The Word of God in the Heart of Man: Comfort in Time of Affliction - Psalm 119:49-56 (Psalms 119:49-56)

2:58For some, It's food, right? Things go bad, you make a Texas sheet cake, you go eat the whole thing, and you feel better, right? For some, it's retail therapy. Ever heard that term? Retail therapy? Shopping, binge shopping, right? Or traveling. For some of you, it's chocolate, right? For some of you, it's work. For some of you, it's busyness, the busyness of work, and that can be a place of comfort for you. Become a workaholic. Others, it's entertainment. Escape in entertainment, whether it's videos, movies, books, or video games, stepping out of the world of reality into a fantasy land. Where do you seek comfort?

3:47What soothes your soul? For some, it's exercise. For some, it's creature comforts. For some, it's materialism. For some, it's just flat-out denial. I'm going to think positively and deny what's going on around me. And then there are those who seek their comfort in money, a good retirement. As you go through life, you'll have different sources of comfort that you'll draw from as you go through. And as you get older, maybe it's a good retirement, or maybe it's the measures of success. Maybe it's popularity. Is that what really comforts you? Having a soothing.

4:30Feeling that, okay, well, others think well of me, therefore I'm comforted. Or maybe it's relationships, maybe it's companionship, maybe it's a certain relationship, maybe it's friends, maybe it's family, maybe it's mother, maybe it's father, which all these things could be good, or I should say some of these things could be good, not all these things are bad. But the question is: what is the source of your comfort? What consoles you in difficult times? Well, our text this morning shows us four sources of comfort that our psalmist drew upon in the difficult circumstances that he faced. And we are very much like this psalmist because we are going to face difficult circumstances in our world. And many of those circumstances will be circumstances that are brought on because we follow Christ. And how are you going to be comforted in such circumstances that bring you down? Well, there's four sources I want you to see this morning. And like a fountain that flows out of God's Word, there are four sources of comfort that our text shows us this morning that I hope you will learn to love and draw upon in your time of need. Four sources of comfort. First one is comfort in God's promises. Comfort in God's promises. Look at verse 49. Remember the word to your servant in which you have made me hope. You see, God has promised many things to many people throughout the ages, and the psalmist knew it. Remember. And he's saying to God, God, you remember. Imperative command. God, remember, be mindful of. Bring to mind. Bring to your mind the promises that you have made in the past. Promises that you made me hope in.

6:32Back 49, it says to your servant, remember the word to your servant. That is, remember the promises you made to your subordinate slave, the one who is completely dependent upon you. Lord, remember those promises. The word here is the word for promises, or it certainly carries that idea of promise. It's in a context of promise. Raising six kids, one of the things we wanted to do early on was make the Lord's Day a special day for them. So we had this thing called Sunday special treat that we would let them have dessert on the Lord's Day, and so that this would kind of give them, and then not have it the rest of the week, or very limited amounts, and then that would give them something to look forward to and to celebrate and to appreciate the Lord's Day. Well, now, this has gone on through the years, and now each Sunday I hear my little girls say, Dad, Sunday special treat.

7:42Dad, Sunday special treat. And what they're doing is they're wanting me to call to mind a promise that I have made about a treat. Okay? And that's exactly what this psalmist is doing. God, remember the promises that you made to me, to your servant, and specifically those words of promise that you have caused me to hope. Look back, in which you have made me hope. You gave me these words so that I could hope in something. Remember those. You gave them to me so that I would have something to look forward to, be excited about for the future. The word for hope is that word to wait expectantly, to wait expectantly. Job says it in verse 13, or in chapter 13, verse 15, though he slay me, I will hope in him. In other words, even if God were to kill me, I know that there is a good future for me in him, because God has made me hope. So God's word had given the psalmist something to look forward to, something to delight in. And if this is Daniel, it's no doubt the restoration of Israel and the final restoration. Recovery of the people and God establishing in his righteousness.

9:06But God's word has given all his people something to have hope in, right? God has promised many things to many people. He's got a lot of promises here in the scriptures for us. He makes promises, and they are sources of comfort. Look at verse 50. This is my comfort in my affliction, that your word has revived me. This is what sets my anxious spirit at ease. This is what encourages me, consoles me in my times of affliction or misery, whether it's the affliction caused by a taskmaster, like in Exodus 3 under Pharaoh, or it's the affliction caused by Absalom's rebellion. Another time that word is used, the idea here is that there is affliction that is caused by derision. Look at verse 51. His affliction is being derided by, or is the derision of the arrogant. Looking back at verse 50, he gives that word the promise again: that your word has revived me. Your word, your promise. Other times he uses this word. In verse 11, your promise. And I'll translate it as promise, because that's exactly. This is the word for promise. Verse 11, your promise I have treasured in my heart that I might not sin against me.

10:37His promise. Verse 38, establish your promise to your servant as that which produces reverence to me. Verse 41, may your loving kindness also come to me, O Lord, your salvation according to your promise. You promise these things. Let your steadfast love come to me. Look at the word this there in verse 50. What is this? This is my comfort. What is his comfort? His comfort is that God will remember his word. And that's comforting, right? God will remember the word that he has spoken to us, that he has spoken to all. And what the psalmist is basically saying is, in my time of affliction, this is what comforts me. I know that you are God, and I know that you will remember your word that you have spoken to me and caused me to hope. I know you will remember it. Your promise of a good future has revived me. That's what he's saying. Your word has revived me. It has breathed new life into me. Even though he's enduring the harsh times of utter scorn in verse 51, yet he is enlivened because of God's word. Promise. And that's what the promise does, right? God's promises. That's what breathes life. That's what gives us a hope for a future. Look at verse 51. The arrogant utterly deride me, yet I do not turn aside from your law. And the word for arrogant here refers to the presumptuous. Sometimes it refers, like in Deuteronomy 18, to the prophet who presumptuously speaks as if he's speaking from God, but he really doesn't. So arrogance is presumption of speaking for God. It shows up again in Jeremiah 43. Jeremiah speaks the words of God's judgment coming, and then a group of prophets, false prophets, in verse 2 stand up, and all the arrogant men, all these prophets, and all these arrogant men said to Jeremiah, you are telling a lie. The Lord our God has not sent you to say these words.

12:59So the arrogant, presumptuous. Look, we are all theologians, all of us, in some measure. Every person that walks on planet Earth is a theologian of some sort. And there are those who speak on a basis of truth and those who speak on a basis of falsehood. And those who deny the word of God, the Bible likens them to the presumptuous, that they speak and Say, I mean, the atheist is a theologian, and yet his prophecies of the future are very, very mistaken.

13:45And when you sit in judgment upon God's word, the Bible refers to you as the arrogant, the presumptuous, the ones who speak as if they know God but really don't. So the arrogant are those who deny God's true words. And those who deny God's words naturally and will often despise those who believe them. That's why they deride the psalmist. The psalmist has a very different outlook on life, and so do all those who believe God's word. This is the separation point. Do you believe God's word or not? That's the watershed continental divide issue that takes people in very different paths. And this is how God has chosen to separate the nations. Do you believe God's Word or do you not?

14:41But even in the midst of such derision, the psalmist does not turn aside from God's law. Yet, I do not turn aside. I do not turn to the right or to the left. I do not turn aside. Why? Because he believes in the promises of God. And this is what keeps him close to God. Remember the promises of God. They will keep you close to God, and they're always a source of comfort for his people. His promises are always a source of comfort. If you're unsure whether Christ is going to accept you or not, hear the words of John 6:37. All that the Father gives to me will come to me, and the one who comes to me, I will certainly not cast out.

15:28If you're feeling guilty over sin, 1 John 1:9, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Do you believe that? Then move forward to the lonely, to the outcast, to those who are overwhelmed with loads of responsibility, or to the widow or to the orphan. What does he say? I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you. If you're worried about provision or where things are going to come from or how ends are going to meet, remember the words of our Lord in Matthew 6, verse 25. Do not worry then, saying, What will we eat or what will we drink or what will we wear for clothing? For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things, but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. You're far more important than a sparrow. You're far more. Important than the grass of the field. These are promises given to us from our Creator so that we would find comfort in His promises.

16:43To those who think they've outsended God's grace, I direct you to Romans 8:38. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. In other words, you're not going to fall out of favor with God if you are in Him. And if you are not in Him, you can be in Him today simply by calling upon the name of Jesus, saying, Lord, hear my cry, forgive my sins, come and be my God and be my King.

17:27Think about those in ministry seeking to fulfill the great commission and who have toiled and worked hard and find themselves in difficult circumstances. And I'm thinking about some of my missionary friends who are being brought back from the IMB right now. We have the Lord's words in Matthew 28:20, I am with you always, even into the very end of the age. To the weary, to the exhausted, Matthew 11:28. Jesus says, Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. We could go on and on. But the word of God is filled with promises. That's why he gave it to us, so that we could find comfort in his promises and hope for a good future.

18:36Another source of comfort, there's comfort in God's promises, but second, psalmist shows us that there's comfort in God's judgments, comfort in God's judgments. Look at verse 52. I have remembered your ordinances from of old, O Lord, and comfort myself. So he's saying, I have remembered, that is, I have brought to mind. Remember what he said in verse 49? He's telling God, you remember these things. Now, I have remembered. I've remembered your ordinances. I remembered your past judicial decisions. That's what ordinances are spoken about here. That's what these are: ordinances. They are God's judgments. In fact, some of you will have Bible verses that will say, I remember your judgments. And that's the idea here: judicial decisions. So he says, I comfort myself knowing how you have judged things in the past.

19:32You remember it just a few weeks ago here at Post Oak Mall at the carnival, there was a riot that broke out. I think many of you probably saw that in the news. And what stopped that whole riot and quell it was police officers, a show of force coming in, right? And they were able to bring order out of a very, what could have been a very chaotic situation. But that's what God's judgments do. Sometimes they step in like a show of force and it puts things at ease. It stops the turmoil. And God has done that in the past. In verse 53, look at burning indignation has seized me because of the wicked who forsake your law. Burning indignation. That's the word for a burning wind. In Psalm 11:6 upon the wicked he will rain snares, fire and brimstone, and burning wind will be their portion. A burning wind. That's kind of like a righteous rage. A righteous rage. And look at the term, has seized me, literally, has taken hold of me.

21:00Because of those who forsake your law, because of those who abandon your holy instructions, your directions for humanity, and they run roughshod over your word and over your directions, and they harm others. You know, it's a sad and infuriating thing sometimes when you see others paying the price for somebody else's purposeful transgression, right? I mean, this is why we have a criminal justice system. Just turn on the news anytime, and you'll see horrible crimes. And there's some crimes that take place, and you just something within you just wells up in this rage of like, this should not be. This is what this psalmist is saying. And so he is comforted in God's judgments that God is going to set things right. There is going to be a reign of righteousness. Justice will be served.

22:04I mean, think about Jesus clearing the temple. That's a picture of a righteous rage going in. They had taken what was holy and what was intended to be beautiful and a light and a place of prayer for all the nations, and they turned it into a place of merchandise. And Jesus, in his rage, in a righteous rage, cleared the temple. But contrary to those who disregard or even despise God's law, the psalmist finds his joy in God's written statutes. Look back at verse 45. This is the place to find joy. Your statutes are my songs in the house of my pilgrimage. Your statutes, that is, your written rules for life are my songs. They are my songs of triumph. They are songs of praise for me. Your songs are to me.

22:59Your statutes are my songs in the place of my pilgrimage, in the house. He's obviously a foreigner in a land, in a culture very different from his. And this is a good way for us to see ourselves, is it not? This is not our home. We are strangers in a strange land. But the bottom line is, the psalmist finds comfort and even song in the reality of God's judgments. Sometimes we don't think about it. Okay, how can we be consoled in God's judgments? Yet the psalmist is clearly consoled. He knows that God is going to bring down the arrogant. He's going to bring down the wicked. He's going to bring down the proud, and that they're always not going to be a source of affliction upon God's people.

23:51I like what Spurgeon has to say about this. He says, the argument is good and solid. He who has shown himself Strong on behalf of his people is the immutable God. In other words, God doesn't change, and he has shown himself strong on behalf of his people. And therefore, we may expect deliverance at his hands. The grinning of the proud will not trouble us when we remember how the Lord dealt with their predecessors in bygone periods. He destroyed them at the deluge, he confounded them at Babel, he drowned them at the Red Sea, he drove them out of Canaan, he has in all ages bared his arm against the haughty and broken them as potter's vessels. While in our own hearts we humbly drink of the mercy and God in quietude, we are not without comfort in seasons of turmoil and derision. For then we resort to the God's justice and remember how he scoffs at the scoffers. He that sitteth in the heavens does laugh. The Lord doth have them and hold them in derision. So they deride the psalmist, yet the Lord derides the arrogant. See, God doesn't change.

25:07He doesn't change. And so we can expect deliverance. And that's the thinking of the psalmist here. There's comfort in God's promises, but he's also consoled and comforted by God's judgments. And third, he finds comfort in God's name. Comfort in God's name. Look at verse 55. O Lord, I remember your name in the night and keep your law. Again, here he's back to, I remember, I remember. You remember? I remember. In verse 55, I remember. I remember your name, your name.

25:47And a name is more than just a label. A name in the Old Testament, it's a very identity, or it speaks of the personality of the one to whom the name belongs. So it's not just a label, it's a statement of the person. And he uses the name, O Lord, Yahweh, the name of the covenant-keeping God. This is the name in Exodus 3:14 that when God comes to Moses and Moses asks him his name, he says, I am who I am. I will be who I will be.

26:30So he uses that covenant name, and it's in a context. When he gives us to Moses, it's in a context of, I am who I am, and I am going to honor my word to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The idea is a covenant-keeping God. And throughout the scriptures, this name is expanded upon. Yahweh Jireh. The Lord will provide. Genesis 22, 14, speaking of the sacrifice in place of Isaac. Yahweh Jairi. Yahweh Nisi, the Lord is my banner. Moses gave this name to him as one victory over the Amalekites. The Lord is our banner. Exodus 17. Yahweh Mechadesh, the Lord sanctifies, the Lord who sanctifies. In Exodus 31, holiness is the central revelation of who God is. And he calls people to be holy. And so he himself sanctifies them. Very name, Yahweh Mechadesh. I am the God who sanctifies you.

27:44And just on through the scriptures, Yahweh Shalom, the Lord is peace. In Judges 6, Gideon found that God is the Lord of peace, that he is the God who wants to bring well-being and not death to his people. 1 Samuel, Jeremiah, you see this Yahweh Sabooth, the Lord of hosts. This speaks of his power, the Lord Almighty. This is his name. Speaks of His power over the nations, His power over king and ruler over Israel and over Israel's armies, over the temple, and over the entire universe. He is the Lord of hosts.

28:31And yet, he is also known as Yahweh Rohi. The Lord is my shepherd. Psalm 23, 1. God is the one who provides, takes care of. His very name means this. Yahweh Sidkenu, the Lord our righteousness. Jeremiah gave God this name when he spoke of that God would bring the remnant back from captivity and that he would establish a new righteousness in the earth. And he called him Yahweh Sidkinu. Yahweh Shama, the Lord is there. Ezekiel 48, speaking of the permanent restoration of Israel. The Lord is there. We could go on through the scriptures. God has identified himself as the God who sees, the God who hears, the God who cares, the God who is all-powerful. It's woven into the very fabric of his name. And above all that is, he is a covenant-keeping God.

29:37And so the psalmist is crying out and saying, I call upon you. I have comfort in your very name because you are a covenant-keeping God. And verse 55, O Lord, I remember your name in the night, and I keep your law. It's that word. I guard your law. I keep it. I take care of it like Adam was supposed to take care of the garden in Eden. I attend to your guidelines and directions for my life. I keep them. I hold them.

30:16I remember your name. I remember who you are. And that energizes me. That gives me the grace to keep covenant. So there are four sources of comfort that God has given to every believer. And I hope you're looking in on this psalmist and you're letting his journey speak to your own. Four sources. There's comfort in God's promises. There's comfort in God's judgment. There's comforts in God's name. And finally, there's comfort in your inheritance. There's comfort in God's promises, who God is, God's judgments, God's name. But there's also comfort in your inheritance. And I want you to see this. Comfort in your inheritance. Look back at verse 56. This has become mine that I observe your precepts. This has become mine. That's an interesting expression. Basically saying, this belongs to me. This has come to pass about me. This is what I own.

31:28This has become mine. It speaks about Saul in 1 Samuel 10, 12. You remember, he went up and he started hanging out with the prophets, and then all of a sudden he began to prophesy. And the people said to one another, What has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets? And so it became a proverb. But this very idea, what has become of Saul? And the psalmist is saying this about himself.

32:00What has happened to me is that I have, this has happened to me, that I observe your precepts. This is what has happened to me. This has come about. This is what has come to pass that I observe. Look back at 56, that I keep. That's that picture of that one who keeps. It's like the watchman hut, the guardhouse, the one who tends. He says, I keep your precepts. That is your charges for life, your orders. This has become mine, that I keep, or I observe your precepts. Look back at verse 49. You remember what the psalmist self-designation is there? What is it? Servant.

32:51What does a servant own? What does a slave own? Think about it. What really belongs to a slave? There's one thing here: the orders of his master. That's what a slave owns. The expectations of his master upon him. That's what a servant owns. And this is a servant's heritage. This is what the psalm is saying. This has become mine that I observe your precepts. See, as servants of Christ, we're not guaranteed houses, lands, money, wealth, prosperity, success.

33:38What we have been given is his ways, or are his ways. We have been given his ways. Let's put it that way. We have been given his appointed ways. That's what we own: his commandments. That's what's given to us. His charge is to keep. And this is the blessed. This is for the blessed. You remember, go back to verse 1 of this Psalm. This is where this whole thing begins. Psalm 1. Psalm 119:1. How blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord. How blessed are those who observe his testimonies. At the very beginning, he's talking about what is blessed, the blessed way. And he's looking. At him, it's like the third person. He's looking from the outside saying, These are the ones who are blessed.

34:36And then he says in verse 4, You have ordained your precepts that we should keep them diligently. And then in verse 5, he lifts up this prayer, oh, that my ways may be established to keep your statutes. See what he's doing? The blessed heritage is to keep his statutes. And then now, here he is saying, This has become mine. His prayer is answered. He says it with a boldness. His prayer is answered. This has become mine that I observe your precepts.

35:15As he had cried out in verse 5, oh, that my ways may be established. And how does he get there? He gets there through many things, but you can see that it's this comfort in God, this comfort, it's comfort in God's promises, it's comfort in God's judgments, his comfort in God's name gives him a comfort in his inheritance. This has been given to me. This is all that I have. And God has established my ways that I should keep them diligently.

35:58Well, the question comes back to us. Where do you go for comfort? Where do you seek consolation in difficult times? Well, there are four things, four sources of comfort that Psalmist shows us this morning. Comfort in God's promises, there's comfort in God's judgments, comfort in God's name, and there's comfort in your inheritance. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, may we indeed take comfort in these things, for these are what you have given us as to comfort us. Father, we thank you for your word, that it serves as a flowing fountain, a source, a great source, Father, of your promises to us, a record of your judgments and the revelation of who you are and who we are and what you've given us. And Father, we just thank you that we have such a tremendous future in store for all who call upon your name. And so, Father, I just pray that today, if there's any among us who do not know you, that today would be the day that they would call upon you for salvation. And, Father, may we all go out of here today resting and drawing comfort from the sources that That you intend for us to be comforted by. In Jesus' name, amen.