WEBVTT 00:00:00.580 --> 00:00:04.160 Psalm 119 verses 145 to 152. 00:00:09.359 --> 00:00:13.519 With my whole heart I cry, answer me O Lord. 00:00:14.339 --> 00:00:16.100 I will keep your statutes. 00:00:17.740 --> 00:00:21.800 I call to you, save me, that I may observe your testimonies. 00:00:22.740 --> 00:00:25.900 I rise before dawn and cry for help. 00:00:26.460 --> 00:00:27.800 I hope in your words. 00:00:27.800 --> 00:00:34.160 My eyes are awake before the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promise. 00:00:35.480 --> 00:00:38.679 Hear my voice according to your steadfast love. 00:00:39.899 --> 00:00:43.320 O Lord, according to your justice, give me life. 00:00:45.480 --> 00:00:48.579 They draw near who persecute me with evil purpose. 00:00:49.519 --> 00:00:53.519 They are far from your law, but you are near, O Lord. 00:00:54.560 --> 00:00:56.200 And all your commandments are true. 00:00:56.200 --> 00:01:02.780 Long have I known from your testimonies that you have founded them forever. 00:01:02.780 --> 00:01:20.040 I don't think it's a stretch to say that the amount that we pray, how much we pray, is directly related to how real God is to us. 00:01:20.040 --> 00:01:24.360 Because if we don't feel the need for God, we don't pray. 00:01:25.160 --> 00:01:28.880 If we don't feel like God can or will do anything for us, then we don't pray. 00:01:29.520 --> 00:01:32.460 It's just God's not very real to us when we don't pray. 00:01:32.459 --> 00:01:45.699 And I think this stanza is really teaching us that we should cry out to God desperately in times of trouble, when we're persecuted, because God's presence is near and his promises are true. 00:01:46.259 --> 00:01:49.479 So in the first four verses, we see the prayers of the saint. 00:01:49.480 --> 00:01:57.320 And then in the second half, 149 to 152, we see the promises of the Lord that he holds on to as he seeks the Lord. 00:01:58.180 --> 00:01:59.439 And so let's look at it. 00:01:59.439 --> 00:02:01.880 I think it's a great stanza for learning how to pray. 00:02:03.439 --> 00:02:05.219 It says in verse 145, 00:02:05.219 --> 00:02:15.800 So this kind of speaks to the manner of prayer, how we should pray. 00:02:17.319 --> 00:02:20.719 And it says, 00:02:20.979 --> 00:02:23.219 With my whole heart, that's how we should pray. 00:02:23.979 --> 00:02:26.879 And so we shouldn't pray in a half-hearted way. 00:02:27.699 --> 00:02:33.560 And I think if we don't have faith when we pray, naturally our prayer is going to be half-hearted. 00:02:33.560 --> 00:02:39.319 Because if we don't have faith, then we're not going to be into it. 00:02:39.379 --> 00:02:40.000 We're going to be hesitant. 00:02:40.319 --> 00:02:41.159 We're going to hedge our bets. 00:02:41.259 --> 00:02:42.080 We're going to be distracted. 00:02:43.039 --> 00:02:45.900 But the psalmist, as he prays, he goes all in on his prayers. 00:02:49.740 --> 00:02:53.340 And he's not seeking the help of other gods or other idols. 00:02:53.759 --> 00:02:55.939 He's seeking the help of the Lord alone. 00:02:56.180 --> 00:02:57.939 So he prays with his whole heart. 00:02:59.699 --> 00:03:01.500 And it's an undivided heart. 00:03:01.500 --> 00:03:02.500 That's the manner of prayer. 00:03:02.599 --> 00:03:03.460 That's how we should pray. 00:03:04.180 --> 00:03:05.699 And then verse 146 is similar to that. 00:03:05.800 --> 00:03:05.960 It says, 00:03:06.080 --> 00:03:09.340 I call to you, save me that I may observe your testimonies. 00:03:09.719 --> 00:03:12.340 So look at 145 and 146 again. 00:03:12.620 --> 00:03:15.259 And notice the goal of prayer. 00:03:15.640 --> 00:03:17.400 The outcome that he's looking for. 00:03:18.219 --> 00:03:19.640 It says in verse both of them, 00:03:20.319 --> 00:03:23.319 With my whole heart, I cry, answer me, O Lord. 00:03:23.400 --> 00:03:25.379 I will keep your statutes. 00:03:26.379 --> 00:03:30.480 And then I call to you, save me, that I may observe your testimonies. 00:03:30.479 --> 00:03:34.459 So the goal of keeping God's word. 00:03:34.679 --> 00:03:38.439 The goal is the observance of God's will when he prays. 00:03:39.219 --> 00:03:43.719 And we see that also in the way Jesus taught his disciples to pray in the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6. 00:03:43.819 --> 00:03:43.939 Right? 00:03:43.939 --> 00:03:45.520 Our Father, hallowed be your name. 00:03:45.840 --> 00:03:46.859 Your kingdom come. 00:03:47.079 --> 00:03:49.659 Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 00:03:49.719 --> 00:03:49.919 Right? 00:03:49.919 --> 00:03:54.659 So the ultimate goal, the purpose of prayer is to have God's will done. 00:03:55.319 --> 00:03:57.439 To have God's word kept. 00:03:58.299 --> 00:04:01.919 And so that's really the goal of this psalmist's prayer. 00:04:01.919 --> 00:04:07.959 And if our prayers conform to this overarching purpose of furthering God's purposes, 00:04:08.119 --> 00:04:09.399 then our prayers will be answered. 00:04:09.560 --> 00:04:10.699 That's the promise in God's word. 00:04:10.919 --> 00:04:12.679 1 John 5, 14, 15 says, 00:04:12.799 --> 00:04:17.539 If we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 00:04:18.199 --> 00:04:20.599 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, 00:04:20.639 --> 00:04:23.039 we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him. 00:04:23.759 --> 00:04:25.919 But if we pray for self-serving purposes, 00:04:26.319 --> 00:04:27.860 then our prayers will not be answered. 00:04:27.860 --> 00:04:31.960 Or another place, James 4, verse 3, it says, 00:04:32.100 --> 00:04:37.759 You ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly to spend it on your passions. 00:04:38.900 --> 00:04:42.060 So if we pray according to his will, there's a promise that he'll answer. 00:04:42.879 --> 00:04:50.420 And there's a book by the name of The Work of the Holy Spirit in Prayer by John Owen, 00:04:51.139 --> 00:04:52.280 a Puritan theologian. 00:04:53.040 --> 00:04:54.199 And he writes, 00:04:54.199 --> 00:04:55.899 We are to pray in faith. 00:04:56.539 --> 00:04:58.719 And faith has to do with God's promises. 00:04:59.599 --> 00:05:03.039 If, therefore, we don't understand what God has promised, 00:05:03.920 --> 00:05:05.539 we can't pray at all. 00:05:06.480 --> 00:05:09.300 Because he's saying we're commanded to pray with faith. 00:05:09.839 --> 00:05:11.079 So Matthew 21, 22, 00:05:11.199 --> 00:05:14.439 Ask whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive if you have faith. 00:05:14.599 --> 00:05:15.980 So we're commanded to pray with faith. 00:05:16.399 --> 00:05:17.180 And what is faith? 00:05:17.300 --> 00:05:18.939 Faith is believing what God says. 00:05:19.539 --> 00:05:22.199 Faith is belief in God's promises, belief in his word. 00:05:22.199 --> 00:05:26.420 And so if we don't know the promises of God, if we don't believe in the word of God, 00:05:26.479 --> 00:05:28.639 then we can't pray in accordance with his will. 00:05:28.959 --> 00:05:33.639 We can't pray with faith because we don't know his promises. 00:05:34.339 --> 00:05:36.839 And so that's really important to how we pray. 00:05:37.339 --> 00:05:42.500 And we see that connection between God's word and prayer in verses 147 to 148 as well. 00:05:42.639 --> 00:05:43.560 Look at it with me. 00:05:43.639 --> 00:05:43.800 It says, 00:05:43.800 --> 00:05:45.939 I rise before dawn and cry for help. 00:05:46.160 --> 00:05:48.460 I hope in your words. 00:05:49.639 --> 00:05:52.340 My eyes are awake before the watches of the night, 00:05:52.620 --> 00:05:55.220 that I may meditate on your promise. 00:05:56.460 --> 00:06:00.860 So the psalmist's cry for help is connected to his hope in God's words. 00:06:01.139 --> 00:06:04.100 And he stays up through the night meditating on God's promise. 00:06:04.280 --> 00:06:06.699 So there's that meditation on the promise of God, 00:06:06.819 --> 00:06:09.840 that hoping in the word of God spurs his prayer. 00:06:10.400 --> 00:06:11.500 It produces prayer. 00:06:11.500 --> 00:06:16.860 There's a 17th century English pastor named Thomas Manton 00:06:16.860 --> 00:06:20.519 who explains the relationship between meditating on the word and prayer. 00:06:20.779 --> 00:06:20.980 He says, 00:06:21.740 --> 00:06:25.680 Meditation is a middle sort of duty between the word and prayer 00:06:25.680 --> 00:06:27.939 and hath respect to both. 00:06:28.720 --> 00:06:31.980 The word feedeth meditation and meditation feedeth prayer. 00:06:32.680 --> 00:06:34.819 These duties must always go hand in hand. 00:06:35.519 --> 00:06:38.399 Meditation must follow hearing and precede prayer. 00:06:38.399 --> 00:06:41.620 To hear and not to meditate is unfruitful. 00:06:41.959 --> 00:06:42.779 We may hear and hear, 00:06:42.899 --> 00:06:44.919 but it is like putting a thing into a bag with holes. 00:06:45.839 --> 00:06:48.359 It is rationalist to pray and not to meditate. 00:06:49.060 --> 00:06:50.679 What we take in by the word, 00:06:50.839 --> 00:06:53.379 we digest by meditation and let out by prayer. 00:06:53.959 --> 00:06:56.019 These three duties must be ordered 00:06:56.019 --> 00:06:58.099 that one may not jostle out the other. 00:06:59.539 --> 00:07:01.479 People are barren, dry, 00:07:01.480 --> 00:07:03.580 and sapless in their prayers 00:07:03.580 --> 00:07:07.759 for the lack of exercising themselves in holy thoughts. 00:07:09.020 --> 00:07:11.800 He's saying that when we exercise ourselves in holy thoughts 00:07:11.800 --> 00:07:13.000 and meditate on God's word, 00:07:13.080 --> 00:07:13.580 his promises, 00:07:13.720 --> 00:07:15.939 that's what produces prayer. 00:07:16.700 --> 00:07:18.780 And so because the psalmist knows this 00:07:18.780 --> 00:07:20.939 and he knows the importance of prayer, 00:07:21.120 --> 00:07:22.920 God's presence is very real to him. 00:07:23.259 --> 00:07:24.580 Even at the loss of sleep, 00:07:24.720 --> 00:07:26.620 the psalmist prays in this passage. 00:07:27.420 --> 00:07:28.900 He meditates on God's word, 00:07:28.899 --> 00:07:31.239 which is the exact opposite of what some people do. 00:07:31.459 --> 00:07:33.819 Sometimes when we're really stressed out 00:07:33.819 --> 00:07:35.939 or anxious or despairing, 00:07:36.739 --> 00:07:37.500 people like to sleep. 00:07:38.019 --> 00:07:39.899 They like to sleep off the sorrow 00:07:39.899 --> 00:07:41.779 or they like to try to forget or avoid. 00:07:42.519 --> 00:07:44.139 But the psalmist does the opposite. 00:07:44.299 --> 00:07:46.179 He stays up into the wee hours of the night 00:07:46.179 --> 00:07:47.779 to meditate on God's word. 00:07:48.259 --> 00:07:49.739 And he gets up early in the morning 00:07:49.739 --> 00:07:51.479 before sunrise to pray to God. 00:07:52.459 --> 00:07:55.419 And I think if we believe in the efficacy of prayer, 00:07:55.919 --> 00:07:57.359 in the power of prayer, 00:07:57.399 --> 00:07:58.219 we will do the same. 00:07:59.140 --> 00:08:00.780 And so we should cry out to God 00:08:00.780 --> 00:08:01.920 desperately when persecuted 00:08:01.920 --> 00:08:03.400 because God's presence is near 00:08:03.400 --> 00:08:04.620 and his promises are true. 00:08:04.860 --> 00:08:06.040 So let's look at those promises 00:08:06.040 --> 00:08:08.140 in verses 149 to 152. 00:08:08.960 --> 00:08:10.680 He says in verse 149, 00:08:10.800 --> 00:08:13.560 Hear my voice according to your steadfast love. 00:08:14.180 --> 00:08:16.580 O Lord, according to your justice, 00:08:16.780 --> 00:08:17.300 give me life. 00:08:18.220 --> 00:08:20.300 So these are the attributes of God 00:08:20.300 --> 00:08:22.060 that he reveals when he reveals himself 00:08:22.060 --> 00:08:22.700 to his people, 00:08:23.420 --> 00:08:26.200 that he has steadfast love toward them. 00:08:26.199 --> 00:08:27.479 And that's the covenant he makes with them, 00:08:27.539 --> 00:08:28.680 that he would have steadfast love, 00:08:29.079 --> 00:08:30.599 that he would give them justice, 00:08:30.920 --> 00:08:32.600 that he would be faithful and truthful to them. 00:08:33.340 --> 00:08:35.799 And so the psalmist is appealing to his promises, 00:08:35.960 --> 00:08:37.259 appealing to God's character, 00:08:37.939 --> 00:08:40.360 the covenant that God made with them, 00:08:40.600 --> 00:08:42.139 with him and God's people. 00:08:42.139 --> 00:08:44.679 And then in verses 150 to 151, 00:08:44.779 --> 00:08:46.960 there's a contrast between the nearness 00:08:46.960 --> 00:08:48.019 of the persecutors 00:08:48.019 --> 00:08:49.819 and the nearness of God. 00:08:50.620 --> 00:08:51.379 He says, 00:08:51.379 --> 00:09:03.340 So the psalmist is in trouble 00:09:03.340 --> 00:09:05.379 because of evil doors drawing near to him 00:09:05.379 --> 00:09:06.200 to persecute him, 00:09:06.259 --> 00:09:08.000 but he has confidence 00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:09.939 because God is near 00:09:09.939 --> 00:09:11.980 to help and to deliver him. 00:09:12.519 --> 00:09:14.159 And God's commands are true 00:09:14.159 --> 00:09:15.960 even though these persecutors 00:09:15.960 --> 00:09:17.159 are far from God's law. 00:09:17.159 --> 00:09:20.799 And that's why he doesn't waver 00:09:20.799 --> 00:09:21.559 from God's law. 00:09:22.259 --> 00:09:24.199 He knows in verse 152, 00:09:24.299 --> 00:09:26.120 Long have I known from your testimonies 00:09:26.120 --> 00:09:28.159 that you have founded them forever. 00:09:29.379 --> 00:09:31.299 And if the psalmist had faith 00:09:31.299 --> 00:09:34.519 that God will always be present with him 00:09:34.519 --> 00:09:35.740 in times of trouble for him, 00:09:36.240 --> 00:09:37.379 that God is near to him, 00:09:37.500 --> 00:09:39.259 we have all the more reasons to believe 00:09:39.259 --> 00:09:40.600 that God is near to us 00:09:40.600 --> 00:09:42.159 when we're going through difficult times. 00:09:42.159 --> 00:09:43.839 Because we know, 00:09:43.959 --> 00:09:45.539 as Matthew 1.23 says, 00:09:45.620 --> 00:09:46.799 Jesus is Emmanuel. 00:09:47.439 --> 00:09:49.120 He is God with us. 00:09:49.559 --> 00:09:50.219 He's present. 00:09:50.980 --> 00:09:52.659 In Ephesians 2.12-14, 00:09:52.839 --> 00:09:52.980 it says, 00:09:53.059 --> 00:09:54.159 We were at one time 00:09:54.159 --> 00:09:55.579 separated from Christ, 00:09:56.240 --> 00:09:58.219 alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, 00:09:58.699 --> 00:10:00.899 and strangers to the covenants of promise, 00:10:01.360 --> 00:10:02.379 having no hope 00:10:02.379 --> 00:10:03.939 and without God in the world. 00:10:04.339 --> 00:10:06.220 But now, in Christ Jesus, 00:10:06.220 --> 00:10:08.179 you who once were far off 00:10:08.179 --> 00:10:09.539 have been brought near 00:10:09.539 --> 00:10:10.819 by the blood of Christ. 00:10:10.820 --> 00:10:12.640 For he himself is our peace, 00:10:12.700 --> 00:10:13.879 who has made us both one 00:10:13.879 --> 00:10:15.600 and has broken down in his flesh 00:10:15.600 --> 00:10:17.240 the dividing wall of hostility. 00:10:17.920 --> 00:10:19.220 So we were once, 00:10:19.400 --> 00:10:20.540 like the evildoers 00:10:20.540 --> 00:10:23.720 that are persecuting the psalmist here, 00:10:24.040 --> 00:10:25.460 we were far from God's law. 00:10:25.700 --> 00:10:27.240 But we have been brought near 00:10:27.240 --> 00:10:28.200 by the blood of Christ, 00:10:28.600 --> 00:10:30.760 by Christ paying for our sins 00:10:30.760 --> 00:10:32.900 with his atoning death on the cross. 00:10:33.879 --> 00:10:36.060 And because Jesus was raised from the dead 00:10:36.060 --> 00:10:37.760 and has ascended to the right hand of the Father, 00:10:37.860 --> 00:10:39.580 and now he's interceding on our behalf, 00:10:39.580 --> 00:10:41.379 in the Father's presence, 00:10:41.900 --> 00:10:43.700 that's why we can have all the more confidence, 00:10:43.860 --> 00:10:47.360 as it says in Hebrews 4, verse 16, 00:10:47.900 --> 00:10:49.540 let us then with confidence 00:10:49.540 --> 00:10:51.400 draw near to the throne of grace, 00:10:51.740 --> 00:10:52.940 that we may receive mercy 00:10:52.940 --> 00:10:55.700 and find grace to help in time of need. 00:10:56.379 --> 00:11:00.240 And so the prayer and faith of this psalm 00:11:00.240 --> 00:11:02.160 is ultimately fulfilled in Christ 00:11:02.160 --> 00:11:03.360 and what he has done for us, 00:11:03.360 --> 00:11:05.139 and we can have confidence 00:11:05.139 --> 00:11:06.039 that God is near. 00:11:06.700 --> 00:11:08.240 And when times get hard, 00:11:08.320 --> 00:11:10.259 we can cry out to him out of desperation 00:11:10.259 --> 00:11:12.620 and expect him to deliver us 00:11:12.620 --> 00:11:14.580 because he is near 00:11:14.580 --> 00:11:15.759 and his promises are true.