Author: Haverland
Last saved by: admin

IT IS TIME FOR YOU TO ACT, O LORD!

Text: Psalm 119:121-128
Readings: 2 Tim 3; Acts 4:23-31
Theme: A prayer for God to act and deliver him from his oppressors.
Purpose: To highlight the need for earnest prayer for God to act in evil times.

Earlier in the service we read Paul’s warning to Timothy about “terrible times in the last days” and his graphic description of the evil in those times (2 Tim 3:1-9).

We could also have read the description the apostle John gave in his letter about the coming of the antichrist (1 John 2:18ff) or that of the apostle Peter about the scoffers who will appear in the last days (2 Pet 3:1-7).

The phrase “the last days” does not refer to the days just before the second coming of Christ but to this entire New Testament period. The Old Testament was a period of preparation and now that Christ has come we are in the last days.

Many of the evils described in the letters of the New Testament are true of our own situation in New Zealand today. The Christian memory that lingered in our history as a nation has all but gone. Christians are a small minority of the population. Young Christian couples who don’t live together before they get married are seen as odd, strange.  Marriages in which a husband and wife are faithful to each other till death do them part are rare. 

Homosexual and lesbian relationships are now recognised in law, are promoted in the media and are paraded in Auckland.
We live in times where God’s law is being broken and when it is time for God to act!

Our situation is not new; there were such times in the Old Testament history of Israel. The man who wrote this psalm was living in such a time. In this section (v 121-128) he prayed that God would act and deliver him from his oppressors. We’ll consider:
1. His prayer for salvation
2. His supporting reasons for this prayer

1. HIS PRAYER FOR SALVATION 

a. In the opening verses of this section the psalmist mentioned his oppressors who were arrogant. These people are in the background throughout this long psalm; these were his enemies who opposed and persecuted him and were the cause of much of the trouble he went through. 

He defended himself writing, “I have done what is righteous and just.” He had a clear conscience; he had lived according to God’s law and had done what was right. His enemies had no just reason to oppress him. 

b. In this situation he asked God to act on his behalf to ensure his well-being (v 122). The Hebrew word translated as “ensure” in the NIV means to be a surety or a pledge.
It is a picture of a law court where he is being charged for doing wrong and he has no one to represent him, to post bond for him, to plead his case, to stand up for him against his accusers. So he asked God to do this for him; “Put yourself between me and my enemies and deliver me. Be my surety; ensure your servant’s well-being.”

Jesus has done this for us. Satan is our accuser before God and our many sins condemn us. Jesus is our only hope and he has rescued us his people. “He has paid for all my sins with his precious blood and set me free from the tyranny of the Devil” (HC Q.1). In this prayer the psalmist anticipates this saving work of the Lord Jesus.

c. God’s people have often been oppressed by their enemies. 
Think back to the people of Israel who were in Egypt for 430 years and were slaves of the Egyptians for much of that time.
Or think of the people of Judah who were carried away to exile by the Babylonians and were there for 70 years.
Or think of the persecution of Christians at various times during the Roman Empire.
Today too Christians are severely persecuted in Iraq, Syria, Indonesia, Nigeria and the Sudan, as well as many other countries. These people are praying the prayer expressed here by this man; “do not leave me to my oppressors... let not the arrogant oppress me.”

d. His prayer was earnest; “My eyes fail, looking for your salvation.” He looked and longed for God’s help for so long that his eyes began to fail, they began to give out, but still he kept looking, praying, asking.  
Spurgeon wrote, “He looked to God alone, he looked eagerly, he looked long....He wept, waited and watched for God’s saving hand.” 
This man had suffered for a long time but he did not give up and he kept praying to God and pleading with him. 

Jesus urged his hearers to do the same; “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you” (Matt 7:7). And the Scriptures also assure us that God will not tempt us beyond what we can bear but will provide a way out so that we can stand up under it (1 Cor 10:13).

So we need to keep praying for God’s salvation. This is a prayer for God’s grace, his kindness and his favour to us his people. God will keep on supplying you with what you need until you receive the full inheritance of your salvation in heaven!

e. His prayer was earnest and it was confident; he kept looking for God’s “righteous promise” (v 123b).
God has given us many rich and wonderful promises. He has not promised that he will always rescue you out of every trial or sickness, but he has promised that he will never leave you nor forsake you, he has promised to be with you wherever you are, he has promised you his Holy Spirit, and his grace and strength, and he has promised eternal life to all who believe in Jesus Christ!

The prayer of the early Christians in the book of Acts was also confident.  Peter and John had been imprisoned for speaking about Jesus but then were threatened and released.
Those Christians prayed to God with much confidence. They knew that God was sovereign and almighty and he would work out all things according to his will. They knew that Jesus was the Anointed One, the Lord, and that he was the king of the whole world. They had been threatened but they prayed, “Consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness” (Acts 4:23-30).

We too need to be praying. We must pray as individuals, as couples, in our families, in our worship services and in our Bible studies. We need to pray in dedicated prayer meetings, thanking God for his blessings in our lives and in our church and praying for our own needs and the needs of other Christians. Prayer is essential; without it we are on our own and we can do nothing at all! Prayer reminds us that we are utterly and absolutely dependant on God for everything we have. The psalmist knew this and he prayed, and we need to remember this and also pray.

2. Having prayed for God’s salvation and deliverance from his oppressors the psalmist then presented some SUPPORTING REAONS for his prayer; he gave three. 

a. First he appealed to God’s love; “Deal with your servant according to your love.” 
If God dealt with us according to his justice then we would have no hope, but if he deals with us according to his love then we will be saved. 

The Hebrew word he used for love here refers to God’s covenant love, his lovingkindness to his people, his covenant kindness. God has loved his people in times past and he will show us his love today. 
When you are praying to God remember to appeal to his covenant love; “Deal with your servant according to your love.”

b. Secondly he recognised that he was God’s servant. 
He prayed this three times:
v 122, “Ensure your servant’s wellbeing...”
v 124, “Deal with your servant according to your love...”
v 125, “I am your servant...”

i. He was humble and aware of his place; God was almighty and all powerful and he was merely a servant of the Lord. 
But he was also appreciative of this position; God was holy and in heaven but he was a servant of the Lord, he belonged to God, he was part of his people; and he was confident that God would look after his own, that he would care for those who belonged to him. 

ii. As a servant of the Lord he wanted to know God’s commands. 

A servant wants to know the wishes of his master so he can serve him better; he wants to know the mind and will of the one he serves so he can do his job well. 

So this man, as a servant of the Lord, asked, “teach me your decrees” (v 124b); “give me discernment, that I may understand your statues” (v 125).

Some Christians have a very negative view of God’s law and aren’t interested in it at all. That was not true of this man and that should not be so for you and me. We need to pray the same prayer as this man.

He prayed, “Teach me your decrees” (v 124b). He was in a crisis situation, under great pressure, oppressed by arrogant people. A deeper insight into God’s law would enable him to understand his situation better and respond to it in a godly manner. 
This is true for all of us in our lives. Let’s pray that God would teach us his decrees so we can apply them in our lives.

And let’s pray, with this man, “give me discernment, that I may understand your statues” (v 125).
This reminds us of the request of Solomon at the beginning of his reign when he asked God for wisdom so that he might know how to rule God’s people. 
We too need wisdom and discernment so that we may know how to live in our present situation surrounded, as we are, by so much unbelief, godlessness and sin. 
We need to understand God’s law well so we can put it into practice in our homes, in our marriage, in our school, in our workplace.  

c. In his prayer for salvation the psalmist appealed to God’s love, to his position as God’s servant wanting to know the will of his master, and thirdly, he appealed to the time in which he lived. v 126, “It is time for you to act O Lord; your law is being broken.” 

This man was not just concerned about his personal situation but about what was going on in the whole nation. There was a general apostasy, a turning away from God and his commands. There was unbelief and sin in the nation; God’s law was being broken and this grieved him, this was an offence against a holy God!

Not only that, but sin brings many destructive consequences as the effects of sin work themselves out in people’s lives and families; sin brings about trouble, difficulty, sorrow, heartache, regrets and broken relationships. 

So he prayed, “It is time for you to act, O Lord!” He wanted God to act for the sake of his name and his law. 
This is our prayer for this time and for our nation. Let’s pray that God will act to restrain sin and rescue his people from the oppression of their enemies. Let’s pray that unbelievers may come to know God and his good commands and obey them, and that this may bring order and stability to their lives and to the nation.

This is why the psalmist closes with section by expressing his love for God’s law. This, of course, is the great theme of this psalm. 

He recognised that others were disobeying God’s commands and following a wrong path and he hated all this disobedience. That unbelievers rejected God and his laws made him love God and his law all the more, to esteem it even more highly and to want to obey it!

When we live, as we do, in a world that is unbelieving, sinful and evil then it is tempting to go along with that, to be carried by the tide, to go with the flow. 
But this man refused to do that, and this must be your resolution and mine, that we won’t follow the ways of the world but that we will love God’s law.

He wanted God to act in his situation, but he did not know when God would act, when he would intervene, when he would deliver him; so had had to wait.

But while he was waiting he would keep obeying; he would do what he had always done, that is, to love God’s commands and consider all his precepts to be right. 

He began this section with what he had done – he had done what was righteous and just; he concluded with what he would continue to do – he would hate every wrong path and he would love God and love God’s law.

We are living in this New Testament age, these “last days”, which are full of evil. 

Will you go along with this filthy tide or will you hate every wrong path?
Will you love the world or will you love God’s law?
Will you give up on this situation as a lost cause and lose hope, or will you keep on praying that God may act? 

Amen