Psalm 119 - Ain
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What can we do when it seems the enemy is winning.
Or at least continuing their attack without any restraint.
What should we do when it seems God is not answering our prayers.
This is feeling of the Sixteenth section of Psalm 119, Ain.
It seems the Psalmist is full of frustration and fear.
He calls on God with even more intensity than before.
We don’t know what the exact situation is because we do not know who authored this chapter.
But it seems that he has reached a crisis point.
He indicated before that his life was being threatened.
109 My soul is continually in my hand: Yet do I not forget thy law.
The psalmist now prays boldly that it is time for the Lord to act.
126 It is time for thee, Lord, to work: For they have made void thy law.
His enemies are tormenting him.
Even though his situation has not improved, he did not turn away from God.
He continued believing in the promises of God and he called on God to fulfill those promises.
So what can we do when it seems the enemy is winning.
We can Pray Five specific prayers when it seems the enemy is winning.
I. Have Mercy and Help Me
I. Have Mercy and Help Me
121 I have done judgment and justice: Leave me not to mine oppressors.
The Psalmist was able to boldly pray to the Lord for help because he had lived following the judgments that God had spoken, and the lived right (justice).
Now we can definitely lie to ourselves or even others about how we are living…but we cannot lie to God!
Nothing is hidden from Him!
1 O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me.
2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, Thou understandest my thought afar off.
3 Thou compassest my path and my lying down, And art acquainted with all my ways.
4 For there is not a word in my tongue, But, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether.
But the Psalmist knew he had done right in this situation.
He had followed God’s Word.
So the psalmist confidently addresses God and asks him to have mercy and help him.
Living right is not a guarantee of Good things happening in your life!
But when trouble comes, we can confidently ask God for help.
If circumstances don’t change or difficulties persist, we need to persist in calling out for God’s mercy and help.
We have access to the very throne of God!
We can come boldly asking for help in time of need
15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
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.
Living righteously allows us to be even bolder in coming to God.
If you do have sin, repent, confess it and keep short accounts with God!
18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear me:
So we can pray first for mercy and help, then we can pray that God will...
II. Give Me Assurance
II. Give Me Assurance
122 Be surety for thy servant for good: Let not the proud oppress me.
The psalmist then asked for assurance that he was going to be safe in the end.
He asked the Lord to be surety for him.
Warren Wiersbe said,
“A person became surety when he or she pledged to pay another person’s debt or fulfill a promise. When Jacob refused to allow Benjamin to go to Egypt for food with his brothers, it was Judah who willingly became surety for his youngest brother.”
The psalmist wanted to be assured that he would be safe.
He asked God for a personal guarantee that he would survive this whole ordeal.
When we are going through a long trial it is natural to long for assurance from God.
We never need to hesitate to ask God to feel his presence and love even stronger during these times.
When our heart is breaking, or when we are afraid, frustrated or sense that this will never end - pour your heart out to God.
God cares more about us than we could ever understand!
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
So pray, have mercy and Help me; Give me assurance that I will be OK and that you are there.
Then thirdly pray for God to...
III. Deliver Me
III. Deliver Me
123 Mine eyes fail for thy salvation, And for the word of thy righteousness.
The psalmist looks around and can’t see how God was going to save him.
He couldn’t see the deliverance, or how He would keep His Word.
He was anxiously waiting for God to fulfill his word of righteousness
And yet he was still not giving up on God.
When you don’t get answers to your prayer, check to make sure that you are clean before him, then check to make sure your request does not contradict Scripture, then keep asking!
You should always pray according to God’s Will
You can never go wrong following or yielding to God’s Will.
But until a definite NO is given…keep praying!
Pray for:
the help you need
the healing you need
the deliverance from persecution or suffering
the needs that need met
the salvation of a loved one
revival in our nation
whatever the request - keep praying!
So pray for God’s Mercy and help
Pray for Assurance of His love and help
Continue to pray for deliverance
The fourth prayer we need to pray when things aren’t getting better is: Pray that God will...
IV. Teach Me
IV. Teach Me
124 Deal with thy servant according unto thy mercy, And teach me thy statutes.
125 I am thy servant; give me understanding, That I may know thy testimonies.
The devotion that this man had in spite more suffering than most of us will experience is the great theme we see throughout this psalm.
Pray like the psalmist that God will use his situation to teach him from God’s Word.
He offered four reasons for this request.
He needed a fresh touch of the LORD’S mercy (chesed) or unfailing love (v. 124a).
The psalmist asked God to demonstrate His love by speaking to him through the Word.
He wanted to learn God’s Word (v. 124b).
He was God’s loyal servant and longed to obey the LORD (v. 125a).
He needed wisdom to understand God’s laws (v. 125b).
That is, he needed to discern what God wanted him to do in his desperate circumstances.
Furthermore, he wanted to understand God’s purposes for his suffering (Js. 1:5).
God works through our trials to teach us and grow us…to help us become more like Jesus.
If you are suffering, open your hearts and mind to the Lord ask Him to reveal and teach us exactly what He wants us to learn.
We ought to have a burning desire for God’s Word.
Ask God to help us understand and obey.
Suffering can either turn you away from God or turn you to Him.
Job turned to God when he was painfully afflicted, God spoke to him in a more personal way than he has to most people.
We most likely have all known others who have grown bitter at God because of circumstances that came in their life.
So Pray for Mercy and help
Pray for Assurance
Pray for Deliverance again
Pray for God to teach you through this, and then lastly Pray that God will...
V. Bring Justice
V. Bring Justice
126 It is time for thee, Lord, to work: For they have made void thy law.
127 Therefore I love thy commandments Above gold; yea, above fine gold.
128 Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; And I hate every false way.
The final request was for God to execute justice on these evil doers that attacked him.
He very boldly states Now is the time!
They were attacking him, but also God Himself through His Word.
they have made void thy law
He said, I love thy commandments above Gold; yea above fine gold.
So I’m going to pray, “Sick ‘em God Sick ‘em!”
Hit Him Momma, Hit Him!
He wasn’t just wanting personal vengeance, his deep love for God’s Word causes him to want God to act.
Whole heartedly he says he will esteem God’s Precepts - He will esteem right always, and hate every false way!
We live in a very wicked day, the world does not just ignore God’s Word they actually hate it!
With everything around us pointing to the fact that we are in the last days, we pray for God to act!
20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
We want to see people repent before Jesus does come.
But we also want to see criminals, terrorists and all evildoers brought to justice.
But we pray for even those who persecute us
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;
We pray for their souls,
that they will see the light of the gospel,
that they will repent of their wicked ways,
and turn to God for mercy and salvation
4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
Jesus also taught us to pray that the Kingdom of God would come and God’s will would be done on earth as it is in Heaven.,
10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
This prayer will be fulfilled when Christ returns to rule and reign, so we pray that God will come soon!
And we pray for strength to go on serving Him, Witnessing for Him, and Walking with Him.