As the world watches the drama of our United States Election 2020, and the hearts of Americans on both sides either soar or sink into horror, we need a stabilizer for our hearts and minds.
We know we cannot trust media coverage for truth. There are few truthbearers (but there are some!, Praise God!). How are we to know what is truth in a changing and very terrifying world?
How do we position ourselves for the outcomes our nation, and indeed the entire world, will face?
What will become of the jobs that keep our homes and families fed and housed and contributing to the world?
How will we relate to those who voted differently than we did, implying something more than mere politics, but entire worldviews that can crash our nation and snuff out the Light for the rest of the watching world?
How will we relate to our Lord to whom we have called out in our anxiety, staked our faith on for help and rescue? There are deep and painful questions about how God answers prayer.
All these questions can be answered: Jesus is Lord of all.
Psalm 119
Psalm 119 was written before the coming of Christ, but the psalmist knew He was coming (Genesis 3). This promise of a Messiah formed the foundation of all the promises of God. Israel was formed into a nation by the Lord God Almighty to prepare the entire world for this Messiah. Through this Chosen Nation, the Messiah would come; and in that Messiah, ALL the nations of the world would be blessed (Genesis 12). But the psalmist of 119 could only stand on the Word of God in faith and keep his eyes focused on that hope.
Psalm 119 is an enconium, a litany of praise, for God’s Word, but I find great comfort that this text was not written when all was placid for the psalmist. Rather, he was beset with trials that we cannot even fathom. Israel was no more (slaughtered or dispersed into captivity without genealogical trace by the Assyrians), and Judah faced the same except for the promise of God to keep His covenant with them alive for the sake of the Coming One. Sorrow and suffering are not new.
Primarily, all of the Psalms are written with a foreshadowing of the sufferings and sorrows of our Lord Jesus Christ.* Our Lord Himself suffered the greatest sorrow and suffering and separation from God when He laid down His life for our nature of sin. And He rose victorious!! He has conquered sin and evil, and the last enemy — death. This was the psalmist’s hope, and this is our assurance. Because He lives, we who hope in Him are not disappointed. All the words of the Psalmist came true, and we can read and memorize and believe when we cannot see truth for the shadows.
The Psalmist of 119 poured out his situation “as is”, looking forward to the fulfillment of God’s promises to redeem him personally. But his concern was not only for himself; it was also for the people of God. He was not only grieved at his own suffering, but saw with horror the suffering of those not yet under the Lord’s protection. These are the ones who were wicked and corrupt and foolish enough to say and live as though there is no God. Our psalmist reminds us today that He who does indeed see and hear our prayers will repay their unconfessed deeds with destruction. He, too, will forgive their confessed and repented deeds with salvation!! This teaches us how to position our hearts when we pray and speak.
Applying Psalm 119
Reading Psalm 119 will speak truth into your heart and mind, much like the surgeon’s knife, cutting away the infection in order to cure the man. Hope of healing is its aim. So what does Psalm 119 teach us to do?
First, we call out to God in faith, even when we do not see or understand the nature of His response to our prayer. Amy Carmichael used to look out upon her beloved Ghatt mountains in Southern India and consider that though she couldn’t see the peaks for the clouds of storm, she knew they were there. The clouds would soon part and all would be revealed. So, too, we call out to God, as did our psalmist, in faith that God has not changed, nor has He disappeared. He hears our prayers and is active in carrying out His ultimate plan of love and justice (Psalm 85:10).
Second, we look to our oppressors and to the wicked, foolish, prideful and corrupt with pity; and, yes, even with some horror, but with the kind of godly horror that prays FOR them, and for the corruption to be exposed, for the wicked to repent and know the Lord’s salvation, and for the Lord’s blessings to reign down on a stumbling nation.
Third, we look to our Lord Jesus’ pattern of walking faithfully in our own heart confession, repentance, and response of thankful obedience with HOPE that our God is, and always will be, victorious! He nailed this victory to the Cross of the Crucifixion, and he proved it at His blessed Resurrection! We cannot even fathom what power we have because He has conquered even death!! Resurrection power is LIVING power! We have LIFE and JOY ahead of us! Even now! All because our Christ has won the final victory. It is FINISHED!! Not later…..but now!
Encouragement for You
So, friends, whatever we face in this life, we know we have this victory. We who love and long for Christ are NOT defeated, no matter who reigns as leader in our respective countries. We are NOT defeated, no matter how much we suffer because of injustice, neglect, abandonment and isolation, abuse, betrayal and treason, financial ruin, physical-mental-emotional persecution, subjugation or any other “temporal” suffering we receive in this life.
Your prayers are NOT defeated prayers. They have been heard!! God in HIs wisdom is already “working all things for good of them that Love the Lord” (Romans 8:28). Faith requires that we keep our trust rooted in God, by rooting our life experience in God’s Word, who is Christ Jesus (John 1).
For seekers and established Christians who are needing to be reminded that you stand in a beautiful place right now of JOY and HOPE and GLADNESS, please visit 2 Peter 1:3-15. I want to remind you of the Biblical truths through a very special song by the a capella group GLAD:
*To learn more about this Psalm, please see our Resources and about Psalm 119.
Dearest Lord Jesus Christ, Thank you for the offer of salvation You have given to us through the unmeasurable love of God, our Creator and the Sovereign of all Creation! Thank you that we are not left to destruction through our own sin, or even from the sin of the evil forces that abound in this world. You have conquered not only evil, but evil’s wages of death as well! You are still on Your throne!! I thank You God, for so many from all over the world who are praying for these United States of America as witnesses of Christ to our stumbling nation. You are alive and active in the affairs of all men, blessing and creating people of love, not hate. Thank you, Lord, that You are not able to be contained, that Your love and promises are for all who look to You in even the smallest faith. I rest my life in Your hands, and I rest my nation as my people in Your hands. I will obey You according to Your Word with faith, loving others as I love you, more and more. Teach me, Lord, calm my heart, give me boldness to speak of this hope to others, help me stand firm in love when others persecute. Bring us together in Christ and help your people to be instruments of Your healing, as we do so in the power of Your Holy Spirit. Lord, I believe!! Help my unbelief!! In Jesus’ Name, I pray, Amen.
© ReadPsalm119.com 2020. All rights reserved. Rev. 12/1/2020.
Are you interested in learning more about this Hope that we have in Jesus Christ?
If you are not a believer, and you want to learn more about this Christ who offers such hope to you personally, please see peacewithgod.net. There are links below to chat with live or email and get answers to your questions and have someone to pray with you and point you toward next steps in your search for peace with God.
Or sign up for a brief, FREE course, “Christianity Explored”, that explores the tenets of Christianity through the reading of the book of Mark in https://courses.goingfarther.net/christianity-explored. A mature Christian will be there to welcome you and will be there for you to help you get more out of our course and answer your personal questions.
You can also visit Jesus.net to read many good articles to help you find Jesus.
