Longings of a Servant of God in a Fallen World - Psalm 119:121-128 (Psalms 119:121-128)

6:01And rightness before God and man. I have conducted myself rightly before God and man. I have conducted, I have done my affairs with what you declare is right. I have done right. You've heard that expression, right? I've done right. That's what he's saying. I have done what is right. I have done my best to do right by everyone. Wow. What a great testimony. And what a testimony for us to seek. That we would always, in every circumstance, seek to do what is right before God and right to others. That all of our ways would be just out of a love for our neighbor and right out of a love for God.

6:42Let us seek to do that. And so he says, in light of this, I have dealt this way. And as we know from the rest of the Psalm, it's because of his principles of righteousness and justice that he has gotten himself in trouble, got some oppressors, some who do not like God's law, and so they persecute him and here oppress him. Do not leave me to my oppressors. Do not leave me. Do not abandon me. Do not abandon me to those who are oppressing me, those who are persecuting me, those who are constraining me. You know, it's interesting. Remember in Job. You remember that heart cry in Job.

7:37Remember, Job, he was really blessed, and then Satan came and said, You know what? Let me, Adam, God, and he'll curse you to your face. God said, Go ahead. And then Satan attacks and oppresses Job on a major league level. And Job is crying out, and he is feeling oppressed on all sides. And it is in Job chapter 29 that Job starts pouring out his heart, longing for God to relieve him of his oppression and longing for that time when God's favor was upon him. And I just want to read it to you because, in a sense, this is what our psalmist is going through: a strong desire for God to insert himself. Job 29:1. And Job again took up his discourse and said, Oh, that I were as in months gone by, as in the days when God watched over me. There was a time when God watched over me, when his lamp shone over my head, and by his light I walked through the darkness, as I was in the prime of my days, when the friendship with God was. Over my tent. Ever think that way? Oh, there was a time when God's smile was upon me, when the Almighty was yet with me, and my children were around me. Remember what happened to his children? Satan took them, right?

9:16When my steps were bathed in butter, and the rock poured out for me streams of oil. It's a picture of blessing. When I went out to the gate of the city, when I took my seat in the square, the young men saw me and hid themselves, and the old men rose and stood. The princes stopped talking and put their hands on their mouths. The voice of the nobles was hushed, and their tongues stuck to their palate. For when the ear heard, it called me blessed, and when the eye saw, it gave witness of me, because I delivered the poor who cried for help, and the orphan who had no helper. The blessing of the one ready to perish came upon me, and I made the widow's heart sing for joy. And he says this in verse 14: I put on righteousness, and it clothed me, and my justice was like a robe and a turban. He's saying, God, I had in his oppressed state, Job is saying, Don't leave me here. But he's saying, I put on righteousness, I put on justice, I did what was right, and now the hand of the Almighty seems to have left me.

10:25But that's exactly what Job is saying: don't oppress me. I don't know what. Going on in the world, and that's exactly what this psalmist is saying: Do not leave me, do not abandon me, don't cause me to be left to the desires of my oppressors. And the word for oppressors is that it's a participle, it's a verb, those oppressing ones, my oppressing ones, do not leave me to my oppressing ones. And the term describes a person who has a position of authority over another and uses it to subject a person to undue pressures.

11:06It's an abuse of power, tyranny. That's what an oppressor does. He abuses power and lords it over and puts pressure on those under it. So he's using this term, do not leave me to those who are putting this kind of pressure upon me. And this is the first time in the psalm that he uses this term to describe his enemies. They are acting unjustly, they have subverted justice and righteousness. And the psalmist knows that God hates these, and that's exactly why he uses these terms, I believe. In Deuteronomy 21:14, God said, You shall not oppress a hire servant or the poor or the needy. Jeremiah 21, 12 says, O house of David, thus says the Lord, administer justice. Justice every morning, and deliver the person who has been robbed from the power of his oppressor, that my wrath may not go forth like fire and burn with none to extinguish it because of the evil of their deeds. So, God is God, the psalmist knows that God is a God who hates when people abuse their authority. They abuse their power and they use that to suppress others, especially in unrighteousness and unjust and unjustly. And that's exactly that psalmist is crying out, saying, This is how I am being treated. Don't leave me to these. I know you better than that. Look back at the 121, second part. Do not leave me to my oppressors. Verse 122, be surety for your servant for good. Do not let the arrogant oppress me. So, again, this oppressor, you see, and do not, you see, right in the middle of this, of these three statements, kind of sandwiched in this middle, is this plea: be surety for your servant for good. Do not leave me to my oppressors, do not let the arrogant oppress me. Right in the middle, he's saying, Be surety. What is that? Be surety. It's the idea of a legal responsibility, a guarantee. We go to get a loan, right? Sometimes. You can't get a loan, or especially if and you need someone to guarantee it. It's the idea. We use that term in banking altogether. Okay, if you will sign that this person, maybe a father or maybe a son's trying to get a loan on a car, and the dad has to come in and say, Yeah, well, if he doesn't pay off, I'll sign on here and make sure you get your money. That's the idea. A guarantee, a guarantee that the outcome is going to be certain. But it's an imperative: you be responsible for me, you be responsible for my good. That's what he's saying. Be surety for your servant. And he uses this term servant throughout. I am your servant. Three times. I am your servant. I am your servant. Your servant. Be good to me. I am your servant. I am your dependent subordinate. Do not abandon me.

14:31I have attached myself to you. And it is because I follow your principles of rightness and justice that I find myself being oppressed. Do not leave me. I'm an alien on this earth, and I am following your ways. I need you to be my refuge. And his refuge is in the goodness of God. The goodness that God Himself would be. The grantor, the guaranteer for a good outcome. I remember when Judah did something very noble in Genesis 43, 8, speaking about Benjamin. You remember Joseph was down in Egypt and said, okay, he said, I want you to bring Benjamin back with you.

15:28And Jacob didn't want Benjamin to go. And so Judah said to his father, Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die as well as you and our little ones. I myself will be surety for him. You may hold me responsible for him if I do not bring him back to you and set him before you. Then let me bear the blame before you forever. And so the psalmist is saying, you be my surety for good. You take the blame if evil consumes me. That's what he's saying. You be responsible. And it's that legal responsibility. He's saying, stand between me and my oppressor, just like a father might stand in between a creditor and his son and guarantee a note. And that's what he's saying here. You be that.

16:30Person that stands between me and my oppressors, and don't let them oppress me. That is, insert yourself to make sure that whatever they do, that good comes out the other side towards me. Sometimes, as we've already seen, God allows the oppression, God allows the trials, the hard times, the issues, and sometimes he accomplishes his greatest works through such times. The cross is the example, and God is not the author of evil. But what the psalmist is saying is, whatever evil they may intend for me, that it goes through you as the filter, and it comes out the other side and is used for my good. That's what he's saying. You guarantee that, regardless of what they want to do, that when it gets to me, it's going to accomplish and bring about good in my life. What a promise, right? I mean, it's that promise. He's saying, I want you to promise that all things are going to work together for my good. And we have that promise in Romans 8:28, don't we? And that's exactly what he's saying. Be surety, that is my refuge, that no matter what comes against me, I know that there is a God who stands between me. And all the circumstances of life, and he is going to use those for my good. That is my refuge, and allows me to be able to face whatever comes my way, knowing that my God is good.

18:17You know, the same language is used to describe Jesus, right? In Hebrews 7:22, that he is, Jesus is, has become the guarantee of a better covenant, that Jesus Himself stands between us and our ultimate oppressor. And boy, what a blessing, right? We have seen what the God of this age has done to this world, right? We have seen how He has put this competition, He has put man against man, and He has wreaked havoc upon this world. He is cruel. And those of you who have walked in the path of sin know exactly what I'm talking about. And it doesn't take much to look around and see the aftermath of a cruel tyrant that seems to rule and reign upon this land.

19:18But there is a guaranteer of a better covenant, of good days. And His name is Jesus Christ. And He has inserted Himself. In between the most cruel oppressor of all, and he has set himself in there and said, no matter what happens, no matter what comes, it's going to be good for my people. And even in the judgment, he is going to bring about good for his people. That's who he is. He can deal with us no other way.

19:54And so the longing, this deep longing for refuge, is met only in the God of the Bible. We all have a longing to be delivered from the storms of life, but refuge is not in a change of circumstances, but in a person who guarantees the good through our circumstances. That's where the refuge of life is. Second, looking at the longings of a servant of God in a fallen world, it's this longing for refuge. But then, second, there is a longing to be delivered from evil. Look at verse 123. And this longing is characteristic of all humanity. I believe that all of us have a sense we want to be delivered from evil and from difficult circumstances. I think that's common. Nothing new there. But the difference is that the believer seeks the salvation that only God can give.

20:58It is the only one that's fine. Final. Remember Isaiah 43, 11. I am the Lord, and that there is no Savior besides me. Verse 13, there is none who can deliver out of my hand. I act, and who can reverse it? The believer understands that salvation is in God and God alone. Ultimate salvation and every temporal salvation in between. We have little salvations that we need, little things, circumstances, issues, and things that we go through each day that we desire deliverance from, but then there's an ultimate deliverance. And what God delivers, no one can deliver from his hand. Look at verse 23, 123. My eyes fail with longing for your salvation and for your righteous word.

21:50My eyes fail with longing. Literally, it's like a spring that is dried up, an expression of intense longing and enduring hope. I'm just going to keep going. It's this idea, I'm going to the very end of my being, looking for your salvation. That's how deep-seated it is. A longing, longing, never-ending longing, even to the point of the end. But he's longing for two things from God. And these are the believer's hope. Look at this. He's longing. For your salvation and for your righteous word, two personal gifts from God, your salvation, literally, your deliverance. So, obviously, the psalmist is feeling oppressed. Something is going on, and he desires relief from it. Something's going on. I remember, you remember when those big bean bag chairs came out? This is probably back in the 70s, and probably they were around before then. I don't know, but these big, old, huge bing bag chairs, they were filled with little styrofoam, you know, all of those big, big old bags, big old heavy things. So, we got some at we got some at my house. And I remember playing around one day, all the somehow I ended up underneath the beanbag chair with all the kids jumped on top of it. And I can tell you, as a little kid, I'm stuck under there, I can't even breathe, and I have no way to even yell out or cry out. I mean, I am pinned, I can't move anywhere. And all I could do is think, this is awful.

23:37I can't even breathe, and I can't even let them know I can't breathe. Well, by God's grace, I was delivered. But that's what I was delivered from my oppressors. But that's the feeling. If you can picture that, being absolutely pinned and with weight crushing in on you, that's what he's saying. It's on all sides, and I need your salvation, your deliverance. Interesting thing about the word here, it's the word Yeshua. It's the word comes from Yeshua, the Hebrew name for Joshua. Of course, Jesus in the New Testament, certainly is, and Jesus is that certain expression of God's salvation. I am needing your Yeshua, your deliverance.

24:33And certainly he's talking about in a temporal sense there, but also in an ultimate sense. And as Scripture reveals, that Yeshua is a person. I long for your salvation. I also long for your righteous word. That is your promise of righteousness, your righteous word. That promise, that carries the idea of promise. I long for your salvation according to your promise and your promise of my well-being to come. I long for that. You see, when we are oppressed by those who wish to harm us, we fall into a temptation, don't we? And that's a temptation to repay evil with evil.

25:15And the scripture makes it very clear: we are never to repay evil for evil. Romans 12, 17. Matthew 5, 44, Jesus says, to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you so that you will be sons of your Father. And the idea, what happens is if you respond to evil with evil, guess what happens to you? You become the evil yourself. The very thing you hate, the very thing that has oppressed you, if you respond in kind, you become the very thing that you hate. And so we know that Scripture says that vengeance is mine, says the Lord, I will repay. Proverbs 20, 22 says, Do not say, I will repay evil. Wait for the Lord, and he will save you.

26:05And that's the expression of this psalmist. I wait, I long for your salvation and for your righteous word. So the basic longings of a servant of God in a fallen world, there is a longing for refuge. There is a longing to be delivered from evil. And third, there is a longing to know God, a longing to know God. And these two verses, verse 124 and 125, are at the heart of this stanza. And in general, humanity longs to understand the universe himself. I'm convinced man is on this perpetual quest to understand himself and understand his world and understand and make sense out of his existence and the universe. But the difference between the believer and the unbeliever is that the believer begins his or her quest with the knowledge at the right point, a knowledge of the God of the universe.

27:00Believer, if you can understand the Creator and get into His mind what he was doing, and makes it a lot easier to understand our universe. And so that's where the believer starts. If I can know the Creator, I will be able to make sense out of the creation. Look in verse 124: Deal with your servant according to your loving kindness and teach me your statutes. I am your servant. Give me understanding that I may know. Do you see these three imperatives? Deal with your servant, teach me, give me that I may know. I want to know. Literally, deal with your servant. Again, that self-description, that subordinate, that dependent, that follower. If you walk off a cliff, I'm following right behind you. It's the idea. He's a follower, dependent, according to your loving kindness. Look at this. Deal with your servant according to your loving kindness, to your covenant faithfulness. This is the very cry of David in Psalm 51 after he had sinned with Bathsheba, comes before God, and he had murdered Uriah, and he comes before God. Don't deal with me as to how I deserve. Deal with me according to your loving kindness, your covenant faithfulness. Deal with me on that basis. Don't deal with me as I deserve. Boy, isn't that the prayer of us all, right? Deal with me, God. Deal with me. It's imperative that you deal with me according to your goodness and your faithfulness to your creation. Don't deal with me as I deserve.

28:51According to your promised loyalty, according to your loving goodness, deal with me that way. It's interesting that he uses the same word that he uses in verse 121. I have done justice and righteousness. The word is actually, he actually says, I have dealt justly, righteously. I have dealt this way. And now I want you to deal with me according to your loving kindness. Do you see how he's using the same word? I have dealt in all honesty with you according to what you have taught me. Now I ask you to deal with me according to your loving kindness.

29:41And so far, look at the manifestations of God's goodness that he's asked for. The psalmist longs that God would be his surety for good in verse 122. So your loving kindness certainly is manifested in God being our surety for good, for standing in between our oppressor and us, and being that guaranteer that no matter what happens, it'll be good, turn out for good. Also, in verse 123, he wants deliverance from oppression. That's a manifestation of God's loving kindness. But now look at the specific manifestation of God's loving kindness that he asked for, and that follow in the next couple of verses. Teach me, look back, deal with your servant according to your loving kindness, and teach me, and teach me your statutes, give me understanding that I may know. The manifestation that he is looking for is instruction, teaching, your statutes, your statutes, your inscripturated principles given for my permanent observation. That's what he's talking about. Your written principles that are given to me for observation, teach me, give me transcendent insight so that I can understand these. Because if I don't understand these, I can't follow them. Teach me. Make me understand.

31:18Verse 125, I am your servant. Again, that plea, I am your servant. Teach me. Give me understanding. Cause me to understand. Cause me. To understand, illumine me, open my mind, make sure this, as I would put it in the Tom Baber version, this clodhead gets it. Make sure I understand, cause me to understand it. That, so that manifest your loving kindness by teaching me and giving me understanding, that I may know your testimonies, that I may know, that I may have divine discernment that comes through a personal encounter, that I may know by experience. I want to know you, God, and I want to know you not just in the abstract, but also in the day-to-day practical. I want to know your testimony.

32:22Testimonies. You know what a testimony is? When he uses the word for word here, when he's using testimonies, he's talking about God's witness to the truth. That's what we have in the Bible. We have his witness to the truth. So the psalmist is saying, I hate the double-mindedness. I love your law because it is certain. I love your law. I want to know your testimonies because your testimonies are your witness to the truth. I don't want man's witness to the truth.

33:00I want your witness to the truth. And you must teach me your word. You're the one who authored this. This began in your mind. You're the one who wanted communication with me. You started this whole thing. Give me understanding that I may know you. You see how the emotion of the psalmist, that I may know. You know, we make a lot of sacrifices for the opportunity to learn, don't we? I'm amazed at how much money people will spend to get into a school and then how much money they'll spend to get out of the school, right?

33:41All for the desire to learn, right? People will spend a lot of money to get into the institution that will teach them, and they pay big money, or apprentice under the finest practitioner in the land, or in a certain trade, they will give themselves so that they can learn. And it is a privilege to be in the right school, isn't it? And we spend a lot of money for that. And when an institution or when an employer takes you on, it's an expression of his or her or its favor, right?

34:25When you get that letter from Texas AM that says, You're in. You're like, ah, I've been granted favor, right? They like me. But the idea is they will go to a lot. We go to a lot to learn. Let me ask you: what higher education is there than to be personally and practically instructed by God? None. Right? And this is what true discipleship is all about. God has a school, a school where He will personally and practically teach you. Now, how much is that worth? Transcendent knowledge, knowledge from the Creator.

35:15I've got good news for you. Free tuition. No, no, no. Let me take that back. Free acceptance. The tuition will cost you your life, it'll cost you everything. But I can tell you this: it's worth it. It's worth it to where it's embarrassing to try to compare what you give up and what you receive. God invites you into His school of knowing Him, and it begins by calling upon His name. God, teach me. Give me understanding. I call upon the name of your salvation, Jesus, Yeshua.

36:01Come, I believe, and turn. You see, only his instruction can satisfy our longing to know God. The quest of learning never comes to an end until it comes to know the God, the God of the universe. Fourth, longings of a servant of God in this fallen world, a longing for refuge, a longing to be delivered from evil, and a longing to know God. And fourth, a longing to see justice prevail. A longing to see justice prevail. I believe this is a characteristic of humanity. We all long to see justice prevail. There's a sense within us that reacts in the face of injustice.

36:56But the difference between the believer and the unbeliever is that the believer understands that justice is an attribute of God that is reflected in his law. Justice is an attribute of God that is reflected in his law, in his instructions. It's a reflection of this justice that is a characteristic of God. Look at verse 126. It's time for the Lord to act. He uses the word Lord, Yahweh. It's time for the covenant-keeping God to act, to do something.

37:31It's time for God to do something. But he's, it's important that you don't miss the tone here. The tone is more of an assertion of faith rather than a frustrated command to God. I mean, I think some of us have probably gotten to that point. God, do something. Okay, now's a good time to jump in here and do something. I think the tone is: it's time for him to act. And he gives a reason: for they have broken your law. The time has come. They have broken your law. And the word there is, they have caused your law to be broken in pieces. It's the same term when Zechariah in chapter 11 is told to pastor the flock that was doomed to slaughter, and he had two staffs, one favor, and one union, and Zechariah breaks it in pieces. And that's what the psalmist is saying. These oppressors have broken your law to pieces. They have shattered it. The word is also used when David told Hushai to go back to Absalom and to be his, and to thwart his counsel. You remember when David was fleeing from Absalom and the insurrection? And Hushai came to be loyal to David. And David said, You know what? Go back. You'll serve me better if you go back. To Absalom, and you will thwart his counselor, Ahithophel's advice. Thwart it. Well, and that's what the psalmist is saying. These oppressors have thwarted your instructions for man. I mean, it's a strong, strong condition. In effect, what he's saying is: your oppressors have confirmed themselves in lawlessness and have broken into pieces your instructions for humanity and for my life. It's time to act. There's a time for everything, right? Ecclesiastes, if you read that, you know that that's largely what he talks about. There is an appointed time for everything in Ecclesiastes 3, verse 1. A time for every event under heaven. A time to give birth and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to weep and a time to laugh. A time to mourn and a time to dance. A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing. A time to embrace. To search and a time to give up is lost, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear apart, and a time to sow together, a time to be silent, and a time to speak, a time to love, and a time to hate, a time for war, and a time for peace.

40:52And in that list, he leaves out one thing. And he gets to the very end of the book of Ecclesiastes. And then he says this: The conclusion, when all has been heard, is fear God and keep his commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil. And the summation of the book of Ecclesiastes ends with this exclamation point: there is a time for judgment. There is a time for everything under heaven, but no.

41:38But there is a time for judgment. Certainly, we see this ultimate expression of this judgment in Revelation 20. Then I saw a great white throne, and him who sat upon it, and from whom presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were Open and another book written in the books according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and the death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them, and they were judged, every one of them, according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. Well, the psalmist knows it's time that God takes his seat and judges, both in time and space and in an ultimate sense at the end of the age. Therefore, in light of the fact that God is a God who really does enforce his laws, that God is not a God who just gives idle threats, or his law and his statutes aren't just empty words, but they are real.

43:03And that God Himself does judge and does take his seat. And when He judges and when He acts, no one can change it. Therefore, verse 127, therefore, because this is who you are, and you judge according to your word, therefore I love your commandments above gold. Yes, above fine gold. You see, in light of God's Judgment, his commandments are to be treasured more than anything else. If the judgment, if there is a time for judgment, it's good to know what those principles of judgment are because you're going to stand before them, right? And judgment and knowing God's commandments and understanding them is far more important than a bunch of gold because gold isn't going to do very well there.

43:55And so he can say, Therefore, I love your commandments. And gold is that age-old pursuit of mankind, isn't it? But it's not going to do very much for you. Better than gold, yes, than fine gold. Gold that's been refined, purified gold. Therefore, I love. In light of the fact that God acts, therefore, I love your commandments. Therefore, second 128, I esteem right all your precepts concerning everything. I esteem right. They're right on the mark. They are straight. Your precepts, your precepts. That word for word is your rules for my personal conduct. I esteem your rules for my personal conduct as right. That's what he's saying.

44:46Therefore, I esteem right. Therefore, I love your commandments. I esteem that your precepts are right concerning everything. And then that last sentence, I hate. I hate. I intensely dislike, I have this internal abhorrence for every false way. Remember back at 1:13, he's saying, I hate the double-mindedness. I hate that even within my own heart, the constant vacillation between two opinions. But I love your law because your law is certain, and upon that I can build my life. And here he is saying, I love your commandments because you are going to judge accordingly, and therefore they are to be treasured more than gold, fine gold. And I hate every false way. Not only does he hate double-mindedness, but he hates the false way, and he builds his life solidly upon the word of God.

45:51Well, it's only in a fallen world that these longings can exist. And God, we know in Scripture, he gives us longing in order to satisfy their longings. We have a longing for refuge, a longing to be delivered from evil. We have a longing to know God. We have a longing to see justice prevail. And you can only know this and learn this in a fallen world. Our quest to know God, well, you can only know God as our refuge through oppression. You can only know God as the Savior. Through the longing to be delivered from evil. You can only know God as the righteous judge through the lamentable state of injustice. You see, God knows what he's doing, he knows what he's doing in our world, he knows what he's doing on the big scale, and he knows what he's doing on the micro scale in our own life. So we can trust him in our current circumstances. A true believer goes to God to satisfy these longings, our longings for refuge, delivered from evil, to know God, and to see justice prevail. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, let us indeed go to you. You've given us longings of our heart on a very significant level, no matter what we're going through, and that you use circumstances for our good to teach us that we might know you and satisfy that deepest longing that you have placed within us to know you.

47:32And Father, we thank you, even though we fully don't understand, may not totally have our minds around what you're doing in our current circumstances or situation or even in our world. Father, we know that you are the guarantee that all things are going to work together for good and that you have personally gone on record for all eternity that you will be personally responsible for our good. And it's in light of this truth that we're drawn to you.

48:00Father, if there be anyone here today who does not know you, Father, I pray that they'll be drawn to you through the glorious person that you are. Father, we thank you for your salvation. We thank you for the embodiment of your salvation, Jesus Christ, our Lord and our Master. We thank you, Father. May we walk in His ways, and may you give us insight into exactly what that means on a day-to-day level. Thank you in Jesus' name, amen.