Psalm 102 - Afflictions

Good morning.

My name is Bo. I'm one of the elders in the church.

Today we will be talking on Psalm 102.

I hope I will do justice to this great psalm.

Before we start, shall we pray?

May I pray?

Lord, help us to pressure all the pressure that we have in Christ.

Help us through this psalm to get to know you and worship you aright.

Thank you, Father. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

So for today I've got three M's.

First of all, I'd like to share with you how to read psalms.

That's from my own experience. Hopefully that will help.

Some of you to appreciate the psalms.

And then we'll go to Psalm 102 in particular, how we can read it.

And then we'll talk about afflictions or suffering.

All right?

So for me, I learned, I mean, psalms usually is quite hard in terms of reading psalms for many years

until I learned how to read psalms.

First of all, psalms are prayers.

And so sometimes it's shocking to see the expression in the psalms.

But they are prayers, and God wants us to pray to Him truthfully.

And so they are very raw feelings.

And there's no makeup in the expression.

There's no fancy dressing.

And so we need to understand that it's deep feeling of people who pray to God through psalms.

And there's psalms, the prayers, or psalms are the words that God has given to us to speak to Him.

Okay, that's one thing.

Second one is that we need to understand Psalm 1 and Psalm 2 very well to know the psalms.

Because the other psalms usually refer back to Psalm 1 and Psalm 2.

If we do not understand Psalm 1 and Psalm 2, it's very hard to understand the other psalms.

So that is the second tip.

The third one is psalms are written in the structure of like climbing a mountain.

Okay, so there's an ascend, and then there's a summit, and there's a descent.

So we will see that the summit, as it climbs up the mountain,

it will come up with a different sort of emotion.

And then in the summit, it will immerse in the glory of the summit,

like someone climbing a mountain.

And then he descends, there's a different emotion.

And the summit is usually roughly in the middle of the psalm.

So if you want to know what is the most important part of the psalm,

usually you go to the middle part, okay, or somewhere there.

And so these are the three things that help me to read the psalms.

So Psalm 102, we can go through that structure.

To start with the ascend, the ascending part, so the part one,

we can see that the psalmist is ascending with a lot of emotion

in the suffering that is affecting him, and also his people.

Okay, it's not only him.

He talks about his people, the city of Zion.

And there are three parts of suffering that we can see that he's expressing.

One is the physical one, so it could be due to illnesses,

or famine, or enemy invasion.

We don't know exactly what the psalmist was suffering,

but at least we know that the city of Zion was destroyed,

and that would be the enemy taunting him and invading him.

So the psalmist himself may be sick as well.

We are not sure.

There's a mental affliction.

So he said all days his enemies teased him and used his name as curse.

And the third part is relational afflictions.

So he was suffering alone.

His friends and God seemed to have abandoned him.

So the psalmist, Peter with God to rescue him,

but it seems that God has hidden his faith from him.

So that's how he was ascending to the mountain.

And then he gets to the psalmist in verse 12.

So the psalmist said,

But you, O Lord, are entorned forever.

So there is a psalmist for the psalm.

So he said that God is in control and in charge forever.

God is there for all generations.

And because of that,

there's three things also change to the perception of the psalmist,

to his suffering.

First of all,

in terms of time,

he said that God is forever.

So he's comparing his suffering,

his life,

with God's eternity.

So suddenly,

his suffering becomes less of an issue

in the sense that

his suffering is only transient.

And there's eternity with God.

So it changes perception in there.

So first one is time.

Secondly,

it's to do with white.

White has been heavy.

So when we are suffering,

we think that it's so hard to bear,

so difficult to go through this.

It's weighing on us.

But when we see God's glory,

as he saw that,

the glory of God transformed his perception

of affliction and shame.

Because the glory of God is such a big thing

that it just overwhelms him,

his own suffering becomes insignificant.

And so the second thing is white.

The third thing is purpose.

He sees God's sovereignty,

and so that reassures him

that God knows about his suffering

and cares about that.

And so the perception of suffering

is changed as he went up to the summit.

So the three things,

time, weight, and purpose.

And then he descends the mountain.

And as he descends,

you can see the change

in his focus of things.

He was praying for the restoration of Zion,

the restoration of the nations,

the restoration of worship towards God.

Okay, so there's a three part

of Psalm 102.

Now how do we apply to us

and how does it affect our life?

Then there are three ways

for us to read the Psalms or anything,

at least three ways.

Think of, as we approach life,

we can approach it

with three different sort of mindsets

or mixture of it.

I'll call them devotional,

rational, and emotional.

You can read that

in the Buridding Kawa

about those three mindsets

that we use to approach life.

Let us try to read the Psalm

mainly with just an emotional mindset.

If we just use it,

read it from the point of emotion

and feelings.

So the first half of the Psalm

is full of feelings.

So with this mindset,

we could feel the desperation,

the fear,

the pain,

and the loneliness of the Psalmist.

In the first two verses alone,

the Psalmist pleaded with God five times

to listen and respond to him,

to do something about his suffering.

The Psalmist is describing his afflictions

as if he is living in hell.

He's being burned,

and his life is passing away like smoke.

His heart is so depressed

that he does not enjoy his food anymore.

He's eating ashes,

possibly as a sign of deep grieving.

He feels that nobody is standing with him.

He thinks he's suffering alone,

and God does not seem

to have done anything to help him.

God seems to have led his enemies

to triumph over him.

He thinks that God has conspired against him,

as God has taken him up

and thrown him down.

And he wants to enjoy good health

and respect from others.

Now he's sick.

And his name is used for a curse.

It's quite easy for us

to think like this in life.

I have a patient come in and said,

she's a Christian,

she said,

in the past,

I don't have any illness.

I was too well.

God was good to me.

I said,

isn't God good to you now?

He was taken aback

when I asked him this,

asked her these questions.

She couldn't answer me.

So this is how,

if you just use emotional mindset

to assess or approach things in our life.

So even if we look at this psalmist

as he approached the mountain top,

if we use the emotional mindset alone

to understand the psalm,

we can sense that

the psalmist may be resentful to God.

He was maybe saying that,

oh God,

you are enthroned forever up there

and I am suffering down here.

It's not fair.

I mean,

why is this one happening?

Why is this happening to me?

If he just uses this mindset

to read the psalm,

it will be very difficult

for us to understand

the second half of the psalm.

It doesn't make sense

except verses 23, 24

when the psalmist complains again

about God shortening his life.

So I would like to add

a rational mindset

to the reading of the psalm.

So we are now reading it

with both emotion and logic.

So I said,

I feel sick.

I feel depressed.

I feel persecuted by others.

So besides feeling sorry

and sad for myself,

I start to think about my afflictions.

Are my afflictions caused

by my own doing,

other people's doing,

or God's doing?

The psalmist has concluded

that it was all God's doing

because in verse 10,

it said,

because of your indignation and anger,

for you have taken me up

and thrown me down.

And verse 23,

he has broken my strength

in mid-cost.

He has shortened my days.

The psalmist does not explain

why God was doing

such a thing to him.

Maybe he does not understand either.

However, the psalmist understands

that his afflictions

are tied with the destruction of Zion.

He suffers more intensely

as he thinks about Zion,

as he holds on to the dust,

the broken stones of Zion

in his hands.

So to the Old Testament people,

Zion was such an important place.

So if you don't understand it,

it will have to understand this psalm.

So Zion was a place

of God's temple

and God's king.

It was the only place on earth

where a person could meet God

without being consumed

by God's holiness.

Now the city of Zion

had been destroyed.

Where could the psalmist

meet God?

His only hope

was if God

would restore Zion.

Only then

would the prayer

of the destitute

be heard by God.

So the rational mindset

helps us to understand

the psalm better.

But still,

not enough

for us to understand it

fully and well.

For what purpose

would God

break the psalmist's strength

in midcourse

and shorten his days?

While his suffering

is most likely related

to the collective

rebellion

of his nation

against God,

how is his suffering

related to the hope

of having a people

yet to be created

to praise the Lord?

And the kingdoms

gather to worship

the Lord?

And the children

of the Lord's servant

having a secure dwelling?

So it doesn't

explain all this

just by reasoning

or logic.

So from my

interactions

with patience,

I realize that

many people

approach life

mostly with

an emotional mindset.

We do the same

when we say,

I feel comfortable

or I do not

feel comfortable

about something.

The criterion

for approving

or disapproving

something

has become

how we feel.

Even in ministries,

we focus more

on making people

happy

than helping people

to be holy.

We pray more

for comfort

than for confirmation

to the image

of Jesus.

Patients

with chronic illness,

especially chronic pain,

find it very difficult

to cope with

the persistent

affliction.

They tend to

blame others,

including the

doctors for their

persisting pain.

Some patients

try to understand

the afflictions.

Do I inherit

this from my parents?

Is my affliction

caused by my choices

of activities

and diet

during my younger days?

Is my affliction

caused by the

environment I live in?

So understanding

the cost

helps a bit.

But the affliction

remains difficult

to live with.

It is only

when they have

something bigger

than themselves

to live for.

They could start

to be free

from the torment

of the affliction.

Now let's

add devotional mindset

to the psalm.

This is a radical

change in mindset

because the focus

is no longer

on the author's

feeling or reasons.

The focus

is now shifted

to God.

So God

is enthroned

forever.

The psalmist

has seen history

and his own experience

with God

being center

of the universe.

His main concern

is God's will

and God's glory.

So to understand

the psalm better

we refer to

Psalm 2.

So Psalm 2

Psalms 2:6

verse 6

God says

As for me

I have set

my king on Zion

my holy hill.

By the time

Psalm 102

was written

the city of Zion

had been destroyed.

The temple

had been destroyed

and her king

was suffering.

The writer

of Psalm 102

could be the king

then

or at least

the leader

of God's people.

With a devotional

mindset

we can see

that while

the psalmist

was in pain

and shame

by his enemies

his main concern

was not so much

of his own

pain and shame

his concern

was with God's

honor.

What

happened to

God's promise

in Psalm 2

that his king

would be in Zion?

How could

a good

a great God

let his

anointed king

suffer?

his anointed

city be

captured?

His temple

be destroyed?

How do we know

that?

This was the

writer's concern.

So that's from

the second

half of the

psalm.

So as a

psalmist

descended the

mountain

he was

longing for

something.

He did not

pray for his

own comfort.

He prayed for

one,

nations who

fear the

name of the

Lord.

Two,

Zion to be

rebuilt.

Three,

a people to

be created

to worship

the Lord

and for

the prayers

of the

destitute

and the

prisoners

will be

heard and

their afflictions

will be

transformed to

God's

praises.

So at

this point

we can

appreciate

that this

psalm is

actually

written

by Jesus

Christ.

It's a

prayer of

the Lord

Jesus Christ

because he

is the

only one

who will

fit in

this

picture

because he

is the

only person

who can

rightfully

expect God

not to

hide his

faith from

him.

So when

we look

at

Psalms,

many times

the

psalm has

asked God

not to

hide his

faith from

them.

In actual

fact,

if we pray

the same

way on

our own,

we could

not expect

God not to

hide his

faith from

us,

from our

sinful

nature.

And it

would be

illogical

just to

pray like

that,

except if

the person

is without

sin.

And so

Jesus Christ

is the

only one

who can

rightfully

expect God

not to

hide his

faith from

him.

But God

did hide

his faith

from him.

And Jesus

Christ is the

only person

who does

not deserve

any suffering

because he

never sinned.

But he

was afflicted

and shamed

unjustly.

He was

not only

afflicted,

he was

afflicted so

severely that

his bones

cling to

his flesh,

as the

son said.

And also

he was

afflicted

alone with

all his

allies

leaving him.

And

thirdly,

Jesus Christ

is the

only person

who can

expect to

live forever

because of

his obedience

and relationship

to God.

But he

was condemned

by God

and his

life was

shortened

in God's

wrath.

So we

can refer

this to

Isaiah

Isaiah 53:3–6

53

verses 3

to 6.

It says

that he

was despised

and rejected

by man,

a man of

sorrow and

acquainted with

grief.

And as

one from

whom men

hide their

faces,

he was

despised,

and we

esteem him

not.

Surely

he has

borne our

grief and

carried our

sorrow,

yet we

esteem him

stricken,

smitten by

God,

and afflicted.

But he

was wounded

for our

transgressions,

he was

crushed for

our

iniquities.

Upon him

was the

chastisement

of that

brought us

peace,

and with

his stripes

we are

healed.

All we

like sheep

have gone

astray,

we have

turned

every one

of us

to his

own way,

and the

Lord has

laid on

him the

iniquity

of us

all.

So,

through

these

Isaiah

verses,

we can

understand

what Psalm

1 or 2

is primarily

about.

We are

thankful that

the Psalm

does not

just end

there.

In

verse 22

and 23,

Jesus was

saying that

his days

have been

cut short.

He's

appearing to

the fact

that God

is eternal,

and it's

unthinkable

that as the

Son of God

there's an

ending to

his days.

So,

how do

we know

this Psalm

is about

God's

Son,

about Jesus

Christ?

Because

Hebrews 1

8 tells

us that

if we go

to the

book,

Hebrews

Hebrews 1:8

chapter 1

verse 8,

it has

got the

exact

code from

verses 25

to 21

in that

book,

and it

says that

it's

applying to

Jesus

Christ.

These

verses

tell us

that

Jesus'

days

will

never

come to

an end.

In

fact,

they tell

us that

Jesus is

the one

who decides

the days

of all

creation.

these

verses also

foretold the

resurrection of

Jesus because

his days

would never

come to

an end.

So,

when he

stays the

end in

order to

take away

our

condemnation,

he needs to

be resurrected

because otherwise

his days

would come to

an end.

So,

he foretold

us about

his

resurrection,

and he

was raised

again to

prove that

he is a

rightful king

who will

secure and

establish his

kingdom.

Jesus was

condemned so

that those

of us who

are in

Christ are

no longer

condemned.

Jesus was

afflicted.

Does that

mean that

those of

us who

are in

Christ will

no longer

be

afflicted?

I think

there are

two different

issues here

when we

think about

affliction.

Jesus'

affliction was

for our

justification.

Our

affliction is

for our

sanctification.

Jesus was

afflicted when

he bore

our

condemnation.

We,

as Christians,

are afflicted

because we

live in the

world,

and God

is also

changing us

through

affliction.

So,

in John 16,

33,

Jesus told

his disciples,

in the

world,

you will

have

tubulation,

but take

heart,

I have

overcome

the

world.

In

Romans 8,

17,

we are

told that

provided we

suffer with

Christ,

in order

that we

might also

be glorified

with him.

Whether we

are Christians

or not,

suffering is

part of

life.

The

question is

not if

we can

avoid

suffering,

the

question is

if we

suffer with

Christ or

suffer without

Christ.

I have

seen many

patients

suffering

without

Christ.

They usually

suffer not

only physically

but mentally

as well.

They become

depressed and

irritable.

They are

difficult to

live with.

They often

complain to

me how rude

their families

and friends

were towards

them.

Suffering

without

Christ has

changed them

into someone

who constantly

craves for

sympathy from

others but

who is unable

to consider

the need

of others.

Among

my patients

mostly are

elderly and

retired.

I only have

very few

people who

are working.

But even

among those

very few

working people,

I've got

four patients

who have

been in

dispute

with their

workplaces

for unfair

treatment.

They feel

being discriminated,

regulated,

persecuted

by their

supervisors.

Cases

like this

are very

hard to

resolve

because the

employers

want to

side with

the

supervisors.

It's very

difficult to

resolve.

They want

justice.

They want

fairness.

One of the

patients

have been

in dispute

with her

employer

for about

five years.

She's not

been working

for five

years.

She just

wanted her

supervisor

to be

punished

by the

employer.

When she

saw me

recently,

she said

that particular

supervisor

has left

the company,

no longer

working there.

She was

at loss

as how

she could

be vindicated

now.

She's just

so depressed.

She could

not get

out of

that.

She wants

to be

vindicated,

but now

the person

is not

even there

in the

company

anymore.

What do

you do?

So she's

just become

her own

prisoner

in terms

of wanting

to get

justice

and

fairness.

And this

is the

mental

torment

that is

going

through.

So some

of us

here are

struggling

with

physical

afflictions.

I think

some of

us have

migraine

headaches

quite often,

arthritis

or other

disabilities.

Some of

us are

suffering

from mental

afflictions

or being

infertile

or being

lonely.

I think

the most

common

afflictions

are

relational

in terms

of how

we feel

that people

are treating

us.

Have you

ever been

misunderstood

and you

could not

explain

yourself?

Have you

ever been

falsely

accused

and you

could not

defend

yourself?

There are

times that

you might

wish those

who are

close to

you would

understand

your

aspirations

and actions

but they

keep giving

you negative

remarks.

The

afflictions

of being

bullied

or misunderstood

are difficult

to bear.

We appear

to many

venues

to vindicate

ourselves.

Sometimes

it's just

not possible

to get

justice.

It could

be that

our

opponent

is simply

too

powerful

or there

is not

enough

evidence

or we

cannot

fully

explain

ourselves.

Sometimes

when we

are in

an argument

with someone

we know

that we

will create

more

conflict

when we

try to

win

an argument

so we

buy our

tongues

and feel

the resentment

inside.

And if

you are a

leader in

any capacity

in the

church or

at home

you tend

to get a

lot more

criticism

when you

try to do

something

new.

And that's

life and

that's what

we will

go through.

So how

should we

cope with

all these

afflictions?

Firstly

we need to

examine our

hearts to

make sure

that we

are not

the ones

who are

afflicting

others.

So Paul

in 1

Corinthians 6

7

8 says

to have

lawsuits

at all

with one

another is

already a

defeat for

you.

Why not

rather suffer

wrong?

Why not

rather be

defrauded?

But you

yourself wrong

and defraud

even your

own brothers.

Paul was

dismayed that

the Corinthian

Christians were

not only not

willing to

suffer wrong,

they were

afflicting

others.

We are

called to

suffer with

Christ.

Secondly,

we trust that

God is always

in control

and he cares.

The writer of

Psalm 102

was suffering

alone and

his enemies

were making

fun of him.

His only

venue of

appeal was

to God.

God turned

his face

away from

the psalmist

because his

affliction

anticipates

the affliction

of Christ.

When we are

suffering with

Christ,

we know that

God will

never turn

his face

away from

us again.

Thirdly,

we suffer

with Christ.

What does

suffering with

Christ mean?

When Christ

suffered,

he did not

focus on

vindicating

himself.

He appealed

to God

and prayed

for the

restoration

of God's

kingdom.

He trusted

that God

is entorned

forever.

He knew

that nothing

would happen

outside God's

control.

He thought

of others

who were

suffering as

well.

He looked

forward to

a people

who would

be created

to praise

the Lord.

He longed

for the

gathering

of people

to worship

the Lord.

So that's

how Christ

suffered.

Fourthly,

we know

that our

affliction

is good

for our

sanctification.

Psalm

Psalms 119:71

119,

verse 71,

it is good

for me

that I was

afflicted,

that I might

learn your

statutes.

Through

affliction,

God is

changing

us.

Affliction

helps us

to grow

in our

trust in

God and

His

promises.

Affliction

helps us

to learn

to forget

ourselves

and hope

in God's

kingdom.

Affliction

helps us

not to

love this

world and

long for

the city

that is

to come.

One of

the reasons

why the

church in

our generation

is so weak

is because

it focuses

too much

on our

individual

afflictions.

We spend

a lot of

resources to

vindicate

ourselves,

to keep

ourselves

comfortable

or to

collect

sympathy

from

other

people.

Paradoxically,

when we

learn to

suffer with

Christ,

we start

to care

for the

church of

Christ,

and our

own

afflictions

become

bearable.

More than

that,

as Romans 5

tells us,

we rejoice

in our

suffering.

The writer

of Psalm 102

knows that

unless Zion

is restored,

his own

affliction

could not

be resolved.

When we

are afflicted,

we can

pray Psalm 102.

We know

that God

will hear

our prayer

because of

the blood

of Jesus.

God may

not remove

the

afflictions,

but he

will give

us peace

that will

guard our

hearts and

our minds

in Christ

Jesus.

We do

not suffer

alone because

Jesus has

suffered

alone,

and Jesus

is now

with us

until the

end of

the age.

our days

on earth

may be

cut short,

but we

know that

we are

secure in

Christ and

we will

never perish.

With such

an assurance,

we can

turn the

focus of

our

afflictions to

greater

things.

We might

then pray

that God's

church may

be established.

We might

pray for the

destitute and

those who are

suffering,

and we

might ask

God's kingdom

to come.

I will

end with

Hebrews 11

Hebrews 11:24–26

verses 24

to 26.

By faith,

Moses,

when he was

grown up,

refused to

be called

the son of

Pharaoh's

daughter,

chosen rather

to be mistreated

with the

people of

God than

to enjoy

the fleeting

pleasures of

sin.

He

considered the

reproach of

Christ greater

wealth than

the treasure

of Egypt,

for he was

looking to

the reward.

Moses had

the opportunity

to live an

affliction-free

life.

He gave it

up because

he was

looking for

something much

greater than

the feeding

pleasures of

this world.

He chose to

suffer with

Christ in

order that he

might be

glorified with

him.

Let us

pray.

O Father

God,

we want

to look

to our

Lord Jesus

Christ,

the founder

and perfecter

of our

faith,

who for

the joy

that is

set before

him,

enjoy the

cross,

despising the

shame.

O Father,

help us

to live

for the

Lord Jesus

Christ,

to live

for something

greater,

and help

us to

turn our

afflictions

to your

glory and

honour.

Thank you,

Lord.

We pray in

Jesus' name.

Amen.