Relying on God in Suffering

Well, amen to that. And thank you, Rachel and Lynn, for reading that to us. Please do keep it open. God's word, as we will see this morning, is vital. And so please do have it in front of you and follow along as we go.

So, Psalm 119. It's a great psalm. And in case you've not been around, I know we do have some visitors here this morning, but also sometimes we just forget, and that's okay. So we'll do a wee catch up on what Psalm 119 is all about.

This is the third in the series. So, so far you've missed 1 to 48. Well, the Psalms generally, they are spiritual songs written by various people. Some of them we don't even know who wrote them. An example would be this psalm. There is a bit of contention about who wrote this one.

But there are many themes throughout the Psalms. Yes, they are hymns of praise, but there is also wisdom to be found in many of the Psalms. There is also lament. There is a lot of crying out to God, asking why? Why are things happening the way that they are?

So that is the Psalms. And 119 is a famous one. Why? Well, it's the longest. It's the longest psalm. It is, in fact, longer than many books of the Bible. It is the longest chapter that we have in the whole of the Bible.

And it could be a mix of themes, but really it is a wisdom psalm. And there is much wisdom, like we heard about with Solomon, there is much wisdom to be found in it.

But it is good to remember that it is a hymn. And it is a hymn celebrating God's law or God's word, God's precepts.

All these words, they are pointing to God's word, God's written word. And it is a guide for life.

And what we will see this morning is the love that the writer has for God's word, but also for the author of it.

Not himself, but the true author of God's word.

And as Ian laid out in the first week, it is a very clever literary, which I really struggle to say, literary piece of writing.

It's an acrostic poem. So what it means is that, as you can maybe see, if you've got headings, Zion, Heth, Teth, and Yod in your Bibles, you might see that.

That is a letter of the Greek alphabet. And so essentially what the psalm is, is it's going through the A to Z, as we would call it, of God's word.

And in the original Hebrew, each eight verses that you see in each section start with that letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

It's very clever. And the repetition that we see in it, the repetition of the themes, there is so much repetition seen throughout the whole psalm.

Well, it shows the theme and it adds emphasis. And we'll see that as we go through this morning.

You know, I stumbled across this from C.S. Lewis, writing about this particular psalm.

The poem is not, and does not pretend to be, a sudden outpouring of the heart, like, say, Psalm 18.

It is a pattern, a thing done like embroidery, stitch by stitch, through long, quiet hours.

The love of the subject and for the delight in the leisurely disciplined craftsmanship.

It is a wonderful psalm. And it is great that we can study it through our series and great that we can open it up this morning.

So, intro over. Let's get us thinking.

Iron Brew gets you through. Have you seen those adverts, those billboards?

There used to be adverts on the TV back in the day. Some of them were maybe a bit rude.

But, you know, they certainly got the message across.

And how they basically went was that someone was going through an awkward situation or a difficult time in a sort of jovial sense.

But they cracked the Iron Brew and, oh, that just solved all their problems.

I'm sure there was a few Iron Brews cracked overnight, I imagine.

But, you know, does Iron Brew get you through?

Well, you know, I've had some long, hard days where, you know, an Iron Brew at the end of the day, you know, it is nice.

It quenches that thirst.

I'm sure after a long walk, you maybe tried one for the West Highland Wears who are here this morning.

But, you know, does it get you through the actual difficult times in life?

Well, I'm going to suggest, contrary to the above, no.

No, it does not.

So what does get us through the difficult times of life?

Well, this morning we're going to look at that.

We're going to see what the psalmist has to say about how we get through difficult times in life.

And as we've seen in the last couple of weeks, it's potentially difficult to split up these passages.

There's so much repetition throughout.

But I've just gone by splitting them based on each letter of the alphabet, each of the four sections.

So we're going to see comfort while suffering.

We're going to see faithfulness in suffering.

We're going to see learning through suffering.

And we're going to see reliance during suffering.

And as Corey pointed out to me, the word suffering is up there a lot.

But believe it or not, this is actually a fairly positive sermon.

And it should hopefully be encouraging and challenging for us.

So let's dive into comfort while suffering.

And we're looking at that first section, verse 49 to 56.

So as already asked, where do we look for when we are suffering?

Where do we look for comfort?

Is it, as Graham mentioned last week, do we go towards the excesses in life?

Do we plow into our fitness regime?

Do we go into the negative things?

Do we plow ourselves into drink or alcohol, drugs, whatever it might be?

Or do we just go for distractions?

Are we binging Netflix, hiding away from the difficult times that we face?

I suppose you could call that option one.

Or option two, like the writer here, do we go towards God?

Do we look to him and his promises, the one who made us, the one who loves us?

Do we go towards him in our times of difficulty?

Do we look to him for comfort?

Let's see what the writer has to say.

Well, first of all, we see that if we're going to go towards God for comfort,

then we need to know his word.

We need to know the word of God.

As I said earlier, repetition in the Psalms is so important.

And if you look down, you can see the word remember three times in this section.

Verse 49, 52 and 55.

The writer, he knows the word of God.

He studies it.

It is important to him.

He knows it and has learned it so that he can remember it.

He can bring it to mind when he needs it the most.

We need to be students of God's word in order that it can be there for us and comfort us

and that God can help us in times of need.

The Psalmist, he is remembering, and he only had the Torah,

the first five books of the Bible available to him.

But in those, in those Old Testament stories, he can see God's faithfulness.

He remembers that.

God has proven his faithfulness.

You can read all about it.

And we live in the privileged age of having the whole Bible there for us to read.

God's word.

And we can see God's faithfulness to it.

What a comfort that can be for us to remember where God has been faithful in the past.

And if we know God's word and we can remember it, then we need to trust in it.

You might think that's the same thing.

Well, it's very different.

It's one thing to know something, but it's something else to wholeheartedly trust in it.

Verse 49 says this,

The word of God, it gives hope.

Verse 50,

What is that hope?

Well, the writer, he had hope in a faithful God.

But us, in this position that we find ourselves in, this age that we find ourselves in,

it is the hope of eternity.

The hope of eternity, it provides comfort for our present day suffering.

God, yes, he promises to help us on earth.

He promises to be with us.

But we have an assured future with him one day.

That is the hope that we have in God.

But you know, it requires trust.

It is not guaranteed.

We need to do something to gain it.

We need to trust in Jesus.

You know, we often sing that hymn, don't we?

Living hope.

The Lord Jesus is our living hope.

The Lord Jesus, yes, we can read about him.

He came down.

He lived that perfect life.

He died and rose again, having taken the suffering,

the sin upon himself that we deserved.

He took that upon himself.

Why?

So that he can be our living hope.

The writer here, he could read God's promises of a Messiah to come.

We see that in the Psalms, don't we?

And yet we can think back on the Lord Jesus,

the one who fulfilled these things,

the Messiah, the Savior who came.

And we can trust in him.

You know, the Lord Jesus, he promised that he would go

and he will prepare a place for us

and he will come back again to take us to be with him.

That is the hope that we have,

that we can read about in God's word.

But first of all, we need to trust in the one that can make it happen.

You know, often man's promises and words,

they mean nothing, don't they?

How many times have we been let down by people?

I'll meet you at five o'clock.

They just don't appear.

They don't come.

People cancel on you.

They let you down.

And we let down those that we love, don't we?

But you know, with God, it is impossible.

His promises are faithful and true.

So we need to trust in the word.

You know, thirdly, comfort while suffering.

Well, we need to work at it.

We need to work at it.

It's not a passive thing.

In verse 51, and we've seen this throughout so far,

that the arrogant mock me unmercifully,

but I do not turn from your law.

He is ignoring the mockers.

There is such outward pressure coming from people who are laughing at him,

who are persecuting him here.

But he is looking to the everlasting word,

rather than the whims of man.

You know, even in the most difficult situations,

verse 54,

your decrees are the theme of my song wherever I lodge.

In the night, Lord, I remember your name,

that I may keep your law.

The night, it speaks of darkness.

It speaks of difficulty.

It speaks of evil, the darkness.

Even in this most difficult of time,

he dwells on God's word.

And how can he do that?

How can he have that strength?

Well, it takes practice.

Verse 56,

This has been my practice.

I obey your precepts.

It takes discipline and obedience.

Training for godliness.

It takes training.

Why do we do things?

Well, we do things out of a response of love.

And the writer here,

he is obeying God

because of that response of love that he has

for the one who is faithful to him.

1 Timothy 4, verse 8 says,

1 Timothy 4:8

Godliness is profitable for all things

since it holds promise for the present life

and also for the life to come.

Training for godliness is a worthy pursuit

and we must do it.

We cannot just sit idly by.

And if we do so,

well, this is how the hope of eternity,

it provides comfort for us

while in present day suffering.

So that's section one.

And then the writer moves on

to talk about faithfulness in suffering

in verses 57 to 64

in that second section.

So when the going gets tough,

do we get going?

That's the song, isn't it?

The going gets tough,

the tough get going.

Well, first of all,

we see that knowing who God is

springs us into action.

You know, verbs are called doing words,

aren't they?

And we really see that here.

Follow with me in this section.

It says,

promised,

sought,

considered,

turned,

hasten,

obey,

rise.

There's a real sense of action here

in this section.

He says in verse 57,

you are my portion, Lord.

The writer,

he realizes God's worth

and it causes him

to obey

and to seek

his face.

Neil,

he brought this into his prayer

about seeking

the face of God.

What does that mean?

Well,

face,

it could mean favor.

But essentially,

what he's talking about

for us in this age

is praying,

seeking the face

of God.

You know,

remember the COVID song

as I still call it,

the blessing?

It's talking about

Numbers 6.

The Lord bless you

and keep you,

make his face shine upon you

and give you peace.

There's a lesson here

to pray earnestly to God.

Seek his face

and his favor.

And we might think

that praying isn't actually

doing anything.

That's not an action word,

is it?

Well,

it is.

Pray earnestly.

Prayer works.

Prayer matters.

So pray.

Verse 59 to 61.

The writer here,

he considers his ways.

I have considered my ways

and have turned my steps

to your statutes.

I will hasten

and not delay

to obey your commands.

Though the wicked

bind me with ropes,

I will not forget your law.

He considers his ways

and he changes

his direction.

There's a real lesson here

to practice holiness.

What does that mean?

How do we practice holiness?

Well, we're not perfect.

We mess up.

But it's constantly assessing

our character

and our conduct

and seeing if it matches up

to what a holy God

wants us to do.

And if not,

then like the writer says,

we need immediate correction.

We need an immediate

correction of our course.

He says,

hasten and not delay.

You know,

I was driving down the,

I think it's the M6,

the one past Carlisle

one time.

And not only was I late

to somewhere,

I was also running out of fuel.

But I took the right turn off,

so go me.

And I was needing to turn

away off into the Lake District.

And so I'm going around

this big roundabout

and I take the turn off,

but then I end up back

on the M6.

So I continue going south.

I'm late.

I'm running out of fuel.

My friend's in the car.

He's just laughing at me.

He thinks the whole thing's hilarious.

But you know,

what do I do?

Well,

I realise my mistake.

And do I just cruise on

and end up

in the south of England?

No.

I want to get off,

turn around

and get back to where

I'm meant to be

as soon as possible.

You know,

it's a silly example,

but that is how we should be.

When we realise,

when we assess ourselves,

hold on,

when I'm going wrong,

I need to turn around

and I need to get back

to where I'm meant to be.

That is the lesson here.

And in verse 61,

though the wicked bind me with ropes,

I will not forget your law.

The writer,

in difficult situations

and testing times,

he goes towards God,

not away.

We need more of God,

not less of God,

more of God.

So as well as knowing

who God is

brings us to action,

we see surprising actions

in difficult times.

Again,

like the previous section,

we have this sense of midnight

and in this midnight,

in the depth of the night,

in the depth of the difficulties,

he rises to praise

in verse 62.

You know,

you can't read this section

without thinking about

Paul and Silas.

Now hopefully we know that story.

If you don't,

go and look up Acts 16.

But you know,

they were in the jail.

They were in jail

because of their love

for the Lord Jesus

and wanting to follow him.

But you know,

even in that most depth

of difficulty,

they were singing praises to God.

And hopefully you know the story

about how that worked out.

But what a witness that was

to those around them in the jail.

And what a witness

that this,

the writer has here

to those around him

because of his surprising actions

in difficult times.

His mind is on things above,

not things that are going on around.

And as he does so,

he brings fellowship into it.

Verse 63,

I am a friend to all who fear you,

to all who follow your precepts.

Brotherly fellowship

like Paul and Silas had with one another.

They supported one another.

They looked out for one another.

And it is so important

to look out for one another

and support each other

in these difficult times.

God's abundant, loving kindness

is the motivation

behind why we should want to live

in this way

and be faithful

in our suffering.

Verse 64,

the earth is filled with your love, Lord.

Teach me your decrees.

That is how we can remain faithful

in suffering.

Moving on to our third section,

we have a bit of a shift.

Learning through suffering.

You know, maybe that seems

slightly counterintuitive.

There's a band called the Oh Hellos.

I don't know if anyone knows them.

They're pretty small.

Maybe not.

You know, they're a...

But I think they're a brother and sister

from America

and they're Christians,

I believe.

And they have this song called

I Have Made Mistakes.

So you can tell what that's about.

But the album is called

Through the Deep Dark Valley.

Again, that darkness

is talking about suffering

and it's talking about difficult times.

And in that song,

they have a lyric

and it goes like this.

The sun,

it does not cause us to grow.

It is the rain

that will strengthen your soul

and it will make you whole.

You'll be thankful

that I've not sang it to you,

but you can listen to it later on.

But what they're getting at there

is that it is not the good times

in that they have grown and learned.

It is the bad times.

It is the difficult times.

It is the times of suffering.

The times of difficulty.

You know, in a plant point of view,

yes, plants need sun

but they also need rain, don't they?

It is that kind of thought.

And in this section,

we have the word teach

in verse 66 and in 68.

And we have the word learn

in verse 71.

There's this real sense of teaching

and learning going on

in this section.

But you know,

it is paired with the word afflicted

in verse 67 and 71.

Hence, learning through suffering.

So what can we see here?

Well, we can see that we should want

to learn and to grow.

Verse 66, the writer says,

teach me knowledge

and good judgment.

Good judgment, that is wisdom.

Derek very helpfully

laid out about Solomon,

that wise king,

the one who is given much wisdom.

We should want

good judgment and wisdom.

You know, it is not just knowledge

that we need.

Who put their hand up

for who wanted to be

the cleverest person.

You know, we probably all

want to be clever, don't we?

And knowing stuff is good.

But we need to know

what to do with that knowledge.

We need wisdom.

The old adage goes,

knowledge is that

tomato is a fruit,

but wisdom is not putting it

in your fruit salad.

You know, it is an oldie,

but it is a goodie.

We need wisdom.

We need to know what to do

with our knowledge.

Solomon was a great example

of wisdom

and how to deal

with situations.

And yes,

it is a gift from God.

Yes, it is a gift from God,

but mostly it just comes

from experience.

Mostly it comes

from living life.

I don't know about you,

but the wisest people I know

are the oldest people I know.

It seems to go hand in hand.

Life's experience

gives us wisdom.

And that is the benefit

of a church

where we can rub shoulders

with those of different ages

and stages and life experience.

But you know,

pray for wisdom as well.

Pray that God,

as Solomon did,

would grant wisdom to us

in our daily dealings

with the people

that we come across.

But we should want

to learn and grow,

but we should also know

what we're asking for

by doing so.

We had that word,

affliction.

Well, it caused repentance

and it taught lessons

for the writer.

Verse 67,

Before I was afflicted,

I went astray,

but now I obey your word.

We're taught

through difficult experiences.

Verse 71,

It was good for me

to be afflicted

so that I might learn

your decrees.

You know,

it's worth remembering

in this that God is good.

The writer says that.

In verse 68,

he is not blaming God.

He says,

You are good

and you do what is good.

Teach me your decrees.

The writer,

he sees God's hand

in the difficult situation

that he finds himself in.

And he says,

God,

you are doing

what you are.

You are good

by definition.

And so what you do

is good.

God is not the cause

of our difficulties,

but he is willing

and graciously

he uses our difficulties

to teach us

and to help us grow.

He does so

so that we can learn

to be like him.

Christians,

it means to be Christ-like

and so it means

that we need to learn

to be like Christ.

We are not automatically

like him.

Verse 71,

this affliction,

you know,

that my mind went

to the refiner's fire.

It's talked about

elsewhere in the Bible.

It's talked about

in many songs

and hymns.

But what is the refiner's fire?

Well,

you put a chunk of metal

into a really hot furnace

so that you get

the pure metal

out the other side.

It is that thought

that God uses

a potentially bad

thing

for good.

So we should know

what we're asking for.

But you know also

what's key

is to ignore

the world.

though the arrogant,

verse 69,

have smeared me

with lies,

I keep your precepts

with all my heart.

Their hearts

are callous

and unfeeling,

but I delight

in your law.

The writer,

his heart

is in the right place.

So he says,

it doesn't matter

what the others think.

He puts them

to one side.

He says,

they are at fault,

not me.

They are callous

and unfeeling,

but he keeps

the precepts

of God.

Verse 72,

the law from your mouth

is more precious

to me

than thousands

of pieces

of silver

and gold.

You know,

I was curious

about why it said

thousands.

I thought,

that's not,

it's quite a lot.

It's not a huge amount,

so he's put a limit on it.

You know,

if it was more than that,

then,

you know,

maybe.

But you know,

that was the biggest word

that they had for a number

in the Hebrew language.

I actually looked it up

as a piece of trivia for you,

that the biggest word

that we have for a number

now is goggleplex.

If anyone knew that,

then well done,

fair play.

That is the biggest word

that we have for a number,

and that is essentially

what he is saying here.

He is saying that

there is nothing on earth,

no riches,

he would take

over God's things.

The word of God

is more precious to him

than anything

that you can even name

or think of.

That is what he is saying here.

And what an amazing thing

to say,

yes,

but to actually mean

and to cherish

and to have in your heart

as you live your daily life.

So ignore the world,

those naysayers,

yes,

but also the attractions

of the world

and go towards God's things.

So we learn through suffering

and keeping focused

on God's goodness.

And finally,

we see reliance

during suffering

in our last section.

So what are we relying on?

Is it our great knowledge

at school?

Is it our social status

or our career?

Is it Iron Brew

gets you through?

Well,

we need to remember

our place,

first of all.

Verse 73,

your hands made me

and formed me.

We are created beings.

We are not creators

or the creator.

No,

we are the creation.

And that puts us

in a place,

so to speak.

You know,

my version of that verse

says this,

God,

you made me,

so teach me your ways.

When we remember

who we are,

that we are created beings,

we should want to seek

God out

and the way that he thinks

best for us.

And hand in hand

with that goes

verse 74,

may those who fear you

rejoice when they see me,

for I have put hope,

I have put my hope

in your word.

believers are called

to shine for the Lord Jesus.

You've seen guys like these

on Princess Street,

golf sale.

This was a particularly

funny one,

I thought.

But you know,

the obvious thing here

is not the man hiding

under the hood

on a cold day.

No,

we don't know anything

about him.

The obvious thing

is the golf sale,

isn't it?

He isn't trying to advertise

how good he is

as a billboard man

or his background

or whatever

about him.

No,

he is purely wanting

to point people

to the golf sale.

You know,

that is our call

as Christians,

to be signposts

to the one

who has done

everything for us.

Why?

Because the Lord Jesus

can do everything

for others.

Make the love of God

and his word

that we have

obvious in our lives.

Testimony and witness

to those around

like we see

in verse 74.

So remember

our place.

Also to realise

God's purposes.

Verse 75,

a bit like the last section,

he says this,

I know, Lord,

that your laws

are righteous

and that in faithfulness

you have afflicted me.

Seeing God

in suffering,

seeing his hand in it,

well,

it is a sign

of spiritual maturity.

And I'm not saying that

and saying that

it is an easy thing

through the difficult times

to see God's hand in it.

Often it is

way later on

we look back

and see that God

was using certain situations

for our good.

But realising God's purposes

and things.

And as part of that,

we remember

his compassion.

We remember

his compassion

that sustains us.

Verse 76,

may your unfailing love

be my comfort

according to your promise.

And in verse 77,

God's purpose

that he gives us life.

Verse 77,

let your compassion

come to me

that I may live.

Yes,

that we may live

now

and we may have life

to the full

as Jesus said,

but also that we may live

in that life to come

that we are promised.

And finally,

relying on God's

help,

reliance

during our suffering.

You might see

and if you follow down

verse 76 onwards,

the first word

in the NIV,

you've got

may,

let,

may,

may,

may.

That's not the name

of the month.

That is a petition

to God.

That is asking God

for help.

Why do we,

why does he go

to God

for help?

You know,

if you're in a difficult

situation,

you're going to phone

someone who can actually

do something about it,

aren't you?

That's why we phone

the ambulances.

That's why we phone

the fire service.

We speak to someone

useful

and God is the

most useful person

that we can turn to

in our difficult times.

He is the one

who can help

and his,

the things that he

is asking for

is for his

unfailing love,

his compassion,

his justice

for fellowship

with other people

which is so important.

Do we pray for that?

Do we pray for fellowship

with other believers?

How important it is

to have other people

around us

in difficult times.

And finally,

in verse 80,

he prays for purity.

A pure heart

so that we don't have

that shame

it talks about

at the end

of falling

into sin.

Relying on God

and on others

is so important.

Hebrews 4.16,

let us then approach

God's throne of grace

with confidence

so that we may receive

mercy

and find grace

to help us

in our time

of need.

We can rely on God,

our creator,

the one who made us

and loves us

and cares about us

and has done

everything for us

to sustain us

during our suffering.

We merely need

to ask in prayer.

So does Iron Brew

get you through?

Hopefully,

you've not just

ended the sermon

craving for an Iron Brew

and that's all

you've taken from it.

Plenty of other drinks

available

in the interest

of fairness.

But you know,

does it get you through?

Well, no.

No is the answer.

The next time you see one,

I want you to think

of some of the things

we thought about this morning.

That the hope of eternity

through trust in Jesus,

well, it provides comfort

for us

while suffering.

Also,

that we can remain

faithful

in suffering

by knowing God

and keeping our minds

on things above

rather than things around.

that we can learn

and become more God-like,

more Christ-like

through suffering.

That we should desire growth

despite the fact

we know it might be painful.

And that we can rely on God,

our creator,

our sustainer,

to help us

and sustain us

during our suffering.

So let's ask,

let's pray,

let's trust things

to Him.

Let me just pray

and then we'll respond

by singing

a couple of hymns.

God and Father,

we thank You

for Your Word.

We thank You

for the truth

that we can find in it.

We thank You

that we have

the whole Bible

to study

and to learn

and we have many

helpful commentaries

and videos

and all sorts

to help us.

We thank You

that You speak to us

through Your Word.

We thank You

that we can learn

so much from it.

We thank You

for the challenges

contained.

We thank You

that Your Word

corrects us

and puts us back

on the right path.

And so just help us

as we consider

these things

that we've thought

about from Psalm 119

this morning.

We pray that

through Your Holy Spirit

that You will keep

these things

at the forefront

of our minds

and our hearts

and that You will

continue to speak

to us this week

as we dwell

on these things.

So I ask Your blessing

as we go.

We pray that

confidently

because Your promises

are faithful

and so we pray

that You will be with us,

that You will go

before us

and that we will

remember that hope

that we have,

that eternal hope

because of the Lord Jesus,

our living hope.

And so help us

to live faithfully

to Your Word

in a response of love

and it's in His

most precious name

we pray.

Amen.

Amen.