Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Adult Sunday School Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/bb/bb19980906.htm

PSALMS: DIARIES OF GODLY OLD TESTAMENT SAINTS
Psalm One Hundred And Nineteen (Zayin) - Relating To Those Who Scornfully Resist Our Biblical Stand
(Psalm 119:49-56)
  1. Introduction
    1. When a believer adopts a Biblical stand on an issue only to have another party arrogantly oppose that stand, scorning the believer who has the right position, the event can be very upsetting to the upright!
    2. Psalm 119:49-56 reveals how the one with the stand should handle this challenge as follows:
  2. Relating To Those Who Scornfully Resist Our Biblical Stand, Psalm 119:49-56.
    1. The psalmist reveals his burden of facing a party who proudly opposes his Biblical stand, v. 50a, 51, 53a,b.
      1. In the psalm, the psalmist is facing affliction, Ps. 119:50a.
      2. He is facing persecution from a scornful party that opposes his stand on God's Word on an issue:
        1. People around the psalmist have rejected the authority of Scripture, Ps. 119:53b.
        2. In the place of Scripture's authority, these opponents have assumed for themselves an authority that is proudly, contemptuously exceeding what rights and rule they truly have of God, Ps. 119:51a.
        3. They have used this presumed authority to scorn the psalmist's right stand on Scripture, 119:51b,c.
        4. Consequently, the great unfairness and brashness of the scorner leads the afflicted psalmist to feel very upset and angry, Ps. 119:53a.
    2. Opposite this difficulty, the Psalmist finds a solution in his life of faith as follows, Ps. 119:49-51, 53-56:
      1. The psalmist remembers God's past, proven record of former powerful consolations for such times:
        1. He knows that God's promises, when trusted in similar, former events of the psalmist's spiritual pilgrimage have always revived him when he has been emotionally troubled, Ps. 119:50.
        2. Knowing this fact causes him to trust God for the current trial to find refreshment, 119:49.
      2. The psalmist thus refuses to bend away from the stand for which he is persecuted, not matter how bad the emotional pressure gets as a result, Ps. 119:51.
      3. The pent up emotions are ventilated wisely by the psalmist's use of good musical expression:
        1. Everywhere his emotions are afflicted (Ps. 119:54b), the psalmist recalls with songs the decrees of God in Biblical promises that pertain to solutions to the problem, Ps. 119:54a.
        2. Every time his emotions bother him, he recalls the divine attributes that God possesses whereby He can and will enforce this blessing in spite of the arrogant rebellion of the scorners, Ps. 119:55a.
        3. This keeps the psalmist obedient during persecution events that he faces, Ps. 119:55b.
      4. The psalmist then shares that this practice has been a workable before, for he obeys Scripture, 119:56.
Lesson: (1) Getting upset when opposed by arrogant opponents who combat one's stand on God's Word comes from forgetting about the SUPERIORITY of GOD and His AUTHORITATIVE WORD over the SCORNER; we thus have forgotten that God has the faithfulness a nd greatness to give us victory no matter what others do. (2) Thus, the correction for getting bent out of shape over such opponents is to refocus on our great and wonderful God, and treat our emotions to musical expressions about that God's gre atness that offsets our adversaries' actions. (3) A tool we should use to build up our faith in God is to recall past events of His Bible-based deliverances of us in situations SIMILAR to the current oppression we face, Ps. 119:50. (4) Thus, God i n TIME overcomes the rebellious and we cease our frustrations that lead to our own spiritual defeats!

Application: If we face a difficult opponent for a Biblical stand we take, we must (1) recall how trusting God and His Word in the past has salvaged us from similar former binds, and (2) trust God and His authority to help again. (3) Meanwhile, we can treat our troubled emotions to music that expresses the greatness of God and His faithfulness to keep His promises. (4) Often only AFTER we have trusted GOD this way does God LATER deal with the oppressor, for God wants us to have victory IN t he difficulty -- not to flee it as a defeated party!!