Morning After Midnight (Psalm 119:81-96) (Perth Bible Academy)

Good evening, Perth Bible students! My name is Josh Smith, and I am excited to speak to you this evening. I am from central Iowa, and I am Mr. and Mrs. Appell’s son-in-law.

Now, I’d like to get to know you a little bit. So I’d love it if you guys introduced yourselves to me. So, here’s what we’re going to do. Let’s go from row to row. Tell me your name, your grade, and your favorite pizza toppings.

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Now, how many of you have ever heard of a guy named Job? What about Eeyore?

“Wish I could say ‘yes,’ but I can’t.” / / / Eeyore–Responding to Winnie when he asked, “lovely day, isn’t it?”

“I would rather be strangled.” / / / Job 7:15 “so that I prefer strangling— death rather than life in this body.”

“Does anyone want the tasteless white of an egg?” / / / Job 6:6 “Is bland food eaten without salt? Is there flavor in an egg white?”

“If it is a good morning, which I doubt.” / / / Eeyore–to pooh bear

“I only have a few days left, so leave me alone.” / / / Job 10:20 “Are my days not few? Stop it! Leave me alone, so that I can smile a little”

“Days. Weeks. Months. Who knows?” / / / Eeyore–commenting on how long winnie the pooh might remain stuck!

“It’s snowing still, and freezing. However, we haven’t had an earthquake lately.” / / / Eeyore–Trying to be an optimist

“Why wasn’t I born dead?” / / / Job 3:11 “Why was I not stillborn; why didn’t I die as I came from the womb?”

“Lying in bed, I think, ‘when will it be morning?’ But the night drags on.” / / / Job 7:4 “When I lie down I think, “When will I get up?” But the evening drags on endlessly, and I toss and turn until dawn.”

“Thanks for noticin’ me.” / / / Eeyore–to winnie the pooh

“It’s all for naught.” / / / Eeyore–in typical bright fashion

Now, that was a pretty silly example, but it illustrates a point. When difficult times come into our life, we typically respond in similar ways don’t we. For example.

School is hard work, isn’t it? You guys have had tests, lectures, homework, Scripture memory, and more. Some of you have felt overwhelmed at different times with how much work you have to do. You’ve felt like it’s impossible for you to learn a particular formula for math class. You’ve had difficult things to work through outside the classroom that just compounded the difficulties. You may have lost a loved one, you may have been bullied, and you may have had to make some difficult decisions. How did you feel when these things were going on?

As I’m bringing up these different scenarios, some of them might characterize you or you might be thinking of something else that I didn’t mention it. Regardless of what your circumstance is/was, the fact of the matter was that it was exhausting and painful. Each of you has been through something like that. Each of you has suffered in one way or another.

You might suffer from cruel people in your lives. You might suffer from your own limitations that don’t measure up to someone else’s expectations of you. You might suffer from a continuous battle against sin that you can’t seem to get rid of. You might have a broken family that pulls you in two different directions day after day. Regardless of what your circumstance is/was, the fact of the matter is that it is exhausting and painful.

But how

Tonight, we are going to look at some verses from Psalm 119 that will help you make sense of what As some of you know, this is the longest chapter in the Bible. In fact, it’s so long, it is longer than many books of the Bible! This Psalm has 176 verses to it. Now, I know you’re getting close to finishing up school for the year, but I am going to ask you to do some math. Psalm 119 is divided into twenty-two different sections. If there are 176 verses in Psalm 119, how many verses are in each of those 22 sections? In other words, what is 176 divided by 22?

Yes! you nailed it. There are eight verses in each section. Throughout our time together, this evening, I am going to walk you through two of those sections. So we will begin in verse 81.

Kaph (vv. 81-88) כ

One of the themes throughout Psalm 119 is the Word of God. From this Psalm you get amazing verses that many people have memorized.

Psalm 119:9 CSB

How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping your word.

Psalm 119:11 CSB

I have treasured your word in my heart so that I may not sin against you.

Psalm 119:89 CSB

Lord, your word is forever; it is firmly fixed in heaven.

One preacher called 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. Staring into the distance, he keeps looking for a helicopter, a vehicle, anything! 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.

If I squeeze an orange, what comes out of it?

Why does orange juice come out?

Yes, you don’t squeeze an orange juice and get apple juice. You squeeze an orange and you get orange juice, because that’s what’s inside it. The orange juice is not the orange, but the orange juice characterizes what the orange is.

So, what comes out when someone puts the squeeze on us or treats us badly? What comes out of us when we’re under stress? When things don’t go as planned? When you’re bullied in your neighborhood? When you make a mistake at work? When our spouse, child, friend, or coworker disappoints us? When we’re betrayed? When we could have sworn there was more money in the checking account, yet the check bounced? What comes out? Anger? Vitriol? Sadness? Depression? Frustration? Fear? Revenge? I’ve experienced just about all those emotions, during disappointing and uncertain times. Goodness, what does that say about me, about what’s inside of me?

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. A friend can console you only so much. There’s only so much joy that selfish pursuits can bring. There’s only so 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.

At my church back in Iowa, there was a pastor who was at our church for many years. He and his family were a wonderful example for how “The Word of God 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.