Sermon September 13, 1998 God's Salvation based on Psalm 119:161-168

Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Introduction

Rev. Steven Synder, president of International Christian Concern, wrote this in his August letter. "As the flames of revival continue to spread throughout Muslim, Hindu, and Communist countries, Christians will continue to be targets for violent attacks. Sadly, only terrorist attacks against American embassies seem to get the attention of our government." Rev. Synder goes on to report how many Christians die daily for their faith. What do you think the number would be? How many Christians are persecuted to the point of shedding their blood, as the Epistle lesson from two weeks ago mentioned? Rev. Synder goes on: "Meanwhile, some 400 Christians will die daily for their faith."

That is quite the rate of persecution, isn't it. We seem to know little of this in the United States. We have the freedom of religion here, and the government does not take hostilities against us because of our faith. Therefore, I would guess that many of you do not know what it is like to face persecution in a deadly form.

Persecution

Perhaps all of us have faced some kinds of persecution, however. There are some people who threaten us in a way that makes us want to give up or compromise our faith. I, myself, have become much more familiar with persecution because of my faith which threatens my job and career. I would imagine if you think about it, you would realize there are challenges to your faith that you, too, have encountered and will continue to encounter.

It might be that persecution comes in forms other than from other people. Have you been persecuted by life's demands on your time? Many will say so. They find it hard to participate in congregational activities because their time is used up by other things. Many don't have time for Bible study or family devotions.

A job may persecute you. It may use up your time, or require work during times that could be devoted to church activities. Maybe your job leaves you too tired to do anything else. Businesses that are open on Sunday mornings do not leave their workers free to attend divine services. People who patronize businesses on Sunday mornings encourage them to employ workers. Other workers are so dedicated to their jobs, or simply cannot stop working that they choose to work on Sunday mornings and other times when there are congregational activities.

Money may persecute you, that is, the love of money takes over your life. The Epistle reading from Hebrews today cautioned us to avoid the love of money. Be content with what you have it says, and remember God's promise: Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." Today's economic climate makes it easy to fall in love with money. Raising a family and maintaining a household can strain many a budget. Our society is so bent on consumption that it is hard not to pick this up. We are awash in advertisements which tempt us to buy this or that, and do this or that and so we want to keep up with each other and money becomes the important element in this race to consume.

Satan persecutes us all the time, also. We are persecuted by Satan to spend our energies on worldly pleasures. We are tempted to entertain favorite friends rather than strangers or people who are poor, crippled, lame or blind. We are persecuted by the Devil to focus on ourselves and what makes us happy.

People are persecuted by their fears. Fear is Satan's chief weapon. They are afraid of embarrassment. They are afraid to make a commitment. They are persecuted by uncomfortable feelings when they are around other people. They are persecuted by those who hang on to mistakes from the past and hold grudges. People are persecuted by their own grudges and inability to forgive and forget.

How can the Lord be glorified amid all this persecution? He can be glorified when we call on Him. He wants us to call on Him in time of trouble and certainly persecution is trouble. We call on the Lord, remembering His promises to us. Once again, from the Epistle: "God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.' So we say with confidence, 'The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?'" In the face of persecution, then, we turn to the Lord and remember His promise to be our helper. The persecution of other men and of Satan cannot ultimately harm us, because the Lord is our helper. The Lord is glorified each time we turn to Him.

About the Psalm

Bible Scholars believe that the human writer of our Psalm was a young man who was oppressed and persecuted by those who despise the divine word. He was perhaps a political prisoner by a government hostile toward God. The Psalm is a prayer for steadfastness in God's Word.

It certainly is one of the more interesting Psalms, if you know a little about it. First, how about a little Bible trivia test? What chapter in the Bible is the shortest? Psalm 117, with two verses, is the shortest. That Psalm was the Psalm used last Sunday. Now, which chapter is the longest in the Bible? It is the one our text comes from today, Psalm 119. It is 176 verses long.

Psalm 119 has a special feature that cannot be appreciated when it is translated into English. This feature, apparent in the original Hebrew, is that groups of eight verses each begin with the same letter. Verses 1-8 begin with Aleph, 9-16 with Beth, and so forth. Most Bibles and our hymnal put in these names of letters as headings over each grouping of verses. Today's Psalm selection was verses 161-168 and this has eight verse which begin with two letters. This is the only group that has two letter, but they are very similar as you can hear from their names: sin and shin.

Beyond the letters on the page, what is Psalm 119 about? As mentioned above, it is a prayer for steadfastness in God's Word. Focusing on God's Word when reading this Psalm cannot be helped for each of the 176 verses of this Psalm, except one, mention God's Word. A series of 10 synonyms for God's Word are woven throughout the Psalm and so the theme is repeated over and over. The importance of God's word is demonstrated clearly by the number of times it is mentioned.

Into the Psalm

Now let us take a deeper look at the eight verses of our text. The first verse says, "Rulers persecute me without cause, but my heart trembles at your word." Here you find the situation of one being persecuted. Rulers persecute the writer, meaning they harass him and chase after him. It was not unjust action which brought on this persecution, for they do it without cause. We are in the same situation when persecuted for our faith. Believing the truth and following the Almighty God and what He directs us to do in His Word should not be considered an offense by anyone. We are following the truth; we are following God. Therefore, we don't deserve to be persecuted for our faith.

Notice the most interesting part of this verse is how the Psalmist responds to this persecution. He doesn't wallow in pity, he doesn't give up his faith, instead he says, "but my heart trembles at your word." This shows his reverence for God's Word, which is the theme of this psalm. His heart trembling shows that he has such great respect and value for God's Word. This is in the face of persecution. When the heat of persecution turns up, he simply turns more and more to God and His Word. Rather than fearing or trembling in the light of the persecution, his faith brings him back to the source of all comfort. He focuses on the Word, even with the distractions of persecution around him.

How might we focus on the Word, in the face of persecutions and temptations? God gives us the gift of His Word, written in the Bible for us to read. We can listen to God's Word be read, used in liturgy, sung in hymns, and preached in Divine Services. We can receive the Word in the body and blood of our Lord through His Supper. The Word is His gift to us in times of persecution and in all other times, too.

The Psalm writer also rejoices in what is found in the Word. He says, "I rejoice in your promise like one who finds great spoil." Not only does he revere the Word, but he rejoices because of the promises found there. You and I also have reason to rejoice in the Word. Although this world is full of persecution and all other forms of sin, including much great sin inside each of us, we have the Lord's wonderful promise to deliver us from this to a life without end and without sin. We can rejoice in anticipation of the fulfillment of this great promise. No matter what we undergo in persecution, we know it will come to an end and we will rest in bliss forever.

The Psalmist rejoices in what he finds in the Word and so great is the content of the Word that the psalmist will hate what is in opposition to it. He says, "I hate and abhor falsehood but I love your law." We are all called to fight for God's truth to be declared. Falsehoods about God should be something we hate and abhor. Instead, we seek the truth in what God has written for us and we love it.

The value we place upon the Word is indicated by how often we are willing to take time to focus on it. The psalmist would take seven times a day to praise God for His Word, described by the synonym of "righteous laws." God's laws are more than just His commands, but include all that He gives us in the Word for our instruction, such as that which tells us how we are saved through Christ.

This word, laws, or instructions of God bring us the blessing of peace. The text says, "Great peace have they who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble." The ones who love God's Word are filled with peace. Our greatest peace is to know that our relationship with God has been repaired through Christ and His sacrifice on the cross. We are reconciled with God and at peace with Him. Even more, this peace, this reconciliation and forgiveness is a free gift. None of our sins or weaknesses interfere with it. So, there is nothing that can make us stumble. God says, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." We can trip ourselves up by rejecting the gift offered to us by God. We can turn away from the Word.

Instead of turning away, we wait patiently for God's deliverance from our lives of persecution. "I wait for your salvation, O LORD, and I follow your commands," says the psalm. "I wait for your salvation." It is not our salvation, something which we earned by our works. It is not our salvation that we deserved. Rather, it is Your salvation, Lord. To God we give the glory for He gives us salvation as a free gift, undeserved and unearned. Then, in response to this free gift, in response to knowing we are reconciled and forgiven, we seek to follow His commands. We seek to live our lives in the way He wishes us to. We don't do so in order to make the grade or earn something, but purely as a response to that gift we received.

"I obey your statutes, for I love them greatly," says the Psalmist, again witnessing to his love of God's Word. He loves to hear His God, the creator of the universe, speaking to him, and he loves to serve God in the ways that God desires. He obeys because he knows that God is aware of all our actions. Our text concludes with the psalmist saying, "I obey your precepts and your statutes, for all my ways are known to you." We realize that God does see us when we sin. He does know every time we violate His commands. As a result, we strive to obey what He commands in His Word.

Conclusion

As we see where we come up short, we remember those promises again. We remember the gift again. We remember how blessed we are that our God sent us a Savior. This Savior died for our sins and rose for our justification. We obey God's commands to trust in this Savior for our forgiveness and salvation. We believe in this Savior who will bring us out of all persecution in this life to life everlasting. We believe in this Savior who is Jesus Christ. Amen.

Now may the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.