All who know Jesus Christ are keenly aware that the Christian life is a strenuous and often a difficult journey, especially when it's filled with a lot of persecution and a lot of trials. Many of the early Jewish believers in Christ understood how challenging it was to follow the Lord because they were being persecuted, not just by anybody, but by family, by friends, by their own peers. And this is why there are so many exhortations in the book of Hebrews, for these Jewish people to press on, to not forsake the assembling of themselves. These Jewish Christians were undergoing severe persecution, and some of them, frankly, were wavering in their faith. They were contemplating returning to the safe havens of Judaism, where they would be welcomed back with open arms by their family and peers, free from being ostracized and free from being rejected for their faith in the Messiah. This is why the letter to the Hebrews is centered around the message that Jesus Christ is superior to anything associated with Old Testament biblical Judaism. That's why it goes through the list of people like Moses. Christ is better. The high priest. Christ is better. He is our high priest. The Sabbath rest. Christ is better. He is our rest. The Old Testament animal sacrifice is, Christ is better because He is the ultimate sacrifice. He is the perfect sacrifice. He takes away sin, He doesn't just cover it. The writer's clear message is that Christ is better than all of this, so why go back to your old religion? That's the message of the book of Hebrews. But when the writer comes to Hebrews chapter 12, knowing exactly what these people needed. They needed strength to endure. He tells them how to get this strength, how to endure the difficulties that they were going through, the difficulties they were facing from all of their persecution. Hebrews chapter 12 verse 1 says this, Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, these are the people of faith, let us, here's what he's telling them to do, Let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us." He tells them that in order to run with endurance, and he's comparing the Christian life to a long-distance race, In order to run with endurance, they need to lay aside every encumbrance, and then he adds, and the sin which was entangling them, which was holding them back. Now, the encumbrances he appears to be referring to are the Old Testament trappings of Judaism. That's really what the whole book has been dealing with. All those rituals and rules that they were still trying to hold on to, and the writer is saying, let go of that. You've got the Messiah. Let go of that other stuff that just pointed to him. He's here. And the specific sin of the Hebrews that the writer mentioned, very likely was their sin of unbelief and of doubting, because that's what he addresses in this book. They were not trusting the Lord like they should have. And so he tells them to get rid of their religious weights and their doubts, which were just loading them down and hindering them from making forward progress in the Christian life. Any experienced distant runner knows the lighter you are, the better and faster you run. To give them the strength they needed to run the spiritual marathon, the writer tells them that they need to have their eyes looking straight ahead. Not at their problems. Not at their persecution. not at their old religion, not focused on their circumstances, but looking unto Jesus Christ, he says, that's who they need to be focused on. Verse 2 of Hebrews 12 says this, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. In looking to Him, the writer says they would see That He endured. They need endurance? Well, He endured. He's the model of endurance. He endured the worst of all things that could possibly happen. The absolute shame and degradation and horror of the cross. The Bible says that Christ despised that shame, because why? It caused men to think of Him as a wicked sinner. He, the perfect, holy Son of God, was thought of as a wicked sinner. And secondly, it caused Him to be treated like a wicked sinner by God the Father, because on the cross, the Father was punishing Him in the place of wicked sinners. That's the shame of the cross. And the way He endured the horror and the shame of being crucified was by knowing that there was a finish line. There was an end to His agony. It wouldn't go on forever. At this finish line, there was the greatest joy awaiting Jesus. It was the joy of returning to God the Father and sitting down at the right hand of the throne of the Father. And if these Hebrews would just focus on Jesus and His example of enduring temporary pain in light of future eternal glory, they would not grow weary, they would not lose heart, but they would be strengthened in their faith knowing that future joy and glory awaits them. That's what he says in verse 3. For consider Him, that is Christ, who endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Consider Christ and all the hostility that He received from wicked people. Think about that in light of your persecution. And He endured, knowing that there's a finish line, knowing that there's glory ahead, knowing that there's joy that awaits Him, and there's joy that awaits you, so you will not grow weary and lose heart. Now, these first century Hebrews were not the first ones, nor the last ones, to experience this kind of weariness and discouragement that comes from persecution for following the Lord. As I said earlier, every true follower of Christ knows how strenuous and how difficult the Christian life can be. And therefore, what's needed above all else is we continue on this journey, this endurance race that is set before us as the rider To the Hebrews puts it, what we need most is strength, spiritual strength, spiritual stamina to withstand all of the trials and tribulations of this life. Now this morning, in our study of Psalm 119, we have come to a stanza in which the psalmist speaks of his own weariness. his own fatigue, his own need for strength to endure. Let me read it again to you and keep that in mind, that this man is struggling, this man is tired, this man is feeling weak and fatigued and a bit discouraged. In light of that, he says, look upon my affliction and rescue me, for I do not forget your law. Plead my cause and redeem me. Revive me according to your word. Salvation is far from the wicked, for they do not seek your statutes. Great are your mercies, O Lord. Revive me according to your ordinances. Many are my persecutors and my adversaries, yet I do not turn aside from your testimonies. I behold the treacherous and loathe them, because they do not keep your word. Consider how I love your precepts. Revive me, O Lord, according to your lovingkindness. The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous ordinances is everlasting. Now, as we look at these verses, I want you to know, Ephraim, we don't find any real new information here that we haven't heard before. He doesn't reveal anything particularly new about a situation, or his enemies, or an attribute of God. What he tells us in this paragraph, basically he's already told us before, maybe in different words, but it's the same thoughts. So once again he tells us that he is afflicted, we know that. That he's asking God to rescue him from his persecutors, we've heard that before. And that in spite of pressure from his adversaries, he does not forsake, he does not forget God's law, we've heard that before. He speaks of God's mercies and his love, we've seen that. And he actually ends this stanza very similarly to the way that he ended the previous stanza, by stating that God's word is truth, And it's everlasting, and it's changeless. So, we don't really read anything in these verses that we haven't come across before in the psalm. However, in spite of repeating some of the same truths that he has already said in earlier stanzas, I want you to know there is something unique about this series of verses. What's unique is the psalmist's emphasis on his request for God to revive him. The key word in these verses is revive. If you have an old Bible version, it may say quicken, but quicken or revive. Now, notice how often in these few verses he asks the Lord to revive him. He says it at the end of verse 154. He says it at the end of verse 156. He says it at the end of verse 159. Now, it is true. This isn't the first time that the psalmist has petitioned God to revive him. In fact, he's actually asked for revival from the Lord many times in this psalm. You can look this up on your own, but he asked it in verse 25, verse 37, verse 40, verse 88, verse 107, verse 149, and here he asked it a number of times. What makes this request so unique in this stanza is the frequency of his petition. Three times in a matter of, it's just eight verses, he asked God to revive him. What this indicates then is that although there are many truths that the psalmist brings out in these eight verses, the fact that he stresses his desire for God to revive him so often in such a short span of space, it tells us that the overarching message and theme of this paragraph is personal revival. That's what's on his heart. In other words, he wants to teach us what it means to look to the Lord for a revived heart, and that this revival is vitally connected to the Word of God. That makes perfect sense, because as we've seen from our studies, everything in Psalm 119 is vitally connected to the Word of God. It is a psalm about the Word of God. Notice how the psalmist links his request for revival to the scriptures. In verse 154, he asks the Lord to revive him according to your word. In verse 156, he says, revive me according to your ordinances. In verse 159 he says, according to your loving kindness, but the only way he knows of God's loving kindness is because the word of God tells him that the Lord is kind and loving. And what he means by all of this is that God's word promises to revive him. So he's asking the Lord to simply fulfill what he's promised. Now, before we proceed any further, I think it is critical for us to stop and to consider what exactly the psalmist means by the term revive. Since this is really the heart of his message in this paragraph, if we don't understand what the word revive means as the psalmist is using it, we're going to miss the whole point of these verses. And it's especially important for us today to understand this concept of revival because there are so many variant views on what revival means. In fact, just saying that word probably conjures up images in your mind. The Hebrew word that the psalmist uses that's translated revive essentially means to live or to continue living or to keep alive. It's often used this way in the Old Testament of God keeping someone physically alive. They have life. To be revived is to keep on living physically. However, Christians have often taken this word revive or revival and used it in a different sense. Christians have often used it to speak of God giving not so much physical life but spiritual life in the context of evangelistic meetings that have resulted in numerous conversions. Sometimes these revivals have been called awakenings, in the sense that God has awakened souls out of spiritual darkness, out of spiritual death, and he's brought them into his kingdom. And no doubt, that has certainly happened in church history. There's not even a question about that. There were the great awakenings that took place in Great Britain and then America under the ministry of George Whitefield. John Wesley. All of that is attested to. That's history. Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones often spoke about the great Welsh revival of the early 1900s and how he longed for that again. Because this term revival then is associated with the awakening of a soul, with evangelistic work, in recent years, It's been fashionable for many churches in longing for God to work in their midst to organize what they call revival meetings, in which they usually bring in a dynamic evangelistic speaker with the hopes that God will use him to lead many souls to saving faith in Christ and to renew the hearts of believers. But listen, the saving of souls cannot be reduced to a series of meetings. Revival in the sense of conversions isn't something that man can plan for. It's not something you organize and it just happens, because conversions are the sole result of the sovereign work of God. You can't plan for this. In fact, Jesus made it very clear in talking to Nicodemus. You remember in John 3, Nicodemus came to Jesus at night and asked Him some questions, and Jesus got right to the heart of what was really on his heart and said, you must be born again. You have to be awakened, you have to be given spiritual life, you have to be regenerated. And in talking to Nicodemus, our Lord made it clear that just as no one knows where the wind is going to blow, so no one knows where and when the Holy Spirit is going to move in bringing someone a saving faith. Here's exactly what Jesus said in John chapter 3 verse 8. He said to Nicodemus, the wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from or where it's going, so is everyone who's born of the Spirit. In other words, just as you cannot control or predict where the wind will blow, so you cannot control or predict where and when the Spirit will work in bringing about salvation in a lost soul. Now, in considering how the writer of Psalm 119 uses the word revive, we know by process of elimination what he doesn't mean. He can't possibly have meant it in the sense of that he's asking God to save his soul in the sense of causing him to be born again, to have spiritual life. In other words, salvation from sin. He wouldn't be asking the Lord for that. He's already a saved man. He's a follower. He's a believer. So, we have to eliminate that. He's not asking for salvation of his soul. And while it's true that the Hebrew word translated revive is often used in the Old Testament to speak of keeping someone physically alive, it's doubtful that this is how the psalmist is using this word here in this context. And the reason I say this is because of how the psalmist has previously used the word revive in this psalm. So let me have you look, for example, at verse 25. Look at verse 25. He says, My soul cleaves to the dust, revive me according to your word. Now he's talking here, I think it's quite obvious, about being emotionally down. He's in the dust. He's low. And his request then to be revived is a request not to be kept living physically. It's not what he's even talking about, but rather he wants encouragement. He wants the Lord to lift up and boost his spirits, his emotions. He's down. So, he's not asking to be kept alive physically. Once again, he uses this word in verse 37. He says, turn away my eyes from looking at vanity and revive me in your ways. Once again, we see he's not asking to be kept alive physically, but rather he's asking to be strengthened in his faith so that he doesn't succumb to the sin of looking upon something that is vain and empty, probably an idol. And that's why when we come then to our present stanza, and we see him using the word revive so often, we can safely conclude that this is a plea to God, not to save his soul spiritually or to sustain his life physically, but rather he's asking the Lord, note this, to keep and give him grace to press on, to give him the strength to handle all of his adversity. He's asking the Lord to empower him and help him so that he doesn't give up and surrender to his enemy's pressure to abandon his faith. That's why I keep saying, but I don't forsake you. Why? Because they're putting pressure on me to do that. I don't forget your law. Spurgeon, I think, does a great job of explaining this reviving that the psalmist saw, which, so as not to confuse you, I want you to know when Spurgeon, what he has to say, in his Old English Bible, the word revive or reviving is translated quickening. So when you hear me read quicken or quickening, understand it's revive. He writes, as the soul is the center of everything, so to be quickened, revived, is the central blessing. It means more love, more grace, more faith, more courage, more strength. And if we get these, we can hold up our heads before our adversaries. God alone can give this quickening. But to the Lord and giver of life, the work is easy enough and he delights to perform it. So what we're looking at in this stanza, folks, is a very weary man, tired of all the persecution that he's had to endure for who knows how long, and he longs for strength for the battle, and he's looking to the Lord to give it to him. And that's what makes this series of verses so important for us, so relevant for us, because in asking God to revive him, the psalmist is not only confident that God will do it, But watch this, he tells us why he is so confident that God will grant him the strength he needs to endure these trials. And that's good news for us, because like the psalmist, we grow weary and tired, don't we? We're tired of the battles and the trials of life. We know what it's like to feel like giving up. We know what it's like to feel like throwing in the towel and saying, Lord, it's enough. I've had it. I can't go on like this any longer. But according to the psalmist, it's at times like these that we can be confident that God will come to our aid and renew our strength and infuse us with His grace and power to press on. And it's in these verses that the psalmist tells us why we can be so certain, so assured that God will strengthen our weary souls. And he does this by giving us three reasons he was confident that God would revive him. This morning we're going to look at the first of these reasons. The psalmist tells us that he was confident that God would revive him because he was a true believer. And the point being is that God revives true believers and he's one of them. Verse 153 starts off this way. Look upon my affliction and rescue me. Now, the psalmist begins this section by asking the Lord to do something for him. Actually, two things. He asks him, number one, to look upon his affliction. Number two, he asks him to rescue him. Now, I want us to think about this for a few minutes, because what the psalmist is requesting of God is something that is extremely important when it comes to this issue of being weak and weary and receiving strength from Him. First of all, this man is asking the Lord to look upon his affliction. Now think about that. He wants God to see the trouble he's in. And he is asking this only because he's confident that God does see his affliction. And that is such an important truth for you to know. God does see your afflictions. God does see and He knows everything you are going through. The trial, the pain, that illness, the broken relationship, the suffering from persecution. He sees it and He cares enough about you to rescue you. Scripture is very clear that God not only sees every trial that you and I are presently enduring, but that in seeing our affliction, He cares for us in our plight. I want us to spend some time looking back at another psalm, which I think fits in here beautifully. It's what David said in Psalm 34. What he said about God seeing all and that He cares enough to intervene and to help us. These are wonderfully encouraging words. Psalm 34, beginning at verse 15. We read, the eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry. The face of the Lord is against evildoers, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. The righteous cry, and the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Now consider what David tells us in these verses. He tells us that God's eyes and ears are open to the righteous. meaning that he sees what's going on in the lives of his people. The righteous are not perfect people, they're his people though. And he knows the troubles that they have, he sees it, he knows it, and he hears their cries for help. He sees all that's going on in your life, and he hears your cries for help. This is not the case, David tells us, with unbelievers. David tells us that God is against those who do evil, and their lives are characterized by evil. They're not saved, they're unbelievers. Far from rescuing them, he tells us the Lord opposes them so that they die and they are eventually forgotten. Nobody cares. But the Lord isn't like that with his children. David is telling us something so wonderful about God's attitude towards us, that it ought to be extremely encouraging to every one of us. See, this isn't merely a statement that God sees what's going on in your life, that God hears what's going on in your life and your cries. No, this is an amazing declaration of the Lord's concern for you as His child. Listen to the way one Bible teacher explained the meaning of these verses. He writes, one of Frankie Valli's greatest hits, declared, can't take my eyes off of you. Now don't start thinking about that tune. I know you. He goes on to say, well, God can't take His eyes off those who love obedience and are passionate about purity. He gazes on them with tenderness and warmth and loving affection, watching every move they make, no less His ears. He listens to every prayer, takes note of every groan, is pleased with every song of praise, is moved by every cry of anguish. Others may slight you, others may ignore your plea, but not God. End of quote. God, David tells us, is so interested in each of his children that he says that when we are down and when we feel overwhelmed by our circumstances, when we feel crushed by the difficulties and the problems of life, he draws near to us. Look again at the incredible words of verse 18 and believe them. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted. and saves those who are crushed in spirit. That's a verse to memorize. That's a verse to meditate on. This is a promise you and I have to cling to. We must cling to this when we are in the throes of being brokenhearted and crushed. This is when we have to trust that what God says is true, even if we don't feel it. Even if it feels to us as if God is distant and removed from our circumstances, He's not. God says that He sees our troubles and He's close to us. Regardless of the misery we're in, He will save us, He will rescue us. Now, as I've told you many times, how He rescues you is up to Him. How He does it, when He does it, That's up to Him. But He will save you from your afflictions. That's His promise. It may be that in your affliction He's just going to give you grace. Or it may be that He'll take you out of those circumstances. We leave that up to Him. But that's His promise. The fact that believers even have affliction is a critically important truth to know. I want to remind you. I say that because there are many Christians who don't understand that God's will is that believers, even the most godly of them, go through deep affliction. There are some people who would deny that. And the reason some don't know this is because they've been listening to the wrong Bible teachers. They've been listening to false teachers who will tell them that they should never suffer. That if they know the Lord, every day is going to be a great day, and it's only going to get better and better and better. That's not what the Bible teaches, and certainly not what David taught or believed. Notice what David proceeds to say about the righteous and suffering in verses 19 and 20. He says, in contrast to many who would teach just the opposite today, he says, many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of all of them. He keeps all his bones, not one of them is broken. David tells us that although God promises to deliver those who fear him, He never promises to keep us from a trouble-free existence. Never. Jesus said, in the world you'll have tribulation. On the contrary, David says, many are the afflictions of the righteous. Many, not just a few, many. And although the righteous are often battered and bruised from their troubles, David tells us that God keeps all his bones and not one of them is broken. This is not to be taken literally. This is a figure of speech. People do break their bones. This is a figure of speech, meaning that although we may be weighed down by the afflictions of life, we will never be destroyed by them. Never be destroyed by them, because God will intervene. He'll rescue us at the perfect time in the perfect way. And that's precisely, as we get back to Psalm 119, that's precisely what the writer of Psalm 119 is counting on God doing in his life. Looking upon his affliction and rescuing him. And the reason he knows this, that he can count on God to do this, is because, note this, he's a true believer. He's a truly converted man. He's a genuine follower of the Lord. And God, he knows, takes care of his own. Notice what he goes on to say in verse 153. He says, for I do not forget your laws. Now, we want to be careful that we don't misunderstand what this man is saying. He's not saying that he is entitled to God rescuing him because he's done such a good job of not forgetting his word. As if the Lord owes this to him, as if rescuing him is conditioned upon his performance of his spiritual duties. This is not a boastful claim. This is not a claim of entitlement. No, he's not saying that at all. What he is saying is that he's a true believer. And the proof of this is that he continues to follow the Lord. In fact, if you look, And we won't cover this verse in depth until, Lord willing, next week. But if you look, he will say in verse 155, salvation is far from the wicked for they do not seek your statutes. He's in contrast to the wicked. He's a true believer. And the proof of this is that he continues to follow the Lord regardless of all of his troubles. In other words, he's not forgotten God's law even though his enemies have been putting this incredible pressure on him to forsake and abandon his faith. But he's not done it. He's a true believer. He continues following. Now, I know in past messages I've stressed what Scripture stresses concerning obedience to God's Word being a key mark or evidence that someone is a true Christian. I want to stress it again. Jesus said in John 8 31, if you continue in my word, then you are truly disciples of mine. If you continue. Not if you just have an emotional experience and for the first few weeks you look good, but then trouble comes and you're out of here. No, if you continue in my word, and he means through thick and thin, then you're truly disciples of mine. He also said in John 10, 27, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. Not talking about perfect following, but the general direction of their lives is to follow me. They care about what I say. They want to obey what I say. Those are His sheep. Now, this issue of obedience is evidence of genuine conversion. It's a far more relevant issue than many of us may realize. And the reason for this is because there are many today who will give verbal testimony of being a Christian, but day-to-day obedience to God's Word, it's just not a reality in their lives. There's a disconnect. Concerning this lack of obedience in the lives of so many professing Christians, James Montgomery Boyce wrote this, he said, how little obedience there is even in strong Christian circles. I suppose this is why Jesus spoke about obedience so directly towards the end of the sermon on the mount in Luke's version. Jesus had been followed by many people who made a verbal profession of discipleship. They called him Lord, which meant that they were calling him their master and themselves his servants, but they were also disregarding his teaching. Jesus showed the contradiction by asking pointedly, why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say? He was teaching that he is not our Lord if we do not obey him, and if he is not our Lord, then we do not even belong to him. Listen, American churches are filled with people who claim to be saved, but whose lives are characterized by disobedience and disregard for Scripture. Now, they may be very faithful in attending church, even churches where they are taught the Word of God, but in hearing God's Word, they don't take the Word seriously. They have no passion to obey What they hear, to them hearing their pastor preach is a form of entertainment. He gives the performance, they sit back and enjoy it. But a commitment and a desire to obey what they hear, it isn't even on their radar. It's not something that even enters their minds. But I want you to know, this is not anything new. Long ago, God spoke to the prophet Ezekiel to explain to him why he was punishing the city of Jerusalem, the people of Judea, Jerusalem, by allowing the city to fall to the Babylonians. Listen as God explains to Ezekiel how the people of his day viewed his preaching, Ezekiel's preaching. This is Ezekiel 33, starting at verse 30. God explaining to Ezekiel who he calls the son of man. But as for you, son of man, your fellow citizens who talk about you by the walls and in the doorways of the houses speak to one another, each to his brother saying, come now and hear what the message is which comes forth from the Lord. They come to you as people come and sit before you as my people and hear your words, but they do not do them. For they do the lustful desires expressed by their mouth, and their heart goes after their gain. Behold, you are like to them a sensual song by one who has a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument. For they hear your words, but they do not practice them." Wow. According to these words, the people of Ezekiel's day, they liked to listen to him. They liked to hear him preach. They said he speaks the Word of God. He was good at public speaking. They enjoyed hearing his eloquence, his expressiveness, but they didn't obey what he said. They were just entertained by his ability to verbally articulate his message, but they continued in their sin. That's exactly what a true believer does not do. He doesn't walk away from hearing the Word of God and do nothing. He doesn't forget what he's heard. Instead, he is determined to obey the Word, regardless of how hard it is and how difficult his circumstances are. Obedience to a true Christian is not an option. He doesn't have to sit and debate in his mind whether he's going to do what's right or not. It's exactly what the psalmist is articulating here in verse 153. He's saying that the fact that he does not forget God's law proves that he's a true believer. And therefore, he knows that God sees his affliction and that God will rescue him because this is what God does for his people. And he's one of them. And his obedience shows that. But in the meantime, he's a hurting man. And he needs the Lord's strength. to endure. And so he continues praying to God. And here's what he asked for. He asked for his strength. Verse 154, plead my cause and redeem me. Revive me according to your word. Having asked God to deliver him from his affliction, the psalmist now gives us some insight into one of the things that was really troubling him about his affliction. See, in asking God to plead his cause, those are the words he uses, plead my cause. He's asking the Lord, note this, to take up the role of a lawyer. a defense attorney, and clear his name, defend him, vindicate him from the wicked lies and the accusations his adversaries have brought against him. And in asking God, as he goes on to ask to redeem him, he's asking the Lord to take the role of a close relative who was called a kinsman redeemer. We read much about that in the book of Ruth. to take up the role of a kinsman redeemer whose responsibility it was to stand up for him and to protect him from danger. He was sort of like the head of the household. And so when we put this together, it all points to the fact that one of the things that deeply bothered this man was that his enemies, in trying to pressure him into forsaking God's Word and sinning, they were spreading vicious lies about him. They were slandering him. And he wanted God to clear his name and to restore his reputation. And notice how often in the psalm he speaks of the lies propagated against him. Notice in verse 69 he says, the arrogant have forged a lie against me. They lied about him. He says in verse 78, may the arrogant be ashamed for they subvert me with a lie. He says in verse 86, all your commandments are faithful, they have persecuted me with a lie. Help me. Now, it's in the midst of being persecuted like this, by having lies told about him, that the psalmist is asking God here in verse 154 to revive him. That's the context. He says, revive me according to your word, by which he means, give me the strength to handle all of these lies, all of these false charges, just as your word says you will. Help me. That's what's bothering me. Listen, if you have ever had someone tell lies about you, or if you have been falsely accused of something, you know how painful it is. It is a pain like nothing else. It is unique. It is heart-rendering. It's painful because there are people who actually believe these lies about you. And no matter how much you try to clear your name by defending yourself, they just keep believing these lies. It doesn't matter what you say. It doesn't affect them. So, how does God give us strength to endure false accusations? Listen closely. He strengthens us by developing godly character within us. And this godly character is developed in us by focusing on obedience to the Lord in the midst of these false accusations. Rather than spend our time defending ourselves or seeking revenge, we answer these lies against us by living such exemplary lives that others will know that these accusations are false. They have no basis. They're baseless. The Apostle Peter, in writing his first letter, wrote to Christians who were suffering. They were suffering, and they were falsely accused, this was the heart of their suffering, they were falsely accused of all kinds of things. Let me read to you 1 Peter 2, verse 12. Keep your behavior excellent, among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of, notice this, your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation. Meaning that some of them will even be saved because of the way you've lived. And these believers were being falsely accused of all kinds of things. Peter only addresses some of these things, but we know from history that the early believers were accused of rebellion against the Roman government, being poor citizens. They were also accused of burning down the city of Rome. They were accused of being immoral because of their stress on loving one another. Perverted minds took that to a sensual context. They were also accused of cannibalism because of the false rumors concerning what they did behind closed doors in the Lord's Supper. Atheism they were accused of because they refused to worship idols and the emperor. And they were accused of being opposed to the social structure of their day in the sense that they were accused of encouraging slaves to disobey their masters. And that was just a few things they were accused of. In fact, the false accusations that they were rebellious against their government and encouraging slaves to rebel against their masters, Peter actually meets head-on in the next few verses. But I want you to know the most important thing to get out of this is Peter is saying you silence your critics by living an exemplary life. Don't give anyone the opportunity to really look at you and say your behavior justifies these accusations. And notice what he says. about the government, starting in verse 13. Remember, they were being accused of being poor citizens, accused of being in rebellion against the Roman government. Peter says, Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and the praise of those who do right. For such is the will of God, that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. You're accused of being a poor citizen? Obey the government. Honor your king. Honor your leader. So we silence the lies that we are in rebellion to our government by submitting to the laws of the land and, folks, by being model citizens. He goes on in verses 18 and 19. Servants, be submissive. And he means slaves now. Slaves, be submissive to your masters with all respect. Not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable. For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God, a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly. The way to deal with these false accusations that the church encourages slaves to rebel against their owners who have harshly treated them, Peter says it's for you as a Christian slave to submit. to the suffering, to submit to this harsh treatment, and therefore to submit to God's sovereign will and care for you. And in this way, every Christian who has ever been verbally abused, that's the way we're supposed to respond. Do what's right. Don't retaliate. Trust God. It's exactly the example of Jesus Christ, the perfect one, the perfect example. Notice, Peter goes on in verses 21 and following. For you, here's why you do this, for you have been called for this purpose. What purpose? The purpose of suffering, but to show an exemplary response in your suffering. You've been called for this purpose since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps. This is our Lord's example. This is how you answer false accusations. This is how you answer lies about you. Who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth. It was all false, because He's perfect. And while being reviled, notice, He didn't revile in return. He didn't scream back at them. While suffering, He uttered no threats. but he kept entrusting himself to Him who judges righteously. When our Lord was falsely accused and slandered and lied about, He didn't strike back. He didn't threaten to strike back. Instead, He submitted Himself to God the Father and He entrusted Himself to God's sovereign care and righteousness. Why? Because God the Father knew the truth. about who Jesus was, and that was all that really mattered. And God the Father knows the truth about you. Listen, if you're a believer in Christ, then be assured that God will revive your weak heart. He'll do it by giving you the strength to endure your pain, no matter what that pain is. And if your pain is being lied about and slandered, then He will plead your case by giving you the strength to obey Him, to do what's right. And in doing so, you will silence your critics by your exemplary behavior. But if a desire to obey God's word is not the desire of your heart, if a biblical sermon is just entertainment to you and nothing more, and it doesn't move you to obey what you've heard, then you must face the truth that you have never been converted. That's a hard thing to face, especially if you've been raised in the church, and you have thought you're a Christian, but if obedience is not a part of your life, then you've never been saved. And if that is true of you, then today can be the day of your salvation. Today, come to Christ now, repent of your sin, and trust Him that on the cross He paid the debt for you, and turn to Him and really be converted. Let's bow for prayer. Father, we thank You that Your Word is so practical, so relevant. Lord, what this man must have gone through, we can only glean from this psalm, but how painful. But we know that some of us here are going through a lot of pain. It may not be exactly this man's pain, but it's pain nonetheless. And they have been falsely accused, and our flesh wants to rise up and defend ourselves. Help us. Help those who have been in this situation are going through it to silence their critics by godliness, not in a showy way, but in a way that honors you. I do pray, Lord, for any here who may be wondering if they're really saved. Lord, I pray for those who are truly saved not to have doubts about their salvation, but for those who are not saved and perhaps have thought they are, I pray they'll have doubts enough that they will truly repent and truly trust you as Savior. Father, we do pray, help us to be an obedient people. Help us to trust you. Help us to submit ourselves to you, because you know the truth about us. Where others don't, you do. So we entrust our souls to your safe care. All this we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.