Would you turn to Psalm 119?
Verse 81. My soul fainteth for thy salvation, but I hope
in thy word mine eyes fail for thy word,
saying, when wilt thou comfort me? For I am become like a bottle
in the smoke. The wine skin over a hearth,
covered with soot, and dried up. That's the imagery. That's how I feel about myself.
Dried up, covered with soot. Yet, do I not forget thy statutes? How many are the days of thy
servant. When wilt thou execute judgment
on them that persecute me? The proud have digged pits for
me, which are not after thy law. All thy commandments are faithful. They persecute me wrongfully,
help thou me. They had almost consumed me upon
earth, but I forsook not thy precepts. Quicken me after thy
loving kindness, so shall I keep the testimony of thy mouth. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you that we
can come into your presence and actually have your ear and be
heard because of thy son. Lord, we pray in his name that
you would meet with us, that you would speak in power from
your word to our heart, that you would reveal your gospel
to each person here according to your will. We pray that we
might have the forgiveness of sins for Christ's sake. We pray
for your spirit. We pray that you would open our
eyes, open our ears, open our hearts to your word. Enable us to worship thy dear
son and teach us what it means to rest in him. Accept our thanksgiving for who
you are and for the revelation of your gospel. We pray for your
presence with your people, wherever they meet together. And Lord,
we pray for our friends that are going through trials, physical
health, emotional health problems in their families. Lord, we pray
for your blessing and your will to be done in all things. Bless
us for Christ's sake. In his name we pray. Amen. And notice the language of this
psalm. Faint means I've come to an end. I know that I'm unable to stand. My soul faints for thy salvation. In verse 82, mine eyes fail for
thy word. I can't see. That's how I feel. I can't see. I know it's your
word. I don't see the glory in it.
I don't see the beauty in it. My eyes fail. When will thou comfort me? I
don't have any comfort. I feel alone. I feel isolated. When will you come and comfort
me? And then I think the imagery in verse 83 is quite remarkable
for I am become like a bottle in the smoke. I'm a dried up
wineskin over a hearth with all the smoke coming up covered with
black soot. I'm like a bottle in the smoke. Now this imagery is inspired
by God the Holy Spirit when the writer of the psalm is writing
and look at the way he expresses himself. I'm like a bottle in
the smoke covered in my feelings and my thoughts with the soot
of sin. 84, how many are the days of thy
servant? When wilt thou execute judgment
on them that persecute me? You're not doing anything for
me. The proud have digged pits for me, which are not after thy
law. All thy commandments are faithful. They persecute me wrongfully. Help thou me. I feel like I'm
alone. I feel like you're not helping
me. I feel like I've been cut off and I'm all by myself. They
had almost consumed me upon earth. That's how close I am, but I
forsook not thy precepts. Quicken me, give me life. I feel
dead. I feel hard-hearted, I feel lifeless.
Quicken me, give me life. After thy loving kindness, so
shall I keep the testimony of thy mouth. Now there is such
a thing, as the joy and the peace of believing. And I don't mean barely. I mean, the joy of knowing that
Jesus Christ is my Lord, my Savior, my righteousness, my all in all. I love the scripture. The kingdom
of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness. Peace. The peace that comes from having
him as your righteousness and the joy that arises from that. It's not meat and drink, but
righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. Now that being
said, it's equally true that we have this treasure in earthen
vessels. jars of clay, dirt. We have this treasure in earthen
vessels. Now, is the psalmist wallowing
in the mire, wallowing in self-pity, just feeling sorry for himself?
No, this is language inspired by God, the Holy Spirit. I want you to think of the Beatitudes.
Blessed are what? What's the first we have to do?
The poor. Those who because of their sin
feel like no, they have no personal righteousness. No merit. Now this is the person God has
saved. He's poor in spirit. Blessed are they that mourn. And the word is used with regard
to mourning over the death of a loved one. You know when you
mourn over the death of the loved one, you know you can't bring
them back. And how you mourn. These are people who mourn over
their sin, the same word. They mourn all the time. This is a continual state of
being poor, mourning over your sin. Blessed are the meek before
God. They're meek before God because
they know who they are. They hunger and thirst after
righteousness because they know they have none of their own.
But oh, how they hunger and thirst. Blessed are they that hunger
and thirst after righteousness. Now this is the description that
God gives of the believer. So when the psalmist is speaking
like this, he's not wallowing In self-pity, the Lord himself is described
as a man of sorrows, acquainted, deeply acquainted with grief. And that is as the sin bearer.
Do you think anything bothered him naturally? Of course not.
He's the son of God. but sin, knowing he would be
separated from his father because of sin. No wonder he's called
a man of sorrows and deeply acquainted with grief. Paul said in Romans 7, O wretched
man, that I am. And once again, he's not wallowing
in self-pity. He's talking about the experience
of being what he called himself the chief of sinners. And this
is where the psalmist is coming from at this time when he says,
my soul faints for thy salvation. My soul is weak, unable to stand. Let me give you another few translations
of verse 81 that some I am worn out waiting for thy
rescue. I desperately long for your deliverance. My soul languishes for thy salvation. What a blessing it is to have
a soul that languishes. for his salvation. I mean his
salvation. I shall call his name Jesus for he shall save his people
from their sins. My soul longs to enter in to
the fullness of that. To be saved from my sins. And what the psalmist is saying
is I'm not feeling it. Now, feelings come, feelings
go, feelings are deceiving. We know that. My warrant is the
word of God. Not else is worth believing.
But we have feelings, don't we? And what the psalmist is saying
is, I'm not feeling it. I'm not feeling it. I feel isolated
and alone. Verse 82, mine eyes fail for
thy word. And that word fail is the same
word translated fainting in verse 81. I can't see. I know it's your word, but I
can't see it. I feel blind to the glories of
thy word." And you know what that is. You know what it is
to read the Bible, and it's not speaking. You don't hear. You know it's God's word, but
your eyes are failing. You can't see the glory of the
word of God, and that's what he's speaking of. Mine eyes fail
for thy word, saying, When wilt thou comfort me? I have no comfort."
Now, I was reading a commentary on this, and the one writing
the comfort said, You will have no comfort until we put away
unbelief, stop complaining, stop tolerating sin, and stop neglecting
duties. When you do that, you'll have
comfort. So, well, we ought not have unbelief. Don't misunderstand
me. We ought not ever tolerate any
sin. We ought not murmur for anything. But do you receive comfort by
how well you're doing? You've missed the gospel then.
Comfort comes from this. It is finished. That's where comfort comes from.
Comfort comes from this, everything God requires of me, he looks
to his son, Jesus Christ, for. Here's comfort. My righteousness
is the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Now, like I said, I don't
want to complain. I don't want to be unbelieving.
I don't want to tolerate any sin. I don't want to neglect
duties. I want to read the Bible. I want
to pray. But comfort doesn't come from
my conduct, my actions. It comes from the Lord Jesus
Christ. And he says, when will thou come
and comfort me? Now, be comforted. It doesn't do you any good for
me to say that. You need to be comforted. Oh, okay, you know,
only when he comes and comforts me by his spirit with his gospel. He says in verse 83, and I think
the imagery here is so powerful, for I am become like a bottle
in the smoke. Now they didn't have glass bottles
back then. Talk about a wineskin. And a
wineskin over hearth with the smoke coming up on it, it becomes
covered with soot. The carbon or whatever it is
that comes off a fire and just becomes blackened by the soot. And it's dried up. And the psalmist
says, that's how I feel. And what a description of a believer
at this time. Dried up. You ever felt dried
up? Besmeared, befouled by sin. And that is how the psalmist
feels. But look what he says at the
second statement. Yet, do I not forget thy statutes? I don't forget your word. Even
in this state, it almost seems like this is the old man and
the new man speaking at the same time. Well, if it seems that
way, it's because it is. I don't forget thy statutes. I don't
forget that your word is the gospel, my only hope. I don't
forget your decrees. Salvation is according to your
decree. I don't forget your word. Verse 84. How many are the days of thy
servant? Now, remember, this life is measured
in days. Days. Had the opportunity to visit,
we went to a birthday party in Ashland for Tara Kendall and
we got to visit Doris Mahan yesterday. She'll be 100 on her next birthday.
100. And the 100 years have taken
their toll on her. She would forget things and she
asks us the same question seven or eight times. It's a joy to
see her. But still to think of what those days what they do
and our life is measured in days. Turn with me to Psalm 39 for
a moment. Verse 5. Behold, thou has made my days
as an handbreadth. The space between your hand. And mine age is as nothing before
thee. Barely every man in his best
state is altogether vanity. And that's why it says in verse
four, Lord, make me to know mine end and the measure of my days. What it is that I might know
how frail I am. Psalm 90. Verse 12. So teach us to number our days
that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. May the Lord enable us to realize
that this world is not our home. We're passing through and we
don't have much longer. And the one thing needful is
to be found in Christ. That's the one thing needful. The one thing needful is to sit
at his feet and hear his word, like Mary. Martha, Martha, you're
careful and troubled about many things. And I'm sure that can
be said to every one of us. Careful, anxious, troubled about
many things. But one thing is needful. Now,
in this thing of numbering your days, I think there are several
things that the psalmist is thinking of. Number one is, when will
this trial be over? A man that's born of woman is
born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward, Job said. And there's heartaches, there's
trials, there's disappointments, there's discouragements. Oh,
how discouraged we can become. And he's saying, when is this
trial going to be over? It's also a reminder of the brevity
and fragile nature of life. And there's also involved in
this looking forward to death. I look forward to seeing Christ's
face and not having unbelief clouding my view, seeing the
beauty of his face, no longer having a sinful nature to make
my head go down. Verse 84, how many are the days
of thy servant? When will thou execute judgment
on them that persecute me? You know, he felt like he was
being wrongly treated. Every one of us felt that way
before. When will you execute judgment on them that persecute
me? You know, the Lord allows us to talk to him like this.
You can talk to him like you can't talk to any other human
being. But the Lord allows us to talk like this. Verse 85,
the proud. The arrogant. The insolent, he speaks of the
proud quite often in Psalm 119, and the proud are those who have
this high opinion of themselves and their own righteousness.
And what do they do? The proud dig pits for me, which
are not after thy law. And in the law, it's talked about
you digging a pit, you make sure people are safe. Make sure an
animal doesn't fall into it. You'll be responsible if it does.
When you dig a pit, make sure there's a covering for people's
safety. The law actually says this. And he says, they dig pits
for me wanting me to fall. wanting me to fall into that
pit, wanting me to go into this place of landmines and danger. They want to see me fall so they
can feel better about themselves. And you, any time you desire,
or I desire, or feel some kind of secret satisfaction in seeing
the fall of somebody else, that's evil. That's all it can be called
is evil. I'm wanting them to look a little
darker, so I'll look a little brighter. But this is the way
this psalmist felt at this time. They dig pits for me, not after
the law, and I'm getting ready to fall into these landmines
and these pits. Verse 86, even in all of his
darkness, he could say, all thy commandments are faithful. If you're a believer and you're
like the psalmist here, you still believe this, all thy commandments
are faithful. I couldn't help but think of
Peter. You remember when he said go
tell the disciples and Peter that I've been raised from the
dead? I guarantee you Peter did not
think he was a disciple after this fall. Now he was, but he
didn't think he was. He thought he'd been cut off.
And I understand him feeling that way. But the Lord prayed
for him that his faith fail not. He failed. He failed. But he never quit believing that
Jesus Christ was the Son of God. Even though he thought he had
been cut off, he never quit believing the gospel. And that's the case
here. All thy commandments are faithful.
They persecute me wrongfully, help thou me. Now that could
be the prayer of the Lord to his father. I realize it's probably,
it is. I don't think it could be, it
is. But it's also the prayer of the believer. And we're asking
the Lord for help. Now, don't you love when the
Lord says to the Syrophoenician woman, I'm not sent but to the
lost sheep at the house of Israel. You know what he's saying to
her? I've only come for the elect, the lost sheep of the house of
Israel. Did she turn on her heels and say, well, what's the point?
No, the scripture says, then she came and worshiped him saying,
Lord, help me. If you don't help me, I won't
be helped. I've got no other place to turn. Lord, help me. Well, that's what the psalmist
is saying. And you know, when the Lord was on the cross, he
said, why art thou so far from helping me? And the words of
my roaring. I mean, the Lord, when he was
forsaken by his father on the cross, cried out for the Lord's
help, needing help, feeling his need of help. Don't you know
the Lord needs to help you? If he doesn't help you, if he
doesn't help me, we're beyond help. I need his help. Lord, help me. Oh, I love the
way the Psalms are written and the Lord gives us this encouragement
for us to pray the Lord help me. Verse 87. They had almost. Consume me upon the earth. But. I forsook not thy precepts. And this can certainly be the
prayer of the Lord. Where they had almost and they
ended up, you know, all the persecution and everything he experienced.
But this is the psalmist speaking as well. He's saying I was that
far away from. It being over, but. I did not. Forsake that precepts. I still
look to Christ only. I still look to your word." Now,
this verse 88, quicken me. That means give me life. I feel like I'm dead and I won't
live except you quicken me. And look at the argument he uses.
He says, quicken me after thy loving kindness. Now here's his
reason. to ask the Lord to quicken him.
Do it according to thy loving kindness. Now, here's some light
as to what that means. David said in Psalm 51 one, have
mercy upon me, O Lord, according to thy loving kindness. Somebody once said that's the
Old Testament word for grace. I believe that's a good description.
Quicken me, O Lord, according to Thy loving kindness. So shall I keep the testimony
of thy mouth. Not so shall I be able to give
a good testimony. My testimony is this. You want
to know my personal testimony? Christ is all I have. That's
my testimony. I give testimony to that. I'll
keep the testimony of thy mouth. Here's my personal testimony
of the word of God, what he says in his word. I'm relying on what
he says in his word. Tell me about your life. Tell
me about your testimony. I'm looking to what he says in
his word only. Don't you have anything better
to say than that? Nope. Nope. And I'm happy to keep it there.
My testimony is the testimony of his mouth. We're looking to what he says. Now, if you quicken me after
thy loving kindness, so shall I keep the testimony of thy mouth. I will believe the gospel. Well,
we're halfway through Psalm 119. Another 11 to go, Lord willing.