WWUTT 1209 God's Law Comforts My Affliction? (Psalm 119:49-72)

Psalm 119 as Comfort in Affliction and Hope in God’s Word

The law of God is not burdensome to us, it is a comfort to us, and everything that God does in testing us is for our good, that we may know the way of life in Christ when we understand the text.

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Here's our host, Pastor Gabe.

Thank you, Becky. In our study of Psalm 119, turn with me, if you will, to verse 49. That's where we're picking up. This is the section of Psalm 119 that is under the character Zayin. That's the letter of the Hebrew alphabet that titles this particular section.

Psalm 119, starting in verse 49. Remember your word to your servant, in which you have made me hope. This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life. The insolent utterly deride me, but I do not turn away from your law.

When I think of your rules from of old, I take comfort, O Lord. Hot indignation seizes me because of the wicked who forsake your law. Your statutes have been my songs in the house of my sojourning. I remember your name in the night, O Lord, and keep your law.

This blessing has fallen to me, that I have kept your precepts. It was just yesterday in our study of Romans chapter 3, where we read that we uphold the law. By the faith that we have in Christ, we do not overthrow the law.

Rather, we uphold the law. Those who believe that they're keeping the law, or they believe that their righteousness will save them, they're not the ones who are upholding the law. The ones who put their faith in Christ, who fulfilled all the law and the prophets, we are the ones who uphold the law.

As we have been reading through Psalm 119, we have seen the praise that has been given unto God for the law that he has given to us, the revelation of himself through his righteous precepts. Here in verse 49, remember your word to your servant in which you have made me hope.

It is even in the law of God that we have been given promises of God. We hope in the Lord. Reading his law stirs in us hope, our affections for God. When it comes to the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, this is not a gifting of the Holy Spirit that we often talk about.

Whenever we talk about gifts of the Spirit, we're talking about those things that help us to shine. What sort of great gift am I going to get that I may do something great that people can recognize me for?

That tends to be what we think about whenever we start talking about gifts of the Spirit. Or among the Charismatics and the Pentecostals, they'll talk about speaking in tongues or doing miraculous healings or gift of prophecies, which are not being done among the people of God.

Those people who claim to be doing healings or prophecies or speaking in tongues, they're faking it. They're not really doing it. What is the work of the Holy Spirit in our heart? But to love the law of God.

That's a work that the Holy Spirit does in the heart of every single believer. To love God's word. To follow his commandments and his precepts. We demonstrate that we love God and we are his followers when we keep his commandments.

They stir in us hope, affection for God, and that's what we have in the attitude of the psalmist here in verse 49, remember your word to your servant in which you have made me hope. This is my comfort in my affliction that your promise gives me life.

We are even comforted in our afflictions when we read the law of God. It's at the beginning of 2 Corinthians chapter 9 where we find that word comfort. I'm sorry, 2 Corinthians chapter 1, the very beginning of Paul's second letter to the Corinthians.

We find that word comfort come up more here than anywhere else in the Bible. In fact, Paul even begins 2 Corinthians 1 .3 by saying, blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

And it is even loving God's law that stirred Paul to write that. This is my comfort in my affliction that your promise gives me life. God is the father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of mercies and the God of all comfort.

Many people are facing all kinds of afflictions and struggles, depression, anxiety right now. And yet even reflecting upon the law of God can enliven your heart, stir your rejoicings, lift your gaze that you may cling all the more to him for his righteousness and the blessings that he has bestowed upon you by faith in his son, Jesus Christ.

It is the law and the prophets that even point us to Jesus Christ for as we had read in Romans chapter three, verses 21 and 22, the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.

So the law and the prophets testify of this. Even when we read in the law, we see Christ. We continue on, the insolent utterly deride me, but I do not turn away from your law. We are so steadfast on the law of God, its purity, its beauty, that even though the world would make fun of us for following it, it's never going to turn us away.

Now there are those who are weak in heart, those whose conversion has not been genuine and when struggles come, they quickly turn away. They go back to the world because, hey, they got into this thing thinking that it would make life easier.

They did not expect being a Christian would be difficult, but Jesus even warns in the parable of the sower of those who spring up and express their joy for a moment. But then once the pressures of this world come upon them, they quickly fall away and they are the ones who reveal themselves to never have been truly in love with God.

But though the insolent utterly deride us, do not turn away from the law of God. Verse 52, when I think of your rules from of old, I take comfort, oh Lord. There's that reference to being comforted again by the assurances we've been given in the word of God.

Hot indignation seizes me because of the wicked who forsake your law. Another work of the Holy Spirit in our heart is that we have a hatred of sin. We do not want sin. We do not want any unrighteous way.

We don't want it in ourselves. We don't like seeing other people do it either. It's not self-righteous of us to look at the evil that men do and be repulsed by it. It's because our heart has been stirred to righteousness in Christ that we would look at sin and hate sin and look to God and love God and love his law.

Hot indignation seizes me because of the wicked. They forsake the law of God. We hate to see the way of God blasphemed. We would wish that all men would exalt to praise the Lord God. Your statutes have been my songs in the house of my sojourning.

You don't really see a whole lot of praise songs, at least not among the popular praise songs that tell people to obey God, do you turn from your sin, obey God, walk in the way of righteousness, follow God, do what it is that he says, hate your sin, love righteousness.

You don't really see a whole lot of praise songs. There's plenty of sound songs and even hymns out there that reflect that kind of character, but not so much among the popular stuff, stuff that hits top 40 radio, especially that tends to be a little offensive.

We don't want to tell anybody they're sinners. We don't want to tell anybody they're wrong. We're just going to be positive and encouraging as the radio slogan goes. Your statutes have been my songs in the house of my sojourning.

This is what we're reading here. Psalm 119 is a song. It is a song of celebration, rejoicing in the fact that God has given us his law and your statutes have been my songs in the house of my sojourning.

That's where we are. So as we're on the earth, as travelers, as wanderers, strangers and aliens, exiles, as the way that Peter puts it, we rejoice in the Lord for the law that he has given us and it is our delight to sing his praises.

Verse 55, I remember your name in the night, oh Lord, and keep your law. This blessing has fallen to me that I have kept your precepts. Indeed, the Lord will bless us for keeping his word. Sometimes we don't like talking about the blessings because it's like we shouldn't be doing what we do expecting anything in return.

But nevertheless, Jesus is the one who has promised blessings to us who seek after him and delight to do his commandments. We shouldn't be ashamed of that. Next section of Psalm 119. This is under the letter Het.

Verse 57, or I guess in Hebrew you would say Chet. Always got to sound like you're hocking a loogie. Verse 57, the Lord is my portion. I promise to keep your words. I entreat your favor with all my heart.

Be gracious to me according to your promise. When I think on my ways, I turn my feet to your testimonies. I hasten and do not delay to keep your commandments. Though the cords of the wicked ensnare me, I do not forget your law.

At midnight I rise to praise you because of your righteous rules. I am a companion of all who fear you, of those who keep your precepts. The earth, O Lord, is full of your steadfast love. Teach me your statutes.

We come back to verse 57, the Lord is my portion. Just reflect on that for just a moment. This is the psalmist saying that he is fully satisfied in God and needs nothing else. You think about the Lord being a portion.

How much God is there? He is infinite. There is no end to God. And so if we make the Lord our portion, we are fully satisfied, not just in this life, but even in the life to come. Forevermore, there is pleasure in God.

We see continually throughout the Psalms and even the Old Testament in general, references to things like portion and lot and lines and an inheritance. Now, this kind of language comes out of the promise, the land promise that was given to the people of Israel, the descendants of Abraham.

But those things are, even the land promise was a type or a shadow of what was to come. And that is the promise of a heavenly kingdom. We read about that in Hebrews 11. Even the Old Testament faithful were looking toward not an earthly promise, but a heavenly one.

And so God has prepared for them a kingdom. So this language that we read here about portion and lot and lines, Psalm 16, 6, the lines have fallen for me in pleasant places. Indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

This is taking that Old Testament language of a land grant and apply it in a spiritual manner to all the good things that have been lavished upon us in the blessing of God through faith in his son, Jesus Christ.

So the Lord is my portion. He is my inheritance. All that we receive is in God. And in fact, the greatest thing that we receive is Christ himself. He is the greatest treasure. Yes, we have the promise of heaven, but the greatest thing about heaven is not heaven.

The greatest thing about heaven is it's where God is, and we get to dwell with him forever. So may God be our delight and our pursuit, our passion, our everything, our portion. I promise to keep your words.

God has made promises to us. And so make a promise to him. Commit to the Lord to walk in his ways and delight to keep it. Verse 58, I entreat your favor with all my heart. This comes right from I promise to keep your words.

I devote my whole self unto you. And so I entreat your favor with all my heart. I give all my heart to God and entreat the favor of God. Be gracious to me according to your promise. When I think on my ways, I turn my feet to your testimonies.

You've heard me share my testimony about Psalm 119, that this was a psalm that saved me in the time that I was going astray. I had been a professing Christian for most of my life, and yet I was going after the passions of my flesh.

It was Psalm 119 that was probably the primary chunk of scripture. And I'll tell you, even coming into it, it just was a matter of opening my Bible to the middle. I just took my Bible, opened it up to the center, Psalm 119.

It's like the geographic center of the Bible. And that's where the page is open to. That's where I began to read. And this was the scripture that was the most convicting to me and directed me back to a way of righteousness that is pleasing unto Christ my King.

To think on his ways and turn my feet to his testimonies. I hasten and do not delay to keep your commandments. You may be a procrastinator like I am, but do not procrastinate in keeping the law of God.

Apply it to your life even now. Verse 61, though the cords of the wicked ensnare me, I do not forget your law. We're surrounded by wickedness all the time, even if you may not be tempted by it. Maybe you come into a wickedness that repulses you, just like we had read in the previous section.

Hot indignation seizes me because of the wicked who forsake your law. Maybe you're not being tempted by the wickedness that you see, but it nevertheless stirs you to anger or to mourn and grieve over the wickedness that you see going on in the world.

This is the cords of the wicked that ensnare you. Maybe it is oppression that comes at the hands of the wicked. You're ensnared in the cords of the wicked. And of course, we could be talking about temptation here as well.

So do not forget the law of God. Resist temptation. Find hope in Christ. Delight in his goodness when you reflect upon his law. Verse 62, at midnight, I rise to praise you because of your righteous rules.

I've had those moments before, laying in bed and suddenly stirred to praise God. Have you ever been there before? I've had that. And it was reflecting upon the goodness of God as revealed in his word.

At midnight, I rise to praise you because of your righteous rules. I am a companion of all who fear you. So not in partnership with the wicked, but a companion with those who delight to worship God, of those who keep your precepts.

That's good company. That's the company you want to be in. You want to go to the house of God, singing the praises with his saints, as it says in Psalm 42. So delight in this and do so. Keep company with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.

As Paul puts it to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2. Verse 64, the earth, O Lord, is full of your steadfast love. There's nowhere that you can go that would be far away from the steadfast love of our God. Teach me your statutes.

Have them written on your heart. Reflect upon them at all times. Let's get one more section in here. This is Tet, beginning in verse 65. You have dealt well with your servant, O Lord, according to your word.

Teach me good judgment and knowledge, for I believe in your commandments. Before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I keep your word. You are good and do good. Teach me your statutes. The insolent smear me with lies, but with my whole heart, I keep your precepts.

Their heart is unfeeling like fat, but I delight in your law. It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes. The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces.

We come back to verse 65. You have dealt well with your servant, O Lord, according to your word. Compare that with the statement that comes up in verse 71. It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes.

So there are times when God tests us, and he does this, disciplines us, because we are sons and daughters of God. If we experience those tests and we endure, we cling to the law of God, we demonstrate that we are faithful unto the Lord.

Our faith is genuine and real. It grows us, it awakens us to an awareness, a delight in God. It stirs us to holiness. It's not that God needs to prove anything to himself, but we certainly need to find ourselves workers approved by the testing that God subjects us to.

And he does this because he loves us, not because he's trying to be cruel to us, not because he wants to torture us, but he loves us that we may share in the sufferings of Christ and become more Christ-like as we endure through the sufferings that we face.

You have dealt well with your servant. All these things God does for us, he does for our good. That's Romans 8, 28. It's the theme verse for the good that God does for us. He works all things together for good for those who love God and are called according to his purpose.

Teach me good judgments and knowledge for I believe in your commandments. Before I was afflicted, I went astray. So coming back to my testimony, I was afflicted. I was tested and it brought me back to the path of righteousness when I looked into his word, but now I keep your word.

You are good and do good. Teach me your statutes. Remember that, that God is good and he does good. Genesis 50, 20, what mankind means for evil, God means for good. Okay, whatever testing you go through, it is not God being cruel to you.

He loves you, endure, hold fast Christian to his promises and to his word, he will deliver you unto eternal life. As Jesus said to his disciples, he who endures to the end will be saved. You are good and do good.

Teach me your statutes. The insolence smear me with lies, but with my whole heart, I keep your precepts. Experienced that recently with somebody attempting to smear lies about me, but I don't wanna be discouraged in that for it is God's word that sustains me.

My assurance, my comfort is never gonna be in the words that other people say to me or about me, but rather it is what God has said in his word. It is holding fast to this that is sufficient for me. The grace of God is sufficient for me for his power is made perfect in my weakness.

2 Corinthians 12, their heart is unfeeling like fat, but I delight in your law. It is good for me that I was afflicted that I might learn your statutes. The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces.

Do not trade your love for God and his word for anything, my brothers and sisters, amen.

This has been, When We Understand the Text of Pastor Gabriel Hughes. For all of our podcasts, episodes, videos, books, and more, visit our website at www .utt .com. If you'd like to submit a question to this broadcast or just send us a comment, email whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com and let your friends know about our ministry.

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