Asking for Help (8/2/10)

Shalom,




Please begin by reading Psalm 119:81-88.



In this section of Psalm 119 the writer appears to be talking about the very tough time he's having. It could be pressure from other people or even direct persecution, but we can know it to most definitely be from some sort of outside influence. He was going through a time of discouragement or disappointment. His troubles may seem extreme from the language he's using, but all of us face things that we feel we can only face with prayer and assitance from our Mighty God. As he pours out his heart to Yahweh, we can all say we've been there in some form or fashion.

When we walk through dark and difficult times we often need to be reminded to seek our Lord. If we'd focus on him and his salvation, we could then walk through these tough times with safety and security. The salvation the writer is crying out for in this portion of scripture isn't from his sins, but from his suffering and circumstances. We all need deliverance on different levels at different times. First and foremost we need to be set free from our sins. But at other times in our lives we need deliverance from the pressure and struggles and trials of life.

The phrasing used in "faints with longing" points to a desire to see things finished or completed. The writer wants his troubles to come to an end. He's speaking as if he's desperate for Yahweh to do something, anything. Haven't we all been there? Haven't we all felt the same kind of desperate longing for something unpleasant to end?

"My eyes fail, looking for your promise" is interesting. "My eyes fail" is the same phrasing as "faints with longing." The writer really wants to see this struggle come to an end. Everything in him is longing for a completion of this trial in his life. He's pouring out his heart to his God and asking for relief, for a solution, maybe even for a miracle. When we have a deep trust and hope in Yahweh, we can cry out for his direct help and expect an end to our problems. We just need to be careful that we're not trying to manipulate our Father into doing something. We can't control what he does, so we need to trust that he will hear our cry and respond to our need.



The writer says he feels like a bottle filled with smoke. Have you ever had a feeling like that, the weakness of not having clean air but only smoke-filled air filling you up? Have you ever been covered with smoke-smell, so much so that it permeated all your clothes and hair and skin? Most of us want to shower and change right away when that happens. Or we want to be like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who didn't smell of smoke at all even after being in the fiery furnace. We'd all appreciate Yahweh's hand protecting os even from the smell of smoke in the midst of any kind of fire.

When we get into these kinds of places, where we're frustrated, confused, and struggling; the Bible doesn't often make sense to us. We read and reread the Bible but we don't seem to be able to understand no matter what we do. It's because we're so distracted by our uncomfortable circumstance that we can't rightly focus on our Lord and his peace.

Be of good cheer, for the Bible never leaves you with nothing. When we read and stay in the Word of our God, it continues to do its work whether or not we realize it. The problem with many of us when we run into this kind of dry spell is that we give up because we don't "feel it." Don't worry so much about "feeling it." Just keep getting yourself into Yahweh's Word and prayer and fellowship until your obedience breaks through the cloud of despair and hopelessness. Know that persevering in what's right will help you overcome whatever is distracting you from sensing the presence of your Lord.

Even though the writer was expressing his struggles, he still remembered where his hope is based. "I do not forget your decrees." A decree is a clear communication of a law or prescription. We may not be able to see past our difficulties and problems, but we can be encouraged by the fact that Yahweh can and already has declared its end and prescribed a remedy for us. Know that however much longer you end up facing your struggle, Yahweh is right there with you. You aren't alone and don't have to carry the weight yourself.



And notice what the bad guys are doing. They're persecuting the writer, they're "digging pitfalls" for him. They're doing things contrary to Yahweh's Law. Don't we often feel like the secular world is out to get Christians in the same way today? Don't we often feel like "they" are waiting for us to fall into a deep dark pit so they can point their fingers at us and gloat over our struggles?

We often feel persecuted by those who want to remove Jesus from anything public. We feel like the laws that are being brought forth to hinder Christianity are put there only to trap us. The word for persecutors here is mainly concerned with being chased and hounded. Many American Christians believe that's what secular humanists are doing to believers, hounding us to make us back off from the public arena. One of our major problems is that too many Christians have been intimidated by the political correctness police who try to tell us we're intolerant of others because of our stand for Yahweh's truth. We need Yahweh's strength to remain standing for a standard of right and wrong. We need to be against the modern relativism that preaches individual standards of right and wrong.

When other humans work "contrary" to Yahweh's rules for life, we should be crying out for protection and justice. Because when others are setting their own standards of right and wrong their actions will eventually adversely affect the people around them. When other humans are proud of their rejection of Yahweh, we need to know that problems will arise and that we need our Lord's help. Because their rejection of Yahweh will lead them to selfish actions which are likely to cause problems for more than themselves. When just speaking the name of Jesus is such a problems in our world, we must be crying out in prayer for Yahweh's intervention. Because if we don't speak forth Yahweh's truth, too many people in our world will believe the lies.



And like the writer we need to understand that "all your commands are trustworthy." When lies are used against us to persecute us or to hinder our involvement in the world, trust that following Yahweh is the safest and most secure place to be. Yahweh is absolutely trustworthy. We can rely and depend on him no matter what is happening all around us. And by obediently serving him, even during persecution or other stress-filled situations, we draw even closer to him and his protection.

When we're in desperate situations most of us make short work of our pleas for help. Not many of us make profound or long speeches when asking for real help. When we really know we have no place else to turn but to our Father for help, we usually make very direct requests for his help. When we're desperate for help, our words are few and very pointed. There's no time or need for an oration when things are really tough.

So I believe, based on this Psalm and other places where we see heartfelt cries for relief, that we can be direct and short when we ourselves have those same types of need. Don't worry about being eloquent when things are desperate. In fact, you don't often hear the fancy "King James" prayers when people are in great need. Besides, short and direct prayers are very easy to speak. We don't have to have an expansive vocabulary, just a heart cry that our Father will lovingly hear and respond to.

The writer says here that "they almost wiped me from the earth." His persecutors came close to killing him, but his faith remained strong. He was almost consumed by the evildoers hate. He was almost destroyed by their evil intent. He almost died in the pit of despair, but he remembered his Mighty God and trusted in his salvation. He knew even if he died, his salvation was sure because he'd been faithful to follow Yahweh's commands. We can know that if we live as best we can in accordance with Yahweh's Truth that our Lord will surely keep our souls absolutely safe and secure.

Hopefully we can all say that our souls are absolutely safe and secure in the hands of our heavenly Father. When the world hates us and tries to remove all influence of our Creator from its midst, we need more than ever to cling to his influence. When the world persecutes us we need to say that no matter what the circumstances, no matter what the difficulties, regardless of what happens - I will not forsake or deny Yahweh my God.

In Psalm 60:11 it says, "the help of man is worthless." Worthless here means vain and of no effect. The word is also tied to idol worship, the human vanity of seeking help from "other" gods. Now there are some people and organizations out there with some good ideas and plans. But we must always seek Yahweh's purpose first. No human can come up with the solution to all our problems, because one of our biggest problems is our sinful humanity. Yahweh is all-powerful and all-knowing, no human with his mortal limits can even come close to giving us the perfect answers that come from our Creator.



We must pray and seek our Lord for the restoration of his Kingdom. If more of our world operated by Kingdom principles there would be less struggles and trials to overcome. We must seek both personal and corporate revival. If the Body of Christ would rightly surrender and consecrate themselves unto their Lord, more territory could be Spirit-led and inspired. We must understand that ministering the fullness of Yahweh's Kingdom to our world is a responsibility we can't shirk if we want to see the ways of the world overcome. To raise up the Body of Christ, the world and its demonically-led system must be put down.



Blessings & Peace, Mike