One of the common denominators that seems to unite all human beings is that we all have trials, we all have painful experiences, no matter where you might be in the world, people have difficult issues they're dealing with. Having just returned from a week in Italy where I spoke at a conference in a couple of churches, I became aware of several people who were dealing with some very painful situations. One man's father that I met had a heart attack the very day that I arrived, one of the elders in the church. Another told me about an unresolved conflict between two church leaders. Then I was told about a Christian young lady who was suffering from a broken heart, having feelings for a man who doesn't have reciprocal feelings for her. And then there's a couple. who recently became engaged, but there are all sorts of red flags flying over that relationship that others see, but they don't. Now, these issues that I've mentioned are things that either happened while I was in the country of Italy, or I was told about them, and that was just in the few days that I was there. But trials like these, and worse, they take place all the time, and that's been the plight of mankind since the beginning of time. And certainly one evidence of universal suffering is what we have seen in our study of Psalm 119, because this psalm was written by a man who suffered deeply. Throughout this lengthy song, and that's what the psalm is, it's a song, We've seen him pour out his heart about the pain that he's been forced to endure at the hands of ungodly men who he tells us they hate him, they slander him, they lie about him, and they even threaten to take his life, to murder him, to kill him. And for no other reason than the fact that he loves the Lord, and he loves the Word of God, and they hate the Lord, and they hate the Word of God. In every stanza that we've studied thus far, this man has told us about his troubles. and his longing, his deep longing for God to deliver him. And it appears that his suffering has been going on for quite a long time with no end in sight. And yet, this man remarkably, faithfully continues to believe that God will come to his rescue. Even though up to this point he sees no concrete evidence of this happening. So the question that I pose to you this morning is, Why is this man so confident that God has heard his prayers and is going to deliver him? What basis does he have for being so sure, so certain that God will intervene in his troublesome situation, especially in light of the fact that it's been going on for a long time with no end in sight? This is what we want to know. This is what we need to know, not simply because of Him, but we need to know this for ourselves, because how many times have we found ourselves in a very painful situation that just continues without any relief in sight? And during those times, we are tempted by the evil one to doubt and question God's love and His concern for us. We keep praying to Him, but we see no indication of Him answering our prayers and the suffering just continues. So, it's highly significant, it's highly relevant for us to understand why the writer of Psalm 119 was so sure that God would deliver him, because whatever his basis was for such confidence that God would save him, that's what we need to know so that we can have that same kind of confidence that God will intervene in our pain, even in the darkest of days when we can't see or we can't feel the Lord's hand in our lives. See, it's important to keep in mind that although none of us has ever been in the exact predicament that the psalmist found themselves in, all of us, as I've said, because it's universal, all of us have been through tough times, all of us will be going through tough times as well. Times where we've called out to God, pleading for Him to come and intervene and come to our aid. And what these verses that I've just read to you, this stanza of Psalm 119, what they tell us is that we can be certain that God will answer our prayers. If you're a believer in Christ, we can be certain that He will intervene to help us. Now, how He does that, that's up to Him. How He ministers to us, He may take us out of the situation, He may minister to us in the situation, but He will minister to us. So, these verses teach us the biblical basis, or if you want to put it this way, the biblical reasons or why a child of God can be so certain that the Lord will not forget him, the Lord will not abandon him to any oppressive situation he might find himself in. Now, it is true that throughout this psalm, the author has given us just little glimpses here and there of why he believes God will help him. He does mention his loving kindness throughout the psalm. But it isn't until we come to these verses, verses 121 to 128, our study today, where we hear him clearly and succinctly, as he puts it together, articulate why he is so confident that God has not forgotten him and will still come to his rescue. Let me read this to you again. He says, I have done justice and righteousness. Do not leave me to my oppressors. Be surety for your servants, for good. Do not let the arrogant oppress me. My eyes fail with longing for your salvation and for your righteous word. Deal with your servants according to your loving kindness and teach me your statutes. I am your servant. Give me understanding that I may know your testimonies. It is time for the Lord to act, for they have broken your law. Therefore, I love your commandments above gold, yes, above fine gold. Therefore, I esteem right all your precepts concerning everything. I hate every false way." Now, as we discovered from our previous study, of this stanza a few weeks ago, the way that the psalmist organizes his thoughts in these verses is that he takes the first few statements, the first few verses, to tell us about the oppressive situation that he found himself in, this terrible persecution that came from these men, horrible men, but from there he moves on to telling us why he's so confident that God is going to deliver him from his oppressive situation. And that is really the heart and the core of this stanza, these reasons for why he was so confident in deliverance. Finally, he closes this paragraph by telling us of his great love, his high esteem for the Word of God, and his hatred of everything that is contrary to the Word of God. And so, as we saw last time, he begins this stanza by verbalizing to the Lord the horrific situation he found himself in, and then asking God to deliver him from it. He opens up the paragraph by saying, I've done justice and righteousness, Do not leave me to my oppressors. Be surety for your servant for good. Do not let the arrogant oppress me. My eyes fail with longing for your salvation and for your righteous word. Now, the first thing he does, as we've said, is he tells the Lord that his problem is not due to any recent sin in his life. In other words, he's saying that he's suffering unjustly. His pain is not a matter of divine discipline. Therefore, his request is that God would not abandon him, that God would not leave him and forget him to his oppressors. He proceeds to ask the Lord then to step in and come and rescue him. And he does this by saying, when he uses the word surety, he means to stand in his place to deliver him from his enemies, to be his representative. And although his eyes, he says, are now strained, they ache from constantly looking for any movement on the horizon that might indicate that God is coming, that God has arisen and He's coming. He tells us He sees nothing, but He's not giving up. He's not giving up, because He's certain that God will not fail to work on His behalf, as His Word reveals that He will. Now, that's how the psalmist begins this very important stanza. By telling us of his predicament and telling us of his steadfast faith that God will eventually come and deliver him. And having voiced to the Lord what he's dealing with, and his confidence that God will come and rescue him, though he sees nothing right now. The psalmist then moves on to the second part. of this stanza where he lays out, as I said, some very specific reasons why he's so certain that God will intervene at some point and rescue him. With the first one being, as we saw last time, he's confident, number one, because of God's love, his loving kindness. He says in verse 124, deal with your servants according to your loving kindness and teach me your statutes. Now, having spent a considerable amount of time studying this verse last time we met, I just want to remind you that what the psalmist is doing in this statement is he's appealing to God to deal with him according to what he means by that. It's based on His loving kindness. And the primary point that this man is making is that the reason he's so sure by application we can be equally sure that God will not forget us when we go through a trial is simply because He loves us. He loves us. In other words, we can be certain that God will not forget us in our pain. He'll not abandon us. He'll not forsake us. He'll not overlook us because His dealings with us in our painful situations are based on His loving-kindness. There are so many verses that remind us, in God's Word, of His love for us, but as you know, the single greatest demonstration, proof of His love, is Christ's substitutionary death on the cross for the elect, for people like us. His people, Romans 5-8, But God demonstrates His own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. If there was nothing else in the Word of God about His love for us, this would be sufficient, and this would be the highest point. He demonstrates His love toward us while we were lost, hopeless sinners. Christ died for us. However, while certainly the cross of Jesus is the most significant and powerful display of God's love for us. It's important to understand that what the psalmist has in mind when he speaks of God dealing with him according to his loving kindness is really not the cross, but it's a very specific aspect and expression of God's love. Note this, he has in mind God demonstrating his love by giving him, giving the psalmist, an understanding of his word. Notice that he says this at the end of verse 124, and teach me your statutes. And what this man is saying is that the way he wants God to deal with him in his love is to teach him more of his word, to give him understanding, to give him comprehension of his word. And his point isn't that he simply wants to learn more Bible verses in general, as good as that would be. That's not his point. His point is that he wants to understand more about God's word as His Word relates to suffering, so that he'll be better equipped to go through the pain that he's going through. He wants to learn about the character of God, about statements from God, about His comfort and grace, His presence and so forth. See, the psalmist recognizes that one of the ways, a very significant way I might add, that God demonstrates His love to us is by enabling us to understand His Word, because it is only by comprehending certain biblical truths that address suffering that a believer is able to endure severe suffering. It's by the power of the Word of God. That's what gives grace. Now, I have never suffered anything close to what the psalmist went through. But I recently experienced a very stressful time while I was in Europe as my plane from Italy to London was cancelled. That's right. Cancelled. Finite. Not redirected. Not postponed. Cancelled. I was forced then to travel alone on a train and then a bus two hours away to an airport in the city of Milan. Then from there, catch a plane to London's Heathrow Airport. The problem was I needed to be at Gatwick, not at Heathrow. So then I had to figure out how to get to Gatwick. I had to take another bus to a different London Airport, and then find my way in the dark to my hotel, and this is with all my luggage. Well, as I said, I don't want to compare my situation with the psalmist or anybody else going through deep trouble. So it wasn't anywhere near the level of difficulty of what others have gone through. But it was stressful, and it was insecure, very insecure feeling, and I was tempted to worry and be afraid. But throughout this ordeal, and this is why I'm telling you this, I found my mind going back to this verse in Psalm 119. Deal with your servant according to your loving kindness and teach me your statutes. It was a great comfort to remember at that time that God loved me and that as inconvenient and challenging as my situation was, the Lord was dealing with me in love. And based on the fact of His love, I started to remind myself of specific verses of His Word that would help me get through this ordeal. Verses like from Psalm 23, verse 1, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Verses like Romans 8.31, if God is for us, who's against us? Verses like Philippians 4, 6 and 7, be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God and the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. And then I thought of this great verse from Hebrews 13, verse 5, I will never leave you or forsake you. Now, I tell you all this in order to press home the truth that the psalmist is making. That truth being that one of the ways that God has revealed His love for us is that when we are suffering, He helps us to understand those truths of His Word that bring comfort and strength and encouragement in our pain. Out of His kind and benevolence and compassionate and loving heart, He teaches us these truths. By giving us not only understanding of their meaning, but He gives us discernment so that we not only know, as I said, what they mean, but we know how to apply these truths to our lives. We know how to take them and put them in application, be doers of the Word. So according to the psalmist, the very first reason that we can be confident that God will come to our aid in His own time, in His own way, when we're in trouble, is simply because He loves us. as He teaches us truths that enable us to endure suffering with His grace. As this man, though, continues writing his psalm, he gives us a second reason we can be confident that God will rescue us from a trial. Not only is it because of His love for us, but secondly, it's also because we belong to Him. We're His. Notice what verse 125 says, I'm your servant, give me understanding that I may know your testimonies." Now, this verse is quite similar to the one we just looked at in the sense that they both ask God for an understanding of His Word. You can easily see that. However, what makes this verse different and distinct from the previous one is that the basis for the psalmist's confidence that God will deliver him is the fact that he is the Lord's servant. Notice, he says, I am your servant. And because of that, he asked God for an understanding of his word. Now this is the third time in this stanza that this man has referred to himself as the Lord's servant. He said it in verse 122, be surety for your servants for good. He said it in verse 124, deal with your servants according to your loving-kindness. And now, here again, in verse 125, he says the same thing. He's his servant. Therefore, this concept of being God's servant must be significant, especially as it relates to suffering. And it is significant. See, the word that the psalmist uses that's translated, at least in my translation, it's translated servant doesn't simply mean that he serves the Lord by doing something that God wants him to do. It certainly involves that, but that's not all it means. This is actually the Hebrew word for slave. It's a Hebrew word for slave, which means that he's telling the Lord that he's his slave. He's not just a servant. He's his slave. He belongs to the Lord. The Lord is his master. The Lord is his owner. He is the possession of the Lord. Therefore, the argument that the psalmist is making by referring to himself as God's servant, is that in belonging to the Lord, it is the Lord's responsibility to take care of him. He's appealing to God, understand it's not in an arrogant way, but rather in a humble factual way. It is a fact. I am your slave, therefore I have every right to expect you to intervene in my life. Because as your slave, you take constant care of me. You're concerned about me. Folks, that's his point. James Montgomery Boyce put it so well when he said, masters normally value those who are part of their households. If that is true on earth, shouldn't it also be true in heaven? Can God be any less caring than a good master on earth? Of course not. Now, today we no longer have masters and slaves. But in biblical times, whether it was in Old Testament times or New Testament times, masters were commanded to treat their servants, their slaves, with kindness and to provide for them. That was a master's responsibility. For example, we read in Deuteronomy 24, verse 14, you shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your countrymen or one of your aliens who is in your land in your own town. You are not to oppress them. You are to take care of them. And then Paul tells us in Colossians 4, 1, masters grant to your slaves justice and fairness, knowing that you too have a master in heaven. Now, according to the New Testament, every Christian, every true Christian is a slave of Jesus Christ. In fact, Paul often refers to himself as a bond slave. That's what he means. I'm a slave of Christ. And he makes it clear in his letters that we belong to Christ. Why? Because while on the cross he purchased us with his blood. The Bible calls that redemption. We have been bought and purchased out of the slave market of sin by the payment of Christ's blood. Therefore, we are His redeemed possession. 1 Corinthians 6.20, Paul says, For you have been bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body. You belong to Him. You've been purchased. Bring glory to your Master. 1 Peter 1, 18 and 19, knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your feudal way of life inherited from your forefathers, but you were redeemed with precious blood as of a lamb, unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. Acts 20, verse 28, Paul tells the Ephesian elders as he meets with them for the last time, he says, be on guard for yourselves, and for all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to shepherd the church of God." Note this, which he purchased with his own blood. And then I love this in Revelation chapter 5 verse 9, we're told the host of heaven, how they glorify God and sing to him. And we read this, Revelation 5, 9, and they sang a new song saying, worthy, and this is to the Lord, worthy are you to take the book and to break its seals, for you were slain and purchased for God with your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation." Now, if we belong to the Lord, as these verses teach, then it is certainly His responsibility to take care of us. And that's exactly what the psalmist is appealing to the Lord to do, to take care of him. By not only intervening in his difficult situation, but also by giving him an understanding of his word as it relates to God's care and his concern for him. Folks, that's a wonderful, marvelous truth for us to embrace. That since we belong to Jesus Christ, we can look to him with confidence that he'll take care of us, that he'll provide, not for what we necessarily want, but for what we need, because that's what a good master does for his servants. And our Lord is not just a good master, he's the perfect master. His word clearly reveals that he does take care of us, especially he cares for us when we're in trouble. This is precisely the point, as I mentioned earlier, of Psalm 23, where David says, the Lord is my shepherd, therefore I shall not want. Now the reason that David is saying he doesn't have to fret over having his needs met, that's what he means, I shall not want, is because the Lord is his loving and caring shepherd, has met and will continue to meet all of his needs. That's what he's saying, and therefore when he is in trouble, He can be confident that the Lord will bring him through that trouble as a shepherd brings his sheep through trouble. And that's why David went on to write in verse four, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, it really means the valley where dark shadows make life dangerous. He says, I fear no evil for you're with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Now, the relationship of a sheep to his shepherd is, in principle, the same as a servant to his master. Because the master is responsible, like the shepherd, to meet all of his servant's needs and take care of him, even when he's in trouble. So, if he trusts his master, he doesn't have to worry, doesn't have to fret, doesn't have to be anxious for any situation he finds himself in. Why? Because he has confidence that his master will always provide for him. Now our Lord, the Lord Jesus, addressed this very issue of not having to fret, not having to worry. He told his followers in the Sermon on the Mount that they were not to worry because God would provide for them. In Matthew 6.25, He says, for this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life. Now, Jesus very clearly commands us not to worry about our lives. I heard someone say that worry is the American sin. We do it so often we don't even realize how wrong it is. But according to Jesus, worry is a sin. It's not acceptable. It's a sin. What exactly, though, does he mean by this concept of worry? Because sometimes we like to like to weaken that, saying, I'm concerned, when it's really worry. Well, to begin with, we need to understand something important. King James Version translates this phrase, take no thought for your life. And based on this, it has led some to believe that Jesus is teaching us that we aren't to plan for our future. We're not even to think ahead about issues relating to our lives. But that's not at all what Jesus meant. That's not what he's talking about. See, hundreds of years ago, the English word thought was different and included the concept of worry and anxiety but language is constantly changing and never stays the same and so this word Today it no longer conveys what it once did, therefore it's important to understand that Jesus isn't forbidding us from thinking about our lives, but rather from having anxious, worrisome thoughts relating to our lives. That's what he's talking about. You certainly have to think about your life and make plans and things like that, but you don't have to worry about those things. And that's precisely what worry is. See, the actual Greek word that's used here, it's most interesting. It helps us to understand the true nature of worry. The word worry or anxiety, in the original Greek language it means to distract or to divide, in the sense of being pulled in different directions. It's the same word that Jesus used in Luke chapter 10 verse 41 to describe Martha, as being worried and bothered about so many things, because as the previous verse in Luke 10 tells us, she was distracted from all her preparations for entertaining others in her home. In other words, Martha's real problem was that she was distracted from the main object at hand. What was that? It was to listen to Jesus. That was the important thing. Folks, this is the way worry is. It's the true nature of worry. Worry draws our attention away from the primary thing in life, which for a Christian, it means to fellowship with God and to obey God. And it causes us, this worry, to be preoccupied with ourselves over the mundane things of this world in a way that is often emotionally crippling and even tormenting. So Jesus is commanding us not to allow certain aspects of our lives to distract us, to pull us away from focusing on Him. It's where our focus should be. And what specific aspects of our lives did our Lord have in mind? Well, we read on in verse 25, For this reason I say to you, that you are not to be worried about your life, as to what you'll eat or what you'll drink, nor for your body, as to what you'll put on. Now in this statement, our Lord puts his finger on something that the people of his day were worried about. And that was having enough food, having enough water to stay alive, and having enough clothes to put on their bodies to keep themselves dressed and protected from the harsh Middle Eastern climate. Now keep in mind that most people of that era were very poor. the government offered them little help. In fact, it's estimated that the average citizen of Israel at that time paid at least 40% of his wages in taxes. In addition to a constant lack of money, a lack of sufficient rain meant a shortage of water, which in turn meant a shortage then of food, which would then affect the entire economy, which would result in making the buying of clothes more difficult. And so because of this just ongoing cycle of difficulty, the people Jesus was talking to, they were constantly, constantly tempted to worry about how they were going to sustain and care for their bodies in the sense of having enough food and water. to sustain them, and drink, and eat, and clothing to wear. This was constantly weighing on their minds, so that it was an ongoing, never-ending trial and temptation in their lives. And therefore, this preoccupation with preserving their bodies distracted them from considering the real meaning of their lives, what their lives were about, why God created them. And that's why Jesus concluded His thought in verse 25 by raising a very significant question, and He did it in order to get them to think clearly and biblically. He provoked them to think with this question. He said, Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Now here the Lord asks these folks, and by application us, to consider something highly significant, to consider the true and biblical meaning of life. What a profound question. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? In other words, isn't your life more than just a body to feed and clothe? And the answer is, of course it is. There's far more to life than eating and putting on clothing. There's far more to life than just trying to sustain our physical bodies. See, what Jesus is pointing out is that the biblical concept of life is that God gave us life. God created us so that we would glorify Him by honoring and obeying His written Word. He didn't create us so that we would be preoccupied with ourselves. He didn't create us so we would spend the bulk of our time worrying about if we're going to have a sufficient amount of food and clothing to maintain life. in giving us physical life. It's really the Lord's responsibility to sustain our lives, not ours. Now, we certainly have the responsibility to work and to earn money to purchase food and clothing, but you and I don't ever need to be anxious that God will stop providing for our needs, since He is the one who gave us life He's the one responsible to provide enough to keep our lives continuing until the time comes when He chooses to take us home to heaven. Here's how Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones explained the meaning of our Lord's words concerning life being more than food and the body more than clothing. Lloyd-Jones wrote this, he said, what does our Lord mean by this? The argument is a very profound and powerful one. And how prone we are to forget it. He says in effect, take this life of yours, about which you are tending to worry and become anxious. How have you got it? Where has it come from? And the answer of course is that it is a gift of God. Man does not create life. Man does not give being to himself. Not one of us ever decided to come into this world, and the very fact that we are alive at this moment is entirely because God willed and decided it. Life itself is a gift, he says, a gift from God. So the argument which our Lord uses is this. If God has given you the gift of life, the greater gift, do you think he's now suddenly going to deny himself and his own methods and not see to it that your life is sustained and enabled to continue? God has his own way of doing that, but the argument is that I need never become anxious about it. I realize it may seem like we've gone on a tangent and digressed from Psalm 119 and the psalmist point about being confident that the Lord will care for him because he's the Lord's servant. We actually haven't digressed. Both the psalmist and Jesus are making the same point. The point being that we can be confident that the Lord will care for us regardless of what kind of a trial we're going through Because we belong to him. We're his. Therefore, it's his responsibility to help us, to provide for us, to sustain us. As I said, that's not arrogance. That's a humble admission of a fact. So up to this point then, the psalmist has given us two reasons for being certain that God would come to his aid. First, because the Lord's love for him. Do you think about that? Whatever trial you're going through, do you think about that the Lord loves you? And do you think on His word that He's lovingly given to you so you can get His grace to go through this trial? And then secondly, it's because we belong to the Lord, therefore it's His responsibility to take care of us. Do you think about that? Who you belong to, that you're not in this life alone? He gave you life, He gave you eternal life if you know Christ, and it is His responsibility to take care of you, and He will? That's why the psalmist had such confidence. You and I have to let these truths grip our hearts and give us confidence. But there is a third and a final reason this man is so confident that God will intervene and rescue him. It's not only because of God's love, it's not only because we belong to the Lord, it's also because of God's justice. He says in verse 126, it's time for the Lord to act, for they have broken your law. This is a fascinating statement made by the psalmist. Although he's been going through tremendous persecution and oppression for quite some time, and although he's very eager for the Lord to deliver him, yet he states that it is time for God to act, and he means to act in judgment, to act in justice. But note this, It's time for God to act, but not because of what has been happening to him, not because he's desperate to have his pain relieved, but because his oppressors, he says, have broken God's law. That's why. See, this man is concerned more about God's name and God's word being dragged through the mud than his own personal his own personal conditions. Therefore, he appeals to God to act now in judgment by intervening and rescuing him so that God's name and God's law would not be disgraced any longer. What an incredible attitude this man has. He's more concerned about God's honor than his own personal Comfort and what he's telling us by his appeal for God to rise up and act in judgment is that in every horrific? Circumstance there comes a time when God does choose to act and intervene and if our horrific Circumstance involves other people who are mistreating us and who are dishonoring the Lord then we can be confident that this will not go on forever and But in God's perfect time, His timing, His perfect way, He will act, He will intervene. Now the challenge, frankly, that we face is that we don't know when God will act. We don't know when He'll intervene in our hard circumstances. And being the impatient sinners that we are, we tend to want God to work immediately, now. But He doesn't always do that. because he has many important lessons to teach us which can only be taught as we go through those hard circumstances. It would be presumptuous of us to demand that God act now so that we might have some relief now. But as we've already noted, the psalmist is not like that. The psalmist is not concerned about his deliverance for the sake of his own personal relief. That's not what's primarily on his mind. But rather that God be honored, that God be glorified by dealing in judgment with his persecutors who have been unjust and have rebelled against His Word. And that's why He can say so boldly, it is time for the Lord to act, because His consuming desire was for God to rise up and met out justice for the sake of His great name. Folks, that's why you and I can be so confident that God is going to intervene and deliver us from pain and suffering, especially when it's at the hands of evil individuals, because we know that He will ultimately act in judgment in order to bring glory and honor to Himself. See, one of the great mysteries of life is why God allows evil to continue, why He lets people persecute Christians, why He allows sin to run on, and why He lets so many people disregard Him In fact, I did a couple of Q&A's, question and answers, in Italy, and one of the questions asked of me, which really had nothing to do, well, maybe had a little bit to do with what I was speaking about, it wasn't the primary point, but it was on someone's mind, they asked, why does God let Satan continue to do his evil? It's a good question. And the answer to this question, all of these questions, at least in part, at least in part, is that God sovereignly uses evil to ultimately bring Himself glory. He's never tainted by evil, but he uses it to bring glory to his name, not only by using evil to accomplish his will, but also he receives glory when he acts in judgment on evil. Now, you may wonder, well, how does that work? That he receives glory when he acts in judgment on evil? Yes. Many truths in scripture point to this, but one in particular is Psalm 76, verse 10. I should write this down. For the wrath of man shall praise you. God says the wrath of man shall praise you. With a remnant of wrath you will gird yourself. This verse tells us that man's wrath, man's rebellion, man's anger against God will actually result in praise to God. What he means by this, what the psalmist means by this, is that when God pours out His wrath on those who have rebelled against Him, the people of God will rise up and give Him praise. In other words, God receives glory and praise from believers when He acts in judgment on unbelievers. We praise Him for that. Vengeance belongs to the Lord, He will repay, and when He does, we say, praise God. That's exactly what the book of Revelation tells us will happen at the end of the horrific seven-year tribulation period just prior to Christ's return, when God judges the evil system of that day known in the Bible as Babylon, the harlot. Listen to these words. Revelation 19, 1 through 6. Now, the Lord is just in the context of Revelation. He's just dealt with the evil system known as Babylon. And here is what heaven bursts forth. and says john the apostle says after these things i heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven saying hallelujah salvation and glory and power belong to our god because his judgments are true and righteous for his judge the great harlot who is corrupting the earth with her immorality and he has avenged the blood of his bond servants on her And the second time they said, hallelujah, her smoke rises up forever and ever. And the 24 elders and the 4 living creatures fell down. and worshiped God, who sits on the throne, saying, Amen, Hallelujah. And a voice came from the throne, saying, Give praise to our God, all you His bondservants, you who fear Him, the small and the great. Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude, and like the sound of many waters, and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, Hallelujah, for the Lord our God the Almighty reigns." I know you're thinking of Handel's Messiah right now. But that's the thought. The Lord God Almighty reigns, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, and heaven bursts forth and praises God for His judgment. At the end of the age, when God acts in judgment, all of heaven will worship Him and praise Him for His righteous wrath and justice. And it's this principle that God will always act in justice by judging those who break His law that gives the writer of Psalm 119 that assurance that God will also intervene in his life and deal with those who are persecuting him. So, if your suffering right now is because of some injustice being done to you, then rest assured God will deal at some point with your enemies how and when we leave that up to the Lord but we do rest in the truth that Romans 12 says vengeance is mine I will repay says the Lord no unbeliever gets away with anything so the psalmist has given us three reasons as to why he is just so certain that God will rescue him and folks these are the very reasons that should encourage you to keep trusting the Lord as you go through a trial Trust Him with confidence that God in His own perfect way, in His own perfect time will rescue you. Why? Because He loves you, because you belong to Him, because of His justice. And having mentioned then, in verse 126, how the ungodly have broken God's law, the psalmist closes this stanza by telling us that in contrast to His ungodly, oppressive, persecuting enemies, Those who hate God's Word, he says in contrast, he loves the Word. Notice how he closes, verses 127 and 128. Therefore, this is his conclusion. Therefore, I love your commandments above gold, yes, above fine gold. Therefore, I esteem right all your precepts concerning everything. I hate every false way. What a tremendous statement. by the psalmist. First he says that his love for God's Word is so great that he loves it more than the riches of gold. Now think about that. What men and women will do to get money? They'll steal for it. They'll lie for it. They'll compromise their principles for money. They'll say anything to get money even if they know it's not true. They'll even sell their bodies to make money. But the psalmist says that he loves God more than money, more than the treasures of gold, even fine gold. Can you say that in your heart and mean it? Do you value God's word above money and any material possession that money might buy? If not, then you need to repent. That's a sinful attitude. You need to repent and ask God to give you a love for his word that surpasses a love for anything else. But in addition to loving God's Word above gold, notice the psalmist says that he esteems the Word as always right in all things. What a statement! In other words, he holds the Word of God in high esteem because it is truth, all of it, infallible truth, and therefore he says he hates everything that is opposed to the truth of the Bible, all the falsehoods and errors that the world holds to as they disregard the Word of God. So, is that your attitude? It needs to be if you're a Christian. Do you esteem the Bible as always right? Now, that is a heavy thought. Do you esteem the Bible is always right in everything? Everything it says, even the so-called hard sayings of the Bible. Are you, in other words, are you in submission to the authority of Scripture in everything? There are some very hard sayings of the Bible, like take up your cross daily, like love your enemy, like love Christ more than father and mother. Like, deny yourself. Like, if your right hand offends you, cut it off. If your right eye offends you, pluck it out. This is not to be taken literally, by the way, I must caution you. The Lord simply means drastic measures are needed to remove anything that causes you to sin. If you esteem the Word, then it must be the final authority in your life, in your marriage, in business, with your children, with your parents. If you do love the Word and hold to it, and hold it in the highest esteem, you also must hate every false way. Why? Because God hates it. It's evil. God hates it. We must hate it. These are the things we need to be asking the Lord to build into our lives. Love for His Word, a hatred for everything that's contrary to His Word, to esteem His Word, greater than money, to esteem his word in everything. Whatever the word says, that's settled. It's not a debatable issue. It's not negotiable. Now the psalmist was being persecuted by those who were evil, those who walked in falsehood. But he was confident that God would deliver him. Your suffering may not be caused by anyone else. Your suffering may be a crisis involving your health, your finances, perhaps your marriage or some relationship that's crumbling. or some relationship that has never developed and you'd like it to. Regardless of the kind of pain you're going through, you can be certain that God will not forget you. No matter how you feel, He's promised He won't forsake you. And you can be certain because of the truths that you learned today. He loves you, therefore He's given you His word to help you through your pain. He's your master and therefore you are His responsibility, so He will care for you and He will provide for you. And if your pain has been caused by others, then you can be certain He will deal with them in justice at the right time. Now, if you don't know Jesus Christ as your Savior, then you should know He is the only one who can deliver you from the greatest suffering and pain imaginable, which is hell, eternal judgment. And He can deliver you because His death on the cross was a substitute as He was punished in the place of sinners like you. So call upon Him today to save you from your sin. Place your trust in Him for your salvation from hell. Come to Him, call upon Him, repent, turn from your sin, and trust Him as the only way to be right with God. We're going to pray. I urge you to call upon the Lord, and I want to remind you, when we close this service, there will be elders at the front here who you can speak to or pray with if you'd like. Join me in prayer. Father, what a wonderful stanza this is. Thank you, Lord, for including this in your word. It does give us such comfort, such help to know that we're not alone in our pain. You have not turned away from us. Lord, may every every one of your children going through suffering right now grab hold of these truths and apply them to their lives and may they saturate their thinking with these truths and may they see the great evidence of you bringing these truths to pass in their lives. We pray Lord for those who don't know you. We pray that you will open their hearts to the gospel and shine forth the light, the glorious light of Christ being Savior and Lord into their hearts that they might call upon you to be saved. We pray Lord for new believers who are just sort of finding their way through the Christian life. We pray that that you will work in their minds so that they, even at the beginning of their Christian lives, are so attached to the Word of God that they esteem it above everything else. And that whatever it says, Lord, that's their rule of life. May that be true of all of us. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.