Morning After Midnight (Psalm 119:81-96)

Good morning, Soteria! My name is Josh Smith, and I am a Pastoral Assistant at Soteria. Basically what that means is I do a lot of behind the scenes work for various ministries. I absolutely love being able to do so, and I am so glad for the opportunity to serve our church in this way.

One of the great things that I love about this church is how long some of our pastors have been here. Pastor Trent is no exception. For sixteen years, Pastor Trent has been faithfully pastoring at Soteria. And if you know anything about Pastor Trent you know that one of the reasons why we love him and his family is because they are genuinely funny people. Just take a look at this video!

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It doesn’t get much funnier than that, guys! And on top of it, I bet you didn’t wake up expecting to hear Bruce Springsteen in church today.

There’s a number of other things that Trent has done over the years that is hilarious. I remember visiting his home a few months ago (after they’d moved to the Park Church neighborhood). I needed to use the restroom, so I walked in. And then I did something that is totally expected of every single person who has ever used the restroom at a friend’s house before: I opened the medicine cabinet to see what was in there. Don’t act like you’ve never done it! I know.

When I opened the medicine cabinet, instead of finding a toothbrush, q-tips, and contact solution, I found an action figure of Hulk Hogan and Jabba the Hut. It’s as if he knew what people were going to do and planned to make it a more exciting experience.

Many of you probably come to the annual Thanksgiving potluck dinner at Soteria in eager expectation for the sumptuous delicacy that the Hol family might bring to share. On one such occasion, he made a spaghettio jello mold. To make it even better—HALF OF IT GOT EATEN. If you were there that day and ate some, could you just raise your hand for a minute? I’d love to pray for you.

But Pastor Trent wasn’t all kicks and giggles all the time. Pastor Trent also cares deeply for people and is always looking for opportunities to encourage and love people—especially those who are struggling spiritually, emotionally, or otherwise.

I asked our pastors and some others who knew him well what they have admired about Pastor Trent’s devotion to God and Soteria and how Pastor Trent has encouraged them in their own walk with God over the years. Here are some of their responses:

I can’t speak highly enough about Trent’s desire to learn and handle the Bible well. There is a reason he was the counseling pastor at Soteria and it’s because he was never shocked by the things you shared with him and he would always give really clear, practical, and biblical wisdom to apply to your life.

Trent encouraged me in so many ways as a teacher.

Trent has always treated hurting and suffering people, not as projects to be completed but as souls who need love and care.

Trent has encouraged me to listen to demonstrate Christ’s love through listening intently to others and not being quick to respond.

I've always admired how open Trent is about his own personal struggles for the purpose of asking for prayer. Trent is very open about his struggles and is always asking for prayer. That has helped me to be less guarded around fellow brothers who truly want the best for me.

I love Trent’s commitment to keeping the gospel central in all counseling ministry.

I went through a season of deep pain a few years ago and Trent listened to me and was a great friend.

Over the years, Pastor Trent’s main roles were student ministries and biblical counseling. Since I’ve come to Soteria, I’ve only ever known Pastor Trent in his role as our Biblical Counseling Pastor. And he has done a lot of biblical counseling over the years.

He has counselled people struggling with anger, anxiety, and depression. He has counselled couples who are struggling in their relationship with one another. He has counselled people who are trying to make sense of traumatic and life-changing loss. He has counselled people who felt far from God and didn’t know why.

Why did Pastor Trent do all of this? Why did he devote so much time to helping people apply the Word of God to their daily life? Why did Pastor Trent work to become a biblical counselor? Why did Pastor Trent see people in their darkest night—in their midnight—and seek to help them with the shining light of God’s Word?

The passage that we are going to look at today is going to answer these questions for us. But let’s do some review. I’m going to ask you guys some questions about the sermon series we’re in, and I need you to speak up and answer me. Do you think you can do that? Perfect.

What is our current sermon series? *Fight to Delight*

What Bible Passage is our sermon series on? *Psalm 119*

How many verses are there in Psalm 119? *176*

How many sections are there? *22*

And what does each section represent? *a letter of the Hebrew alphabet*

Lastly, how many verses are there in each section? *8*

You guys nailed that! Great job.

Today, we are continuing on in our sixth installment of the series covering Psalm 119:81-96. The two letters are Kaph and Lamed. And, if your good at math, you realize that Kaph is the eleventh letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and Lamed is the twelfth. That means that, since there are 22 sections in the Psalm, these two sections mark the half-way point. Just to give you a heads up, the outline for you today is going to end up being one sentence.

Verses 81-88 make up the first section Kaph.

Kaph (vv. 81-88) כ

If you remember back to the past few sermons, there was a theme to them. Yes, the Word of God was one of them. But there was another theme: that was the theme of suffering. This section is similar to that as well. But, the language in this section becomes much more dire. It’s as if all the suffering that the Psalmist has been enduring has reached a tipping point.

The great nineteenth century preacher—Charles Spurgeon—calls this section of Psalm 119 the midnight of the Psalm. There’s no more light. There’s only darkness. The affliction is too much to handle. The pain is unbearable. The suffering is relentless.

And that’s the first part of our outline today: “When suffering is relentless,....” What was the darkest season of your life? Think about that for a minute. When did you experience the most hopelessness? When was your pain at its worst? When did you lose more than you thought you had to lose? When was your suffering relentless? The Psalmist describes his relentless suffering in these verses.

When suffering is relentless,… (vv. 81-86)

Let’s look at some of these verses.

Christian Standard Bible Psalm 119

81 I long for your salvation;

I put my hope in your WORD.

82 My eyes grow weary

looking for what you have PROMISED;

I ask, “When will you comfort me?”

Have you ever been in a situation like this? The Psalmist here is overwhelmed with grief. He longs for salvation—for relief. His eyes are continually growing weary looking for the rest that God has promised. Can you picture that? I can’t help but think of various war movies. There’s a lone soldier who is working as hard as he can to survive—to live—despite the fact that he is behind enemy lines. However, the soldier knows that his comrades are working on a way to get him out. Still, he doesn’t see how that is possible. As he stays up day after day and night after night, the soldier grows weary—wondering if there will ever be an end to this crucible. He keeps looking for a helicopter, a vehicle, anything!, staring into the distance. As he stares, longing for salvation, his eyes dry out and become bloodshot—yet he keeps looking for that salvation.

Whatever suffering the Psalmist is going through, he is exhausted. Quite literally, he is wasting away, because of the grief that eats at his soul.

All he has to go on is what God has promised. He is promised life, joy, plenty, and rest. But all around him is threat, sorrow, emptiness, and exhaustion. No doubt he is probably anxious about what could happen to Him. No doubt he is depressed and disturbed at the thought of what his enemies are plotting against him.

Yet, what does he say? I put my hope in your Word. We’re going to come back to that soon, but the Psalmist goes on in verse 83 saying:

Christian Standard Bible Psalm 119

Though I have become like a wineskin dried by smoke,

I do not forget your STATUTES.

This illustration that the Psalmist uses is super cool, guys. After a wineskin was used for wine, people would reuse them to carry water, milk, etc. While traveling, people would set up a tent and, typically, would hang their wineskins from the ceiling of the tent. Sometimes, the smoke from their campfire would get blown into the tent and, as smoke does, it would rise to the top—where the wineskin was. There, the wineskin would shrink, shrivel, and eventually crack and tear.

The affliction that the Psalmist finds himself in is not only exhausting, but also emaciating. He is probably hungry. His bones are visible. His cheeks are sunk in. He is absolutely destitute.

But what does he do in this affliction? He does not forget the statutes of the Lord.

He continues in verse 85:

Christian Standard Bible Psalm 119

85 The arrogant have dug pits for me;

they violate your INSTRUCTION.

86 All your COMMANDS are true;

people persecute me with lies—help me!

Now, not only is he exhausted and emaciated, the Psalmist is also being bombarded with evil by people who live against God.

Do you see the contrast in these verses? The arrogant dig pits for him, but God’s commands are true. In other words, the arrogant try to trip him up, get him to stumble and fall. But God’s Word—His Commands—are sure, true, and reliable.

And even then, these enemies of him slander him, so he cries out for help.

Help me, God! I am at my wit’s end. I see absolutely no way of escape from this affliction. There’s no one here to support me; there’s no one here to help me. I’m alone; I’m tired; I’m hungry; my suffering is relentless; and it doesn’t seem like there is any light at the end of this tunnel—any end to the darkness of this night, God. Help me!

There are times in life when we feel this way too. Everything around us is dark and precarious. We feel as if at any moment the ground could give way and swallow us up.

Here the psalmist is overwhelmed with suffering. But was his response?

When suffering is relentless, fight to delight in God’s Word… (vv. 87-88)

We read in verses 87 and 88:

Christian Standard Bible Psalm 119

87 They almost ended my life on earth,

but I did not abandon your PRECEPTS.

88 Give me life in accordance with your faithful love,

and I will obey the DECREE you have spoken.

The psalmist turned to God. We saw this earlier, but I didn’t mention it too much: he put his hope in God’s Word, looked for what God had promised, and did not forget God’s statutes.

Here we see him continue, “They almost ended my life on earth, but I did not abandon your precepts.”

Did you catch what he said there? He said they almost ended my life on earth. There is only one other time in this psalm that the psalmist qualified what his life was. Life is discussed a lot in this psalm, but only twice does the psalmist refer to life on earth. It’s as if the psalmist is looking around at all his suffering and, while realizing the gravity of his situation, he recognizes that this life isn’t all there is—which was the fuel for him not abandoning the precepts of the Lord. The suffering would not let up. His enemies pushed and pushed and pushed against him, but he never let loose of God and His Word.

Then he says “Give me life!” They almost ended my life, God; give me life in accordance with your faithful love!” Then, because you gave me life, I will obey the decree you have spoken.

When the Psalmist was in his midnight. When everything was closing in around him. When he had lost his will to keep following God, he cries out to God to give him life—give him strength, give him perseverance to continue trusting and obeying God and His Word. This phrase is more than a prayer for preservation or survival; he wants to come out of this persecution victoriously so he can enjoy all aspects of living.

And that’s the end of the first half of Psalm 119. When suffering was relentless, the psalmist fought to delight in God’s Word. He craved the delight, the joy, the fulfillment that can only come from God. He did whatever he could to obey God, to trust God, but He didn’t see any way of continuing unless God gave him life. Unless God made the sun rise, the Psalmist saw no way out of his midnight. Unless the light broke through and overcame the darkness, the suffering was going to suffocate the Psalmist.

When suffering is relentless, fight to delight in God’s Word. That’s what the Psalmist did. But why do we do that? The next section, Lamed, gives us the answer.

Lamed (vv. 89-96) ל

In many ways, this section is the flip side of the coin to the previous section. More than that, this section starts the second half of the Psalm. I went through the entirety of the Psalm earlier this week and counted all the times that the Psalmist specifically references his suffering. The first eighty-eight verses of Psalm 119 refer to the Psalmists suffering twenty-three times. The second eighty-eight verses only refer to his suffering fourteen times. There is a forty percent decrease in the amount of times the psalmist talks about his suffering. And these next verses really lays out why that’s the case. Verses 89-96 is the morning sun rising on the Psalmist’s midnight. The light breaks through, piercing the darkness.

When suffering is relentless, fight to delight in God’s Word because, as God sustains His creation,… (vv. 89-91)

The first couple of verses:

Christian Standard Bible Psalm 119

89 LORD, your WORD is forever;

it is firmly fixed in heaven.

90 Your FAITHFULNESS is for all generations;

you established the earth, and it stands firm.

91 Your JUDGMENTS stand firm today,

for all things are your servants.

Everything in the last section was uncertainty, waiting, worry, and danger. Here, the Psalmist bursts forth and triumphant extols the firmness, surety, and eternality of God’s Word.

The Word is forever; it is fixed; it lasts, not for a lifetime, not for a few lifetimes, but for all generations.

He uses Creation as his reference point. How did God create the earth? He spoke. As God spoke, light flew out of his mouth at 186,000 miles a second; the earth took shape; water was placed on it; land erupted from the deep; trees and grass sprouted; planets, stars, and galaxies, were born; birds flocked and sea creatures swarmed; land animals roamed; and humans made homes.

Colossians 1:17 says that God holds all things together. Hebrews 1:3 says that God sustains all things by His powerful Word.

In other words, the Psalmist looks around at Creation and is amazed at the fact that everything is so consistent. And more than that, everything serves God.

This is why we fight to delight in God’s Word—because God sustains His creation. When suffering is relentless, fight to delight in God’s Word because, as God sustains His creation,....

Let’s look to see how the section concludes:

When suffering is relentless, fight to delight in God’s Word because, as God sustains His creation, He will sustain His covenant children. (vv. 92-96)

Verses 92-96 read:

Christian Standard Bible Psalm 119

92 If your INSTRUCTION had not been my delight,

I would have died in my affliction.

93 I will never forget your PRECEPTS,

for you have given me life through them.

94 I am yours; save me,

for I have studied your PRECEPTS.

95 The wicked hope to destroy me,

but I contemplate your DECREES.

96 I have seen a limit to all perfection,

but your COMMAND is without limit.

Had the psalmist not persevered in committing himself to living in accordance with and faithfully trusting the Word of God, the suffering that he found himself in would have suffocated him. But, he found delight by contemplating on God’s Word. Though his soul was near death because the wicked sought to destroy Him, He never forgot God’s Word because he studied them.

The Lord gave the psalmist life through His Word—saving him.

The Psalmist could look around at all the death and destruction that his suffering had caused him and found meaning and purpose because of the perspective that God’s Word brought to his life.

The entirety of God’s Creation stands firm because it is upheld by God’s Word. The Psalmist also recognized that all things are the servants of God including his suffering. After all, look at verse 95, the wicked are still hoping to destroy Him. His suffering hasn’t gone away, but the psalmist realized that all things on this earth have a limit. There’s only so much money can buy. There’s only so much a crop can produce. There’s only so much consolation a friend can give. There’s only so much joy that selfish pursuits can bring. There’s only so much many years that life can be. There’s only so much suffering to endure. There’s a limit to it all.

But you know what is limitless? The Word of God. As the Word of God sustains Creation, it also sustains God’s children. The Word of God sustains you!

When suffering is relentless, fight to delight in God’s Word because, as God sustains His children, He will sustain His covenant children.

Now you might ask where I got the idea of covenant. Well, I’m glad you asked! If you look back to verse 94, I skipped over the central point of this section of Psalm 119. What are the first couple of words in Psalm 94? “I am Yours.” Now the Psalmist was using this in reference to the fact that God had chosen the nation of Israel to be His people. Through this nation, God would bring about salvation and restoration for the entire world. And His way of accomplishing this was through an Israelite by the name of Jesus. This God-man, through his own suffering, brought redemption for all who place their faith in Him. After he ascended into heaven, part of the promise that all of the World would be blessed was fulfilled by establishing the Church.

If you have trusted in Christ alone for your salvation today, you can confidently say to God, “I am yours.” We are given part of the covenant because of Christ.

Therefore, we can say, “When suffering is relentless, fight to delight in God’s Word because, as God sustains the world, He will sustain His covenant children.”

And the big of idea of this entire passage is this:

BIG IDEA: The Word of God gives an eternal perspective to our present suffering.

I told you at the beginning that this passage would let us in on why Pastor Trent devoted so much time to biblical counseling here at Soteria. This is why. Because it gives an eternal perspective to our present suffering.

Several years ago, many of you probably remember one of the most difficult times in Pastor Trent and Lydia’s lives. When their daughter Ruby was six months old, the Hol’s found out that Ruby had a severe amount of cancer. Pastor Cody and Londa told me over this past week that when they were visiting them during this time that they saw Lydia clenching to some cards with Bible verses written on them—clinging to them with all her strength because of the strength and life that comes through them.

Pastor Trent said this about this time in their lives:

“God’s Word comes alive in suffering. Suffering brings on a whole new level of understanding who God is.”—Pastor Trent

Lydia wrote this in a journal to Ruby after the cancer was in remission:

“We certainly are better people because of what God has allowed our family to endure. It’s made me realize that heaven must be a pretty amazing place. It’s a place where sickness, sorrow, and death are no more. Christ has victory over it all; we do too because he saved us. That is all the hope we need.”

I can’t help but think of a couple of verses in 2 Corinthians 4 when I meditate on this great truth: 2 Corinthians 4 reads this:

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 4

15 Indeed, everything is for your benefit so that, as grace extends through more and more people, it may cause thanksgiving to increase to the glory of God.

16 Therefore we do not give up. Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day. 17 For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory. 18 So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

This is why we study, meditate on, crave, ravenously devour God’s Word: because it gives meaning to the madness of our lives. The Word of God gives an eternal perspective to our suffering.

If we’re honest though, we already knew that. After all, we’ve had numerous sermons in this “Fight to Delight” sermon series that have spoken of the life-giving power of God’s Word. There have been times in our lives where we have felt the life-giving power of God’s Word.

Still, many of us struggle to devote time to studying God’s Word. The main reason why this is the case is because we don’t feel like we are actually getting anything out of God’s Word. More often than not, we sit down to read God’s Word and forget what we read before we even set our Bibles down.

Has that ever happened to you before?

Well, for application, Pastor Zach has asked me to walk through a template of what Bible study can look like for you.

The first thing you must do when you read the Bible is Seek God.

Seek God

The Word of God is an amazing book because it is God’s self-revelation to humanity. Apart from His power, we are unable to understand it as we ought. And we also have so many things vying for our attention that we can read God’s Word with a lot of distractions in our mind.

John Piper, in his book When I Don’t Desire God advocates for a way of seeking God before reading it. Drawing from four different verses in the Psalms, he asks God to (1) Incline my heart to your testimonies and not to selfish gain, (2) Open my eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of your law, (3) Unite my heart to fear your name, and (4) Satisfy me with your steadfast love.

Asking God for help to understand, desire, and be satisfied in Him is the first step to studying Scripture because God is both the means and end of Bible Study.

Observe

Next we want to observe the text. Read through your passage and make notes of what’s going on. Consider the audience, the context of the passage, the genre, the tone of the text. Look for any words or phrases that are repeated. Look for descriptive words and illustrations. Take note of any commands that are given.

Take Away

Next you want to Take Away. As you were reading and observing, there were probably a couple of verses that stuck out to you. Write down which verses stuck out to you and why they stuck out to you.

Explain

After you take away from the text, summarize what the author wrote in a couple sentences. Focus on what the Holy Spirit is trying to communicate through the text. In other words, look for the BIG IDEA of the passage you just studied.

Respond

Next we get into the practical aspect of Bible Study. James writes that we are to be doers of the Word, not just hearers. In other words, if our Bible Study doesn’t lead to life change, it’s inadequate Bible Study.

So, respond to God in prayer. Praise God for what is revealed about His character in your text. Confess any sins that you are convicted of from your reading. Thank God for what He has given you, what He has promised, how He cares for you.

Intercede

After you spend some time communing with God in prayer, pray for others. Bible Study should lead us to serving others. Love for God overflows into love for others. So, take some time and pray for a couple of people in your growth group. Specifically pray things from the text of Scripture you just read over these people in your growth group. And here’s where the 21st century makes this better. As you’re praying for these people, shoot them a text or facebook message or tweet to let them know how you are praying for them.

Apply

Now it’s time to get personal and practical. How should this text affect your attitudes, emotions, and actions? Write down a couple of concrete action-steps that you are going to do throughout the day to apply this text to your daily life.

This is how you study the Scripture. You start by seeking God. Then you observe, take away from, and explain the text you read. Then you pray to God by responding to the text, interceding for others, and applying the text to your life. Seek God, Observe, Take Away, Explain, Respond, Intercede, Apply.

Wait a second....

Do you guys see that?

It’s like Psalm 119 up there! It’s an acrostic! Every first letter in the steps spells out—SOTERIA. How did that happen?

SOTERIA Journal

Every fall at SOTERIA, we kick off our growth groups for the year. This year, we are wanting to make a little bit of a change. We want to make daily Scripture reading a focus in growth groups this year, and the SOTERIA Journal is how we are going to do that. Community around the Word of God is one of our core values at Soteria. We want to help disciple you in engaging with the Word of God. We want to help you fight to delight in God’s Word. We want to do this because, “The Word of God gives an eternal perspective to our present suffering.”

Pastor Trent devoted his ministry here at Soteria to helping people see this. I know for certain that it would be Pastor Trent’s parting wish that every person here fought to delight in God’s Word because it is through God’s Word that we come to know God.

Every week we like to conclude with some next steps for you all. So, I’m going to ask each of you to take out a connect card and fill it out. Every Tuesday morning, the pastoral team prays through these, and we would love to pray for you. Write down your name, mark down if you’re a first time guest, and then I’d like to give you some next steps.

Next week, we have the Park Church Send-Off. The week after that is the first week of August. We want to have a little bit of training on how to do the SOTERIA Journal. On August 1, during the second-service, we will have our first SOTERIA Journal Workshop. We would love it if you could attend this event! We’ll have another SOTERIA Journal Workshop during the third service on August 8. If you’re unable to make it to the Workshop in the second service on August 1, plan to attend the Workshop on August 8.

For next steps, write down on your Connect Card if you plan to attend the SOTERIA Journal Workshop. It is my desire that every person in this church learn this template of how to study the Bible, and I am thrilled to teach it to you! Mark down which Workshop you want to attend: August 1 at 9:30am or August 8 at 11:00am.

The reason why we are doing this is because we want to teach you how to Fight to Delight in God’s Word. Because it is through the Word of God that we come to know God Himself—Jesus Christ. The Word of God gives an eternal perspective to our present suffering, and I want to show you how to do that.

Trust God at His Word, fight to delight in God’s Word because through it, joy and life will overcome any suffering you may be experiencing.