Psalm 119 ZAIN | HSB Series

Trent Cornwell

Vision Baptist Church

Book of Psalms • Sermon • Submitted 2 years ago

Psalm 119:49–56

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Comfort during trials and testings only comes from God's Word

Psalm 119:49–56 (KJV 1900)

49 ZAIN. Remember the word unto thy servant, Upon which thou hast caused me to hope.

50 This is my comfort in my affliction: For thy word hath quickened me.

51 The proud have had me greatly in derision: Yet have I not declined from thy law.

52 I remembered thy judgments of old, O Lord; And have comforted myself.

53 Horror hath taken hold upon me because of the wicked That forsake thy law.

54 Thy statutes have been my songs In the house of my pilgrimage.

55 I have remembered thy name, O Lord, in the night, And have kept thy law.

56 This I had, Because I kept thy precepts.

Introduction

Encouraged by the life of Charles Spurgeon.

His willingness to go into homes during the great plaque to comfort families

His stand for truth against people that question the sufficiency and necessity of Scripture

His openness about his struggles with depression but his commitment that God’s Word would bring comfort; and was the only place worthy of searching for answers.

You may be surrounded with all the comforts of life and yet be in wretchedness more gloomy than death if the spirits are depressed. You may have no outward cause whatever for sorrow and yet if the mind is dejected, the brightest sunshine will not relieve your gloom. … There are times when all our evidences get clouded and all our joys are fled. Though we may still cling to the Cross, yet it is with a desperate grasp.

Spurgeon warned his students to be aware of situations in which they may be more susceptible to depression.

when you have prolonged illness or physical problems

when you do intense mental or “heart” work

when you’re lonely or isolated

when your lifestyle is sedentary and you overwork your brain

after success

before success

after one heavy blow

through the slow pile of trouble and discouragement

in exhaustion and overworking

The desperate need for comfort can find us at any time on this pilgrimage.

Spurgeon understood that depression isn’t always logical and its cause is not always clear. There are times, he said, when our spirits betray us, and we sink into darkness.

We all need comfort. One of the negative results of the Fall of Man is fear, anxiety, and depression.

Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden are so afraid they hide themselves from the presence of God.

Fear comes from actual or perceived danger.

Fear often takes away our obedience and trust in God’s away.

Rather than turn to their Creator in trust, they fled from Him.

Anxiety is a subset of fear.

Anxious people are excellent meditators, they simply meditate on what could happen rather than on God and His Word.

“We have interpreted what we know about God from our experience instead of interpreting our experiences in light of what is true about God from the Scriptures.” This is often referred to as our Great Disorder.

Depression and discouragement come into our life and will be compounded if we look to this world for our comfort. It would be as drinking salt water for our thirst.

Recognize that in being desperate for comfort it is vital that we desire His Word above all else

There is nothing that tempts me toward idolatry than my desire to find comfort outside of God. Obedience is difficult. Disobedience gives the allusion that comfort is more readily accessible through sin then it is from waiting upon the Lord.

Recognize the need for comfort in my affliction. Psalm 119:50 “50 This is my comfort in my affliction: For thy word hath quickened me.”

1. Look to the promises of God for hope.

Psalm 119:49 “49 ZAIN. Remember the word unto thy servant, Upon which thou hast caused me to hope.”

We are not reminding God has we would remind someone to pick up something at the groceries.

“Remember” is a prayer for God to fulfill the promises he made to his people; which is His servants.

It is a word of promise in which the psalmist has put his hope. “caused me to hope”

Reminder hope is not an uncertain wish but it is an expectation based on the promises of God. Psalm 42:5 “5 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him For the help of his countenance.”

Biblical hope not only desires something good for the future — it expects it to happen.

The Lord has given us a promise on which we may hope

The Lord has given us promises and we can have a hard time laying hold of them. We can have a hard time believing them.

Church in Indiana looked like it was going to close. They laid hold of the promise of John 12:32 “32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.”

So how are we able to sing the Lord's song in a strange land?

How are we able to sorrow with rejoicing and grieve with hope and be comforted in our affliction?

Our Lord has made promises to us and by His Spirit He has enabled us to have hope in those promises!

2. Turn to God’s Word for God’s comfort.

Psalm 119:50 “50 This is my comfort in my affliction: For thy word hath quickened me.”

The word comfort conveys an idea of easing.

Have you ever been desperate for comfort? Stephanie found me dressed in the bathtub the one time that I experienced a kidney stone. I was desperate for comfort. I needed Stephanie to tell me I was going to be okay. (Carsen told me he gets this)

Here's how we walk with the Lord in the midst of trial. He's given us promises and those promises both comfort us and they quicken us. They bring life.

The psalmist is dealing with the affliction of ridicule. Psalm 119:51 “51 The proud have had me greatly in derision: Yet have I not declined from thy law.”

Derision: The act of laughing at in contempt. Lamentations 3:14-15 “14 I was a derision to all my people; and their song all the day. 15 He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath made me drunken with wormwood.”

Jeremiah remembered and turned to God’s word in the midst of affliction for comfort.

One thought (this I recall to mind) crowded out the hopelessness that threatened to overwhelm him. Lamentations 3:20-21 “20 My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me. 21 This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.”

This truth is eternal

Psalm 119:52 “52 I remembered thy judgments of old, O Lord; And have comforted myself.”

Old does not mean irrelevant.

This is wonderfully comforting. Psalm 93:2 “2 Thy throne is established of old: Thou art from everlasting.”

God’s judgments have stood the test of time with all its conflicts and pains; God’s word is eternal—ever reliable and ever binding. Luke 21:33 “33 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.”

Truth is immortal. - Hubmairer

Fight fleeting temptations with the eternal, never-changing, all satisfying Word of God by living in obedience to God’s Word and not in giving into the temptation to find comfort in this world.

3. Resolve comes from standing in the promises of God.

Psalm 119:51 “51 The proud have had me greatly in derision: Yet have I not declined from thy law.”

Resolve is a mark of a Christian.

Psalm 119:51 “51 The proud have had me greatly in derision: Yet have I not declined from thy law.”

Obedience in spite of opposition is evidence of God’s work in our lives.

Matthew Henry says of this passage, “Those can bear but little for Christ that cannot bear a hard word for Him.”

If you’re not willing to be derided for Jesus then there's not much that you’re ready to bear for Jesus.

Our heart should be set to defend His Word not our personal reputations

Psalm 119:53 “53 Horror hath taken hold upon me because of the wicked That forsake thy law.”

Our resolve is fortified by the fact this is not about us. This is an age old battle between God and evil.

Praise God if our lives become the focal point and target for hate for those who have forsaken God’s law. What an opportunity to live out “speaking the truth in love” for God’s glory.

Henry Martin upon arriving to India saw widows being encouraged to throw themselves upon the fiery grave of their husbands. He said ““I could not bear to go on living if I thought my Lord's law would always be so dishonored.”

God's people cannot apathetic towards the violations of His law, because our heart is with Him and when you love God's Word, you share His hatred towards sin knowing the harm that it does to those He loves.

4. We should sing the truth of God’s promises on this short pilgrimage

Psalm 119:54 “54 Thy statutes have been my songs In the house of my pilgrimage.”

House of pilgrimage signifies this can happen at any place of time.

We will be under attack no matter where our homes may be, but there can also be a song there.

We can sing no matter the path

Paul and Silas sang while in a prison, knowing they could be soon be executed.

Jesus and he disciples sang in the Garden of Gethsemane

Psalm 119:55 “55 I have remembered thy name, O Lord, in the night, And have kept thy law.”

Sojourning and night are both terms that denote some form of separation.

Through God’s Word we receive His presence. Not that it left us, but it anchors us in the truth.

It reorders that great disorder (from introduction)

Here is a great song to sing as you walk in the night on your pilgrimage.

Standing on the promises that cannot fail,

When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail,

By the living Word of God I shall prevail,

Standing on the promises of God.

Joy is possible, despite our circumstances, as we engage our hearts and mind in the promises of God.

5. So much is to be gained by trusting God to meet all our needs; including the need for comfort.

Psalm 119:56 “56 This I had, Because I kept thy precepts.”

So much sin and pain comes from seeking comfort from this world instead of trusting the promises of God.

The affliction of this psalmist was intense, but the comfort he felt in God’s promises was stronger!

Could you imagine an alternate ending to David and Bathsheba

In an instant, he looked away, said a prayer for the unnamed woman, and went where he should have been all along: to war

Look at all the pain that comes through this story from David seeking comfort outside of God’s will

We genuinely and desperately need him to lead us not into temptation but to deliver us from evil. Matthew 6:13 “13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.”

Remember the blessing of obedience

We are not the first or last to walk in the dark, night of our pilgrimage.

When Moses brought God’s demands to Pharaoh’s throne instead of cowering in fear and insecurity, God had given him a blessing.

When Joshua marched around the high walls of Jericho instead of running from the battle or fighting his own way, God was moving in the walking and waiting.

When Hannah, desiring a son, poured out her soul to the Lord instead of stewing in bitterness and longing, God not only heard her prayers, but blessed her in her praying.

When Jeremiah preached repentance and endured hostility for forty years, with little fruit, instead of giving up and ignoring God’s call, a whole host of blessings had fallen along the way, sustaining and fulfilling him through incredible hardship.

When the apostle Paul suffered being imprisoned unjustly, beaten regularly and ruthlessly, and even being stoned to the point of death, the blessing of allegiance to Christ was worth everything he suffered.

The life of Christ

Jesus never tasted the bitterness of disobedience.

Jesus gives us more than an example of obedience; he shows us the deep and abiding joy of obeying God.

He obeyed the Father not only because it was right, but because it was more satisfying.

Hebrews 12:1-2 “1 Wherefore 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, 2 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.”

What is it he “had”..

Psalm 119:56 “56 This I had, Because I kept thy precepts.”

Ability sorrow with rejoicing,

Enduring the afflictions of the Christian life with comfort,

Opportunity to grieve with hope

Learned to sing the Lord's song in a strange land.

Summary

During affliction, God used the Apostle Paul to write Colossians.

Col 3:16-17 “16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.”

Let us sing tonight with grace in our hearts, regardless what is waiting us outside of those doors.

We pray God has used His word tonight to..

to bring us hope and was are reminded of our expected end

bring life and comfort to you during your afflication

caused you to remember how God’s word is eternal, which makes them more important to you than your temporal trails

caused you to want to sing even on the dark nights of your journey

be reminded that it is not a burden to obey God's Word; it's a blessing!