trials and troubles

Taw

¹⁶⁹O LORD, listen to my cry;
    give me the discerning mind you promised.
¹⁷⁰Listen to my prayer;
    rescue me as you promised.
¹⁷¹Let praise flow from my lips,
    for you have taught me your decrees.
¹⁷²Let my tongue sing about your word,
    for all your commands are right.
¹⁷³Give me a helping hand,
    for I have chosen to follow your commandments.
¹⁷⁴O LORD, I have longed for your rescue,
    and your instructions are my delight.
¹⁷⁵Let me live so I can praise you,
    and may your regulations help me.
¹⁷⁶I have wandered away like a lost sheep;
    come and find me,
    for I have not forgotten your commands. – Psalm 119:169-176 ESV

The psalmist has reached the last letter in the Hebrew alphabet, bringing his lengthy poem to an end. Utilizing the pattern he has used throughout the psalm, he begins each sentence of these last eight verses with the letter taw or tav. This last strophe serves as the conclusion or coda of his psalm.

As he prepares to wrap up his song, the psalmist intensifies his request for deliverance, begging Yahweh to listen to his cry and prayer. He not only wants to be heard, but he wants to experience Yahweh’s intervention. Fearing death, he longs to live so he can continue to interact with God’s word. Throughout this psalm, the author has repeatedly expressed his deep love and affection for the Scriptures

I have rejoiced in your laws
as much as in riches. – Psalm 119:14 NLT

Your laws please me;
they give me wise advice. – Psalm 119:24 NLT

I long to obey your commandments!– Psalm 119:40 NLT

How I delight in your commands!
How I love them! – Psalm 119:47 NLT

Your instructions are more valuable to me
than millions in gold and silver.– Psalm 119:72 NLT

…your instructions are my delight.– Psalm 119:77 NLT

Oh, how I love your instructions!
I think about them all day long.– Psalm 119:97 NLT

How sweet your words taste to me;
they are sweeter than honey. – Psalm 119:103 NLT

Your laws are my treasure;
they are my heart’s delight.– Psalm 119:111 NLT

…no wonder I love to obey your laws! – Psalm 119:119 NLT

I stand in awe of your regulations. – Psalm 119:120 NLT

Truly, I love your commands
more than gold, even the finest gold.– Psalm 119:127 NLT

Your laws are wonderful.
No wonder I obey them!– Psalm 119:127 NLT

See how I love your commandments, LORD.– Psalm 119:159 NLT

I rejoice in your word
like one who discovers a great treasure. – Psalm 119:162 NLT

I love your instructions. – Psalm 119:163 NLT

I have obeyed your laws,
for I love them very much. – Psalm 119:167 NLT

This isn’t hyperbole or pious-sounding rhetoric. The psalmist sincerely means what he is saying. Over his lifetime, he has grown to love the word of God because it has proven to be faithful, true, reliable, wise, and encouraging. While his life has not been easy, his reliance upon the Scriptures has provided him with hope because it reveals the character of his God.

The stories contained in God’s word portray His power, love, mercy, grace, justice, sovereignty, and righteousness. The Books of the Law reveal the righteous demands Yahweh has placed on His covenant people, but also outline the sacrificial system He provided to provide atonement when they failed to keep His commands. The psalmist had read the Books of History and seen how Yahweh had shown mercy and grace to His rebellious people. Yes, He had punished them for their sins, but He had also forgiven and restored them on more than one occasion.

The Books of Wisdom had provided the psalmist with insight into God’s nature, outlining the importance of godly wisdom and the need to pursue it with unbridled enthusiasm.

Tune your ears to wisdom,
and concentrate on understanding.
Cry out for insight,
and ask for understanding.
Search for them as you would for silver;
seek them like hidden treasures.
Then you will understand what it means to fear the LORD,
and you will gain knowledge of God.– Proverbs 2:2-5 NLT

This has been the pattern of the psalmist’s life. He has taken to heart all the lessons found in Scripture and applied the many admonitions to make God’s word a priority. But he longs for more. He is far from satisfied and not ready to end his quest to know God better. That is why he cries out, “rescue me as you promised” (Psalm 119:170 NLT). He is not ready for death, but longs to experience more of life so he can grow in his understanding of Yahweh.

“Let me live so I can praise you” (Psalm 119:175 NLT), he pleads. For the psalmist, life was essential to experiencing God’s presence and power; it was also vital for responding in praise. The psalmist’s mindset reflects that of the prophet Isaiah when he wrote:

For the dead cannot praise you;
they cannot raise their voices in praise.
Those who go down to the grave
can no longer hope in your faithfulness.
Only the living can praise you as I do today.– Isaiah 38:18-19 NLT

Another psalmist shared this same sentiment when he wrote:

The dead cannot sing praises to the LORD,
for they have gone into the silence of the grave.
But we can praise the LORD
both now and forever!– Psalm 115:17-18 NLT

These men were not discounting the idea of an afterlife, but their doctrine of life after death was not fully formed. The ancient Hebrews did not have a well-developed understanding of the hereafter. They believed in some kind of post-death existence, but found it difficult to understand its exact nature. For them, life was the realm in which Yahweh’s blessings were experienced. Health, wealth, and prosperity were the signs of a blessed life. Suffering and sorrow were evidence of a disobedient life. That is why the psalmist is confused by the circumstances surrounding his life. He had been faithful and obedient to God’s commands, yet he was suffering.

Many persecute and trouble me,
yet I have not swerved from your laws.– Psalm 119:157 NLT

I am insignificant and despised,
but I don’t forget your commandments.– Psalm 119:141 NLT

The psalmist wanted to live because he was not done pursuing God’s word. He wanted to experience more of God’s blessings and was convinced they could only be experienced in life, not death. He believed praise to be the purview of the living, not the dead. He desperately wants to live, not so he can experience more of what life has to offer, but so he can continue to experience the life-changing lessons God’s word has to offer.

O Lord, I have longed for your rescue,
and your instructions are my delight.
Let me live so I can praise you,
and may your regulations help me.– Psalm 119:174-175 NLT

Suffering wasn’t enjoyable, and it didn’t always make sense. But, for the psalmist, it was an opportunity to seek Yahweh’s help and see His deliverance. The struggles of life drove him to his knees and made him increasingly more dependent upon the LORD. Problems were the launching ground for praise. Without a need for God’s assistance and deliverance, praise would become unnecessary. But God’s rescue has a way of making His people rejoice. When God shows up, His people tend to shout out His praises. And the psalmist wants to live so he can continue to witness God’s presence, experience God’s power, and respond in praise.

The psalmist closes out his song with a cry of complete dependence upon Yahweh’s help. He describes himself as a lost sheep who has unintentionally wandered away from the fold and find himself in danger.

I have wandered away like a lost sheep;
come and find me,
for I have not forgotten your commands. – Psalms 119:174 NLT

This lost-sheep motif is found throughout the Old Testament Scriptures. God used this analogy to describe the state of His covenant people.

“My people have been lost sheep.
Their shepherds have led them astray
and turned them loose in the mountains.
They have lost their way
and can’t remember how to get back to the sheepfold.” – Jeremiah 50:6 NLT

Speaking on behalf of his fellow Israelites, the prophet Isaiah confessed their self-imposed state of spiritual lostness.

All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.
We have left God’s paths to follow our own.– Isaiah 53:6 NLT

The psalmist could relate to this imagery of wandering sheep, and he longed for the Good Shepherd to seek him out and restore him to safety and rest. He desired to be back in the fold, where he could continue to experience the love and protective presence of his Master. It isn’t farfetched to imagine that the psalmist had the words of David in mind as he concluded his psalm. It was the shepherd of Israel who wrote the following tribute to Yahweh’s faithfulness and love.

The LORD is my shepherd;
I have all that I need.
He lets me rest in green meadows;
he leads me beside peaceful streams.
He renews my strength.
He guides me along right paths,
bringing honor to his name.
Even when I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will not be afraid,
for you are close beside me.
Your rod and your staff
protect and comfort me.
You prepare a feast for me
in the presence of my enemies.
You honor me by anointing my head with oil.
My cup overflows with blessings.
Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me
all the days of my life,
and I will live in the house of the LORD
forever.– Psalm 23:1-6 NLT

The psalmist wanted what David described. He had experienced it before and was not ready for it to end. Life was worth living because it was the avenue through which Yahweh revealed Himself to men. Yes, life could be full of green meadows and peaceful streams. There were times of feasting and rejoicing. But there were also dark valleys and fear-filled moments when the Shepherd seemed nowhere to be found. But, like David, the psalmist believed that God’s goodness and unfailing love would pursue him
all the days of his life, so life was worth living. He truly believed that life was the key to loving and praising God, and would have fully agreed with the words of Psalm 150:6:

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!

Father, I want to love life, not because of all the perks and benefits it provides, but because it is the platform upon which I get to see and experience Your power and presence. Too often, I see the trials and troubles as setbacks and unnecessary bumps on the road of life. I try to avoid them like the plague or pray them away when eluding them fails. But it is in the difficulties of life that You show up. It is in those moments when I have no more tricks up my sleeve or any other options to pursue, that I tend to turn to You. My weakness makes me aware of my need for Your strength. When times get tough, my prayer life improves. When I don’t know what to do, I am forced to turn to You. And when I do, You always show up. Thank you for life, not because it’s always perfect and free from trials, but because it is the place where my weakness gets exposed and Your power is displayed. Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Misplaced Allegiance.

Isaiah 7-8, 1 Peter 3

If you will not believe, you surely shall not last. – Isaiah 7:9 NASB

Ahaz, the king of Judah, faced a predicament. The kings of Syria and Israel had made an alliance and were threatening to attack Jerusalem. The news was not received well in Judah. “When the house of David was told, ‘Syria is in league with Ephraim,’ the heart of Ahaz and the heart of the people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind” (Isaiah 7:2 ESV). But God sent word to Ahaz through Isaiah, the prophet. “Be careful, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let you heart be faint…” (Isaiah 7:4 ESV). It seems that Ahaz’s real problem was not the threat of attack from Syria and Israel, but the danger of failing to trust God. Faced with eminent defeat at the hands of his enemies, Ahaz was encouraged to put his trust in His God. Isaiah warned him to place his hope in Yahweh alone. But it seems from the text that Ahaz had already come up with a plan of his own. He had probably made overtures to the Assyrians, turning to them as his real source of hope and help. But failing to trust God would prove to be far more risky than the mere presence of enemy armies outside the walls of Jerusalem. God said, “If you will not believe, you surely shall not last” (Isaiah 7:9 NASB). God even offered to give Ahaz a sign as proof of His word. But when Ahaz turned down the offer, God provided a sign anyway. By refusing to trust God, Ahaz and the people of Judah would miss out on His divine intervention. God indicted the people of Judah for their lack of trust. “My care for the people of Judah is like the gently flowing waters of Shiloah, but they have rejected it. They are rejoicing over what will happen to King Rezin and King Pekah. Therefore, the Lord will overwhelm them with a mighty flood from the Euphrates River—the king of Assyria and all his glory. This flood will overflow all its channels and sweep into Judah until it is chin deep. It will spread its wings, submerging your land from one end to the other, O Immanuel” (Isaiah 8:6-8 NLT). Failure to trust God would have devastating consequences.

What does this passage reveal about God?

God wanted to spare Judah. He wanted to rescue them from their enemies. But they were going to have to trust Him and allow Him to do it according to His plan and in His own timing. They could not afford to let their fears get the best of them and force them to take matters into their own hands. The presence of trouble in their lives should not have led to abandonment of their God. Instead, it should have driven them to a greater dependence upon Him. Amazingly, when they had the living God at their disposal, they would soon find themselves consulting the dead – using mediums and necromancers as a means to gain insight into their predicament. Loss of faith in God almost always leads to desperation and results in desperate measures. But God was there all along. He was ready to redeem and rescue. He was poised to act on their behalf. But it would require that they “Listen, calm down. Don’t be afraid. And don’t panic…” (Isaiah 7:4 MSG). Big problems require that we have a big perspective of God. Overwhelming odds can only be overcome when we understand the power of our God.

What does this passage reveal about man?

Turning to something or someone other than God is almost a sport for most of us. We do it so easily and so often, that it has become second nature. Most of the time, we don’t even know when we’re doing it. Our tendency to panic in the face of difficulties has trained us to look elsewhere and seek alternative options for our rescue. Tim Keller calls them “counterfeit gods.” Anything or anyone we place our hope in or seek help from becomes a cheap replacement for the one true God. One of the greatest threats to our lives as believers is that we would stop trusting in God. We face that temptation every day of our lives. And we face it in practical, real life ways. Peter knew how difficult it was for the believers in his day to live out their faith in daily life. He knew that they faced trials, troubles, temptation and tests on a regular basis. And he knew that they would be tempted to turn away from God and seek help and hope elsewhere. That’s why he encouraged wives to conduct their lives in such a way that even their unbelieving husbands “may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives” (1 Peter 3:1 ESV). It would have been easy for a believing woman who found herself married to an unbelieving man to rationalize and justify behavior that Peter would have deemed ungodly. It would have been tempting for her to question whether she had to honor her husband at all because of his unbelief. But in a way, Peter warns these women to trust God. Rather than come up with their own solution to their problem, they were to trust God by living godly lives. He told them to “do good and do not fear anything that is frightening. In the same way, husbands were to show their wives honor, whether they deserved it or not. They were to live with them in an understanding and respectful way at all times. To fail to do so would result in a hindered prayer life. There would be times when a man would find it extremely difficult to honor his wife. He would find it easy to rationalize doing just the opposite. But he was to trust God and do things His way.

How would I apply what I’ve read to my own life?

It all boils down to behavior. It is our actions that reveal just how much we truly trust God. That’s why Peter calls on his readers to “have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing” (1 Peter 3:8-9 ESV). Ahaz was encouraged to trust God – in spite of everything he saw happening around him. You and I are encouraged to trust God and live out our lives in such a way that our actions prove that we believe His way is the right way – whether it makes sense at the moment or not. Our trust in God must manifest itself in actions that prove we believe what He has promised. We must take Him at His word and live according to His standards, not our own. Peter reminds us, “but even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubles, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy…” (1 Peter 3:14-15 ESV). God did not promise Ahaz an immediate removal of his enemies. He simply said, “It shall not stand, and it shall not come to pass…” (Isaiah 7:7 ESV). Ahaz was going to have to trust God for not only His deliverance, but for His timing. Sometimes the immediacy of our problems cause us to falter and faint. We grow desperate. We become doubtful. Then we start making plans of our own. But Isaiah’s words are a great reminder for all of us. “I will wait for the Lord, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him” (Isaiah 8:17 ESV).

Father, I want to learn to wait on You and hope in You. It is amazing how many times I turn to something other than You for help and hope. Please forgive me for my lack of trust. Help me to understand that the problems I face are simply opportunities to put my faith into action. I want to learn to listen, calm down, be unafraid, and not panic. Amen

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org

Devotionary

The Bible Made Accessible and Applicable

A Life Worth Living

Isaiah 7-8, 1 Peter 3