PSALM 119:153-160 RESH

At the start of this new section the writer is becoming more and more
urgent, - he is approaching the end of the psalm The Hebrew alphabet
was about to end, - each verse in each of the sections began with the letter
at the head of the section and there were only two more letters of the
alphabet after this one! But the psalmist knew his trials would continue
and he knew he would continue to need the help of the Lord.

These last three sections are centred round the psalmist trusting in God in
the midst of hard times when he had nowhere else to look, but upward.

Each one of us here knows, - Im sure, - what it is like to look out upon a
rough sea; on the horizon it seems another great wave is coming your
way. The psalmist has a message for you and it can be put simply like
this: God sometimes puts you in the dark in order to show you He is the
overwhelming Light. No matter how dark it is, no matter how alone you
feel God is greater than anything you can ever face.

The first request the psalmist asks of the Lord is for

DELIVERANCE 153 Consider mine affliction, and deliver me: for I do not forget
thy law. 154 Plead my cause, and deliver me: quicken me according to thy word.
No one of a right mind enjoys difficulties and trials. In the days when
they used to persecute Christians, none of them would have looked
forward to be fed to the lions or burned at the stake.
The psalmist here comes before God, with a heavy burden upon
his heart, Consider mine affliction, and deliver me: for I do not forget thy law.
154 Plead my cause, and deliver me.
I cant imagine that anyone would look forward to a serious illness
that would eventually take their life I cant imagine that someone
would in any way at all welcome hardship and sorrow. The natural thing,
- as a believer, - is to cry to God to deliver you from the affliction.
And there is nothing wrong with crying out to God to deliver you,
- you are not arguing with Him or disagreeing with His ways you are
simply crying from your heart to your loving Heavenly Father.
Something else There is such a thing nowadays known as the
Prosperity Gospel. Basically it teaches you that God blesses you with
good health and wealth if you are His faithful child; on the other side of
the coin it infers that the reason you are not healthy and you are not
wealthy is because you are not close to God.
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Such a Gospel does not have its source in either the Word of God or
in the mind of God. Faithful servants in the Bible, - men like J ob, - lost
almost everything and yet their faith remained.
No, it is a fact of life that we often seem to come upon times when we
find it impossible to loosen the chains that shackle us.
The psalmist knew all about difficult times, - he mentioned them so
often throughout this long psalm and he comes again to the Lord, -
almost at the conclusion, - and he asks the Lord to deliver him.
Canaan was the beautiful land the Hebrews were travelling
towards for over forty years but what kind of a land was Canaan?
Deut. 11:11 the land, whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys.
You cannot have the mountaintops without also having the valleys.
Im sure you have already noticed a key word here in these verses, - it
appears three times, quicken me (vv.154,156,159). It means, give me life,
revive me, lift me up out of the valley and back on to the mountain
and keep me going on. He had prayed this prayer before,
v.25 My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou me according to thy
word.
v. 37 Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me
in thy way.
v.40 Behold, I have longed after thy precepts: quicken me in thy
righteousness.
v.88 Quicken me after thy lovingkindness; so shall I keep the testimony
of thy mouth.
v.107 I am afflicted very much: quicken me, O LORD, according unto
thy word.
v.149 Hear my voice according unto thy lovingkindness: O LORD,
quicken me according to thy judgment.
Yes, he had prayed this prayer before and on each previous occasion
the Lord had answered and once again, he had every confidence God
would deliver him.
There is no point in praying if you dont believe God will answer or
God can answer. If you only pray for the sake of it there is no point!
There is absolutely no sense praying if you do not have confidence in
God to answer your prayer!
The psalmist is praying for deliverance here and he is being
taught
He is being taught patience for his prayer is not being answered
straightaway. He is not saying, Lord, do it and do it now!
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No, he is showing patience. Patience is endurance when
circumstances are difficult. Tribulation worketh patience (Rom. 5:3), says
Paul. It is one of the important characteristics of the maturing Christian.
If we do not learn to be patient, we are not likely to learn anything
else! And patience is not sitting doing nothing. patience is not
complacency. Patience is endurance, - it is like the soldier on the
battlefield still keeping on when the bullets are flying round him! It is
like the athlete in the race, refusing to stop for he wants to win.
The psalmist is being taught about patience, and he is also being
taught about perseverance because it is not talent or training that
guarantees victory it is perseverance! As Spurgeon said, By
perseverance the snail reached the Ark.
And deliverance is also to do with long-suffering. Generally,
patience has to do with circumstances, whereas long-suffering has to do
with people.
Moses was patient during the contest with Pharaoh in Egypt, but he
was not long-suffering with his own people for he lost his temper and
forfeited the privilege of entering the Promised Land (Num. 20).
People can take it out of you more than circumstances can and
yet the psalmist testified to Gods glory, 157 Many are my persecutors and
mine enemies; yet do I not decline from thy testimonies.
Consider mine affliction Look upon my affliction see to it, Lord.
It is the same as when Abraham was walking up the mountain with
his son and young Isaac turned and asked him, Gen. 22:7 My father
Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?
And Abrahams answer was simple, yet believing, v.8 My son, God
will provide himself a lamb.
Lord, see to it, Consider mine affliction, and deliver me ... 154 Plead my
cause. Lord, Im depending upon You. Ps.34:15 (also I Pet. 3:12) The
eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.
84:11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and
glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
Lord, you are my Advocate; in the courtroom, plead my case, I am
depending upon You. Hannah prayed, I Sam. 2:2 There is none holy as
the LORD: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God.
Is. 45:21 there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour.
He rejoiced before when the Lord delivered him, and he was certain
he would rejoice again, Ps. 119:161 Princes have persecuted me without a
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cause: but my heart standeth in awe of thy word. 162 I rejoice at thy word, as
one that findeth great spoil. Deliverance.
ACCEPTANCE 156 Great are thy tender mercies, O LORD.
In other words, Lord, I know all about thy tender mercies for you have
graciously granted them to me in the past and I have come to learn, Ps.
145:9 The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.
You have never let me down; You have never left me alone and
Ps. 25:6 O LORD, thy tender mercies and thy lovingkindnesses they have
been ever of old.
Never once does God bring disappointment That is not to say He
always answers our prayers the way we want them answered.
He is not like a genie who pops out of a bottle and gives us what we
command him to give us. God is not like that!
Sometimes God answers our prayer in a way contrary to how we ask
but however He answers, it is always to our good and to His glory
it is always according to His mercy,
Ps. 119:77 Let thy tender mercies come unto me, that I may live: for thy
law is my delight.
If we prayed on the basis of our own merit, God would never answer
but when we come to the Father, in the Name of the Son and with the
help of the Holy Spirit, God in His grace gives us what we do not
deserve, and in His mercy He does not give us what we do deserve.
His throne is a throne of grace where grace and mercy is in
abundance, - where grace and mercy meet, Heb. 4:16 Let us therefore come
boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help
in time of need.
The psalmist was disgusted with the ungodly but yet, it did not keep
him back from coming to the Lord.
In fact look at it again v.155 Salvation is far from the wicked: for
they seek not thy statutes and then he speaks about Gods tender mercies.
Isnt it true that if it were not for the mercy of God, we would be among
the ranks of the wicked and the God-despisers?!
The psalmist indeed, was grateful to God for His tender mercies and
with such confidence, in whatsoever state he came, - whether it was in the
joy of his salvation, or surrounded by the enemy, - he knew that in the
presence of God he was always accepted. Deliverance Acceptance


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RELIANCE 159 quicken me, O LORD, according to thy lovingkindness
In just about every section of the psalm, the psalmist has been
hounded by the enemy. Wherever he looks, the enemy seems to be.
There seems to be more and more of them all the time but not in one
single place does he ask the Lord to get rid of the enemy; instead, in each
and every place he asks the Lord to give him the strength to resist.
When you ask for one set of troubles to be gotten rid of, in next-to-
no-time another set of troubles have arisen that is just the way life is!
But the difference between the believer and the unbeliever is that the
believer has a God to Whom he/she can take their troubles and leave
them at His Throne.
Lord, I cannot contend with these people. They seem to keep coming
at me. No sooner has one finished, but another begins. But Lord, I
trust in thy lovingkindness for I know God is faithful, who will not suffer [me]
to be tempted above that [I] are able; but will with the temptation also make a
way to escape, that [I] may be able to bear it (I Cor. 10:13).
In the Book of Deuteronomy (20:4) Moses tells the people, the LORD your
God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.
He is altogether reliable; His promise to Israel was this, Jer. 31:1 At
the same time, saith the LORD, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and
they shall be my people. 3 I have loved thee with an everlasting love:
therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. 9 They shall come with
weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by
the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble.
This is our God and the psalmist is giving testimony to His goodness
Deliverance Acceptance Reliance

ENDURANCE 160 Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of
thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.
For how long can I continue to have all my confidence in God?
For how long? and the answer comes for ever.
Believer, how long can you trust God? for ever. In what
circumstances can you trust Him? in every circumstance, Thy word is
true from the beginning.
This is the most intimate of relationships between the believer and
the Lord; he feels safe the nearer the throne he is.



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Remember earlier the psalmist pleaded before the Lord, v.154
quicken me according to thy word. He has often found such a wealth of
blessing among the things God has promised previously and that is
how he can continually say, Thy word is true from the beginning: and every
one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.
Spurgeon commented on this verse, The sweet singer finishes up
this section by dwelling upon the sureness of the truth of God.
No matter what the enemy says, Gods Word is true for God is true!
Gods Word has been true from the very first utterance in Gen. 1:1
right the whole way through to Rev. 22:21.
All that He has said is irreversible and perfect, - there is not one
single mistake of any shape or form either in the Word of God or in the
providential dealings of God.
The Lord has nothing to regret or to retract, nothing to amend or to
reverse.
All Gods judgments, decrees, commands, and purposes are
righteous, and coming from God, every one of them will outlive the stars.
Gods justice endureth for ever and also, His mercy endureth for ever.
(41 times the Bible tells us!)
His Word is altogether trustworthy and has proved the passing of
time for Gods Word endures.

CONCLUSION
Once again, the psalmist has shown to us the necessity to trust in the
living Word of God. Yes, God sometimes puts us in the dark in order to
show us He is the Light and to show us the strength of the light.
Matthew Henry comments, The more closely we cleave to the word
of God, both as our rule and as our stay, the more assurance we may have
of deliverance in due time.
God is as good as His Word in all things that is why it is necessary
to get to know His Word. Reading and studying the Word taking it in
and seeking to live it out get to know how God would do it!
Deliverance Acceptance Reliance Endurance our faith
is as good as the God in Whom we believe.
The God of the Bible has no equal make sure your confidence is in
none other!
Make God bless to us today the study of His infallible and inerrant
Word. Amen