The Word of God in The Heart of Man: Sustaining Faith in the Darkest Night - Psalm 119:81-88 (Psalms 119:81-88)

1:05We're watching this journey, the spiritual journey of this psalmist as he's going through life and situations and appealing to God for God's intervention in his life, dealing with the struggles, and especially a group of people who are persecuting him and bringing him low, afflicting him. And we're walking through this journey. And in the last two stanzas, the Teth and the Yod, they reach a high point. He begins in verse 67, you remember, he starts to understand God's purposes for affliction. Before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I keep your word.

1:51And then in verse 71, he says, It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I may learn your statutes. So the occasions and the situations that he is facing, he's starting to understand. He gets the picture, God, the affliction that I am experiencing in my life is causing me to be humbled or to humble myself before you, to see my need, to cry out for you, and I see your goodness in my difficult circumstances. In fact, that was his prayer at the very beginning in verses 4 and 5. He says, you have ordained your precepts that we should keep them diligently. That's the blessed path in life. And then he says, oh, that my ways may be established to keep your statutes. And the amazing journey of this psalmist is a realization how God uses affliction in order to teach us to keep his statutes. His whole prayer is, Lord, that I may be established to keep your ways. And then he gets into the teth stanza and he says, Wow, before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now. I keep your word. There's the answer to my prayer. It was the affliction. So as we approach this Thanksgiving season, it's like, wow, thank God for that he has affliction. He has difficult circumstances. He has our trials under control. He allows them for his good purposes. But then in the Yod stanza, he takes us up even a further notch. And he says in verse 75, I know, verse 75, that you are righteous, that your judgments are righteous, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me. And so the psalmist makes this startling statement that the one afflicting him throughout this psalm ultimately is God himself. That God Himself is the one who is bringing the affliction, or the term for affliction implies a humbling circumstances to show him his need. He recognizes that, God, ultimately, you're the one afflicting me. Yes, the instrument that you're using to afflict me or to bring me low before you are these persecutors, these arrogant men who want me to be brought down, but they are merely the instrument, and that you are the one who is sovereign even over this, these difficult circumstances. Not only are you sovereign, but you have purposed them for my good. And so, going into things. Thanksgiving, as I've been studying, great God, you're sovereign. As we looked at that, you're sovereign and you're good. Wow, what a combination that God is all-powerful, almighty, knows all things, and he's good. And those twin doctrines are the foundation on which we can build our life. God is good, he's sovereign, and he's working all things out for our good, those who are called according to his purpose and who have responded to him in faith.

5:04He's working all things out. Well, then we come to the cough stanza, our passage this morning. And let me read to you this because we go from a hopeful height to the very lowest point in the Psalm. This is the darkest moment in the psalmist's life, or certainly the darkest that he wrote about. And it is dark. It is the blackest night. It's like he forgets everything that he had just said in the previous two stanzas. And let me read them. My soul languishes for your salvation. I wait for your word. My eyes fail with longing for your word. While I say, when will you comfort me? Though I have become like a wineskin in the smoke, I do not forget your statutes. How many are the days of your service? When will you execute judgment on those who persecute me? The arrogant have dug pits for me, men who are not in accord with your law. All your commandments are faithful. They have persecuted me with a lie. Help me. They almost destroyed me on earth. But as for me, I did not forsake your precepts. Revive me according to your loving kindness, so that I may keep the testimony of your mouth. Now, how's that for a Thanksgiving sermon, huh? Thanksgiving text, right? It's very dark. It's the darkest night in the psalmist's life. But in the midst of this dark time, there are five expressions of faith. In these dark times, even in this darkest moment, he exhibits faith. And that's what we want to talk to you about this morning, sustaining faith in the darkest night. I want you to see five expressions of the psalmist's faith, even in his darkness night, so that you will know how to respond in faith when you encounter dark times, because you are sure to encounter dark times, difficult times, trying times, very humiliating and humbling times. And you're going to have occasion to be exhausted and frustrated and desperate and even hopeless. And I want you to see how. Faith responds even in such difficult and dark times. So we're going to walk through this. Expressing faith in dark times. Five. Five situations I want to look at. In times of exhaustion, Psalmist gives us an example to hope in God's Word. And when you encounter times of exhaustion, hope in God's word. I want you to see this psalmist. I'm just going to start walking through this. I want you to see his exhaustion first, and then I want you to see his faith. Three expressions of exhaustion. Verse 81, first expression. My soul languishes for your salvation. The word languishes, to finish, to come to an end.

8:18It's done. My soul is at its ending point, languishing away, wasting away, waiting for your salvation, your act of deliverance, for your victory. I am waiting. I'm waiting for you to come in and to intervene and to alleviate my distress. My soul is at its very end. My very being is at its very end. See, he's at the point. I read it very well that. Thomas Manson said it very well. Manton said it very well. He's at the point of being wearied. He's beyond the point of being wearied. He's at the point of being dead. When a man is wearied, his strength is abated. When he faints, he is quite spent. These things, by a metaphor, are applied to the soul and the mind. A man is wearied when, in the fortitude of his mind, his moral and spiritual strength is broken, or he begins to, or it begins to abate, when his soul sits uneasy under sufferings, but when he sinks under the burden of long-standing affliction, he is said to faint. When all the reasons and grounds of his comfort are quite spent, he can hold out no longer. That's a picture of fainting, giving way.

9:56Think of a battle unit that's in battle, waiting for help, calling in. Their hope is that they can withstand the enemy just long enough for reinforcement to come. Well, that's the picture of this psalmist. His soul is at the very end, and unless God intervenes, he's done. Look at 82, verse 82. My eyes fail with longing for your word. It's another expression of his exhaustion. My eyes are also at the end of. Looking for your help.

10:34I'm at the end. I'm at the very end. They're about to fail. I think of physical eyes that read and grow to a point of exhaustion. Well, he's talking about his spiritual eyes, not his physical eyes. He's not just talking about a difficulty in reading. He's saying, my spiritual eyes of expectancy are at their end. Fainting, tired of waiting. There's a third expression. Look back. Look at the question he asked in 82. While I say, when will you comfort me? When? When is it coming, Lord? When will you start giving strength to me? When are you going to be moved with compassion for my situation and step in and alleviate my distress? When? When are you going to comfort me?

11:29That's where he is. Exhausted, about completely spent. Have you ever experienced such spiritually exhaustion or such spiritual exhaustion? If you haven't, you will. But if you've walked with Christ for any time, you hit those points where it's like, Lord, I'm exhausted. I can't do this anymore. I can't continue like this. Lord, please intervene. Well, that's where he's at. Completely exhausted, to where he can use some very graphic language to say, I'm at my soul's end. But then, even in the midst of this dark time, there is an expression of faith.

12:14Look at what he says in the second part of 81. I wait for your word. I wait, even though I'm at the very end, yet I am waiting. I cause myself to wait for your word. And it's the word for word, promise. It's the synonym he used. I wait for your promise. That word, that promise, it is your word that I have treasured in my heart in verse 11, that I might not sin against you. And he uses that word, promise. It's your promise that I've put in my heart so that I will not sin against you. And in verse 49, look back there. You remember, he says this, remember the word to your servant in which you have made me hope. This is my comfort in my affliction. He goes on, but the idea is: you gave me your word. You gave me your promise so that I would put my hope in your word. And this is my comfort. You gave me the word for the purpose of resurrecting a hope, of creating a hope within me.

13:21And so he's saying, I wait. That's the idea here. I wait. I hope in your word. It's the idea that faith understands that if. Comfort doesn't come from heaven. It's not coming from anywhere. But we do know that the Lord does see, and he will not allow our faith to fail. And the eyes which long for God's salvation are actually blessed eyes. If you long, these are the eyes, this psalmist, these are the eyes of the blessed.

13:58I tell you, it's a lot better to have blessed eyes, eyes that know your need for God and look for your need for God than to have cursed eyes that are captivated by the glitz and glitter of this world. Those are not the blessed eyes. The blessed eyes are those who are poor in spirit, who know their need for God and look for him. Interesting connection. You remember in Deuteronomy 24, paying hired servants, the Lord was very clear that if you have a person who comes in and works for you for a day, a day laborer, whether he's an alien or a countryman, you make sure you pay him his wages at the end of the day. And he gives a reason in Deuteronomy 24, 15, you shall give him his wages on his day before the sunset, for he is poor, and he sets his heart upon it.

14:54And he says, you better pay them because he has set his heart. You have held out a hope of payment, so you hired him. With the intent of paying him, he needs that money and he sets his heart upon it. So make sure when you enter in the land that you pay wages before the sun sets. You be quick to pay so that he will not cry out against you and to the Lord and it becomes a sin in you. In other words, God's saying, don't create false hopes in people. It's sin. Now think about God here. He gave his word. Why?

15:29So that we would wait for it, so that we would hope for it. And there's one thing you need to know about God: He does not sin, He does not raise hopes and then not fulfill them. And then that's what the psalmist is saying. That's His comfort. You are the one who started this hope in me by giving me all these promises. And so, when you're going through a period of spiritual exhaustion, don't give up. Don't give in. Wait for God's promises. Hope in His Word. Hope in God's Word. That's what faith looks like, even in those spiritually exhausting periods. Second, expressing faith in dark times, in your periods of exhaustion, hope in God's Word, but in times of frustration, remember God's statutes. Remember God's statutes. Look at verse 2. 83.

16:32Though I have become like a wineskin in the smoke, I do not forget your statue. It's a very graphic image. Uh-oh. A wineskin in the smoke. Now, back in the time, you know, they didn't have bottles. I don't know if some of you have a translation that says I'm like a bottle in the smoke. Maybe you do, but what was a wineskin? It was a bottle, a leather bottle. And if you got that leather bottle too close to a fire, what do you think would happen? I'd probably get dirty, the smoke. But what else would happen? And dry out, right? And then it would become useless. That's the picture.

17:17I did a little experiment yesterday. I smoked a turkey. And I wanted to see what would happen if you put some leather next to some smoke. And I waited until the fire went way down. Took my leather glove, set it over there off to the side, and this was a perfectly good leather glove, just used it. And just in just a very short time, you can kind of see what, in fact, it's dripping. It's dripping up here. It's really dripping. But it became, it's very hard, very brittle. And you could picture this if this is a wineskin set to, I mean, you wouldn't use this as a glove. Sorry about, yeah. But you try to hold water in this, okay?

18:00Well, that's the idea. It's basically useless. It's really good for nothing, except for making a mess on someone's guitar, right? Sorry about that. But you get the idea. And this is the image. He says, this is me. This is me. A wineskin in the smoke. That's what I become like. My spiritual energy has been zapped. I am to a point where I feel completely useless, useless, worthless, good for nothing. He's just really down, really down. And there's two point two options when you get to this point. I mean, have you ever felt this way? Listen, young people, don't think that old people don't feel this way. You may look at some people in your life and you may think they always have it right, they're strong, they're spiritually stout, but don't think that some of the older people do not have a problem with this, that there can be some times when I just feel useless. And on the contrary, just because someone's young, older people don't think that they can't feel this. Even the youngest can have a sense of uselessness. What am I good for? Well, there's two options when you get to this point in life. And you'll reach these points, for sure.

19:26You can either curse God, as Job's wife was. Telling him to do, curse God and die. You can curse God, or you can remember God's statutes. You can hold on to God even though you feel your grip growing faint. Remember his statutes. Two questions that continue to express his frustration. Look in verse 84. First question he asks here: How many are the days of your servants? How many are the days? Awkward phrasing, but he's basically saying, I don't have many days like this left. I can't go on like this. I do not have much time left, so please step in and save me. My soul, this is why my soul is languishing for your salvation. How many days left do I have like this?

20:26And this question naturally feeds into the next one that he asks in 84: When will you execute judgment on those who persecute me? Remember, he's already said, Lord, I know that you're the one behind the affliction for my good, but this instrument that you're using, they're wearing me out. How long does this go on? How long? Do you hear the frustration? How long? And this is right at the center. Of this psalm. When will you execute judgment? When will you start doing something about my pitiful situation?

21:11This really isn't about the affliction, what the actual affliction is. He's spending more time about what to do in that affliction. I mean, we can be afflicted and made to feel our need for God in many ways. That's not the main issue here. So I think we can be brought low in many different circumstances and on many different occasions. But he's saying, How long are you going to let this go on? How long are you going to let this situation progress?

21:39And those who persecute me, it's participle, those who are causing my suffering. How long will you let this situation that is causing my suffering go on? The word for pursuit or persecute is actually pursuing me. Remember in 2 Kings 9, when Jehu was pursuing Ahaziah, and he pursued him with the intent, and he shot him, and then he later died. But it was the intent to bring him down. That's the idea of persecuting. These people wanted to bring him down, and they pursued him. They persecuted him with the intent of destroying him. And the psalmist is saying, How long are you going to let this go on? How long before you step into the judicial seat and make a determination on my case and punish them? For what they're doing, spiritual frustration. Have you ever had such spiritual frustration? Have you ever reached such a point with God? God, when are you going to step in? Have any of you ever been there? Any of you there right now? What do you do? Well, there's two responses. You can respond in unbelief, or you can respond in faith. What does faith look like?

23:00Well, look back at the second part of 83. Though I have become like a wineskin in the smoke, I do not forget your statutes. I do not forget your statutes. That is, your written authoritative words. That's what the word for statutes. I mean, that's a synonym there for word. The word for word he uses is statutes. Your written authoritative words. So even in times of frustration, don't sin. Hold on to faith. Remember God's statutes. Remember his written authoritative words. And this is the victory of faith. You remember Jesus? It is written. It is written. It is written.

23:52That's the victory of faith. Hold on. Be faithful to your king, even When you feel most deserted by him, because we know by faith he promises to never forsake his people, to never leave them. And this is why you need faith. This is the victory of faith because it compels you to hold on even when you don't feel like holding on. It compels you to trust in God even when you don't sense his favor because he has written that he will never forsake his people. So even if your comfort is gone, like the moisture from a burnt piece of leather, hold on to God's statutes. And this is what faith does, this is what it does, even in the worst of circumstances.

24:59Even the worst of circumstances cannot destroy faith. Do you see faith's resiliency? This is why without faith it's impossible to please God. Read a lot about overcomers in the New Testament, those who overcome. I'll tell you who the overcomer is. I used to think the overcomer is the one who just always marched in triumph. No, I'll tell you who the overcomer is: the one who does not see. To have faith or responds to God in unbelief. The overcomer is the one who remembers what is written, who holds on to God. And sometimes during that process, it's not very pretty, and sometimes it's hardly perceptible even to the naked eye.

25:49But I can tell you, I know some people in this room that are spiritual giants, and then you wouldn't even see it. They are going through things that if you and I were put through, we would really be challenged to the very core of our being. And I know some people in this room who are overcomers. Their faith, even in the darkest times, they have faith. So even in times of frustration, remember God's statutes. Third, in times of persecution, appeal to God's faithfulness. So in times of exhaustion, hope in God's word. In times of frustration, remember God's statutes. In times of persecution, appeal to God's faithfulness. Look at verse 85. The arrogant have dug pits for me, men who are not in accord with your law. And these are these arrogant ones. We've seen them throughout the Psalm. They're the inflated ones. They're presumptuous. They're men who do not regard God's law and even despise those who do.

27:01You remember the progression? If you look back, remember? These are the ones through the Psalm. They were first introduced way back in verse 20. Right? And 21s, they are the arrogant ones, the cursed ones. They are the ones who are constantly going astray from God's commandments. And in verse 23, they are the what? The princes that are sitting and talking. Those in authoritative positions, they are sitting, they are conspiring against the psalmist. And in verse 42, it progresses.

27:36There is one who is reproaching him to his face. So not only are they conspiring, now they're confronting him. And then in verse 51, the arrogant utterly deride me. Plural, they are constantly, they are taking me down. They are scorning me. And then in 69, the arrogant have forged a lie against me. In verse 78, they subvert me with a lie. And in verse 85, they have dug pits. They have set traps. Many, many pits. Like an animal, like they dug a hole and covered it up with the hopes of catching an innocent animal in the trap. Well, that's the idea. And they set many traps, plotted many schemes to bring down this righteous person.

28:26And they could do so repeatedly. Notice how they repeatedly do it. And they can do so without paying a conscience. This is the wicked. This is the crooked way. They could spend their time repeatedly seeking to destroy the righteous, and they could be proud in doing it. And it's clear from 86, the second part, that lies, their entraps included lies. They have persecuted me with a lie. Same word for persecution. They have pursued me with the intent to destroy me. So their lies are intended to defame him, take him down, slander him, and with the intent of ultimately destroying him.

29:08But even in the midst of this persecution, there is a picture of his faith, a statement of his faith. Look at verse 86, first part. All your commandments are faithful. That is, your commandments, meaning your ways, your orders for my life, are faithful. Their ways are crooked. Your ways are faithful. In fact, I find no fault in your ways. All, look at that word, all of your commandments, all of your ways for my life are good, faithful. Remember the word for faithful? Steady hands, like Moses in the battle that Joshua faced. Hands, that's the idea of faithful. Faithfulness, steadiness, steadiness in fidelity, steadiness in goodness. That is who your God is if you are in Jesus Christ. All of his actions, all of his ways are always steady towards your good, your well-being, your blessing.

30:21That's just who he is. He is hyper-loyal. So, what he's saying is, in the midst of this persecution, because you know what? The problem is not with God. You're faithful. The problem is with this fallen world. What kind of God would let evil exist? You hear that question a lot. See, bad things happen, right? I'll tell you. A God who is faithful to his people, a God who has a good and sufficient purpose for allowing evil, but a God who brings good out of that, and a God who is faithful to his people.

31:07But evil has its own problem. It's not in God, it's in the world. Problems within a fallen world. And that's what he's saying. He's saying, I trust you, God. You're faithful. It's this fallen world. It's these persecutors that are the problem. Then he cries out in faith. Look at the end of 86. Help me. They have persecuted me with a lie. Help me. That soul cry immediately, God, run to my aid. He's saying, Help me. Help me avoid their traps.

31:56Or perhaps they've caught him in the trap. Help me get out. of the trap. Help me bear up under the reproach of their lies. Help me to not lose my trust in you through all this. Help me to get through this. A very good New Testament example of such a heart cry was when the Father, after Jesus came down off the Mount of Transfiguration, and the Father brought this demon-possessed boy to his disciples. They couldn't cast it out, brought him to Jesus. And Jesus, in verse 21 of chapter 9, says, He asked the father, How long has this been happening to him? And he said, From childhood, it has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us. Here's a desperate cry of a father, help us. And Jesus said to him, If you can, all things are possible to him who believes. And immediately the boy's father. Cried out and said, I do believe, help my unbelief. That's the distress of the help, my boy, help my unbelief. And that's the psalmist crying from his heart, help me, help me in every manner that I need help. That's the universal cry, isn't it? Universal prayer. Millions of situations around the world, many situations in our own. How many times do we constantly help me, God, help me?

33:36Help me in my distress, my anxiety, my weakness, my sin, my frailty. Help me in my faith. It's acknowledgment that if the Lord is with us or for us, who can be against us? So it may be in times of these persecutions that you may be tempted to be ashamed or compromise. And in the United States, we're not going to probably deal with open persecution to the extent that some of our brothers and sisters are facing around the world, but you will experience rejection for the cause of Christ. You will experience isolation. You will experience some slander. You will experience some people mocking you.

34:20And in those times, you may be ashamed of God's commandments. In fact, you may want to trade God's. Commandments for man's commandments. You may want to trade God's ways for man's ways because you just are ashamed. Don't. That's simply appeal to God's faithfulness. He is faithful. He is faithful. In fact, Hebrews 2:17 and 18 says, He was made in all things like his brethren, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God. Because he has, since he himself was tempted and suffered, he is able to come to the aid to those who are tempted. So wait for his salvation.

35:15Wait. Fourth. So in times of exhaustion, hope in God's word. In times of frustration, remember God's statutes. In times of persecution, appeal to God's faithfulness. And in times of desperation, adhere to God's precepts. Look at this desperate moment, verse 87. They almost destroyed me on the earth. They, these persecutors, these arrogant ones, they almost destroyed me. They almost brought my life to an end. They got the upper hand, at least for a time. They caught him in one of his traps, in one of their traps. And it looked like, at least from the psalmist's perspective for a moment, that the game was over. And here he is.

36:01Praying. They almost destroyed me. This is a desperate moment. And they would kill me. They had the chance. And they would do it any possible way. But here, even in this point, when they brought them to the very near end of his life, there's this expression of faith. They almost destroyed me on earth, verse 87. But as for me, I did not forsake your precepts. This is what faith does. I did not abandon, I did not leave them behind or cease to adhere to them. I stuck to your precepts.

36:41Word for precepts refers to those expectations of me, God's written expectations. God's written expectations. I stayed true to your expectations of me, and I didn't crater and give in to their expectations of me. Look at the contrast. Here's a very sharp contrast between the wicked and the righteous. You can see this going all the way back to Cain and Abel. But the wicked, they are determined to bring down the righteous. But the righteous are determined to adhere to God's precepts. Different determining factors. One determines to bring the other down, the other determines. To adhere to God's precepts. So, in times and moments of desperation when you feel overwhelmed by your situation and you're going to have some in life, or you feel like you're going down for the last time, or maybe your situation is large or small, but anyways, you reach that point of desperation, there will be an instinct to save yourself. There is going to be an instinct to abandon God's expectations or precepts and to start fending for yourself.

38:10But don't. That's not what faith does. Faith, even in those extreme, desperate times, even then, faith seeks to adhere to God's precepts, even in the darkest moment of the darkest night. And that's where the psalmist is: in the darkest moment of the darkest night. And yet, he adheres to God's precepts, and he waits for God's salvation. So, in times of exhaustion, hope in God's word. In times of frustration, remember God's statutes. In times of persecution, adhere to God's, I'm sorry, appeal to God's faithfulness, and in times of desperation, adhere to God's Precepts. And in times of hopelessness, pray for God's reviving grace. It's against this backdrop. So far, this whole psalm has been dark. It's been night. It's been anguish. It's been frustration. It's been exhaustion. It's been pain. It's been sorrow. It's been grief. It's all of that. And it's against this darkest part of the night that he utters this prayer. Revive me, verse 88, according to your loving kindness, so that I may keep the testimony of your mouth. Revive me. Give me life. Give me life so that I may live. And it's that imperative plea. And he's not just talking about keep my physical, biological life going for another few days. That's not what he's talking about. He's saying, give me life. Give me that abundant life. The word is actually, cause me to flourish. Cause me to prosper in my situation. Flourish. I love the image of flourishing. Cause me to flourish in the situation that you put me in. Cause me to really live. Bring me back from the spiritual, hopeless situation and cause me to thrive spiritually in where you've placed me. And notice the basis of his prayer.

40:34According to you, revive me according to your loving kindness. In other words, not because of my righteousness, but because of your loving kindness. That is, your hased, your loyalty, your resident compassion, your resident goodness, your resident hyper-loyalty to your people. According to that, according to your loyal love and your devoted faithfulness to all who call upon you, according to that, revive me. I mean, listen, if you are in a system that thinks you can earn God's favor by your works, you're going to spend eternity in hell because you don't want what you deserve. Believe me, the psalmist doesn't ask according to what he deserves or the rightness of his situation. He appeals to the loving kindness of the Father. That's the basis for his appeal.

41:35You remember David prayed a similar prayer in the darkness of his sin. You remember that deep, dark sin where he committed sin with Bathsheba and then he killed her husband, Uriah? And how does one get over the guilt of that when the reality hits of just how awful the sin is? You know how he begins his Psalm 20. 51, 1, Be gracious to me, O God, according to your loving kindness, according to your his said, according to that which is in you, your devoted goodness, your loyalty, not according to my loyalty. And this is the morning star of hope in this psalm. This is the only glimmer of hope in this psalm. And in the next two stanzas, he's going to go back to the heights. He's going to go back to the heights because of God's loving kindness. It's the morning star that the night is going to end.

42:40And it's going to end because of the goodness of our God. So no matter who you are, no matter what night you may be going through or you will go through, understand that there is hope because God is a loving God. Notice the reason for his prayer. Cause me to flourish, revive me according to your loving kindness. Cause me to flourish according to your loving kindness, so that I may keep the testimony of your mouth, that I may keep it, that I may tend to the testimony, that I may keep it, that I may observe it, like Adam was supposed to keep the garden, that I may keep the testimony of your mouth. And this goes back to his prayer at the Beginning, oh, that my ways, verse 5, would be established to keep your ways.

43:37And here he is again: revive me so that I may keep the testimony, that is, the witness of your mouth, your witness to the truth. Not man's witness to the truth, but the testimony of your mouth. And I believe this is a reference to, I think he's got Deuteronomy 8 in his mind as he is going through this in his mind. This is a man who knew the Torah very well. He studied it, as you've seen.

44:11But he says this. Let me read to you Deuteronomy 8, verses 1 through 3. This is that point when the Israelites are about to enter into the land of Canaan. And God says this, all the commandments that I am commanding you today you shall be careful to do. In other words, be careful to keep them, be careful to observe them, that you may live and multiply, that you may flourish and go into the land and possess it, which the Lord swore to give to your forefathers. You shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you in these wilderness these forty years, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. He humbled you and let you be hungry. Isn't it interesting how God did this with Israel? Took them through the 40 years of wandering, God humbled them so that and he let them be hungry, so that he would feed them, so that they might understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives, truly lives, truly flourishes by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord.

45:23That's what the Israelite wonderings were about. And this psalmist is saying here, I see this on a national level, I see this on a very personal level, that God allowed me to be humbled, so that I would learn this truth, that I may keep every word that comes out of your mouth. This is one of those rare stanzas where all eight synonyms for the word are used. In verse 81, the word for word is word. The 82, the word for word is the word promise. In verse 83, the word for word is statutes. In verse 84, the word for word is judgments. The word for word in verse 85 is law. The word for word in 86 is commandments. The word for word in 87 is precepts. And the word for word in 88 is testimony. All, everything that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

46:26So, what does faith look like in dark times? Well, in times of exhaustion, Hope in God's word, times of frustration. Remember God's statutes in time of persecution. Appeal to God's faithfulness in times of desperation. Adhere to God's precepts. And in times of hopelessness, pray for reviving grace. You know what faith does? It keeps holding on, doesn't it? That's the picture of faith: a deep-seated trust of faith. Well, how do you see your humbling circumstances? Do you see God's goodness in them? Do you see God's sovereignty over them?

47:14It's good. But it doesn't always make it easier going through the trial, does it? And that's where faith comes in. Even when we're brought to our very end, like a dried piece of leather, hold on, hope, remember, appeal, adhere, and pray, for he's there. If you do not know Christ this morning, he promises, as the song we sang earlier, know not one will he leave behind. Anyone who calls upon his name, know not one will he forsake or abandon. He will hear them all, every prayer, and in every prayer that you offer, he will always and forever.

48:01Deal with you in faithfulness and goodness. Otherwise, he would deny himself. And this is the word that he has given us, that we would hope in it. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for the promises that it gives us. Thank you for the psalmist's life. Thank you for what he went through. Thank you, Lord, that you brought him back from the end and the point of death. Father, help us to understand these truths so that we may be like him and not faint, Lord, in difficult times. Lord, please do your work in us right now as we continue to pray in Jesus' name.