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A Study in Psalms - Psalm 102 · CCC West Covina

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If you turn your Bibles to Psalm one O 2, as I was preparing this
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Psalm, I read 1 commentator, He's a Baptist preacher from
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England. And he made a, he made a point.
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The Psalm is about the afflicted one's prayer.
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That's our title tonight. And maybe you're afflicted and
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you can relate to Psalm one O 2. But the the author made a very
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good point that he feels our society is obsessively concerned
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about health. What do you think?
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And I thought about that and he made a point that every article
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that appears in the New England Journal of Medicine becomes
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immediately front page news. You know, 111 article coffee is
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bad for you, the next article coffee is good for you.
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And then every diet becomes a best selling book.
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I guess the latest one is intermittent fasting and plant
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based eating, if you're on that. And every exercise fad goes
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viral, right? The 1000 steps has been replaced
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by the 15 minute workout. That's the one I do not working
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though. And then social media, everybody
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who's got a iPhone or a Samsung, you can literally Google and
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know, you think you know as much as your doctor does and you're
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experts in everything. And then there's the Wellness
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industry that's exploded and they're promoting all these new
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medicines, right? I tried that new one, Prevagen.
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Anybody tried that? Supposed to make your brain
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smarter. I tried it for three months.
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I don't think it works. I think I got Dumber but wasted
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my money. And then of course, there's a
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disease prevention to get the latest vaccine.
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When I go pick up my daughter's vaccine or my daughter's
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prescriptions at the at CVS, they asked me, do you have the,
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did you get the new RSV or the new PCV?
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And I don't even know what those are.
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And she said, what's the, I can't even pronounce it.
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The pneumococcal conjugate virus or the respiratory synthesis
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virus can't pronounce them. I'm not sure I want them.
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But I guess they have 21 different virus shots at CVS
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now. And of course, we have a
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society. People have the right to to live
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forever. You know, that actress Susan
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Somers was big on that, but she died last year, right?
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And of course, you have false churches with false teachers and
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faith healing. You know, we support a pastor in
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Uganda. And imagine how hard it is for
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Pastor Kizza. Benny Hinn was in Uganda last
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week and in three days he had half a million people, three day
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three, three crusading, half a million.
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And even the president of the country, President Mousavini was
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on stage with him, half a million people there.
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And they claim thousands of miracles which none of them can
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be proved. So you can imagine being a
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pastor like Jotham Kizza, the one we support, having to deal
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with all that there. But when the church gets into
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demands for healing, as many churches have, what this is, is
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an invasion of Christianity by the world's way of thinking,
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right? God can and does heal, but not
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on demand by these so-called faith healers.
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God doesn't actually owe us perfect health.
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That comes when we will be in heaven.
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When you'll be glorified, you will have a new body, perfect in
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health with no sin, no stain. And often I think many of you
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can relate to this. Ill health draws us to God.
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It puts us on our knees, right? Tonight we're going to look at a
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psalmist who turns his thoughts from his circumstances, and he
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turned his thoughts upon God and his attributes.
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Who wrote Psalm one O 2? We don't know, but it could have
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been any one of the numbers of people in the Bible.
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You know, it wasn't Job. But Job lost his family, right?
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Job lost his wealth, his health, and his three friends weren't
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really friends at all. Moses, he spent 40 years in the
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wilderness, LED 2,000,000 disgruntled Jews to the Promised
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Land, and then he disobeyed God one time and got barred from
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entering the Promised Land. Joseph was hated by his
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brothers, sold into slavery, falsely accused, sitting in a
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dungeon, and even then he was forgotten by the the cupbearer
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when he interpreted his dream. Hannah had to wait year after
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year to have a baby. Jewish tradition tells us it was
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19 years, and every one of those 19 years she was being insulted
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by her sister, by her. The other wife.
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David was anointed king, but he had to wait 13 years being
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haunted like a dog by King Saul. Elijah thought he was the only
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holy man left in all of Israel and he wanted to die.
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Jeremiah faithfully preached and no one listened for 40 years and
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he ended up sitting in a cistern in mud.
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Daniel faithfully prayed and obeyed God but when the when the
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the laws of the land changed and forbid praying he continued to
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pray and ended up in a lion's pit.
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Paul sat in a Roman jail for maybe four to six years of his
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life. The apostle John at a very old
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age was expelled to a not so nice island called Patmos.
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So we don't know who the writer of Psalm One O 2 is, but it
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could have been any number of men suffering.
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We have a superscription, very long one.
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It says the prayer of 1 afflicted when he is faint and
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pours out his complaint before the Lord.
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And maybe some of you can relate to that.
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Psalm One O 2, by the way, is one of the penitential Psalms.
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You know, we've talked a lot about that.
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We already looked at, we looked at, we've looked at Psalm 6IN
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past years. Psalms 32 Psalms 50.
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So there's seven of them and they're, they're not used much
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by the Protestant Church, but they were the seven penitential
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psalms or called Psalms of confession were listed in the
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6th century and the Catholic Church uses them during Lent.
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What's interesting though, is Psalm one O 2.
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There's no mention of sin, there's no iniquity or
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confession of sin. Yet it's one of the penitential
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Psalms, and I always wondered why it was.
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It does mention God's wrath and his anger in verse 10.
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So the afflicted 1 here is not, and we'll talk about it, is not
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afflicted by His own sin. It's the sin of Israel, the
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nation. This Psalm, it's the first Psalm
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we looked at this summer. It's in Book 4.
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You know, there are five books. Book 4 only has 17 Psalms and
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most rabbis believe that the five books of the Psalms
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correspond to the five books of the Torah.
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So book 4 would correspond to the book of Numbers which is the
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book of wandering. And a lot of the psalms in book
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4 like this one are wandering. The Babylonian captivity has
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come so saw the history about it.
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Psalms One O 2 was written during a low ebb in the history
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of God's people. It's setting is during the
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Babylonian captivity of God's chosen people.
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Israel is a time when God's work has seemingly come to a
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standstill. It's a time when God's word was
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not being preached, when God's people were the minority.
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It was a time when God's house lay in ruin, when God's holy
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city was in shambles, when God's glory was veiled.
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It's a Psalm that begins with despair but concludes with a
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note of triumph. There is always hope in the
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ongoing sovereignty of God over His people.
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I hope you have an outline. And tonight I'm going to read.
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I'm not going to read all 28 verses right away.
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Some of your thinking. Last week's Psalm was only 7
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verses. How is he going to get through
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28 verses tonight? I won't be going that deep, but
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we will look at it. So let's look at point #1 the
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psalmist despair. And let's read verses 1 to 11 in
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that point. Hear my prayer, O Lord, let my
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cry come to you. Do not hide your face from me in
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the day of my distress. Incline Your ear to me.
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Answer me speedily in the day when I call, For my days passed
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away like smoke, and my bones burn like a furnace.
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My heart is struck down like grass and has withered.
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I forgot to eat my bread because of my loud groaning.
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My bones cling to my flesh. I'm like a desert owl of the
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wilderness, Like an owl of the waste places I lie awake, I'm
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like a lonely Sparrow on the housetop.
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All the day my enemies taught me Those who deride me use my name
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for a curse. For I eat ashes like bread and
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mingle tears with my drink because of your indignation and
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anger. For you have taken me up and
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thrown me down. My days are like an evening
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shadow. I wither away like the grass.
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Let's pray Father, I pray tonight that if there's anybody
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here who's suffering, anybody going through trials, whether
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they be health wise, finances, job, family, that Father, they
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could relate to this psalmist, that we could cry out to you.
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And we know you hear our prayers, but then that we would
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focus our thoughts on You in Jesus name, Amen.
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So the Psalmist despair verse is 1 to 11.
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Let's look at .1. The psalmist despairs.
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You know these first 11 verses are just a cry, a cry of
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lamentation for God to comfort and help the psalmist.
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I don't know if you noticed, but the personal pronouns jump out
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the page. The word me is listed seven
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times. The word I is listed 7 times,
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and then you have the word my, which is an adjective 14 times.
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So between the me I and my in verses 1 to 11, I count 28
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times. So you see how it's a very, very
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personal Psalm. God's name is only mentioned
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once in verses 1 to 11, yet we'll see compared to that in
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verses 12 to 22 later. So some point #1 hear my prayer,
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He says, hear my prayer. O Lord, let my cry come to You.
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The psalmist is crying out like he wants a speedy answer, and
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haven't we talked a lot about that this summer?
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Remember, Psalms 5 begins with the words.
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Give ear to my words. O Lord, consider my groaning.
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Give attention to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for
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to you do I pray. And then remember Psalm 27.
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Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud, be gracious and answer me.
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Psalms 44 we looked at says rise up, come to our help, redeem us
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for the sake of your steadfast love.
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Psalm 79 we looked at and it says in verse nine, help us, O
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God, of our salvation, for the glory of your name, deliver us
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atone for our sins for your name's sake.
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And just a couple weeks ago we looked at Psalms 86, and it
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began with incline your ear, O Lord, answer me, for I am poor
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and needy. So the psalmist is going to say
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a couple of things. He's going to say turn your face
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to me and turn your ear to me to God.
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He says, turn your face to me. He says do not hide your face
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from me in the day of my distress.
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You know, during the days of Jeremiah, when Jeremiah preached
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faithfully for so many years and nobody had listened, the Jewish
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leaders refused to acknowledge that God's punishment would
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include Judah being captured, the temple being destroyed and
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Jerusalem being sacked. But all three of those things
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happen. Israel had no king.
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They had no priest, they had no temple, and they and he could
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not sacrifice for the sins. So instead of the Lord's face
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shining upon Israel, the psalmist is saying it seems like
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God has turned his face away from Israel.
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AW Tozer said the greatest test of faith is to wait on God, not
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expecting to push a button and get whatever we want.
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And this psalmist may have cried out and he may have never had
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this prayer answered because God, who's going to punish
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Israel for 70 years? And we don't know when this
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Psalm was written within that time.
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So he says then he says turn your ear to me.
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He says in last part of verse 2, incline your ear to me.
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Doesn't that sound familiar? We looked at Psalms 86.1 and
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it's 15 times in the Psalms. The psalmist will cry out,
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incline your ear to me. God doesn't actually have an
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ear. He's omnipotent, omniscient, and
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he knows all things and He's everywhere.
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So He doesn't have any ear. He's a spirit.
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But you know, I think when I pray, I usually pray, you know,
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dear Heavenly Father, and then I ask God my request.
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But you notice here he has three words for prayer.
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He calls it prayer. He calls it a cry and he calls
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it a call and then he uses 5 verbs.
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And this is what I found so interesting.
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He says here, let do incline an answer to cry out to the
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compassionate God. So maybe when we face trouble
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when we have a trial suffering, when we have health or financial
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problems, the first thing we may not we maybe we shouldn't do is
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just say, dear heavenly Father, maybe we ought to say what the
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psalmist said. Hear my prayer, O Lord, let my
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cry come to you. Do not hide your face from me.
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Incline your ear to me answeringly, speedily when I
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call Spurgeon called this arguing with God, debating with
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God. And I really love that.
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And it's taught me a lot this summer because most of the
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psalms that we've done these last nine weeks have been
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prayers right. The number at some point to see
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my plight, verses 3 to 11, the psalmist is going to give the
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circumstances for his suffering and it reads like the book of
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Job in miniature in in just 9 verses.
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It's like the book of Job. Some commentators feel the
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psalmist knew and reflected upon Job when he wrote this Psalm.
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So I'll go quickly through these.
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The first thing he says is in verse 3, my days are vanishing.
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He says for my days are like smoke.
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The psalmist is going to use many metaphors here for
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expressions of personal anguish and pain and grief.
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So first he compares his life to like smoke.
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And you know, smoke is thick at first, but eventually it fades
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away when the wind comes. So it's possible that he's
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riding this amongst the burn ruins of Jerusalem after
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Nebuchadnezzar has destroyed and he's been left behind.
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Second thing he says in the latter part of verse 3 is my
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bones are burning. The psalmist feels like he's
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been, he's been a thorn thrown in a fire and his life is
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vanishing like smoke. The third thing he says is his
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heart is struck down like the grass, grass that's withered.
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And he says I forgot to eat my bread.
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The psalmist is sick and he cannot eat.
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His heart is dried up like a plant withered by the sun.
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The fourth thing he says is my groaning is loud.
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He says because my loud groaning, my bones cling to my
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flesh, He has no appetite. His body is deterring your way.
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He's reduced to skin and bones much like Job.
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Right next he says in verse 6 my life is ruined.
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It's interesting. In verse 6 he lists 2 unclean
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birds. He says I'm like a desert owl or
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like an owl of the waste places. And verse 7 he says I'm like a
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lonely Sparrow. So the psalmist has no delight
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in life, and he compares himself to three unclean birds that are
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listed in Leviticus that you're not to eat.
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But these birds generally live in the wilderness.
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Now, translators have a problem with it says desert owl in my
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English standard version. Some of you using, many of you
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using the New American Standard have the word Pelican.
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Well, if that's true, a Pelican is a sea bird and it's out of
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place in the desert, right? So the owl should not be in the
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desert. The owl should be in the forest,
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not waste places. And then the lonely Sparrow in
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verse 7 should be with a flock of birds, right?
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Not all sitting alone. So it's a picture of the
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psalmist living in solitary confinement, perhaps no friends.
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Perhaps his family has been killed.
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He feels isolated and lonely. You know, when I was thinking of
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this, I can't, it came up that that hymn, his eyes on the
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Sparrow, you've got this lonely Sparrow.
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And that hymn was written by Sevilla de Martin who was
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inspired by the story of a couple.
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One of the couple was bedridden and the other couple partner was
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in a wheelchair. Yet despite being bedridden in a
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wheelchair, they maintain a joyful spirit despite their
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circumstances. But the psalmist here, he
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doesn't think that God's eye is is on him.
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Next he says in verse 7, my sleep is gone.
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The psalmist lies awake all night.
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He can't sleep, He can't get any comfort, he's tormented by being
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struck alone and isolated. He's physically sick and he's
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mentally sick. Next in verse 8 he says all my
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enemies taught me. Those who derived me use my name
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for a curse. This is 1 of the 75 psalms that
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mention enemies. So half of the 150 psalms.
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There is something going on with enemies and this is one of them.
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No suffering. You all know suffering is
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difficult, right? But it's worse when you have
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problem with family members or some enemies or insurance not
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helping you or things like that. So the psalmist here is not
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getting any sympathy from enemies, but they're actually
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cursing him, his God in his name.
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So physical suffering is bad enough, but people can make it
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worse. So this Psalm, as I mentioned,
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is written after the Babylonian or during the Babylonian
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captivity. And maybe, just maybe he's in
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Jerusalem and those three enemies of Nehemiah, Tobiah,
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sand below and geisha, remember those in Nehemiah, maybe these
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are his enemies there. If he's in Jerusalem, we don't
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know. But those were the enemies who
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would laugh and mock and say, where is your God?
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Where is your God next? He says in verse 9 to 10, my
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food is sorrow. He says I eat ashes like bread,
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mingle tears with my drink. Because of your Indonesia and
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anger, you have taken me up and thrown me down.
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Have you ever been through a rough patch?
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I'm sure all of us can relate to it, right?
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And there's times when when you're going through a difficult
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time and you're just not hungry. I don't care how good the cook
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is or how good the food is. You just, you don't have the
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taste to eat because you're, you're just sorrowful.
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You just, you don't have that appetite.
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And I mentioned Psalms one O 2 is one of the seven penitential
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Psalms, but it doesn't mention sin or confession of sin.
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So most commentators believe the psalmist is suffering
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innocently. God is punishing Israel for the
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70 years he allowed Nebuchadnezzar to just destroy
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Jerusalem to burn the temple down.
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So Israel is being judged, but it's probably not for the
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psalmist sin, but for the sins of Israel.
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He finally describes his condition as God like God in a
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hurricane, taking him and throwing him down like a rag
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doll. And then verse 11, he says, my
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days are like the evening shadow.
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I wither away like grass. So it's like the sun going down
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and darkness falling on the psalmist.
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He has little hope. His life is having a way.
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You know what I was thinking of this last year?
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Pastor Lance taught the book of Job and I thought it was one of
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the the best teachings I've ever heard 30 messages of.
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If you want to listen to it online or get the tapes, you
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can. But there was one time he said
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that we need to be wise about our suffering and trials.
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And Lance said that ever evitable, never enjoyable,
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however always purposeful and profitable are trials.
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Now you may not like that. And Lance listed a bunch of
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verses. He listed Job 51.
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But man is born to trouble. As sparks fly upward, trouble
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just comes right. You, you, you can't avoid it.
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Job 14, one man who was born of a woman is few of days and full
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of trouble. James 1-2 to three.
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Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various
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kinds. For you know that the testing of
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your faith produces steadfastness.
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Second Corinthians 4 verses 7:00 and 8:00 But we have this
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treasure in jars of clay to show that surpassing power belongs to
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God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way,
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but not crushed, perplexed but not driven to despair,
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persecuted but not forsaken, struck down but not destroyed.
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And then the last two are from first Peter chapter 4, verse 12.
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Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes
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upon you to test you as though something strange were happening
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to you. And then the next verse is first
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Peter 413 says, But rejoice insofar as you share in Christ's
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sufferings, that you also rejoice and be glad when his
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glory is revealed. You know, you can't help think
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of Isaiah 53, four to six when I look at this.
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He was one who suffered immensely 700 years before the
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Messiah would come and go to the cross.
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Isaiah prophesied in Isaiah 53, four to six and just listen to
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the words. Surely He has borne our griefs,
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carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten
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by God, afflicted. He was pierced for our
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transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities.
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Upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and by
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His wounds we are are all healed.
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All we, like sheep, have gone astray.
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We have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord has laid
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on him the iniquity of us all. Let's look at point #2 and I'm
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going to read verses 12 to 22. This is paragraph 2.
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But you, O Lord, are enthroned forever.
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You are remembered throughout all generations.
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You will arise and have pity on Zion.
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It is the time to favor her. The appointed time has come for
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Your servants. Hold her stones dear and have
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pity on her dust. Nations will fear the name of
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the Lord, and all the kings of the earth will fear Your glory.
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For the Lord builds up Zion. He appears in His glory.
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He regards the prayer of the destitute, and does not despise
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their prayer. Let this be a record for a
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generation to come, so that a people yet to be created may
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praise the Lord, that he looked down from his holy height.
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From heaven. The Lord looked at the earth to
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hear the groans of the prisoners to set those who are doomed to
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die, that they may declare in Zion the name of the Lord and in
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Jerusalem His praise when peoples gather together and
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kingdoms to worship the Lord. So this is called the psalmist
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devotion. And notice how verse 12 begins.
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Total contrast shift from verses 1:00 to 11:00.
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But you, but you, he's talking to God.
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So it marks a chance for the psalmist attitude to change.
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And he turns from his problems and he turns to God in heaven.
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And I think that's the one big take we have to take from this
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Psalm tonight. No matter what trial you're
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going through, no matter what persecution, what suffering,
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what disease you're going through, you have to get your
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eyes off of that trial and look and say, but you and talk to God
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and list out his attributes and it gets gets the problem off
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you. Warren Weirsby said the throne
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of David was gone and would not be claimed until Jesus came to
24:01
earth, but the throne in heaven was secure.
24:05
Notice the change in verses 1 to 11.
24:08
We see 28 personal pronouns and objectives, my, me, I but in,
24:15
but in verses 12 to 22, zero. That's because this section is
24:21
all about God. His name is Yahweh and it's
24:25
mentioned 7 times Yahweh in verses 12 to 22 and only once in
24:31
verses 1 to 11. So after listing 9 circumstances
24:35
of suffering, the psalmist will begin to fix his eyes on Yahweh
24:40
and who he is. And #1 he looks at God's
24:44
eternality for God's eternality. In verse 12 he says that God
24:48
abides forever, but you, O Lord, are enthroned forever.
24:53
God is eternal. Moses said it.
24:55
You know Moses wrote Psalm 90, the only Psalm that Moses wrote,
24:59
which might just be the oldest scripture written if Moses wrote
25:02
it before Genesis, Exos, Leviticus, Numbers, and
25:04
Deuteronomy. But Psalms 91 says Lord, you
25:07
have been been our dwelling places in all generations before
25:12
the mountains were brought forth or ever you had formed the earth
25:15
and the world from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.
25:19
God abides forever, and then God abides to all generations.
25:24
He says you are remembered through all generations.
25:28
G Campbell Morgan said there's nothing more calculated to
25:31
strengthen the heart in suffering or inspire the Spirit
25:35
with courage in the days of danger and difficulty than the
25:39
sense of the eternality of God. When you think about the
25:43
eternality of God, who he is, I, My problems are so minuscule, so
25:50
minor, and I know how it ends in the Book of Revelation.
25:54
And then next, God's pity, verses 13 to 14, God's going to
25:59
have compassion. God's going to be gracious and
26:02
God's going to give pleasure. First off, he's going to have
26:05
compassion. He says you notice how he talks
26:08
you, you, you. I think I wrote it down.
26:10
I'm not sure, maybe 6 times you in these sections.
26:15
So even though he mentions Yahweh 7 times, he says you,
26:19
you, you repeatedly, you will arise and have pity on Zion.
26:23
So this is the first of three times Zion is mentioned.
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And last week we looked at Psalm 79, the Psalm of Zion.
26:30
And so we talked a lot about Zion last week.
26:33
But Zion is mentioned in verses 1316 and 21.
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And we talked about last week, God loves Zion and God wasn't
26:43
finished with Israel, right? God made a covenant with Israel
26:46
and he's not finished with Israel.
26:48
He will fulfill that covenant. He will keep his promises.
26:51
And after 70 years, God would stir up the heart of King Cyrus
26:56
and there would be 3 returns back to Israel as there were
26:59
three deportations. God will rebuild the city of
27:03
Zion. Secondly, says it's time to
27:07
favor her. The appointed time has come.
27:10
So maybe this time of 70 years was almost done.
27:13
We don't know exactly. And God's going to raise King
27:15
Cyrus and allow the Jews to return.
27:18
So he's begging that for God's favor to come.
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We know that that Daniel knew reading Jeremiah the 70 years.
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We don't know if the psalmist did, but maybe he did.
27:29
And then verse 14, it says that for your servants, hold her
27:32
stones dear, and we'll have pity on her dust.
27:35
So here Nebuchadnezzar had reduced Jerusalem to rubble.
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You know when you read Psalm 74 verses two to seven just
27:44
describes Jerusalem is just a pile of stones, but God loves
27:47
Zion and God's in control and the temple in Jerusalem would be
27:52
rebuilt. But not only does God love Zion,
27:55
but the people of Jerusalem love the stones of Zion.
27:58
He says Your servants hold her stones dear and have pity in her
28:01
dust. And this verse reminds me of
28:04
when they when they laid that temple foundation in Ezra
28:07
chapter 3. It says in verse 10 all the
28:10
people shouted with a great shout when they praise the Lord,
28:13
because the foundation of the Lord has laid.
28:16
But many of the priests and Levi's heads of the Father's
28:19
houses, old men who had seen the 1st house, wept with a loud
28:23
voice when they saw the foundation of this house being
28:26
laid. Though many shouted aloud for
28:29
joy, so that the people could not distinguish the sound of
28:32
joyful shout from the sound of the people's weeping.
28:36
For the people shouted with a great shout, and the sound was
28:38
heard far away. So you got people shouting for
28:41
joy because the stones are being laid, and they got people
28:44
weeping because the foundation isn't as grand as the last time.
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Next, verse 15. We have God's sovereignty.
28:52
He says all nations will fear Him, and all kings will come to
28:57
Him. He says nations will fear the
29:00
name of the Lord. Then we looked at Psalm 87 last
29:03
week, and we said in Psalm 86.9 that all the nations of the
29:07
earth shall come and worship before You, O Lord, and shall
29:12
glorify Your name. Some will come to the earthly
29:15
Jerusalem. Many will come to the heavenly
29:18
Jerusalem and the millennial Jerusalem.
29:21
So the psalmist here is actually praying for the conversion of
29:25
the Gentile nations. So the nations will come and
29:29
then he says all the kings of the earth will fear your glory.
29:32
So the kings are going to come. Psalms 138 verse 2 says all the
29:36
kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O Lord, for they
29:39
have heard the words of your mouth.
29:41
So someday, now, you know, I mentioned last week, you look at
29:45
a map and there's 59 Islamic countries around Israel, and
29:49
then you've got that little Israel right there.
29:51
And most of those countries are enemies of Israel.
29:53
But someday every one of those nations, all the King's rulers
29:57
will come to the Messiah in Jerusalem and give him thanks
30:02
and glory. Now verse 16, we talk about
30:04
God's glory for God's glory here.
30:07
For he has built up his 10th people and he has revealed his
30:10
glory. He says the Lord builds up Zion.
30:13
So the second time that Zion's mentioned, Alexander McLaren
30:16
said Zion cannot die while Zion's God lives and God would
30:22
keep his promises and his glory would return to Zion.
30:26
And then he has revealed his glory.
30:29
He says he appears in his glory. This is probably a prophecy of a
30:34
future time when God's glory will be visible when the Messiah
30:38
is at the temple in Jerusalem, because God's glory resides in
30:42
the temple. That's the visible manifestation
30:45
of God. And then we go to for God's
30:47
faithfulness in verse 17, he will respond to the destitute
30:53
and he will receive their plea. Verse 17 says he he regards the
30:58
prayer of the destitute. AW Tozer said upon God's
31:04
faithfulness rests our whole hope of future blessedness.
31:08
Only as He is faithful will his covenant stand and his promises
31:12
be honored. Only as we have complete
31:15
assurance that he is faithful, may we live in peace and look
31:19
forward with assurance of the life to come.
31:22
You know, in verses one to two, I mentioned he gave 55 verbs
31:27
demanding God to hear his prayer.
31:30
The question is, did the psalmist, did God hear his
31:32
prayer? I'll answer that in just a
31:34
minute. But I do believe here when he
31:36
says he regards the prayer of the destitute, he knows God will
31:39
hear his prayer. He also says that he will
31:42
receive their plea. He says and does not despise
31:45
their prayer. You know, we sing a song here at
31:48
Christ Community Church often called God is faithful.
31:51
Remember that song, it's by Sovereign Grace Music and the
31:55
chorus is just real simple. It's actually a chorus from
31:57
Psalm 114. It says God is faithful to his
32:01
promise. He is with us, He is with us.
32:05
God is faithful. God is faithful to his own.
32:08
So the psalmist is, is realizing just how faithful God is.
32:12
Even though Jerusalem's in ruins, the temple's been
32:15
destroyed, they can't sacrifice. There's just a few people left.
32:19
And next number 6 for God's immutability.
32:23
And in verse 18, he says his plan is recorded and his people
32:28
will rejoice. He says let this be recorded for
32:30
a generation to come. Now there's a 11 author said
32:36
that you know, things aren't happening right now.
32:39
The the temple is not being rebuilt.
32:41
Nobody's come back from the three the three Cyrus hasn't set
32:46
the three teams of people yet. He's just sitting around.
32:49
So it's like God's not working. But one author said, no matter
32:53
how impaired God's work may become, the immutability of God
32:57
guarantees that his work will move forward in God's perfect
33:01
time. Thus, there's always unshakable
33:05
hope in the future. Immutability for those you don't
33:08
know is God doesn't change. But God's immutability, His plan
33:12
has been recorded. He's written it down.
33:15
It will come to pass. He loves the nation of Israel
33:18
and someday He will, He will redeem all Israel in Romans 9:00
33:23
to 11:00. And then it says in the last
33:25
part of verse 18, His people will rejoice, He says, so that a
33:29
people yet to be created may praise the Lord.
33:33
So maybe this psalmist in his pain and suffering didn't get to
33:37
see the temple. I don't know, but maybe his
33:40
children and his grandchildren did.
33:42
A generation yet to come. One commentator said that when
33:46
you are ill or severely afflicted, I'm going to go see
33:51
Larry Arvis. And you know, you know, he fell
33:53
off a ladder and broke his ankle.
33:54
And I'm going to lecture him not to get on a ladder at age 91
33:57
anymore. But this guy says when you're
34:00
ill or severely afflicted, write a journal of praise to pass on
34:04
to children and grandchildren. And Larry is just such a joyful
34:07
person, isn't he? It would be a perfect one for
34:09
him to do that. Let's look at #7 for God's
34:12
sensitivity, He looks down from heaven.
34:15
Verse 19 says he looked down from his holy height, from the
34:19
heaven. The Lord looked at earth.
34:21
The omniscient God of the universe doesn't actually have
34:24
to look down. But you know, he looked down at
34:26
Sodom and Gomorrah. He looked down at at the Tower
34:30
of Babel, and he's looked down several times.
34:33
So he looks down from heaven and it says he hears their groans.
34:36
Are these prisoners? Are they the Babylonian captives
34:40
who were taken to Babylon? So maybe this, this Psalm was
34:43
written when Jerusalem was still burning and, and just been
34:47
destroyed. And all these captives are on
34:49
their way to Jerusalem. And then he says to set free
34:52
those who are doomed to die. Many of those captives would be
34:55
executed. I think one time I, I counted
34:58
they executed over 86 people. Nebuchadnezzar executed over 86
35:02
people on the senses of death there.
35:04
So there are some prisoners apparently under the sentence of
35:07
death. And then he says #8 for God's
35:10
name, OK, it will be declared in Zion, the name of the Lord, and
35:15
in Jerusalem, his praise. This is the third time or Psalm
35:18
has mentioned Zion, and this time it mentions it with
35:21
Jerusalem. Yahweh is God's name mentioned
35:25
three times. I'm sorry, mentioned seven times
35:28
in verses 12 to 22. And you know, it's the most
35:30
common name for God in the Bible mentioned over 6000, some
35:35
commentators say 6500, others say 6800.
35:39
But it's God's covenant name, right?
35:41
And it says it will be declared by all, it says when peoples
35:44
gather together and kingdoms to worship the Lord.
35:48
You know we saw in Psalms 87 last week, right, that natural
35:52
born again citizens from all Four Nations, including Israel's
35:58
enemies will gather in Zion and worship the Lord some great day.
36:03
So I asked a question earlier, did God answer this psalmist
36:06
prayer? Turn with me to Psalm 147.
36:09
Turn with me to Psalm 147 because that is the answer to
36:13
prayer in Psalm 147 was written when the temple was being
36:23
restored. Psalm 147 says praise the Lord,
36:28
for it is good to sing praises to our God, for it is pleasant
36:32
and a song of praise is fitting. The Lord builds up Jerusalem.
36:36
He gathers the outcast of Israel.
36:38
He heals the broken hearted and binds up their wounds.
36:42
He determines the number of stars.
36:44
He gives to all of them their names.
36:46
Great is our Lord and abundant in power.
36:49
His understanding is beyond measure.
36:51
The Lord lifts up the humble. He cast the wicked to the
36:54
ground. Sing to the Lord with
36:56
Thanksgiving. Make a melody to our God on the
36:58
lyre. He covers the heavens with
37:00
clouds, He prepares rain for the earth, He makes the grass grow
37:05
on the hills. He gives the beast their food
37:07
and the young Ravens that cry. His delight is not in the
37:10
strength of the horse, His pleasure is not in the legs of
37:13
man. But the Lord takes pleasure in
37:15
those who fear Him, in His hope, in His steadfast love.
37:19
Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem, Praise your God, O Zion, for he
37:24
strengthen the bars of your gates.
37:26
He blesses your children within you.
37:27
He makes peace within your borders.
37:29
He fills you with the finest of wheat.
37:31
He sends out his command to the earth.
37:33
His word runs swiftly. He gives snow like wool, He
37:37
scatters frost like ashes. He hurls down his crystals of
37:41
ice like like crumble. Who can stand before his cold?
37:46
He sends out his word and melts them.
37:48
He makes his wind blow and the waters flow.
37:51
He declares his word to Jacob, his statues and rules to Israel.
37:55
He has not dealt thus with any other nation.
37:58
They do not know his rules. Praise the Lord, you know you
38:02
count there in that Psalms 14744 references to God alone, but
38:09
that's the answer to prayer. God did build up Jerusalem.
38:12
God did answer the psalmist prayer in God's timing, right.
38:16
Let's look at at point #3 the psalmist dependency Psalms 23 to
38:22
Psalms 28. Psalms 23 says he has broken my
38:26
strength in mid course. He has shortened my days.
38:30
Oh God, I say, take me not away in the midst of my days.
38:34
You whose years endure through all generations of old.
38:38
You laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the
38:41
work of your hands. They will perish, but you will
38:43
remain. They will all wear out like a
38:45
garment. You will change them like a
38:47
robe, and they will pass away. But you are the same, and your
38:52
years have no end. The children of your servants
38:55
shall dwell secure. Their offspring shall be
38:58
established before you. You know the name of God is only
39:02
mentioned once in this last paragraph and it's it's the
39:05
generic name L for God. But the psalmist does use the
39:09
words you 6 times and he two times in this brief section
39:13
here. But the psalmist is going to
39:15
list why he's dependent upon God.
39:18
Now the first verse is kind of interesting Psalm verse 23
39:21
because he goes back to verses 1 to 11.
39:24
He says God crushed me, He broke my strength and he shortened my
39:28
days. In verse 23, he says he has
39:30
broken my strength in mid course.
39:33
So Psalms verse 23, the psalmist returns to remind God of his
39:37
circumstances in verses 1:00 to 11:00.
39:39
And then he says he's shortened my days.
39:42
The psalmist feels like he's about to die and there's an
39:45
urgency in his prayer, much like, you know, Moses in Numbers
39:49
11, Moses asked God to kill him. He wanted to die because he was
39:54
overburdened with the the the responsibility of the children.
39:57
Israel mentioned Elijah. Elijah wanted to die and after
40:02
the great victory of the prophets of Baal, Elijah flees
40:05
from Jezebel and he asked God just kill me, just kill me and
40:10
Jonah. Jonah, frustrated by God's mercy
40:13
on the people of Nineveh, asked God to kill him in Jonah 4 three
40:17
Job repeatedly in the book of Job asked.
40:21
Desired for death, asking lament, lamenting his suffering
40:25
and questioning God's action. Jeremiah cursed the day of his
40:28
birth, indicating a desire. He wished he hadn't been born
40:32
thus, a desire for death. And even the apostle Paul, that
40:35
great apostle in Second Corinthians 18, says that
40:40
brothers, brothers, we experienced affliction.
40:43
We were so utterly burdened beyond strength that we
40:46
despaired of life. But God didn't allow any of
40:50
those men to die, right? Charles Ryrie says all the
40:54
powers of the world cannot take my life away until God permits.
40:59
And then he says all the physicians of the earth cannot
41:03
preserve it when God calls me away.
41:06
So let's look at First off. Then that was was God crushed
41:11
him in verse 23. But then in verse 24 to 28, he's
41:16
going to call upon God and he's going to list 5 things.
41:19
They're not really in your outline, you have to list them,
41:21
but number one he's going to say in verse 24, God, you control
41:26
all things. He says, Oh my God, I say take
41:29
me not away in the midst of my days.
41:31
Use whose years endure through all generations.
41:34
The psalmist was afraid he was going to die soon and you would
41:37
never see the restoration of the temple in Jerusalem.
41:41
The psalmist is thinking like King Hezekiah.
41:43
Remember when Elijah went to King Hezekiah and says you're
41:45
going to die, get your house in order.
41:47
Isaiah 3810 King Hezekiah says in the midst of my days, I must
41:53
depart. I am consigned to the gates of
41:55
sheehole for the rest of my years.
41:57
I said I shall not see the Lord the Lord in the land of living.
42:01
I shall look upon man no more among the inhabitants of the
42:04
world. So kind of like the same pouting
42:07
with God there, but the psalmist acknowledges that God controls
42:10
all in verse 24 and there's 25. He acknowledges that God creates
42:15
all he says of old. You laid the foundation of the
42:19
earth. The heavens are the work of your
42:21
hands. He is the creator God, right?
42:24
And these verses, Psalm, I'm sorry, Psalms 102 verses 2526
42:36
and 27 are quoted in Hebrews chapter 1 verses 11:50.
42:41
And you know, Hebrews one, which is just quote after quote after
42:45
quote from Psalms, but Hebrews one, the writer of Hebrews is
42:49
trying to prove that Jesus Christ is superior to angels.
42:52
So he quotes our Psalm, Psalm, our verses 25 to 27.
42:57
And he's indicating, hey, that Jesus is greater than angels
43:01
because the sun created the universe and one day that sun is
43:05
going to destroy the heavens and the earth he created.
43:07
But this, this sun remains unchanged.
43:10
And again he talks about the immutability and divine essence
43:14
of God. So He's the creator.
43:17
And then in verse 26, God changes all.
43:21
He says they will perish, but you remain.
43:24
They will all wear out like a garment.
43:25
You will change them like a robe, and they will all pass
43:28
away. Astronomers tell us that the
43:31
stars will wear out in 5.5 billion years and that someday
43:35
our sun is going to run out of hydrogen.
43:38
So even they will apparently wear out like a garment.
43:41
But God is everlasting, everlasting, eternal.
43:45
Now verse 27, God changes not he says, but you are the same and
43:50
your years have no end. God doesn't change.
43:54
You know I mentioned MacArthur says immutability is yet another
43:58
characteristic of the divine essence.
44:01
Once again, the Old Testament testifies to the Son's deity.
44:06
Hebrews 13/8 says, you know that verse, Jesus Christ is a saying,
44:09
yesterday, today, and forever, and then #5 God cares for all.
44:15
Verse 28 The psalmist ends with hope.
44:18
OK. The psalmist says, the children
44:21
of your servants shall dwell, secure, their offspring shall be
44:25
established before you. The psalmist knows that the
44:28
future is dependent upon God and His promises.
44:31
The psalmist might not see the return of Jews.
44:34
He might not see the temple being rebuilt and Jerusalem
44:38
being rebuilt under King Cyrus, but he knows his children will.
44:42
Because you know God will keep His promise.
44:45
The Lord did keep His promise. The people were restored to
44:48
Jerusalem under King Cyrus and eventually God would send Jesus
44:52
Christ the Messiah to restore mankind to Himself.
44:57
And only Jesus is the answer to our problems and sufferings.
45:00
I quoted this once before, but I felt it was appropriate to read
45:03
it again tonight. There's a Chinese parable which
45:06
describes how a man fell into a pit and he lay groaning there
45:10
and helpless. Presently Confucius, that great
45:13
Chinese philosopher, passed by and seeing the man, said to him,
45:18
how foolish of you to fall in there.
45:21
I am truly sorry for you. Let me give you some advice.
45:24
If you ever get out of this pit, don't fall in again.
45:28
Later a Buddhist priest passed by and said, Poor fellow
45:32
creature, if you can but struggle halfway out, I could
45:36
reach you and lift you out. But the next day the Lord Jesus
45:40
passed by that way. And hearing the man's groans, he
45:43
had compassion on him and said, I loved you and gave myself for
45:48
your salvation. And he stooped right down and
45:51
lifted that man up saying, see, I've saved you, go and sin no
45:55
more. What a wonderful savior is he.
45:58
So I hope like the psalmist, you can keep your eyes on Jesus no
46:02
matter what they are. Don't be surprised when times of
46:05
spiritual loneliness and despair come.
46:08
They will come. God is not obliged or obligated
46:12
to answer our cries for help immediately.
46:15
You've heard it 100 times in this church, Ambassador Lance,
46:18
that God never gave Job the answer, right?
46:21
Job did not know what was going on behind the scenes.
46:24
But don't confuse the silence of God with a lack of love, a lack
46:29
of love or compassion. But try to direct your vision to
46:33
the eternal picture than the immediately difficult
46:36
circumstances. So remember tonight, verses 1 to
46:39
11, we're all about suffering. But verse 12, he says, but you,
46:44
the psalmist got his eyes focused on his immutability, his
46:48
eternality, his pity, his compassion, his faithfulness.
46:52
And I was thinking tonight in closing, we have a few minutes
46:55
before you can pick up your kids.
46:57
But I was thinking about the book of Philippians.
46:59
And if you want to turn there, the book of Philippians.
47:02
You know, the apostle Paul is sitting in a Roman jail, yet he
47:07
says so much about joy and rejoicing.
47:12
So much. Sometimes it drives me crazy.
47:14
But I want you to think about this.
47:17
Prison is not a place to write about joy, is it?
47:22
It's probably cold. He's chained to a Roman soldier.
47:27
I'm sure the food wasn't good. You know he's innocent, but
47:31
prison is not a place to write about joy and peace.
47:35
Yet look what the apostle Paul does.
47:38
Philippians 1, three to four. I thank my God in all my
47:42
remembrance of you always and every prayer of mine for you
47:47
all, making my prayer with joy. So there's joy in prayer.
47:54
Even though he's in jail, even though he's going to spend at
47:58
least two years there on the 1st imprisonment.
48:01
Then look at Philippians. Where did I go?
48:06
I missed up here. I'm not sure what verse is in
48:10
chapter 1, but it says what then?
48:13
Only that in every way, whether in pretense or truth, Christ is
48:18
proclaimed. And in that I rejoice.
48:21
Yes, I will rejoice. OK, so that's, that's in verses,
48:26
I think 15 and 16 there the last part of there.
48:32
So here there's joy, even though there's personal conflict going
48:35
on. Some people are preaching Christ
48:37
out of envy. Apostle Paul's doing it out of
48:39
sincerity, but he's he's just happy that the gospel is being
48:43
preached. So even though there's conflict
48:45
going on, there's joy. Then chapter 2 verses one to
48:49
two, he says, so if there's any encouragement in Christ, any
48:53
comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any
48:56
affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same
49:02
mind, having the same love, being in the full accord and of
49:05
one mind. So there's joy in prayer,
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there's joy in personal conflicts, and there's joy in
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unity in the body of Christ. And did we not see that last
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week at Vacation Bible School? It was just so beautiful.
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You've got the, the games going on over there.
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You've got the, the snacks going on over here.
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You got the Bible story going on over here.
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You got the, the crafts going on over here.
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And there's like 60-70 people with those kids and everybody's
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functioning. It's just a wonderful
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demonstration of love and unity, all so that the children can
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learn about Jesus Christ. Philippians 2 verses 7 to 18, he
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says in Philippians 217 to 18, even if I'm being poured out as
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a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your
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faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all.
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Likewise, you also should be glad and rejoice with me.
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So it's possible here. We do believe that Apostle Paul
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was released, but even if God would allow him to die here,
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he's going to have joy in death because you know, absent from
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the body is present with the Lord.
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So he's not feeling he's not having a pity party here.
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Even in second Timothy chapter 4, which we Paul's last words,
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he doesn't have a pity party. There's joy in pending death
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because he knows that he'll be with Christ in heaven forever.
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And then if you go to the last verses in in Philippians 2
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verses 28 to 29, not quite the last.
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He says I am more eager to send him.
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OK. He's talking about a path a
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path, right a path roditis. I'm sorry wrong guy.
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I'm more eager to send him there for that you may rejoice at
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seeing him again and that I may be less anxious.
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So receive him in the Lord with all joy and honor such men.
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So one of the main reasons Paul wrote Philippians was to ease
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their concern for a path roditis health even sick almost died.
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They're they're they're grieving.
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They're worried, but they love this brother.
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So there's joy in the leadership and Paul's going to send
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Epaphroditus back to them and there's just going to be great
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joy. And there's the Philippians had
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love and joy for the leadership in Epaphroditus.
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And then look at Philippians 31. Finally, my brothers, rejoice in
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the Lord. To write the same thing to you
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is no more trouble to me and it's safe for you.
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So this is the first time he says joy in the Lord.
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In Philippians he said a lot about joy, a lot about
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rejoicing. But here he says we have to have
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joy in the Lord. And there is no joy without the
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Lord, is there? There's no hope without the
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Lord, right? And then if you go to
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Philippians 4/1, he says, therefore, my brothers whom I
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love and long for my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord,
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my beloved. So Paul is saying, there's joy
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in seeing the fruit of the believers.
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There's joy in seeing the choir grow here.
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There's joy in seeing 19 people going to Argentina, 11 of them
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who've never been on a mission trip.
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There's joy the last few weeks we've had with, you know, 300
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people in the auditorium singing.
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There's been great joy in when you have see the fruit in the
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lives of the believers. And then you just go to verse
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four. He once again says in
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Philippians 4/4, rejoice in the Lord always.
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Again I say rejoice. So there's only joy in the Lord,
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nowhere else. And then you go to verse 10 for
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Philippians 410I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at length
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you have revived your concern for me.
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You're indeed concerned for me, but had no opportunity.
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There's joy in giving. You may not think so, but there
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is. There's joy in giving.
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And you know, you know what Jesus said, it's better to give
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than to receive. So there's great joy when you
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give. So we don't know exactly the
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total time Paul spent in jail, but I was reading today that
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possibly, you know, two years here, he was released, then he
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spent two years in the prison in Caesarea.
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And then before he was executed, could have been a year, a year
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and a half. So Paul might have spent six
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years in prison. Bad food, bad sleep, cold, hot.
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Yet he can constantly says rejoice, rejoice in the Lord
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because he's not looking at his circumstances.
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His eyes are fixed on his Savior Jesus Christ and God the Father.
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In fact, he actually says in Philippians that is imprisonment
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advanced the gospel just incredible.
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So I hope tonight that Psalm one O 2.
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If you're being afflicted with any trial, any suffering, maybe
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family, maybe financial, I don't know, you'll you'll see that the
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psalmist got his eyes off of his circumstances and got his eyes
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on God. That's what we need to do, and
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we need to rejoice even in those sufferings.
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Let's pray. Father, thank you tonight for
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Psalm 1O2. I know it's a long Psalm, and we
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have to go quick to cover through it, but I pray that we
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could leave here tonight, that when the trials come, when the
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suffering comes, or perhaps there are people here who, like
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the psalmist, are afflicted, are suffering, are struggling.
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May we keep our eyes focused on You and may we consider it with
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all joy. May we not be surprised, but may
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we, may we long for that day when we'll be in heaven with you
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forever. We will remember your
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faithfulness. May we remember your love and
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your mercy, your immutability and all your attributes.
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Father, may we keep our eyes focused on you till that day the
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trial's over, Till that great day you take us home to be with
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you forever in Jesus name, Amen.