Finding Comfort in the Word: A Promise for every season
Notes
Transcript
A. Rapport for the time
B. Reading of the text
C. Review of the text
D. Relevance of the text
Finding Comfort in the Word: The Assurance of Psalm 119
Finding Comfort in the Word: The Assurance of Psalm 119
1. Promises that Revive
1. Promises that Revive
49 Remember your word to your servant, in which you have made me hope.
50 This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life.
49—What a beautiful verse...God Made me hope!
If you are around small children or even many grown adults you have to be careful what you promise. Children will bring up something you promised from 6 months ago and say “remember you said!” Now, of course, they can’t follow direction or instruction but they can remember what you promised. Thing about the anticipation of receiving something you have been promised. Let’s say it is something of the great variety. Do you count down the days until the even or thing comes?
ordering a package and the delivery date gets changed. Oh, the disappointment that comes with.
Oh the promises from God for you and I that are apart of our journey in Christ. I could list the entire bible almost but we really don’t have time for that. But lets remember the Psalmist is saying in vs. 50
50 This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life.
Comfort—Like a nice warm blanket when your house is 20 below zero! What brings comfort? How we answer that question tells us a lot about our hearts. The world lives finding comfort in the things of this world and we are told that we will find no comfort there anymore because we have been made new.
15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.
17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
But do you know why we can find comfort in his promises? It begins with the fact that God doesn’t change.
19 God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
45 Not one word of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.
Promises to hold onto as a Christian in times of doubt or when times are hard on our hearts.
23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.
1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.
2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,
39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
The word of God has a special place in our life!! Isn’t that why we are gathered this morning?
10 “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
34 I will not violate my covenant or alter the word that went forth from my lips.
Why would we ever run from this Lord? We could go on and on listing the promises of God that have been provided for us by faith in Christ and honestly we would never come to the end.
T.S. Promises that Revive to Remembering Past faithfulness
2. Remembering Past Faithfulness
2. Remembering Past Faithfulness
51 The insolent utterly deride me, but I do not turn away from your law.
52 When I think of your rules from of old, I take comfort, O Lord.
insolent—zedim—describes those who are presumptuous or arrogant. People characterized by an overconfident disregard for God’s authority and law.
Deride—The hostile mockery of arrogant people toward the psalmist. Taunt, scorn.
God’s rules from of old—wow, see this has been going on forever. People have said well the new way is alway better than the old way. This is just not always true. Let me tell you the new math is crazy compared to the old math.
From a worldly perspective more people today will declare that the bible is obsolete. A Barna poll found that 42% of Christians read the bible weekly. But here is the really sad part. 36% of US adults agree strongly that “the bible is totally accurate in all of the principles it teaches.” It gets even scarier when you look at only 44% of all Christians believe “the bible is accurate in all of the principles it teaches.”
How can a believer take comfort in something they don’t even believe is true. But even worse are we who know that all his words are true yet we don’t seek comfort in his Word. Why would be do such a thing.
We know we can’t be trusted. Our wisdom gets us no place and in fact even makes us feel worse. But God’s ways are perfect.
30 This God—his way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.
6 The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times.
7 The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;
8 the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;
5 Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
We are call to choose God's truth over the world's lies, as Christ did when facing opposition. Temptation of Christ by Satan was the Lord choosing God’s ways over the ways of mankind. We must be an active participant in our walk with the our Lord. Yes, he empowers us to accomplish HIS will but we must walk in obedience choosing each day whom we may serve.
T.S. Promises that Revive, Remembering Past faithfulness now the psalmist says we must be responding with Zeal.
3. Responding with Zeal
3. Responding with Zeal
53 Hot indignation seizes me because of the wicked, who forsake your law.
54 Your statutes have been my songs in the house of my sojourning.
Zeal is described as intense enthusiasm driving action toward a cause or objective-combining passion, fervor and eagerness.
vs. 53 is describing a taste change on behalf of the Psalmist.
Hot indignation seizes me because of the wicked. Once we wanted that which was not the Lord but now we see those same things and can’t even believe that was once us. Instead the same statutes that we once railed against in our life are now a place joy in his sojouning.
Sojouning—describes a temporary residency—living in a place that is not one’s permanent home or ultimate destination. This is the Spiritual reality of already but not yet.
13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.
15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return.
16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.
24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?
23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.
25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?
19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal,
20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Zeal is described as intense enthusiasm driving action toward a cause or objective-combining passion, fervor and eagerness.
“This could draw attention to the importance of singing God's decrees as a daily practice, suggesting that worship and meditation on God's laws can transform our view, leading us toward Christ, the ultimate lawkeeper, who was zealous for God's house.”
T.S. T.S. Promises that Revive, Remembering Past faithfulness, Responding with Zeal and how we are to be keeping precepts at night.
4. Keeping Precepts at Night
4. Keeping Precepts at Night
55 I remember your name in the night, O Lord, and keep your law.
56 This blessing has fallen to me, that I have kept your precepts.
The night, darkness, trouble, opposition, the hard parts of life are when we are to keep the law. Some strange things come out in the night and we are to keep our path straight to the Lord during that time. Not falling into temptation but seeking after the goodness of God in our life.
Would we say this morning what the psalmist says in vs. 35?
Is it a blessing to walk in the precepts of the Lord?
Do you remember when you Mom and Dad lining up you and your siblings and they began to talk as if someone was about to get in trouble. As they began to talk you wondered what in the world they could have caught you doing(because you had plenty) but the more the talk you realize its not you. That they had a judgement they planned to unfold but it wasn’t going to be on you. Do you remember how amazing that felt? The sense of relief? Multiply that feeling by 100 million and you won’t come close to feeling the full blessing of what it is to walk in the precepts of God.
“Blessing arrives through action, not mere knowledge: those who look into God’s perfect law of liberty and persevere as doers rather than forgetful hearers will be blessed in their doing”
25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
28 But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”
7 The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;
8 the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;
9 the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.
11 Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.
10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.
11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.
33 You shall walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess.
“Nighttime represents the darkest moments in life and how clinging to God's Word, like the psalmist, offers guidance and assurance. Suggest that like Christ, who often retreated to pray, believers can find peace and direction in God's presence during their darkest nights.”
