When Persecution Comes

Psalm 119:160-168

Usually when we speak of persecution we are speaking of suffering because we are Christians. That is a reality that is promised in Scripture and has been endured by many believers. I don’t think that is the context here. Sometimes people treat us in an evil way not because of who we are but because of who they are.

Many people believe that David wrote Psalm 119. One of the reasons is because of sections like this one. The reference to political persecution fits well with David. He was persecuted by Saul and other political rulers often. There are similarities between the Psalmists’ experiences and David’s. I’m not convinced he wrote this Psalm, but he may have. Regardless, we can find a connection to this Psalm. Inevitably we will all be treated unfairly by someone in this world. In this section I’m going to show you how to react when persecution comes.

1. When persecution comes, we should fear God more than we fear man (161).

“Princes” A few thoughts about that:

1) They should be moral people. It is sad that often the people with power don’t have character. Choose well if you can choose your political leaders.

2) They are powerful people. The Psalmists enemy was not a nobody. He had influence. He had the ability perhaps to have the Psalmists put in prison or even killed.

“without cause” The only motive must have been hatred born from covetousness or spite. This puts the Psalmists in an odd situation. What can he do to fix things?

If he did nothing to deserve the persecution, what can he do to make it stop? Nothing.

Sometimes there is nothing we can do about a situation. When a person is unreasonable it does no good to try and reason with them.

“But my heart stands in awe of Your Words”

Literally the word means “to shake”. Instead of trembling before political rulers the Psalmist trembles at the Word of God. This means he fears God more than man. His persecutors cannot convince him to contradict the Word of God because he fears God more.

Notice that he trembles at the Word of God. This shows you cannot separate God from His Word. To be unfaithful to God’s Word is to be unfaithful to God.

Jesus said in Luke 9:26:

For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels.

When we are treated wrongly our greatest fear should not be those mistreating us. Our greatest fear should be that we might disobey God’s Word because of the mistreatment.

2. When persecution comes, we should rejoice in the treasure of God’s Word (162).

“One who finds great spoil” refers to the process of victorious soldiers plundering the city they have conquered. Why do the soldiers have joy?

1) They have wone the battle.

2) They have gained treasure.

When persecution comes battle comes.

1) There is a battle against the enemy himself. Provoked

2) There is a battle against the devil. Tempted

3) There is a battle against the flesh. Influenced

When the battle comes, we should reach for our sword. The Word of God is our sword. In the Word we find how to:

React

Fight

Resist

When the battle is over and we are victorious there are always wonderful things we have learned about God and ourselves.

Illust. Every time you open the Word of God there is a battle to learn truth. Most of the time when I begin studying a text, I have no idea how I will preach it. I will read it over and over. I will stare at it. I will meditate on it. When the truth is revealed, it is always a great joy.

Do your battles lead you to the Word? If they don’t:

1) Don’t expect to have victory.

2) Don’t expect to find great joy in the truth of God’s Word.

3. When persecution comes, we should hate lies and love the truth (163).

Difficulty always leads to temptation. When we are uncomfortable the flesh will have an opinion. It will even at times want to side with the wrong.

The wrong attitude

The wrong response

Take the wrong side

“hate and abhor” Falsehood is given a double helping of disdain.

Do you hate lies? Some people have no problem with white lies, even though there is no such thing. Persecution will lead us to sin if we don’t hate what is false.

Do you ever find yourself agreeing with someone to keep the peace? You don’t agree with them, but you nod your head in agreement anyway. Or in some way you give the impression that you take their side. That is not how we act if we hate what is false.

We should apply this to doctrine as well. There are doctrines we know are not true. When confronted with them we are afraid to hurt someone’s feelings. We don’t want to seem unkind.

The Psalmist hated lies and would not approve of them even when confronted by a powerful ruler. We often give in for much less reasons.

“but I love Your Law” This is why he hated lies. If you love the truth, you will hate the lie. We should never lie to get out of a tough situation. If we must lie to stop the persecution, then the persecution must continue.

4. When persecution comes, we are to worship God (164).

“Seven times a day” This implies fullness. It means we praise Him all day long. In verse 147 he said he praised God all night. Here he says he praised God all day.

If we always worship God, we won’t have to remind ourselves to worship Him when persecution comes. Praise should be continually on our lips. There is never a moment God is not blessing us. There should never be a moment when we are not praising Him.

“for your righteous rules”

We should praise God that He is holy. If He were not, we would have no hope. If God were not perfectly righteous, we would not know who He would be from day to day. Think of man. How predictable is man? Sometimes man is kind, sometimes man is not. Sometimes someone treats you well. The same person may mistreat you the next day. God is perfectly righteous.

“rules” refers to His Word. We should praise God that He gave us a Bible. We know:

Who He is

How to be saved

The purpose of life/suffering

Our future

What do you do when persecution comes? Do you worship God?

Do you find the truth of who He is in His Word and praise Him for it?

I’m not suggesting you never cry. There is a time to weep. Don’t forget to worship. Even if you must worship with tears streaming down your cheeks, worship.

5. When persecution comes, we are to find peace in God’s Word (165).

“Great peace” The world offers a measure of peace:

Financial peace

Marital peace

Environmental peace

That peace can be shaken with bankruptcy, divorce, a war, etc. Christinas have great peace. This is:

Peace with God

The peace of God

“nothing can make them stumble” this does not suggest we do not sin. It means they do not stumble to the point that peace is out of reach for them. No matter how great the affliction it will not be greater than the peace of God.

There is nothing the believer cannot endure in this world. Nothing the enemy throws at you can cause you to fall from the heavenly place you occupy in Christ.

We have the promises of God. They give us hope. God has promised that He has a future waiting for us that is far greater than any hardship we endured on this earth. The knowledge we have from God’s Word keeps us from falling away.

Nothing can make them stumble. Think of the people you know who are Christians but have:

Lived decades with a debilitating disease

Lost a child

Been treated unjustly

Suffered loss

Been gravely injured no fault of their own

This is a testimony to the Word of God.

For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. (Romans 8:18)

What do you know about heaven? Whatever you know, you should learn more. Grab hold of God’s promises for your future. When persecution comes, they will be sweeter. You see, there comes a time when peace won’t help. The sorrow is too great. When great sorrow comes you need great peace!

6. When persecution comes, we should keep God’s Word (166-168).

“I hope for your salvation” the result is “I do Your commandments”

It’s clear his hope is not in this world. His hope is in the future God has promised in His Word. Have you noticed that the Psalmist has not made a single petition in this section. He asks the Lord for nothing in these verses. That is uncommon for this Psalm. Most of the sections contain petitions. Here, his hope is not in this world at all.

Would you obey God if no petition you asked were granted except the petition for eternal salvation? That’s not going to happen. God is too good for that. He blesses us in this world. But the question remains, what if He did not? What if this world was nothing but trial? Would you still obey Him? Our motive for obedience should not be ease in this world. It should be love and thankfulness for the salvation we have in Jesus.

“My soul keeps your testimonies” the motive is “I love them exceedingly”

“Soul” refers to the inner person. The Psalmist is not engaging in religious formalism. He doesn’t only obey God; he wants to obey God. He’s not like the religious leaders in Jesus’ day. They had an outward form of obedience but inwardly they were corpses.

“I keep your precepts and testimonies”

He ends the section by saying that the Lord knows him. God sees him inside and out. He is aware of that. He knows it does no good to play the hypocrite.

If we only obey God when things are going well we are a hypocrite. Integrity is revealed when we keep God’s Word:

When it isn’t easy

When it hurts

When we are suffering.

For this reason, we should praise God for persecution. It helps us to see our true selves. It not only helps us to see if we are genuinely saved, it helps us to see our weaknesses if we are saved.

Persecution helps us:

Know if we are saved

Grow if we are saved.

1. When persecution comes, we should fear God more than we fear man.

2. When persecution comes, we should rejoice in the treasure of God’s Word.

3. When persecution comes, we should hate lies and love the truth.

4. When persecution comes, we are to worship God.

5. When persecution comes, we are to find peace in God’s Word.

6. When persecution comes, we should keep God’s Word.