Help Me! - Part 1 of 2

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

This is Lisei Bradley, Jr., welcoming you to another broadcast of the Baptist Bible Hour. Praise Him, praise Him, Jesus our blessed Redeemer, Sing, O earth, His wonderful love proclaim, Hail Him, hail Him, blest archangels in glory, Strength and honor gave through His holy name. By the shepherd, Jesus will guard His children, In His arms He carries them all day long. Praise Him, praise Him, tell His excellent greatness, Praise Him, praise Him, member in joyful song. Praise Him, praise Him, Jesus our blessed Redeemer, For our sins He suffered and bled and died, He our God, our hope and eternal salvation, Hail Him, hail Him, Jesus the crucified, Sound His praises, Jesus who bore our sorrows, Love unbounded, wonderful deep and strong. Praise Him, praise Him, tell His excellent greatness, Praise Him, praise Him, member in joyful song. Praise Him, praise Him, Jesus our blessed Redeemer, Heavenly portals, loud with all status ring, Jesus, Savior, reigneth forever and ever, Proud Him, proud Him, prophet and priest and King, Christ is coming, over the world victorious, Power and glory unto the Lord belong.

Praise Him, praise Him, tell His excellent greatness, Praise Him, praise Him, member in joyful song. As we study Psalm 119 and come to verse 81, we have entitled this section, Help Me. I'm sure we've all been at the place that we felt like we could just cry out with a simple request as we come before the Lord, Help Me.

So I pray that this message will be a help to you and if so let us hear from you. Address your letter to the Baptist Bible Hour, Box 17037, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217. Let's turn in our Bibles to Psalm 119. We'll begin reading in verse 81. My soul fainteth for thy salvation, but I hope in thy word. Mine eyes fail for thy word, saying, When wilt thou comfort me? For I become like a bottle in the smoke, yet do I not forget thy statutes.

How many are the days of thy servant? When wilt thou execute judgment on them that persecute me? The proud have digged pits for me, which are not after thy law. All thy commandments are faithful.

They persecute me wrongfully. Help thou me. They had almost consumed me upon the earth, but I forsook not thy precepts. Quicken me after thy loving kindness, so shall I keep the testimony of thy mouth. Entitle the message simply, Help Me. Verse 86, the psalmist says, Help Me. We'll note three things in this portion of the psalm.

His need described, his hope expressed, and his commitment made. First thing he says, My soul fainteth for thy salvation. I feel like I'm perishing.

I'm done in. A person who is pressed down with the trials of life can certainly be brought to that place that they can say with the psalmist, My soul faints for thy salvation. I need thy deliverance. I need the salvation that only God can give me. The burdens are too heavy. The frustrations are great. The things that I don't understand are extremely perplexing.

I feel that I can't go on much longer. My soul faints for thy salvation. And then in verse 82, he says, Mine eyes fail for thy words, saying, When wilt thou comfort me? The expression, My eyes fail for thy words, seems to indicate that he's searching it. He's looking in the Word for his guidance. He knows he needs instruction. He prays for that frequently throughout this psalm.

But it's as though he has read to such a degree and searched for so long a time that it's like his eyes have grown weak, and he can't even continue the process. And then he asks the question, When wilt thou comfort me? He knows he needs comfort. He knows that God is the comforter. But it seems that comfort has been delayed.

Have you found yourself in that place at various times? Where you say, I know that I'm in a situation that if the Lord doesn't give me the strength, if he doesn't give me the comfort, I can't get through it. And you've asked him to give me the comfort. And you believe he will.

But it hasn't come yet. That concern is expressed numerous times by the psalmist and really by other writers as well. And I think one of the things that's particularly helpful as we see David here, in some ways a bit repetitious going over the same issues that give him concern, but in all of that, helping us to know when we face our difficult times, we're not traveling an unfamiliar path for God's people.

The psalmist, the prophets, Paul himself, others of the writers of the New Testament pass through these troubled times as well. In Psalm 13, David asks the question in verse 1, How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord, forever? How long wilt thou hide thy face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

Consider and hear me, O Lord my God, lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death. How long? Several times in the Psalms that very question is asked, How long?

I dare say most of us here tonight have asked that ourselves at some time along the way, probably several times. How long, Lord? Lord, have you forsaken me? You've hidden your face from me?

How long will it be? Now you go to God's Word, you read what is revealed, you meditate upon His promises, and you know it's a clear fact that God does not forsake His people. But it's also a fact that He sometimes hides Himself.

He withdraws His comforts. There's a variety of reasons for that. Sometimes it may be because of our own disobedience. Sometimes it may be simply to humble us. Sometimes there's particular lessons that can only be learned as God hides Himself from us for a time, and we learn how really dependent we are upon Him.

But all those seasons can seem to be so terribly long. If you're having a struggle in your prayer life, you reach that point that you say, I just feel to be going through the formality. I know it's important that I pray, but I don't have the sense that God is hearing me. I've asked for some specific things, and I don't see at this moment direct answers to my prayers. How long, Lord?

How long will you hide your face from me? It's no wonder he gets to the place that he simply says, help thou me. Lord, I need help. It's hard for some people to ever reach the point that they admit they need help.

They tend to be rather independent, self-sufficient, never want to acknowledge anybody, I'm having a tough time, pray for me, I need some help, I need some counsel, I need some guidance. But even though there may be some reluctance on your part to admit that to your brothers and sisters in Christ, although there ought not to be that reluctance, surely we can see that there should never be any hesitation to admit it to the Lord. Lord, I need help. And the promises of God to give us the help that we need, the strength we need, are such that it indicates we have to reach that point where we're coming before the Lord with nothing. I have no strength. It's not just that I'm running short, I have none.

I'm set up to thee. But oh, sometimes it seems that the dark seasons drag on and on. In verse 83, he says, I'm become like a bottle in the smoke. Reference here no doubt is to bottles that were made of skins and as they became very dry and brittle, they were cracked and they were dark from the smoke. David compares himself and says, I'm just like one of those bottles that's been blackened by smoke. I feel dried up.

I feel brittle. There are other places in the psalm that he expresses the physical impact of spiritual stress and trouble. After his great sin, of course, Psalm 51 is the primary prayer of confession following that sin, but Psalm 32 connects with it as well. And he talks there explicitly about the physical impact of what he was struggling with on the inside. It's possible for a person to show the signs of stress in their countenance, that after a period of time of carrying a heavy load and feeling that the Lord has hidden himself, that there's clear indication just in their countenance that things are not right. And they may feel from a spiritual standpoint that they are like this bottle of animal skin that is creased and dried and just feel I'm dried up in my own soul. Turn to the book of Proverbs chapter 17 verse 22. A merry heart doeth good like a medicine, but a broken spirit dryeth the bones. That indicates that a broken spirit, a grieving heart dries the bones.

Just brings about physical implications as well as great spiritual distress. And then verse 84. How many are the days of thy servant?

When wilt thou execute judgment on them that persecute me? He's mindful of the brevity of life. He knows that at best we're here for just a short time.

Our life is as a vapor that appearth for a moment and soon it is gone. How many are the days of thy servant? And when wilt thou execute judgment on them that persecute me? It seems that God has forgotten to deal with his enemies.

Have you ever been there? Where you said, Lord, it just seems to me that there's some people out here you ought to be dealing with. They not only have been my enemies and maybe done harm to me, but they're enemies of your kingdom. They're enemies of your truth.

They are detrimental. They are harming other people. Lord, I just don't understand why you haven't done something.

You know, that was Habakkuk's frustration. Lord, this land is full of wickedness and it looks like you're not doing anything. That's expressed in the book of Jeremiah. Chapter 12 in the first verse. Righteous art thou, O Lord, when I plead with thee, yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments. Acknowledges that God is right, what he does is right, but Lord, I'd still like to have a little conversation with you about the way you deal with things. Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper?

Lord, I don't quite understand this. The wicked seem to be getting by extremely well. I have my afflictions, my sufferings, but they seem to be prospering. Wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously? They seem to be happy. They don't seem to be carrying a burden. I never see them shed tears. They never seem to be troubled. Lord, I'd just like to have a little talk with you about this.

Have you ever been there? Lord, have you forgotten to deal with the enemies? Now, the sad thing is that some people at that moment of frustration, why hasn't God dealt with my enemies and the enemies of his truth?

They reach the point of saying, I think maybe I better take it into my own hands. But we have to remember that Romans chapter 12 says, vengeance is mine. I will repay saith the Lord.

He hasn't asked for you to assist him. You have to learn to trust him and to wait on him and know that God will handle things in his own time, in his own way. But you know, having that concern is not entirely inappropriate, because we find that even there are those in heaven that speak to that issue. Let's look at the book of Revelation chapter 6, verse 9 of Revelation chapter 6. And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?

They had the thought. These are martyrs. These are those that seal the testimony in their own blood, and they're asking, How long, Lord? For thou art holy, thou art true, but how long until thou dost judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?

So that whole matter of concern can become a bit perplexing. It requires patience. It requires faith.

It's a matter of trusting God, know that he will handle things in his own time, in his own way. Verse 85, The proud have digged pits for me, which are not after thy law. I think the reference here, when it says they're not after thy law, of course anybody that's out to harm another would not be in harmony with God's law, with his commandment, with his truth. But specifically in the book of Deuteronomy, it said that if any man dug a pit, and an animal should fall into it and be injured or killed, the man that dug the pit would be responsible to reimburse the owner of that animal. So it said if somebody's out here digging a pit in order to entrap somebody, they've dug a pit because they want me to fall in it. That's not in harmony with God's law, because God is saying, you dig a pit and you're accountable.

Any destruction that comes, you're responsible for it, because you dug the pit and you left it open. Well, David said, I've got enemies that are constantly digging pits, not just one, more than one. They're digging pits because they want me to stumble. They want me to fall in it. Now, it's hard to believe, but there are people who are engaged in the business of pit digging, and they work at it. And if they're determined to try to bring somebody down, they dig a pit.

The person doesn't fall in that, they dig another one. And they're constantly seeking the downfall and harm of that individual. That was certainly true in David's life. You can't read through the Psalms, but what you discover that he had a great many enemies. He was the king, he was admired by many, loved by many, he was a man after God's own heart, he was a great singer, he was a great leader, he was a great king in many ways, but oh, there were enemies that hated him, envious of him, critical of him, and constantly seeking to entrap him. They're proud, they're proud of the ones that have digged this pit for me, not after thy law.

Look at Psalm 27. Verse 2, he says, when the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. They hear God had intervened and protected him, but the point I want to make in this verse is that the wicked, his enemies, they were his foes, they came to eat up his flesh. Obviously that was not something they desired literally, but from a figurative standpoint, they wanted him destroyed. They wanted to get rid of the man. They hated him, they hated what he stood for. They hated his commitment to the Lord.

They came to eat up my flesh. And in verse 12, he says, deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies, for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty. False witnesses. If a person is determined that they're going to try to destroy another individual, they often will stop at nothing.

They will forge lies, they will misrepresent things, they will quote things as being factual when there's absolutely no foundation to it or distorted in such a way that's going to cast somebody in the wrong light. Those are obviously painful situations, and that was what was one of the things troubling David here that brought him to this request, Lord, help me, help me. And then verse 86, all thy commandments are faithful, they persecute me wrongfully.

The commandments of God are faithful, they're right, you can rely on them. But they're those that are my enemies that persecute me wrongfully. They're pursuing me, they're trying to destroy me, and what they're doing is wrong, their spirit is wrong. Let's look at the book of 1st Peter chapter 4, and here we learn something about persecution. None of us have ever faced the kind of persecution that many Christians the world over faced today, being imprisoned, some being put to death.

It's kind of hard for us to realize that those things still go on in today's world. But there are other kinds of persecutions. You can be penalized at work, you can have friends withdraw from you, you can have severe criticisms, but look what it says here, 1st Peter chapter 4 verse 12, Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you, but rejoice inasmuch as your partakers of Christ's sufferings, that when his glory shall be revealed, he may be glad also with exceeding joy. That's not the first time the scriptures tell us that we are to rejoice when we're persecuted.

Jesus taught that in the Sermon on the Mount. Rejoice not because it's a pleasant event, but rejoice because we're being identified with Christ, because we are a partaker of his sufferings. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye, for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you.

On their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or as a thief or as an evildoer or as a busybody in other men's matters. In other words, he says, just be sure that when you're persecuted you're sure it's for righteousness sake. It's not because of your own failing, it's not because of some sin in your life, it's not because your attitude and your spirit has been wrong. Yet if any man suffers a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God on this behalf.

Doesn't have to be ashamed, but rejoice that he's been counted worthy to suffer for the cause of Christ, that he's persecuted for righteousness sake. Well, I'm glad you've been with us today. Hope you'll come back at this same time tomorrow as we bring you the second part of this message. If you'd like to help with the support of the program, you can do so at our website at BaptistBibleHour.org. Till we greet you next time, this is LeSaire Bradley Jr. beating you goodbye and may God bless you. It is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long. This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior, praising my Savior, praising my Savior all the day long.