Help Me! - Part 2 of 2

Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing, my great Redeemer's praise, Thou for resolve my God and King, Thou triumphs of His grace.

This is L. S. Bradley Jr. welcoming you to another broadcast of the Baptist Bible Hour. Wonderful grace of Jesus, greater than all my sin, How shall my tongue describe it? Where shall my praise begin? Taking away my burden, setting my spirit free, For the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me. Wonderful, the master's grace of Jesus, Deeper than the mighty rolling sea, Wonderful praise of Jesus, greater than all my sin, Broader than the scope of my freshness, singing, Greater, God, than all my sin, It's shameless aging. O magnified, the precious name of Jesus, praise His name. Wonderful grace of Jesus, reaching the most defiled, By His highest warming power, making Him God's dear child, Purchasing peace and heaven for all eternity, And the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me. Wonderful, the master's grace of Jesus, Deeper than the mighty rolling sea, Broader than the scope of my freshness, singing, Greater, God, than all my sin, It's shameless aging. O magnified, the precious name of Jesus, praise His name. Today we bring part two of a message from Psalm 119 that we have entitled simply, Help Me. I hope the message can be a help to you, and if it is, let us hear from you.

Our address is Baptist Bible Hour, Box 17037, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217. Curer in heart of God, help me to be, May I devote my life wholly to Thee, Watch thou my wayward feet, Guide me with calm so sweet, Curer in heart, help me to be, Curer in heart of God, help me to be, Teach me to do thy will most lovingly, Lead thou my friend and guide, Let me with thee abide, Curer in heart, help me to be, Curer in heart, oh God, help me to be, That I thy holy face one day may see, Keep me from secret sin, Rank thou my soul within, Curer in heart, help me to be. Look at chapter 2 of the same epistle, 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 19. For this is thank worthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it if when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently. But if when ye do well and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. Now, if you're getting what's coming to you, you have sinned and you're suffering the consequences. You have said the wrong thing, done the wrong thing, you've dishonored God by the way you've lived and then you bear the consequences patiently. Well, that's what you ought to do.

There's nothing spectacular about that. It's just to be expected that you would bear it patiently. But, if you are suffering for conscience toward God, you're suffering wrongfully, you have been persecuted, you have been falsely accused, or you're persecuted because of your stand for the gospel, because of your dedication to Jesus Christ, and you take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. For even hereunto were ye called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that ye should follow in his steps. You're called so that if persecution comes, you bear it patiently. And, you know, Paul said in the Philippian letter that it is given to you to suffer, it is appointed that we should have suffering. Jesus says in the world ye shall have tribulation.

So it shouldn't be a surprise to us. There are various trials and hardships that are going to be encountered if you're truly living a Christian life. But he says we're to follow this example that Christ said, who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth, who when he was revile, revile not again.

When he suffered, he threatened not, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously, who his own self bare our sins and his own body on the tree, that we being dead to sin should live unto righteousness, by whose stripes ye were healed. Now, what's the tendency of human nature? If somebody falsely accuses you, if somebody is unkind to you, if somebody reviles you, old human nature says, I don't have to take that. I'm going to say something back just as harsh as I can. I'm going to try to top what he said. I'm going to set the record straight.

I'm going to get even. But he said, we're to follow the example of Jesus. And when Jesus was reviled, he reviled not again.

What an important lesson for us to learn. In every area of life, whether at home, in the workplace, among God's people in the church, such should occur. Learn, I'm going to follow the example that Jesus Christ has set. I've been called to follow in his steps. And I want to follow that example. But David was struggling because he was being persecuted.

They persecute me wrongfully. Help thou me. And then in verse 87, he says, they had almost consumed me upon the earth. Almost consumed me. They've been working at it. And they just about got the job done. I just felt I'm nearing the end.

I can't go much farther. So his need is described. But then his hope is expressed. His hope is expressed. Back in verse 81, my soul fainted for thy salvation, but I hope in thy word. Through the frailties of life and through this time of feeling that he's ready to faint, he says, but I didn't give up. I hope in thy word. The word is the very foundation of my hope.

I couldn't possibly cope with these trials without it. Do you think about that for a moment? Suppose you did not have access to God's word or you had never been taught these principles and you'd never committed any of it to memory. And the kind of troubles that David has described come upon you. And you just feel devastated. You're just about wiped out.

You can't make any rhyme or reason out of it. You have no resource. You don't know where to turn.

What am I going to do? But the fact that you have God's word, the fact that you read his word, you hear it preached, your knowledge of it, you can say with David, my soul fainted for thy salvation. I desire thy deliverance. But if it delays in delivering me, if it seems like it's an extended period of time, if I do feel dried up, I'm still going to hope in your word. And hope in the scriptures is not an idle wish.

It's expectation. Lord, as I go to your word, I'm expecting something. I'm expecting something because I'm reading your promises. The promises provide hope.

You come to a time that you're encountering any of these struggles. And you go to that marvelous promise of Hebrews 13 5 and 6 where the Lord says, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. And you say, yes, Lord, I feel at the moment that you've hidden your face, but I know you haven't forsaken me because you said you would not.

And though right at the moment I don't feel like you're near, I know you are because you said you are. That's what it means to have hope in his word. Take God in his word.

Believe what he says. I know that because God says it, that's the way it is. In verse 86, he says, all thy commandments are faithful. God's word is reliable. So I have hope. No matter how dark the sky, no matter how long the night, no matter how heavy the burden that I'm carrying, I know that I can rely upon your word.

When God says it, that's as good as done. So I have hope. You see how important it is that we stay in the word, that we read the word, that we hear the word preached. You hear things that you've heard many times before, but are there not seasons when you have forgotten some things that you knew very well at an earlier time? And you hear the preaching of the word and it brings them back. And you say, oh yes, why didn't I remember that? Yes, that's what God says. Yes, that promise has been fulfilled in my behalf many times in the past.

But in my moment of anxiety and grief, I temporarily had forgotten it. Thy commandments are faithful. And then he speaks of help. Help from his God.

Help thou me. He knew that God was the one who could help him and believed that God would help him. It's interesting to see how many times that word help is used in the scriptures and particularly in the Psalms.

Over and over again, either David is asking for help or acknowledging that God is his helper. That gets down to something rather basic, doesn't it? You know, I've had people say, well, I'm just not all that deep. I find that some things are over my head. Well, anybody here can understand that there are times you need help, right? All of us have moments we need help. Okay. God is the one who can help us.

Your children can understand that. God is our helper. We go to him for the help we need. Psalm 121 verse 2, he says, my help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. What a wonderful helper. You know, there are people from time to time who mean well and say to you, if you ever need any help, call on me.

And then if you call on them, they're either not available or if they were, they weren't able to do what needed to be done. But when you're calling on one as your helper, who is the one that made heaven and earth, what better helper could you have? The God who created this earth upon which we're living is certainly not limited in power and is able to help us and willing to do so. Psalm 46 verse 1, God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Not one who is at a distance, one who is not able to help us. Not one who is at a distance, one who is so far removed from us that we would have to say, well, I know he could help me, but he's away.

He's at a distance. He's a very present help. And then Psalm 146 verse 5, happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God. And that brings together two of the words that we've just looked at in Psalm 119. The Lord is our hope and happy, blessed, favored are those who can say, the God of Jacob is my help. Think about what he did for Jacob. He found Jacob in the waste, howling wilderness, stirred up his nest, led him about, instructed him, made him the apple of his eye. God was his help when he was meeting Esau and was extremely fearful.

And God brought about the situation in such a way that it proved to be a peaceful meeting. In spite of Jacob's many faults and failings, God prospered him. God blessed him in a remarkable way. He confirmed his covenants to him when he thought that all things were against him and he said that Joseph is not and Simeon is not, all things are against me.

All things were not against him. God's providence was unfolding and God was preparing to provide for him and his family in the time of famine. So if we can say, happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, you can see there's a lot connected with that. The God of Jacob was a God who provided, a God who was faithful, a God who sustained his own in the most difficult of times, a God who shielded him and protected him. So that person is happy who can say, who can say, the God of Jacob is my help. And while that term is used numbers of times throughout the Psalms, I love this New Testament reference and I know I read it or quote it a lot, but I don't think you can wear it out.

I find I like to think about it at least once a day and most of the time several. Hebrews chapter 4 verse 16, let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. That's what we're talking about, help.

Help me. Help me is what the Psalmist is saying. And that's what we say when we come to the throne of grace. We come to the throne of grace and ask for help. And what do we find? We find mercy.

Mercy and grace to help in the time of need. You may find several times throughout the day that you have a special need. Of course there are some needs that are ongoing.

We have them perpetually. But there are special needs that you may encounter several times throughout the day. I need help. This is a time of need.

I need help. And help is available. Doesn't mean that God's going to always intervene and turn every situation around that you would like immediately corrected, but it does mean he's going to give you help. And if he doesn't help by changing the situation, he will help by enabling you to get through the difficulty that you're encountering. So, his hope is expressed. And then his commitment.

His commitment is made. Back in verse 83, he says, Yet do I not forget thy statutes. Verse 87, But I forsook not thy precepts.

He's saying in spite of all these difficulties, in spite of the fact that they had almost consumed me, I did not forsake thy statutes. I kept them in mind. I remembered them. They were before me.

They were my guide. He said back in the 11th verse of this psalm, Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. So the word hidden in the heart. And as Paul writes to the church of Colossae, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.

If the word is there and you're remembering it, you're not forgetting it, then you're going to have the direction and guide that is so necessary. And in verse 15, he said, I will meditate in thy precepts and have respect unto thy ways. So I did not forget the commandments of God. I thought about them. I meditated upon them.

I gave them great consideration. And consequently, he says in the 88th verse, I will keep them. Here's his commitment. But notice he says, quicken me after thy loving kindness. So shall I keep the testimony of my mouth. I intend to keep the testimony. I intend to keep your word.

But as always, he recognizes his own weakness. Lord, he says, quicken me, enliven me, stir me up, enable me to do it. I need thy help.

I can't do it on my own. Back in verse 32, he says, I will run the way of thy commandments when thou shalt enlarge my heart. I'm going to keep your commandments. I'm making a commitment. I'm going to walk in the way. I'll even run in the way. But Lord, I've got to have thy blessing to enlarge my heart, to bless me in this undertaking. Verse 35, make me to go in the path of thy commandments, for therein do I delight.

Make me to go. I find a lot of people that have a little problem in that area. Anytime you talk with this kind of language, they get this strange notion that you say, well, man is just a puppet, that God is just pulling the strings and he's not involved. No, certainly you're involved. You're the one running the race. You're the one fighting the battle. But you recognize it requires God's enabling grace that the Lord must move upon you. Justice, Paul writes in the Philippian letter, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God that worketh in you, both the will and the to do of his good pleasure. So it's very much in order that we pray, Lord, make me to go in the paths of thy commandments. Guide me. Keep me on the right track.

Make me go in that way. Verse 44, verse 44, so shall I keep thy law continually forever and ever. Quicken me, but quicken me according to thy loving kindness. Even as he prays that which is an appropriate prayer, Lord, enliven me. Stir me up. Bless me that I may move in that godly path.

He doesn't lay any claim to deserving it. He says, do it according to thy loving kindness. How wonderful to think about the love of God. Isaiah chapter 54, verse 10 says, for the mountain shall depart and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee. Yes, there's coming a time that the mountain shall depart and the hills be removed, but even when this earth undergoes a major transformation, when times, seasons, and circumstances have greatly changed, God says, even then you can count on it, my kindness shall not depart from thee. My covenant is going to be intact. The Lord's going to continue to have mercy. And so he's saying, Lord, quicken me according to thy loving kindness. Is that not the prayer that all of us must pray? Lord, I need thee. I need thee to make me to walk in the right way.

And I can't come demanding it as though I've got such a record that I want you to examine it and see that I'm worthy. In order to have to say with Jacob, I'm unworthy of the least of thy mercies, but on the basis of thy loving kindness, on the basis of thy grace, the love that you bestowed. How amazing is that love? God has proven his love to us by giving us the greatest of all gifts. And he says, since he's given us that gift, can we not expect that he will also give us all things, according to Romans chapter 8?

If he's given us the greatest gift, his son Jesus Christ, then he'll give us such lesser gifts as we have need of. So the psalmist says, help me. He describes his need, expresses his hope, he makes his commitment. As each of us, aware of our needs, lay them out before the Lord, may we all be able to express our hope in his mercy, based on his word, relying on what he has promised, saying no matter how perplexing the scene is, how difficult the circumstances are to understand, no matter what my emotions may be at this hour, how far down I may feel, how far down I may feel.

Here is what God says. He has promised never to leave me. He's promised that when the mountains are going out to sea, that he's going to still bestow his loving kindness on me. And therefore, I believe him and I have hope. And consequently, I make my commitment that I want to walk in the way. I want to walk obediently and keep his word. Thank you for listening. And if you would like to help keep this program on the air, you can make a donation by going to our website at BaptistBibleHour.org. Till we greet you at this same time tomorrow, this is LeSaire Bradley, Jr., bidding you goodbye and may God bless you. Thank you.