God's Faithfulness In Affliction

Let us this evening take our Bibles and turn to the book of Psalms. We will be in Psalm 119 this evening, looking at verses 73-80.

I want us to rest on the Word of God tonight. This is something wonderful for you and I, to rest on His Word.

You may be thinking, what exactly does that mean, “to rest on the Word of God.”

It means that you and I, through the knowledge of His holy Word and understanding who He is, Almighty God, we can have understanding, assurance and confidence in this present life because of what He has said.

This passage of Scripture, Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the entire Bible contains a focus on the Word of God, specifically for the Israelites it was a song of praise and commitment to the Scriptures.

There was a desire to know and to be taught by God His ways. There was a desire to walk in His ways. The psalmist in this chapter is expressing from A-Z in His language how precious God’s ways are.

As you will see perhaps in your Bible this Psalm is broken down in sections headed by each letter of the Hebrew alphabet and you will probably see this section is headed by the 10th letter of the Hebrew alphabet the letter Jod (yodh------yaaadhh). And it is interesting that this letter is the one the Lord mentioned when He stated, “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.” ---- Aren't you glad that we can rest on his Holy Word.

In this particular section, I want us to look at one phrase in particular found in verse 75, “thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me.”

With that being said, lets stand for the reading of God’s Word.

Read Psalm 119:73-80

“Thy hands have made me and fashioned me: give me understanding, that I may learn thy commandments. They that fear thee will be glad when they see me; because I have hoped in thy word. I know, O LORD, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me. Let, I pray thee, thy merciful kindness be for my comfort, according to thy word unto thy servant. Let thy tender mercies come unto me, that I may live: for thy law is my delight. Let the proud be ashamed; for they dealt perversely with me without a cause: but I will meditate in thy precepts. Let those that fear thee turn unto me, and those that have known thy testimonies. Let my heart be sound in thy statutes; that I be not ashamed.”

Let’s pray

I want us to understand assuredly that for the child of God, He hold us in His hand.

Now it is certainly true, that children’s song that we sing “He has the whole world in His hand… He’s got the whole wide world in His hand...” speaking of the sovereignty of God.

But for those that are saved, we can say that God has us in His hand.

The Lord Jesus Christ stated in the book of John chapter 10 (John 10:27-30) “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one.”

That means for Christians that there is a particular and specific interest that God has in our lives and a particular and special interest that God takes in watching over us.

Luke 12:6,7 “Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.”

My dear wife says it all the time, “There are no accidents...”

And while it is we may not have all the answers to suffering and affliction… we do have some answers.

And my friend the answers that we have are Good!

Let’s look at this particular portion of Psalm 119 and we will be paying particular attention to verse 75.

I want you to notice first of all:

I. You are a Creation of God

The Psalmist begins in this section by stating this marvelous statement, He says, “Thy hands have made me and fashioned me...”

You and I as a special creation of God need to come to understand that it is God that has fashioned us. The Bible says,

Job 10:8

8 Thine hands have made me and fashioned me Together round about; yet thou dost destroy me.

Psalm 139:13

13 For thou hast possessed my reins: Thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.

There is no doubt in my mind today, that part of the problem that exists for many is the idea of that our existence is just an accident. That there is no purpose or plan in my being upon this earth.

As a matter of fact when we come to grips with this truth that it is God that has made me, and that it is God that has fashioned me, we may just begin to understand that this body of ours ought to be taken care of.

We may understand that there are some things that we ought to do and some things that we ought not to do.

You ever wonder why it is that folks can be so reckless with their own lives. Why it is that some would contemplate taking their own physical life… Because they have failed to grasp and understand that they are precious because it is that God has not only created them but fashioned them.

Illustration:

Sometimes we might see an article of clothing or something special and unique and on there is the tag “Hand-Crafted”

You and I, are hand-crafted by God Himself.

“His hands are involved in the creation of each and every human life. Every child of Adam’s race comes into the world with God’s touch on him. Each one is a person, infinitely precious, handmade, special.” - John Phillips

So we see not only are we a creation of God but secondly, we need to

II. Seek God for His Wisdom

The psalmist understood the implication of the fact that He was fashioned by God, that He was created by God and that was that He therefore needed God’s wisdom.

In other words, if I am not here by accident, if I am in fact fashioned by Almighty God, then certainly there is a purpose for me and I need His wisdom for that purpose.

Again someone has said this, “Our most important task in life should be to discover why God has made us.”

This is the big question that drives science in the secular world the question of why? And you and I as a believer in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and as holding to His Word the Word of God, need to discover what God has for us. We do so by asking for this wisdom. The Psalmist says there first,

A. Give me Understanding (vs. 73)

I reminded of one of my favorite verses in all of God’s word that tells me I am His Workmanship. In Ephesians 2:10 the Bible says, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”

And so it is I need to ask the Lord to give me understanding. But then secondly, we learn that this knowledge is not just to have knowledge, but that it is for a purpose.

The psalmist declares that purpose when he states secondly,

B. That I may learn thy commandments (vs 73)

I wonder this evening as we continue down through this Psalm is there a desire in your heart to know His ways, His commandments? Or is our asking of God for wisdom disconnected with a right and holy purpose.

Peter admonished those early believers by stating this in I Peter 2:2,3 , “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.”

Not only do we see that We are a Creation of God, and that We need His Wisdom, but understand thirdly there is

III. A Hope in His Word

Verse 74 gives us a twofold truth that leads up to verse 75. It states for you and I first that we provide hope to one another.

He states, “They that fear thee will be glad when they see me....”

A. We are a testimony of God’s Grace and Mercy.

Do you understand this evening that you as a child of God affect other Christians. When they see you come through the situations of life and the circumstances of life it is a source of joy and encouragement.

I can just remember the other night how it is that my wife began to speak about how God had brought herethrough that time when she had half of her thyroid removed and she recounted praying before hand giving her voice to the Lord and how it is that the timing of the surgery was just right because her vocal chords had to be manipulated. And how it is that afterward there was time when her voice was just a whisper and how it is that God it was that restored her voice for his glory and for his honor.

I thank God every time some one lifts up there voice and praises God for how the Lord Jesus carried them through.

And over and over in the Scriptures we can see this principle that our lives as Christians affect other Christians.

David had this rule for his life that we would do well to follow. He states in Psalm 34:1 “I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.”

Some of us tonight are so soured up and woe is me that we could rightly be called negative Nancy’s (my apoligies if your name is Nancy).

And when we go through the situations of life instead of giving praise to God, for His grace and mercy we have nothing but complaining to do.

We need to go back and remember that it is by God’s grace we are not consumed. Jeremiah after seeing such great demonstration of God’s chastisement of the nation of Isreal as he looked out and there was nothing left but rubble, slain corpses and fires exclaimed, “It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.”

We discover not only are we a testimony of God’s grace and His mercy to others, but that:

B. Our Hope is Real

The psalmist said that the reason he will come through the other side, the reason that others will see him and rejoice is because his hope was in God’s Holy Word.

“They that fear thee will be glad when they see me; because I have hoped in thy word.”

His life was in the hands of God, His trust and hope was in what God had said.

Hope is a funny thing, it is one of those words that is hard to define. But it certainly has to do with the future. This is no such thing as saying I have hope in the past.

This psalmist expressed that he knew the love of God was shown in God’s Word. He certainly had faith in God’s Word. But here he is expressing that he stands on the future outworking of God’s Word.

Illustration:

One of the most deceptive things in the world is matter of a mirage. It is the trickery of optics and heat. You can imagine someone out in the desert lost and thirsty, and then suddenly they see an oasis. It looks near, perhaps three or four miles away with glittering water and waving palms. They struggle forward convinced that relief is just ahead, full of hope. They crest a sandy hill only to find that the expected oasis was just a mirage. The delusion is caused by the refraction of light. The physical explanation is easy enough to explain but the subsequent disappointment is beyond words.

I want you to understand that our hope in the Word of God is no mere mirage, it is true, it is set and it is sure.

Our hope is in the infallible Word of God. And while we can say without any doubt or second guessing, “That all things work together for God to them that love God who are the called according to His purpose.” The truth is that this good may involve sickness, this good may involve a death of a loved one, this good may involve some great financial loss.

Which brings us to the last point:

IV. Thou Has Afflicted Me In Faithfulness

Notice in verse 75, the Bible says, “I know, O LORD, that they judgements are right,...”

We would come to understand that these two statements in verse 75 are coupled together, His judgments are right and secondly in faithfulness he has afflicted me. So they are linked together but they are also true.

We find first:

1. His judgements are right.

How harmless at first it seems for us to agree with this statement. And I dare say leaving off the later part of the verse that a great many of us would quickly and heartily acknowledge this. It is something this is found in the core of our faith in God and the Lord Jesus Christ that we acknowledge that His judgements are true and they are right.

If this were not so we would have never trusted in Jesus Christ to be saved, for we would have gone on believing the lie of our own hearts that we are ok and in no need of a Savior.

But we understand and agree that God is no deceiver nor is there any untruth with our wonderful Savior and God. But my friend when we acknowledge this statement we must also come to grips with this second conclusion that His judgements and actions toward me are equally true and right.

Even though He has afflicted me or through His sovereignty allowed me to be afflicted, it is in the upmost good and faithfulness that He has done so and there is no iniquity or can never be any iniquity in his hands.

Not only are His judgements right but secondly,

2. In faithfulness He has Afflicted Me

God has never been deficient in His love and care for us. He has never been late or ahead in allowing afflictions to come upon us. He has never been wrong or unjust in His judgements. And His purposes, regardless of my finite reasoning are always right, good and lovely.

I am reminded of the New Testament passage that expresses this so clearly.

Turn over to Hebrews chapter 12 for one moment,

“Therefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us,and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.”

“God would not be faithful to us if He saw we needed some kind of affliction and withheld it from us. Nor would He be true to His character. If God simply let us alone we would go on our own careless ways. God is too loving to be unkind, and too faithful to His own character to neglect our training.” - John Phillips

“I know, O LORD, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me.”