A Study in Psalms - Psalm 102

If you turn your Bibles to Psalm one O 2, as I was preparing this

Psalm, I read 1 commentator, He's a Baptist preacher from

England. And he made a, he made a point.

The Psalm is about the afflicted one's prayer.

That's our title tonight. And maybe you're afflicted and

you can relate to Psalm one O 2. But the the author made a very

good point that he feels our society is obsessively concerned

about health. What do you think?

And I thought about that and he made a point that every article

that appears in the New England Journal of Medicine becomes

immediately front page news. You know, 111 article coffee is

bad for you, the next article coffee is good for you.

And then every diet becomes a best selling book.

I guess the latest one is intermittent fasting and plant

based eating, if you're on that. And every exercise fad goes

viral, right? The 1000 steps has been replaced

by the 15 minute workout. That's the one I do not working

though. And then social media, everybody

who's got a iPhone or a Samsung, you can literally Google and

know, you think you know as much as your doctor does and you're

experts in everything. And then there's the Wellness

industry that's exploded and they're promoting all these new

medicines, right? I tried that new one, Prevagen.

Anybody tried that? Supposed to make your brain

smarter. I tried it for three months.

I don't think it works. I think I got Dumber but wasted

my money. And then of course, there's a

disease prevention to get the latest vaccine.

When I go pick up my daughter's vaccine or my daughter's

prescriptions at the at CVS, they asked me, do you have the,

did you get the new RSV or the new PCV?

And I don't even know what those are.

And she said, what's the, I can't even pronounce it.

The pneumococcal conjugate virus or the respiratory synthesis

virus can't pronounce them. I'm not sure I want them.

But I guess they have 21 different virus shots at CVS

now. And of course, we have a

society. People have the right to to live

forever. You know, that actress Susan

Somers was big on that, but she died last year, right?

And of course, you have false churches with false teachers and

faith healing. You know, we support a pastor in

Uganda. And imagine how hard it is for

Pastor Kizza. Benny Hinn was in Uganda last

week and in three days he had half a million people, three day

three, three crusading, half a million.

And even the president of the country, President Mousavini was

on stage with him, half a million people there.

And they claim thousands of miracles which none of them can

be proved. So you can imagine being a

pastor like Jotham Kizza, the one we support, having to deal

with all that there. But when the church gets into

demands for healing, as many churches have, what this is, is

an invasion of Christianity by the world's way of thinking,

right? God can and does heal, but not

on demand by these so-called faith healers.

God doesn't actually owe us perfect health.

That comes when we will be in heaven.

When you'll be glorified, you will have a new body, perfect in

health with no sin, no stain. And often I think many of you

can relate to this. Ill health draws us to God.

It puts us on our knees, right? Tonight we're going to look at a

psalmist who turns his thoughts from his circumstances, and he

turned his thoughts upon God and his attributes.

Who wrote Psalm one O 2? We don't know, but it could have

been any one of the numbers of people in the Bible.

You know, it wasn't Job. But Job lost his family, right?

Job lost his wealth, his health, and his three friends weren't

really friends at all. Moses, he spent 40 years in the

wilderness, LED 2,000,000 disgruntled Jews to the Promised

Land, and then he disobeyed God one time and got barred from

entering the Promised Land. Joseph was hated by his

brothers, sold into slavery, falsely accused, sitting in a

dungeon, and even then he was forgotten by the the cupbearer

when he interpreted his dream. Hannah had to wait year after

year to have a baby. Jewish tradition tells us it was

19 years, and every one of those 19 years she was being insulted

by her sister, by her. The other wife.

David was anointed king, but he had to wait 13 years being

haunted like a dog by King Saul. Elijah thought he was the only

holy man left in all of Israel and he wanted to die.

Jeremiah faithfully preached and no one listened for 40 years and

he ended up sitting in a cistern in mud.

Daniel faithfully prayed and obeyed God but when the when the

the laws of the land changed and forbid praying he continued to

pray and ended up in a lion's pit.

Paul sat in a Roman jail for maybe four to six years of his

life. The apostle John at a very old

age was expelled to a not so nice island called Patmos.

So we don't know who the writer of Psalm One O 2 is, but it

could have been any number of men suffering.

We have a superscription, very long one.

It says the prayer of 1 afflicted when he is faint and

pours out his complaint before the Lord.

And maybe some of you can relate to that.

Psalm One O 2, by the way, is one of the penitential Psalms.

You know, we've talked a lot about that.

We already looked at, we looked at, we've looked at Psalm 6IN

past years. Psalms 32 Psalms 50.

So there's seven of them and they're, they're not used much

by the Protestant Church, but they were the seven penitential

psalms or called Psalms of confession were listed in the

6th century and the Catholic Church uses them during Lent.

What's interesting though, is Psalm one O 2.

There's no mention of sin, there's no iniquity or

confession of sin. Yet it's one of the penitential

Psalms, and I always wondered why it was.

It does mention God's wrath and his anger in verse 10.

So the afflicted 1 here is not, and we'll talk about it, is not

afflicted by His own sin. It's the sin of Israel, the

nation. This Psalm, it's the first Psalm

we looked at this summer. It's in Book 4.

You know, there are five books. Book 4 only has 17 Psalms and

most rabbis believe that the five books of the Psalms

correspond to the five books of the Torah.

So book 4 would correspond to the book of Numbers which is the

book of wandering. And a lot of the psalms in book

4 like this one are wandering. The Babylonian captivity has

come so saw the history about it.

Psalms One O 2 was written during a low ebb in the history

of God's people. It's setting is during the

Babylonian captivity of God's chosen people.

Israel is a time when God's work has seemingly come to a

standstill. It's a time when God's word was

not being preached, when God's people were the minority.

It was a time when God's house lay in ruin, when God's holy

city was in shambles, when God's glory was veiled.

It's a Psalm that begins with despair but concludes with a

note of triumph. There is always hope in the

ongoing sovereignty of God over His people.

I hope you have an outline. And tonight I'm going to read.

I'm not going to read all 28 verses right away.

Some of your thinking. Last week's Psalm was only 7

verses. How is he going to get through

28 verses tonight? I won't be going that deep, but

we will look at it. So let's look at point #1 the

psalmist despair. And let's read verses 1 to 11 in

that point. Hear my prayer, O Lord, let my

cry come to you. Do not hide your face from me in

the day of my distress. Incline Your ear to me.

Answer me speedily in the day when I call, For my days passed

away like smoke, and my bones burn like a furnace.

My heart is struck down like grass and has withered.

I forgot to eat my bread because of my loud groaning.

My bones cling to my flesh. I'm like a desert owl of the

wilderness, Like an owl of the waste places I lie awake, I'm

like a lonely Sparrow on the housetop.

All the day my enemies taught me Those who deride me use my name

for a curse. For I eat ashes like bread and

mingle tears with my drink because of your indignation and

anger. For you have taken me up and

thrown me down. My days are like an evening

shadow. I wither away like the grass.

Let's pray Father, I pray tonight that if there's anybody

here who's suffering, anybody going through trials, whether

they be health wise, finances, job, family, that Father, they

could relate to this psalmist, that we could cry out to you.

And we know you hear our prayers, but then that we would

focus our thoughts on You in Jesus name, Amen.

So the Psalmist despair verse is 1 to 11.

Let's look at .1. The psalmist despairs.

You know these first 11 verses are just a cry, a cry of

lamentation for God to comfort and help the psalmist.

I don't know if you noticed, but the personal pronouns jump out

the page. The word me is listed seven

times. The word I is listed 7 times,

and then you have the word my, which is an adjective 14 times.

So between the me I and my in verses 1 to 11, I count 28

times. So you see how it's a very, very

personal Psalm. God's name is only mentioned

once in verses 1 to 11, yet we'll see compared to that in

verses 12 to 22 later. So some point #1 hear my prayer,

He says, hear my prayer. O Lord, let my cry come to You.

The psalmist is crying out like he wants a speedy answer, and

haven't we talked a lot about that this summer?

Remember, Psalms 5 begins with the words.

Give ear to my words. O Lord, consider my groaning.

Give attention to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for

to you do I pray. And then remember Psalm 27.

Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud, be gracious and answer me.

Psalms 44 we looked at says rise up, come to our help, redeem us

for the sake of your steadfast love.

Psalm 79 we looked at and it says in verse nine, help us, O

God, of our salvation, for the glory of your name, deliver us

atone for our sins for your name's sake.

And just a couple weeks ago we looked at Psalms 86, and it

began with incline your ear, O Lord, answer me, for I am poor

and needy. So the psalmist is going to say

a couple of things. He's going to say turn your face

to me and turn your ear to me to God.

He says, turn your face to me. He says do not hide your face

from me in the day of my distress.

You know, during the days of Jeremiah, when Jeremiah preached

faithfully for so many years and nobody had listened, the Jewish

leaders refused to acknowledge that God's punishment would

include Judah being captured, the temple being destroyed and

Jerusalem being sacked. But all three of those things

happen. Israel had no king.

They had no priest, they had no temple, and they and he could

not sacrifice for the sins. So instead of the Lord's face

shining upon Israel, the psalmist is saying it seems like

God has turned his face away from Israel.

AW Tozer said the greatest test of faith is to wait on God, not

expecting to push a button and get whatever we want.

And this psalmist may have cried out and he may have never had

this prayer answered because God, who's going to punish

Israel for 70 years? And we don't know when this

Psalm was written within that time.

So he says then he says turn your ear to me.

He says in last part of verse 2, incline your ear to me.

Doesn't that sound familiar? We looked at Psalms 86.1 and

it's 15 times in the Psalms. The psalmist will cry out,

incline your ear to me. God doesn't actually have an

ear. He's omnipotent, omniscient, and

he knows all things and He's everywhere.

So He doesn't have any ear. He's a spirit.

But you know, I think when I pray, I usually pray, you know,

dear Heavenly Father, and then I ask God my request.

But you notice here he has three words for prayer.

He calls it prayer. He calls it a cry and he calls

it a call and then he uses 5 verbs.

And this is what I found so interesting.

He says here, let do incline an answer to cry out to the

compassionate God. So maybe when we face trouble

when we have a trial suffering, when we have health or financial

problems, the first thing we may not we maybe we shouldn't do is

just say, dear heavenly Father, maybe we ought to say what the

psalmist said. Hear my prayer, O Lord, let my

cry come to you. Do not hide your face from me.

Incline your ear to me answeringly, speedily when I

call Spurgeon called this arguing with God, debating with

God. And I really love that.

And it's taught me a lot this summer because most of the

psalms that we've done these last nine weeks have been

prayers right. The number at some point to see

my plight, verses 3 to 11, the psalmist is going to give the

circumstances for his suffering and it reads like the book of

Job in miniature in in just 9 verses.

It's like the book of Job. Some commentators feel the

psalmist knew and reflected upon Job when he wrote this Psalm.

So I'll go quickly through these.

The first thing he says is in verse 3, my days are vanishing.

He says for my days are like smoke.

The psalmist is going to use many metaphors here for

expressions of personal anguish and pain and grief.

So first he compares his life to like smoke.

And you know, smoke is thick at first, but eventually it fades

away when the wind comes. So it's possible that he's

riding this amongst the burn ruins of Jerusalem after

Nebuchadnezzar has destroyed and he's been left behind.

Second thing he says in the latter part of verse 3 is my

bones are burning. The psalmist feels like he's

been, he's been a thorn thrown in a fire and his life is

vanishing like smoke. The third thing he says is his

heart is struck down like the grass, grass that's withered.

And he says I forgot to eat my bread.

The psalmist is sick and he cannot eat.

His heart is dried up like a plant withered by the sun.

The fourth thing he says is my groaning is loud.

He says because my loud groaning, my bones cling to my

flesh, He has no appetite. His body is deterring your way.

He's reduced to skin and bones much like Job.

Right next he says in verse 6 my life is ruined.

It's interesting. In verse 6 he lists 2 unclean

birds. He says I'm like a desert owl or

like an owl of the waste places. And verse 7 he says I'm like a

lonely Sparrow. So the psalmist has no delight

in life, and he compares himself to three unclean birds that are

listed in Leviticus that you're not to eat.

But these birds generally live in the wilderness.

Now, translators have a problem with it says desert owl in my

English standard version. Some of you using, many of you

using the New American Standard have the word Pelican.

Well, if that's true, a Pelican is a sea bird and it's out of

place in the desert, right? So the owl should not be in the

desert. The owl should be in the forest,

not waste places. And then the lonely Sparrow in

verse 7 should be with a flock of birds, right?

Not all sitting alone. So it's a picture of the

psalmist living in solitary confinement, perhaps no friends.

Perhaps his family has been killed.

He feels isolated and lonely. You know, when I was thinking of

this, I can't, it came up that that hymn, his eyes on the

Sparrow, you've got this lonely Sparrow.

And that hymn was written by Sevilla de Martin who was

inspired by the story of a couple.

One of the couple was bedridden and the other couple partner was

in a wheelchair. Yet despite being bedridden in a

wheelchair, they maintain a joyful spirit despite their

circumstances. But the psalmist here, he

doesn't think that God's eye is is on him.

Next he says in verse 7, my sleep is gone.

The psalmist lies awake all night.

He can't sleep, He can't get any comfort, he's tormented by being

struck alone and isolated. He's physically sick and he's

mentally sick. Next in verse 8 he says all my

enemies taught me. Those who derived me use my name

for a curse. This is 1 of the 75 psalms that

mention enemies. So half of the 150 psalms.

There is something going on with enemies and this is one of them.

No suffering. You all know suffering is

difficult, right? But it's worse when you have

problem with family members or some enemies or insurance not

helping you or things like that. So the psalmist here is not

getting any sympathy from enemies, but they're actually

cursing him, his God in his name.

So physical suffering is bad enough, but people can make it

worse. So this Psalm, as I mentioned,

is written after the Babylonian or during the Babylonian

captivity. And maybe, just maybe he's in

Jerusalem and those three enemies of Nehemiah, Tobiah,

sand below and geisha, remember those in Nehemiah, maybe these

are his enemies there. If he's in Jerusalem, we don't

know. But those were the enemies who

would laugh and mock and say, where is your God?

Where is your God next? He says in verse 9 to 10, my

food is sorrow. He says I eat ashes like bread,

mingle tears with my drink. Because of your Indonesia and

anger, you have taken me up and thrown me down.

Have you ever been through a rough patch?

I'm sure all of us can relate to it, right?

And there's times when when you're going through a difficult

time and you're just not hungry. I don't care how good the cook

is or how good the food is. You just, you don't have the

taste to eat because you're, you're just sorrowful.

You just, you don't have that appetite.

And I mentioned Psalms one O 2 is one of the seven penitential

Psalms, but it doesn't mention sin or confession of sin.

So most commentators believe the psalmist is suffering

innocently. God is punishing Israel for the

70 years he allowed Nebuchadnezzar to just destroy

Jerusalem to burn the temple down.

So Israel is being judged, but it's probably not for the

psalmist sin, but for the sins of Israel.

He finally describes his condition as God like God in a

hurricane, taking him and throwing him down like a rag

doll. And then verse 11, he says, my

days are like the evening shadow.

I wither away like grass. So it's like the sun going down

and darkness falling on the psalmist.

He has little hope. His life is having a way.

You know what I was thinking of this last year?

Pastor Lance taught the book of Job and I thought it was one of

the the best teachings I've ever heard 30 messages of.

If you want to listen to it online or get the tapes, you

can. But there was one time he said

that we need to be wise about our suffering and trials.

And Lance said that ever evitable, never enjoyable,

however always purposeful and profitable are trials.

Now you may not like that. And Lance listed a bunch of

verses. He listed Job 51.

But man is born to trouble. As sparks fly upward, trouble

just comes right. You, you, you can't avoid it.

Job 14, one man who was born of a woman is few of days and full

of trouble. James 1-2 to three.

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various

kinds. For you know that the testing of

your faith produces steadfastness.

Second Corinthians 4 verses 7:00 and 8:00 But we have this

treasure in jars of clay to show that surpassing power belongs to

God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way,

but not crushed, perplexed but not driven to despair,

persecuted but not forsaken, struck down but not destroyed.

And then the last two are from first Peter chapter 4, verse 12.

1 Peter 4:12

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes

upon you to test you as though something strange were happening

to you. And then the next verse is first

Peter 413 says, But rejoice insofar as you share in Christ's

sufferings, that you also rejoice and be glad when his

glory is revealed. You know, you can't help think

of Isaiah 53, four to six when I look at this.

He was one who suffered immensely 700 years before the

Messiah would come and go to the cross.

Isaiah prophesied in Isaiah 53, four to six and just listen to

the words. Surely He has borne our griefs,

carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten

by God, afflicted. He was pierced for our

transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities.

Upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and by

His wounds we are are all healed.

All we, like sheep, have gone astray.

We have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord has laid

on him the iniquity of us all. Let's look at point #2 and I'm

going to read verses 12 to 22. This is paragraph 2.

But you, O Lord, are enthroned forever.

You are remembered throughout all generations.

You will arise and have pity on Zion.

It is the time to favor her. The appointed time has come for

Your servants. Hold her stones dear and have

pity on her dust. Nations will fear the name of

the Lord, and all the kings of the earth will fear Your glory.

For the Lord builds up Zion. He appears in His glory.

He regards the prayer of the destitute, and does not despise

their prayer. Let this be a record for a

generation to come, so that a people yet to be created may

praise the Lord, that he looked down from his holy height.

From heaven. The Lord looked at the earth to

hear the groans of the prisoners to set those who are doomed to

die, that they may declare in Zion the name of the Lord and in

Jerusalem His praise when peoples gather together and

kingdoms to worship the Lord. So this is called the psalmist

devotion. And notice how verse 12 begins.

Total contrast shift from verses 1:00 to 11:00.

But you, but you, he's talking to God.

So it marks a chance for the psalmist attitude to change.

And he turns from his problems and he turns to God in heaven.

And I think that's the one big take we have to take from this

Psalm tonight. No matter what trial you're

going through, no matter what persecution, what suffering,

what disease you're going through, you have to get your

eyes off of that trial and look and say, but you and talk to God

and list out his attributes and it gets gets the problem off

you. Warren Weirsby said the throne

of David was gone and would not be claimed until Jesus came to

earth, but the throne in heaven was secure.

Notice the change in verses 1 to 11.

We see 28 personal pronouns and objectives, my, me, I but in,

but in verses 12 to 22, zero. That's because this section is

all about God. His name is Yahweh and it's

mentioned 7 times Yahweh in verses 12 to 22 and only once in

verses 1 to 11. So after listing 9 circumstances

of suffering, the psalmist will begin to fix his eyes on Yahweh

and who he is. And #1 he looks at God's

eternality for God's eternality. In verse 12 he says that God

abides forever, but you, O Lord, are enthroned forever.

God is eternal. Moses said it.

You know Moses wrote Psalm 90, the only Psalm that Moses wrote,

which might just be the oldest scripture written if Moses wrote

it before Genesis, Exos, Leviticus, Numbers, and

Deuteronomy. But Psalms 91 says Lord, you

have been been our dwelling places in all generations before

the mountains were brought forth or ever you had formed the earth

and the world from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.

God abides forever, and then God abides to all generations.

He says you are remembered through all generations.

G Campbell Morgan said there's nothing more calculated to

strengthen the heart in suffering or inspire the Spirit

with courage in the days of danger and difficulty than the

sense of the eternality of God. When you think about the

eternality of God, who he is, I, My problems are so minuscule, so

minor, and I know how it ends in the Book of Revelation.

And then next, God's pity, verses 13 to 14, God's going to

have compassion. God's going to be gracious and

God's going to give pleasure. First off, he's going to have

compassion. He says you notice how he talks

you, you, you. I think I wrote it down.

I'm not sure, maybe 6 times you in these sections.

So even though he mentions Yahweh 7 times, he says you,

you, you repeatedly, you will arise and have pity on Zion.

So this is the first of three times Zion is mentioned.

And last week we looked at Psalm 79, the Psalm of Zion.

And so we talked a lot about Zion last week.

But Zion is mentioned in verses 1316 and 21.

And we talked about last week, God loves Zion and God wasn't

finished with Israel, right? God made a covenant with Israel

and he's not finished with Israel.

He will fulfill that covenant. He will keep his promises.

And after 70 years, God would stir up the heart of King Cyrus

and there would be 3 returns back to Israel as there were

three deportations. God will rebuild the city of

Zion. Secondly, says it's time to

favor her. The appointed time has come.

So maybe this time of 70 years was almost done.

We don't know exactly. And God's going to raise King

Cyrus and allow the Jews to return.

So he's begging that for God's favor to come.

We know that that Daniel knew reading Jeremiah the 70 years.

We don't know if the psalmist did, but maybe he did.

And then verse 14, it says that for your servants, hold her

stones dear, and we'll have pity on her dust.

So here Nebuchadnezzar had reduced Jerusalem to rubble.

You know when you read Psalm 74 verses two to seven just

describes Jerusalem is just a pile of stones, but God loves

Zion and God's in control and the temple in Jerusalem would be

rebuilt. But not only does God love Zion,

but the people of Jerusalem love the stones of Zion.

He says Your servants hold her stones dear and have pity in her

dust. And this verse reminds me of

when they when they laid that temple foundation in Ezra

Ezra 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3. It says in verse 10 all the

people shouted with a great shout when they praise the Lord,

because the foundation of the Lord has laid.

But many of the priests and Levi's heads of the Father's

houses, old men who had seen the 1st house, wept with a loud

voice when they saw the foundation of this house being

laid. Though many shouted aloud for

joy, so that the people could not distinguish the sound of

joyful shout from the sound of the people's weeping.

For the people shouted with a great shout, and the sound was

heard far away. So you got people shouting for

joy because the stones are being laid, and they got people

weeping because the foundation isn't as grand as the last time.

Next, verse 15. We have God's sovereignty.

He says all nations will fear Him, and all kings will come to

Him. He says nations will fear the

name of the Lord. Then we looked at Psalm 87 last

week, and we said in Psalm 86.9 that all the nations of the

earth shall come and worship before You, O Lord, and shall

glorify Your name. Some will come to the earthly

Jerusalem. Many will come to the heavenly

Jerusalem and the millennial Jerusalem.

So the psalmist here is actually praying for the conversion of

the Gentile nations. So the nations will come and

then he says all the kings of the earth will fear your glory.

So the kings are going to come. Psalms 138 verse 2 says all the

Psalms 138:2

kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O Lord, for they

have heard the words of your mouth.

So someday, now, you know, I mentioned last week, you look at

a map and there's 59 Islamic countries around Israel, and

then you've got that little Israel right there.

And most of those countries are enemies of Israel.

But someday every one of those nations, all the King's rulers

will come to the Messiah in Jerusalem and give him thanks

and glory. Now verse 16, we talk about

God's glory for God's glory here.

For he has built up his 10th people and he has revealed his

glory. He says the Lord builds up Zion.

So the second time that Zion's mentioned, Alexander McLaren

said Zion cannot die while Zion's God lives and God would

keep his promises and his glory would return to Zion.

And then he has revealed his glory.

He says he appears in his glory. This is probably a prophecy of a

future time when God's glory will be visible when the Messiah

is at the temple in Jerusalem, because God's glory resides in

the temple. That's the visible manifestation

of God. And then we go to for God's

faithfulness in verse 17, he will respond to the destitute

and he will receive their plea. Verse 17 says he he regards the

prayer of the destitute. AW Tozer said upon God's

faithfulness rests our whole hope of future blessedness.

Only as He is faithful will his covenant stand and his promises

be honored. Only as we have complete

assurance that he is faithful, may we live in peace and look

forward with assurance of the life to come.

You know, in verses one to two, I mentioned he gave 55 verbs

demanding God to hear his prayer.

The question is, did the psalmist, did God hear his

prayer? I'll answer that in just a

minute. But I do believe here when he

says he regards the prayer of the destitute, he knows God will

hear his prayer. He also says that he will

receive their plea. He says and does not despise

their prayer. You know, we sing a song here at

Christ Community Church often called God is faithful.

Remember that song, it's by Sovereign Grace Music and the

chorus is just real simple. It's actually a chorus from

Psalm 114. It says God is faithful to his

promise. He is with us, He is with us.

God is faithful. God is faithful to his own.

So the psalmist is, is realizing just how faithful God is.

Even though Jerusalem's in ruins, the temple's been

destroyed, they can't sacrifice. There's just a few people left.

And next number 6 for God's immutability.

And in verse 18, he says his plan is recorded and his people

will rejoice. He says let this be recorded for

a generation to come. Now there's a 11 author said

that you know, things aren't happening right now.

The the temple is not being rebuilt.

Nobody's come back from the three the three Cyrus hasn't set

the three teams of people yet. He's just sitting around.

So it's like God's not working. But one author said, no matter

how impaired God's work may become, the immutability of God

guarantees that his work will move forward in God's perfect

time. Thus, there's always unshakable

hope in the future. Immutability for those you don't

know is God doesn't change. But God's immutability, His plan

has been recorded. He's written it down.

It will come to pass. He loves the nation of Israel

and someday He will, He will redeem all Israel in Romans 9:00

to 11:00. And then it says in the last

part of verse 18, His people will rejoice, He says, so that a

people yet to be created may praise the Lord.

So maybe this psalmist in his pain and suffering didn't get to

see the temple. I don't know, but maybe his

children and his grandchildren did.

A generation yet to come. One commentator said that when

you are ill or severely afflicted, I'm going to go see

Larry Arvis. And you know, you know, he fell

off a ladder and broke his ankle.

And I'm going to lecture him not to get on a ladder at age 91

anymore. But this guy says when you're

ill or severely afflicted, write a journal of praise to pass on

to children and grandchildren. And Larry is just such a joyful

person, isn't he? It would be a perfect one for

him to do that. Let's look at #7 for God's

sensitivity, He looks down from heaven.

Verse 19 says he looked down from his holy height, from the

heaven. The Lord looked at earth.

The omniscient God of the universe doesn't actually have

to look down. But you know, he looked down at

Sodom and Gomorrah. He looked down at at the Tower

of Babel, and he's looked down several times.

So he looks down from heaven and it says he hears their groans.

Are these prisoners? Are they the Babylonian captives

who were taken to Babylon? So maybe this, this Psalm was

written when Jerusalem was still burning and, and just been

destroyed. And all these captives are on

their way to Jerusalem. And then he says to set free

those who are doomed to die. Many of those captives would be

executed. I think one time I, I counted

they executed over 86 people. Nebuchadnezzar executed over 86

people on the senses of death there.

So there are some prisoners apparently under the sentence of

death. And then he says #8 for God's

name, OK, it will be declared in Zion, the name of the Lord, and

in Jerusalem, his praise. This is the third time or Psalm

has mentioned Zion, and this time it mentions it with

Jerusalem. Yahweh is God's name mentioned

three times. I'm sorry, mentioned seven times

in verses 12 to 22. And you know, it's the most

common name for God in the Bible mentioned over 6000, some

commentators say 6500, others say 6800.

But it's God's covenant name, right?

And it says it will be declared by all, it says when peoples

gather together and kingdoms to worship the Lord.

You know we saw in Psalms 87 last week, right, that natural

born again citizens from all Four Nations, including Israel's

enemies will gather in Zion and worship the Lord some great day.

So I asked a question earlier, did God answer this psalmist

prayer? Turn with me to Psalm 147.

Turn with me to Psalm 147 because that is the answer to

prayer in Psalm 147 was written when the temple was being

restored. Psalm 147 says praise the Lord,

for it is good to sing praises to our God, for it is pleasant

and a song of praise is fitting. The Lord builds up Jerusalem.

He gathers the outcast of Israel.

He heals the broken hearted and binds up their wounds.

He determines the number of stars.

He gives to all of them their names.

Great is our Lord and abundant in power.

His understanding is beyond measure.

The Lord lifts up the humble. He cast the wicked to the

ground. Sing to the Lord with

Thanksgiving. Make a melody to our God on the

lyre. He covers the heavens with

clouds, He prepares rain for the earth, He makes the grass grow

on the hills. He gives the beast their food

and the young Ravens that cry. His delight is not in the

strength of the horse, His pleasure is not in the legs of

man. But the Lord takes pleasure in

those who fear Him, in His hope, in His steadfast love.

Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem, Praise your God, O Zion, for he

strengthen the bars of your gates.

He blesses your children within you.

He makes peace within your borders.

He fills you with the finest of wheat.

He sends out his command to the earth.

His word runs swiftly. He gives snow like wool, He

scatters frost like ashes. He hurls down his crystals of

ice like like crumble. Who can stand before his cold?

He sends out his word and melts them.

He makes his wind blow and the waters flow.

He declares his word to Jacob, his statues and rules to Israel.

He has not dealt thus with any other nation.

They do not know his rules. Praise the Lord, you know you

count there in that Psalms 14744 references to God alone, but

that's the answer to prayer. God did build up Jerusalem.

God did answer the psalmist prayer in God's timing, right.

Let's look at at point #3 the psalmist dependency Psalms 23 to

Psalms 28. Psalms 23 says he has broken my

strength in mid course. He has shortened my days.

Oh God, I say, take me not away in the midst of my days.

You whose years endure through all generations of old.

You laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the

work of your hands. They will perish, but you will

remain. They will all wear out like a

garment. You will change them like a

robe, and they will pass away. But you are the same, and your

years have no end. The children of your servants

shall dwell secure. Their offspring shall be

established before you. You know the name of God is only

mentioned once in this last paragraph and it's it's the

generic name L for God. But the psalmist does use the

words you 6 times and he two times in this brief section

here. But the psalmist is going to

list why he's dependent upon God.

Now the first verse is kind of interesting Psalm verse 23

because he goes back to verses 1 to 11.

He says God crushed me, He broke my strength and he shortened my

days. In verse 23, he says he has

broken my strength in mid course.

So Psalms verse 23, the psalmist returns to remind God of his

circumstances in verses 1:00 to 11:00.

And then he says he's shortened my days.

The psalmist feels like he's about to die and there's an

urgency in his prayer, much like, you know, Moses in Numbers

11, Moses asked God to kill him. He wanted to die because he was

overburdened with the the the responsibility of the children.

Israel mentioned Elijah. Elijah wanted to die and after

the great victory of the prophets of Baal, Elijah flees

from Jezebel and he asked God just kill me, just kill me and

Jonah. Jonah, frustrated by God's mercy

on the people of Nineveh, asked God to kill him in Jonah 4 three

Job repeatedly in the book of Job asked.

Desired for death, asking lament, lamenting his suffering

and questioning God's action. Jeremiah cursed the day of his

birth, indicating a desire. He wished he hadn't been born

thus, a desire for death. And even the apostle Paul, that

great apostle in Second Corinthians 18, says that

brothers, brothers, we experienced affliction.

We were so utterly burdened beyond strength that we

despaired of life. But God didn't allow any of

those men to die, right? Charles Ryrie says all the

powers of the world cannot take my life away until God permits.

And then he says all the physicians of the earth cannot

preserve it when God calls me away.

So let's look at First off. Then that was was God crushed

him in verse 23. But then in verse 24 to 28, he's

going to call upon God and he's going to list 5 things.

They're not really in your outline, you have to list them,

but number one he's going to say in verse 24, God, you control

all things. He says, Oh my God, I say take

me not away in the midst of my days.

Use whose years endure through all generations.

The psalmist was afraid he was going to die soon and you would

never see the restoration of the temple in Jerusalem.

The psalmist is thinking like King Hezekiah.

Remember when Elijah went to King Hezekiah and says you're

going to die, get your house in order.

Isaiah 3810 King Hezekiah says in the midst of my days, I must

depart. I am consigned to the gates of

sheehole for the rest of my years.

I said I shall not see the Lord the Lord in the land of living.

I shall look upon man no more among the inhabitants of the

world. So kind of like the same pouting

with God there, but the psalmist acknowledges that God controls

all in verse 24 and there's 25. He acknowledges that God creates

all he says of old. You laid the foundation of the

earth. The heavens are the work of your

hands. He is the creator God, right?

And these verses, Psalm, I'm sorry, Psalms 102 verses 2526

and 27 are quoted in Hebrews chapter 1 verses 11:50.

Hebrews 1 · chapter mention

And you know, Hebrews one, which is just quote after quote after

quote from Psalms, but Hebrews one, the writer of Hebrews is

trying to prove that Jesus Christ is superior to angels.

So he quotes our Psalm, Psalm, our verses 25 to 27.

And he's indicating, hey, that Jesus is greater than angels

because the sun created the universe and one day that sun is

going to destroy the heavens and the earth he created.

But this, this sun remains unchanged.

And again he talks about the immutability and divine essence

of God. So He's the creator.

And then in verse 26, God changes all.

He says they will perish, but you remain.

They will all wear out like a garment.

You will change them like a robe, and they will all pass

away. Astronomers tell us that the

stars will wear out in 5.5 billion years and that someday

our sun is going to run out of hydrogen.

So even they will apparently wear out like a garment.

But God is everlasting, everlasting, eternal.

Now verse 27, God changes not he says, but you are the same and

your years have no end. God doesn't change.

You know I mentioned MacArthur says immutability is yet another

characteristic of the divine essence.

Once again, the Old Testament testifies to the Son's deity.

Hebrews 13/8 says, you know that verse, Jesus Christ is a saying,

yesterday, today, and forever, and then #5 God cares for all.

Verse 28 The psalmist ends with hope.

OK. The psalmist says, the children

of your servants shall dwell, secure, their offspring shall be

established before you. The psalmist knows that the

future is dependent upon God and His promises.

The psalmist might not see the return of Jews.

He might not see the temple being rebuilt and Jerusalem

being rebuilt under King Cyrus, but he knows his children will.

Because you know God will keep His promise.

The Lord did keep His promise. The people were restored to

Jerusalem under King Cyrus and eventually God would send Jesus

Christ the Messiah to restore mankind to Himself.

And only Jesus is the answer to our problems and sufferings.

I quoted this once before, but I felt it was appropriate to read

it again tonight. There's a Chinese parable which

describes how a man fell into a pit and he lay groaning there

and helpless. Presently Confucius, that great

Chinese philosopher, passed by and seeing the man, said to him,

how foolish of you to fall in there.

I am truly sorry for you. Let me give you some advice.

If you ever get out of this pit, don't fall in again.

Later a Buddhist priest passed by and said, Poor fellow

creature, if you can but struggle halfway out, I could

reach you and lift you out. But the next day the Lord Jesus

passed by that way. And hearing the man's groans, he

had compassion on him and said, I loved you and gave myself for

your salvation. And he stooped right down and

lifted that man up saying, see, I've saved you, go and sin no

more. What a wonderful savior is he.

So I hope like the psalmist, you can keep your eyes on Jesus no

matter what they are. Don't be surprised when times of

spiritual loneliness and despair come.

They will come. God is not obliged or obligated

to answer our cries for help immediately.

You've heard it 100 times in this church, Ambassador Lance,

that God never gave Job the answer, right?

Job did not know what was going on behind the scenes.

But don't confuse the silence of God with a lack of love, a lack

of love or compassion. But try to direct your vision to

the eternal picture than the immediately difficult

circumstances. So remember tonight, verses 1 to

11, we're all about suffering. But verse 12, he says, but you,

the psalmist got his eyes focused on his immutability, his

eternality, his pity, his compassion, his faithfulness.

And I was thinking tonight in closing, we have a few minutes

before you can pick up your kids.

But I was thinking about the book of Philippians.

And if you want to turn there, the book of Philippians.

You know, the apostle Paul is sitting in a Roman jail, yet he

says so much about joy and rejoicing.

So much. Sometimes it drives me crazy.

But I want you to think about this.

Prison is not a place to write about joy, is it?

It's probably cold. He's chained to a Roman soldier.

I'm sure the food wasn't good. You know he's innocent, but

prison is not a place to write about joy and peace.

Yet look what the apostle Paul does.

Philippians 1, three to four. I thank my God in all my

remembrance of you always and every prayer of mine for you

all, making my prayer with joy. So there's joy in prayer.

Even though he's in jail, even though he's going to spend at

least two years there on the 1st imprisonment.

Then look at Philippians. Where did I go?

I missed up here. I'm not sure what verse is in

chapter 1, but it says what then?

Only that in every way, whether in pretense or truth, Christ is

proclaimed. And in that I rejoice.

Yes, I will rejoice. OK, so that's, that's in verses,

I think 15 and 16 there the last part of there.

So here there's joy, even though there's personal conflict going

on. Some people are preaching Christ

out of envy. Apostle Paul's doing it out of

sincerity, but he's he's just happy that the gospel is being

preached. So even though there's conflict

going on, there's joy. Then chapter 2 verses one to

two, he says, so if there's any encouragement in Christ, any

comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any

affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same

mind, having the same love, being in the full accord and of

one mind. So there's joy in prayer,

there's joy in personal conflicts, and there's joy in

unity in the body of Christ. And did we not see that last

week at Vacation Bible School? It was just so beautiful.

You've got the, the games going on over there.

You've got the, the snacks going on over here.

You got the Bible story going on over here.

You got the, the crafts going on over here.

And there's like 60-70 people with those kids and everybody's

functioning. It's just a wonderful

demonstration of love and unity, all so that the children can

learn about Jesus Christ. Philippians 2 verses 7 to 18, he

Philippians 2:7–18

says in Philippians 217 to 18, even if I'm being poured out as

a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your

faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all.

Likewise, you also should be glad and rejoice with me.

So it's possible here. We do believe that Apostle Paul

was released, but even if God would allow him to die here,

he's going to have joy in death because you know, absent from

the body is present with the Lord.

So he's not feeling he's not having a pity party here.

Even in second Timothy chapter 4, which we Paul's last words,

2 Timothy 4 · chapter mention

he doesn't have a pity party. There's joy in pending death

because he knows that he'll be with Christ in heaven forever.

And then if you go to the last verses in in Philippians 2

Philippians 2:28–29

verses 28 to 29, not quite the last.

He says I am more eager to send him.

OK. He's talking about a path a

path, right a path roditis. I'm sorry wrong guy.

I'm more eager to send him there for that you may rejoice at

seeing him again and that I may be less anxious.

So receive him in the Lord with all joy and honor such men.

So one of the main reasons Paul wrote Philippians was to ease

their concern for a path roditis health even sick almost died.

They're they're they're grieving.

They're worried, but they love this brother.

So there's joy in the leadership and Paul's going to send

Epaphroditus back to them and there's just going to be great

joy. And there's the Philippians had

love and joy for the leadership in Epaphroditus.

And then look at Philippians 31. Finally, my brothers, rejoice in

the Lord. To write the same thing to you

is no more trouble to me and it's safe for you.

So this is the first time he says joy in the Lord.

In Philippians he said a lot about joy, a lot about

rejoicing. But here he says we have to have

joy in the Lord. And there is no joy without the

Lord, is there? There's no hope without the

Lord, right? And then if you go to

Philippians 4/1, he says, therefore, my brothers whom I

love and long for my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord,

my beloved. So Paul is saying, there's joy

in seeing the fruit of the believers.

There's joy in seeing the choir grow here.

There's joy in seeing 19 people going to Argentina, 11 of them

who've never been on a mission trip.

There's joy the last few weeks we've had with, you know, 300

people in the auditorium singing.

There's been great joy in when you have see the fruit in the

lives of the believers. And then you just go to verse

four. He once again says in

Philippians 4/4, rejoice in the Lord always.

Again I say rejoice. So there's only joy in the Lord,

nowhere else. And then you go to verse 10 for

Philippians 410I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at length

you have revived your concern for me.

You're indeed concerned for me, but had no opportunity.

There's joy in giving. You may not think so, but there

is. There's joy in giving.

And you know, you know what Jesus said, it's better to give

than to receive. So there's great joy when you

give. So we don't know exactly the

total time Paul spent in jail, but I was reading today that

possibly, you know, two years here, he was released, then he

spent two years in the prison in Caesarea.

And then before he was executed, could have been a year, a year

and a half. So Paul might have spent six

years in prison. Bad food, bad sleep, cold, hot.

Yet he can constantly says rejoice, rejoice in the Lord

because he's not looking at his circumstances.

His eyes are fixed on his Savior Jesus Christ and God the Father.

In fact, he actually says in Philippians that is imprisonment

advanced the gospel just incredible.

So I hope tonight that Psalm one O 2.

If you're being afflicted with any trial, any suffering, maybe

family, maybe financial, I don't know, you'll you'll see that the

psalmist got his eyes off of his circumstances and got his eyes

on God. That's what we need to do, and

we need to rejoice even in those sufferings.

Let's pray. Father, thank you tonight for

Psalm 1O2. I know it's a long Psalm, and we

have to go quick to cover through it, but I pray that we

could leave here tonight, that when the trials come, when the

suffering comes, or perhaps there are people here who, like

the psalmist, are afflicted, are suffering, are struggling.

May we keep our eyes focused on You and may we consider it with

all joy. May we not be surprised, but may

we, may we long for that day when we'll be in heaven with you

forever. We will remember your

faithfulness. May we remember your love and

your mercy, your immutability and all your attributes.

Father, may we keep our eyes focused on you till that day the

trial's over, Till that great day you take us home to be with

you forever in Jesus name, Amen.