Give me understanding

Service Notes

Prayer for family that lost a teenager

Gospel tract from Dylan / pray for his trip

Josh and Bethany Furan are headed to Northern Ireland to work with our friend James Wilson

Introduction

Tonight’s letter is the smallest of Hebrew letters. Matthew 5:18 “18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”

The Bible Knowledge Commentary 119:73–80

119:73–80. The psalmist believed that God created him and had given him hope in the Word (vv. 73–74; cf. v. 81). Knowing that in faithfulness God had afflicted him (cf. vv. 67, 71), he asked God to comfort him and put the arrogant (cf. vv. 51, 69, 85–122) to shame (vv. 75–78). He then prayed that those who fear the LORD would likewise turn to Him in accord with His Word and that he would be kept blameless (vv. 79–80).

Psalm 119:73–80 (KJV 1900)

73 JOD. Thy hands have made me and fashioned me: Give me understanding, that I may learn thy commandments.

74 They that fear thee will be glad when they see me; Because I have hoped in thy word.

75 I know, O Lord, that thy judgments are right, And that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me.

76 Let, I pray thee, thy merciful kindness be for my comfort, According to thy word unto thy servant.

77 Let thy tender mercies come unto me, that I may live: For thy law is my delight.

78 Let the proud be ashamed; for they dealt perversely with me without a cause: But I will meditate in thy precepts.

79 Let those that fear thee turn unto me, And those that have known thy testimonies.

80 Let my heart be sound in thy statutes; That I be not ashamed.

We ask and receive understanding from God tonight from Psalm 119

Because God made me I will look to Him for understanding

My life can be an encouragement to others

We should declare that God is good even in our affliction

We go to God to be comforted in our trials He knows you need Him

Ask God for a sincere heart in a shameful world

Because God made me I will look to Him for understanding

Understanding of God as Creator is foundational to understanding His authority in our lives

Psalm 119:73 “73 JOD. Thy hands have made me and fashioned me: Give me understanding, that I may learn thy commandments.”

To say that God is our Creator is to acknowledge:

We are indebted to Him as the giver of life.

He is of greater understanding than we will ever be.

He knows what is best for us.

Our lives are connected to Someone that is above all and eternal.

Rejection of God’s Word

We by faith we have understanding. Hebrews 11:3 “3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.”

How do we exist? By His creating power.

Genesis 1:27 “27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”

Why do we exist? For His glory.

Isaiah 43:6-7 “6 I will say to the north, Give up; And to the south, Keep not back: Bring my sons from far, And my daughters from the ends of the earth; 7 Even every one that is called by my name: For I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.”

“All that we call human history — money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery — is the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy.”

Psalm 14:1-4 “1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, There is none that doeth good. 2 The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men, To see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. 3 They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: There is none that doeth good, no, not one. 4 Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? Who eat up my people as they eat bread, And call not upon the Lord.”

Our lives are rich in what the word is completely bankrupt.

There is darkness without, and when I die there will be darkness within. There is no splendor, no vastness anywhere; only triviality for a moment, and then nothing. - Bertrand Russell

My life can be an encouragement to others

Our lives can be a blessing to others

Psalm 119:74 “74 They that fear thee will be glad when they see me; Because I have hoped in thy word.”

Go to good men, study their errors, study their repentance, study their afflictions, study God's mercy to them that you may know His testimonies are true.

Especially during times of affliction. Psalm 119:75 “75 I know, O Lord, that thy judgments are right, And that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me.”

Worshiping together matters.

Psalm 119:79 “79 Let those that fear thee turn unto me, And those that have known thy testimonies.”

Moravian Ring: No man liveth and dieth unto himself. Romans 14:7 “7 For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.”

God glory never diminishes but we are called together to worship Him. Psalm 145:7 “7 They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, And shall sing of thy righteousness.”

“When a man of God obtains grace for himself he becomes a blessing to others…. There are professors whose presence scatters sadness, and the godly quietly steal out (slip out) of their company: may this never be the case with us.” (Spurgeon)

We should declare that God is good even in our affliction

Psalm 119:75 “75 I know, O Lord, that thy judgments are right, And that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me.”

It is one thing to say, “God has the right to do with me as He pleases.” It is a greater thing to say that His judgments are right, and that in faithfulness You have afflicted me.

God afflicts us because of His faithfulness not because of any wavering in His love for us. Psalm 119:67 “67 Before I was afflicted I went astray: But now have I kept thy word.”

The life of others has been an encouragement to us.

· Job could say in his affliction, Job 1:21 “21 And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, And naked shall I return thither: The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

· Eli could say in his affliction, 1 Samuel 3:18 “18 And Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from him. And he said, It is the Lord: let him do what seemeth him good.”

· David could say in his affliction, 2 Samuel 16:11 “11 And David said to Abishai, and to all his servants, Behold, my son, which came forth of my bowels, seeketh my life: how much more now may this Benjamite do it? let him alone, and let him curse; for the Lord hath bidden him.”

“He has chosen not to heal me, but to hold me. The more intense the pain, the closer His embrace.” ― Joni Eareckson Tada, A Place of Healing: Wrestling with the Mysteries of Suffering, Pain, and God's Sovereignty

We go to God to be comforted in our trials He knows you need Him

Psalm 119:76 “76 Let, I pray thee, thy merciful kindness be for my comfort, According to thy word unto thy servant.”

His Words to His Servant

We should read these words and take them personally. We are His servant.

We should read His Words and receive them as His mind. Phil 2:5 “5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:”

God knows you need His mercy to survive.

Psalm 119:77 “77 Let thy tender mercies come unto me, that I may live: For thy law is my delight.”

If God were our enemy, we be absolutely hopeless.

If we feel completely neglected by God we would be most miserable.

We should look to God for comfort during this pilgrimage.

We can delight in His law.

“All the candles in the world, in the absence of the sun, can never make the day. The whole earth, in its brightest visions of fancy, destitute of the Lord’s love, can never cheer nor revive the soul.” (Bridges)

Ask God for a sincere heart in a shameful world

Shame is necessary and needed for the proud

Psalm 119:78 “78 Let the proud be ashamed; for they dealt perversely with me without a cause: But I will meditate in thy precepts.”

This is a prayer for their good. Psalm 83:16 “16 Fill their faces with shame; That they may seek thy name, O Lord.”

The fasting of Esther and the Jews brought failure and doom for Haman. God knows how to defend His own who cry to Him.

There is nothing in holiness to be ashamed of

Psalm 119:80 “80 Let my heart be sound in thy statutes; That I be not ashamed.”

He asked God, and depended on Him, for a sound (blameless) heart and life.

Conclusion

Much of this Psalm is a prayer asking God to enable the Psalmist to live a life that would be pleasing to Him.

76 Let, I pray thee, thy merciful kindness be for my comfort, According to thy word unto thy servant.

77 Let thy tender mercies come unto me, that I may live: For thy law is my delight.

78 Let the proud be ashamed; for they dealt perversely with me without a cause: But I will meditate in thy precepts.

79 Let those that fear thee turn unto me, And those that have known thy testimonies.

80 Let my heart be sound in thy statutes; That I be not ashamed.

God’s enabling comes through finding hope in His Word.

His Word is powerful in our lives when we see Him as our Creator with a design for our lives.

Look at the exhortations in the New Testament during times of afflictions.

Do not think it is strange.

Rejoice

Be not ashamed

Glorify God

Do good

1 Peter 4:12–19 (KJV 1900)

12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:

13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

14 If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.

15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters.

16 Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.

17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

19 Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

How will we do this?

1 Peter 4:19 “19 Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.”

Affliction comes, we trust.

We do not feel shame believing we have been forsaken, we rejoice.

We do well, by the freedom given to live before the Lord, and glorify God.