of the Hebrew Alphabet. A numerical value of 200 which means to be poor.
C. RESH – poor, wickedness, evil, or wicked person.
D. This stanza is one of a saint crying out in his affliction. Affliction: depression, that is, misery: - afflicted (-ion), trouble. To take a browbeating! Browbeating: to intimidate with overbearing or to bully. Today, we find “bullying” in the news quite often though it has always been around. When I was a kid, there were bullies in our school. You could either cow tail to them or you could stand up to them.
Psalms 22:23-24 Ye that fear the LORD, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel. (24) For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.
Psalms 102:1 A Prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed, and poureth out his complaint before the LORD. Hear my prayer, O LORD, and let my cry come unto thee.
E. There are four types of afflictions that I need to take a short look at before dissecting these eight verses. The word “afflictions” means trouble, depression, or misery. When afflictions come, we need to biblically identify the source of the problem.
1. There is Personal Affliction. Self-infliction or self-inflicted – inflicted or caused by oneself. The product of poor judgment and bad choices. There are times when we get our feet dirty walking through this sinful world.
John 13:8-10 Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. (9) Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. (10) Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all.
a) We need to learn to daily look at ourselves through the lens of the Bible. It is then that we will find that affliction is often because of our actions and thoughts. Then, “lay the axe to the root of the tree”.
b) The First Mention of Affliction is in the context of affliction that causes pain and is found in sinfulness. Psalms 25:16-18: “Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me; for I am desolate and afflicted. (17) The troubles of my heart are enlarged: O bring thou me out of my distresses. (18) Look upon mine affliction and my pain; and forgive all my sins.”
James 1:21-25 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. (22) But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. (23) For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: (24) For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. (25) But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
c) Let him pray!
James 5:13a Is any among you afflicted? let him pray.
d) God is ready and able to hear, forgive, and restore the self-afflicted.
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
2. There is Natural Affliction. Somethings are simply out of one’s control as they are natural problems linked to our humanity.
a) Some things are out of our control such as sickness, disease, having to live in a sinful world and sinful flesh. God’s people get sick, and God’s people die. That’s called life.
2 Kings 13:14 Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died. And Joash the king of Israel came down unto him, and wept over his face, and said, O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof.
2 Timothy 4:20 Erastus abode at Corinth: but Trophimus have I left at Miletum sick.
b) God’s plan for human sickness. Human sickness is a result of Adamic sin. We are born to die! A time to be born and a time to die.
James 5:14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:
3. There is Divine Affliction.
a) Divine Affliction causes one to keep God’s word. Before chastisement, the sinner went astray but after chastisement, the sinner keeps God’s Word. Psalms 119:67 Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word.
b) Divine Affliction teaches the afflicted His statutes. Psalms 119:71 It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.
c) Divine Affliction shows God’s faithfulness to His children. Psalms 119:75 I know, O LORD, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me.
Hebrews 12:5-7 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: (6) For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. (7) If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
4. There is Hatred’s Affliction. Here we find the meaning of our context. Wicked, evil, ungodly men afflicting God’s people.
Matthew 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Luke 6:22-23 Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake. (23) Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.
F. Now let us look at these verses in light of affliction.
1. Verse 153. The Psalmist’s affliction was not deserved. “Consider … deliver … I do not forget thy law”
a. Too often, when a child of God is having extreme difficulty, people tend to believe that he/her are being judged for personal sin. I have had people ask me if I thought that their affliction was of the Lord. My answer is always, if God is judging you, you will know both that it is Him and why you are being judged.
b. David told the Lord to judge him and his motives. To examine and prove his reins and heart.
Psalms 26:1-2 A Psalm of David. Judge me, O LORD; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the LORD; therefore I shall not slide. (2) Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my reins and my heart.
2. Verse 154. The Psalmist knew that he had to look outside of self for deliverance. “plead … deliver … quicken … according to thy word”
a. He placed his faith in this particular situation upon the veracity of God’s Word. God seldom gives us the where, when, and how of deliverance but does guarantee a biblical one.
b. He asked for the restoration of life, indicating that the one he now had was sub-par at best. In the bad times, we tend to remember the good times and long for them once again.
3. Verse 155. “Salvation is far from the wicked: for they seek not they statutes.”
a. The Wicked will be brought to nought soon enough. There is no salvation for them in this world nor in the world to come.
b. The reason for this is refusal to seek the Word of God! They are God haters and Christian haters, all because they are Bible haters.
4. Verse 156. “tender mercies … according to thy judgments”
a. Though the wicked are far from the blessings of God, the mercies of God are close.
b. Every morning, we are reminded of God’s faithfulness. God promised David, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.”
5. Verse 157-158. The Psalmist now realizes the end of the wicked.
a. Verse 157. Spiritual enemies will be a guaranteed way of life for the righteous. Here we find the integrity of the Psalmist in continuing in the right way of the Scriptures. “Many are my persecutors and mine enemies … yet do I not decline from thy testimonies”
b. Verse 158. The Psalmist was grieved, not so much because of his persecution, but because of the temporal soon to be eternal condition of the lost.
Psalms 73:17-19 Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end. (18) Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction. (19) How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors.
Job 42:10 And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.
6. Verse 159. The Psalmist’s love for the Word of God brought about the deliverance, new life, and lovingkindness of the Lord.
7. Verse 160. The Word of God magnified. It is in this verse that we find: the purity, righteous judgments, and eternality of the Word of God.
a. The Perfection of the Word of God. The Word of God can be trusted as we have the Spirit of Truth to interpret it for us.
b. The Righteous Judgment of the Word of God. The Word of God is always right in all its precepts and judgments.
b. The Eternal Preservation of the Word of God. The Word of God will always be there with us and for us.
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