Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Adult Sunday School Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/bb/bb19981025.htm

PSALMS: DIARIES OF GODLY OLD TESTAMENT SAINTS
Psalm One Hundred And Nineteen (Nun) - Biblical Crisis Management
(Psalm 119:105-112)
  1. Introduction
    1. When a crisis arises in a believer's experience, it usually entails a drain on his physical, mental and emotional "reserves" that can inhibit productivity from a human viewpoint! If one tries to continue functioning with such drained resources, he can fold up or just give up as another of life's "basket cases".
    2. Psalm 119:105-112 is a study in crisis management for facing such an affliction as follows:
  2. Biblical Crisis Management, Psalm 119:105-112.
    1. The psalmist lays out a pattern for using Scripture for crisis management in Psalm 119:105:
      1. Step One - He assumes that the crisis or crises he faces make insight as difficult and distressful as it is for one physically to see on a dark, moonless night on a potentially treacherous pathway, Ps. 119:105. Keep in mind that the Oriental mind of the psalmist's era feared darkness, Z.P.E.B., vol. 3, p. 866.
      2. Step Two - In view of this limited and hence fearful insight, the psalmist uses Scripture to illumine only the immediate course of action -- what is involved in life's next STEP. This fact is illustrated by way of a covered candle lantern used in the psalmist's era that illumined only a single step's distance, v. 105a.
      3. Step Three - When each step is taken onto what the lantern already illuminates, the lamp, moving along with the walker, sheds light on the next step that he must negotiate along his pathway, Ps. 119:105b.
      4. Step Four - As such steps are repeated in consecutive order, the walker eventually covers the entire length of his life that is full of surprises and crises in the "dark", and yet makes out well, Ps. 119:105b.
    2. Having laid out this formula for crisis management, the psalmist describes the mental dynamics involved in this process in Psalm 119:106-112:
      1. Mental Dynamic One - There is a mindset needed for taking the immediate steps of the crisis, 107-110:
        1. To offset the price in emotional, mental and physical suffering caused by the crisis at hand, the psalmist looks to God's promises for renewal, Ps. 119:107.
        2. Having been renewed in each case, the psalmist offers thanksgiving and requests for more insight that affects his understanding of the next consecutive step needed, Ps. 119:108.
        3. Realizing that even his life may be endangered in the crisis at hand, the psalmist promises not to forget the life-saving input of Scripture in every crisis he faces along life's pathway, Ps. 119:109.
        4. Understanding that his opponents are out to make trouble for him when he faces his crises, the psalmist decides to stick close to God's revealed truths in Scripture, Ps. 119:110.
      2. Mental Dynamic Two - There is a mindset needed for making long-range plans, Ps. 119:106, 111-112:
        1. For the long haul, the psalmist makes a commitment to stick close to Scripture, Ps. 119:106.
        2. He recognizes that Scripture, his inheritance in a crisis, brings him joy for its protective insight, 111.
        3. Thus, he decides that, for the long haul, he will bend his heart to do what the Bible teaches he must do whenever he faces any crisis in his future, Ps. 119:112.
Lesson: God knows that WE really LACK the resources under crisis drains to do EFFECTIVE in-depth thinking or planning for immediate or certainly for long-term matters. Thus, we should face crises by (1) using SCRIPTURE to handle IMMEDIATE steps we must take, and (2) RESOLVE to be BIBLE-BASED AFTERWARDS so that WHEN crises arise AGAIN, we will THEN be able to handle them as well.

Application: (1) It is a mistake to think we can stay "on top of" life's crises, for life eventually gets TOO BIG for ANYBODY to handle well on his own: the angelic conflict, our own human weakness and even personal sin natures make depending on OU R own resources a sure formula for eventual DEPRESSION and spiritual DEFEAT. (2) God thus urges us to encounter life's events in "small chunks": (a) we are to follow HIS WORD for the NEXT FEW MINUTES (b) and then make it a habit to duplicate that act fo r EACH SET of FUTURE few-minute intervals we have left in life's path! (c) This way GOD encounters life WITH us and makes us ADJUST well as our lives unfold!