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ע(Ayin) It is time for you to act, O LORD
Series: Finding the Gospel in Psalm 119 – A Hymn to the Law (16/22) Psalm 119:121–128
Andy Nagahrara
It has been a while, but let us return to the series on Psalm 119, which is called a hymn to the Law. Today, we will take up verses 121-128 where each line of the 16th paragraph begins with the 16th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, “ע (Ain)”.
Let’s start reading.
A. When faith wears you out
1. The reality that evil flourishes and you feel neglected (121,122)
121 I have done what is righteous and just;
do not leave me to my oppressors.
122 Ensure your servant’s well-being;
let not the arrogant oppress me.
Even if we are not the psalmist, wouldn’t we also have the same thoughts when we see various events in this world and when we face the problems that happen to us. I who believe in God and try to live righteously face problems, and people who have self-centered attitudes as if they are gods use their power and enjoy life as they please?
Remember last week’s Nicodemus story? We are now reading the Gospel of John series and this psalm series on a weekly basis, and God is mysteriously speaking to us from these completely separate texts in what can only be described as a continuation of the previous week. And today, this is going to be another such story.
What Nicodemus and the psalmist have in common is a desire to “walk according to God’s will,” and a keen awareness that “God’s will” is not respected in the society where they live. So the psalmist continued to suffer, and Nicodemus came to Jesus under cover of night.
God is more patient than any of us. God does not strike down evildoers one after another like heroes in action movies. Because God wants everyone to turn to Him. In the Gospel of Matthew chapter 13 (24-30), Jesus explained this with the following parable:
Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.
“The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’
“‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.
“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’
“‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.'”
Therefore, we who know God are required to be patient. But last week we learned that God gives us something better than that patience.
That God transforms us into a whole new being through Jesus Christ, and through the Holy Spirit, we can live with hope no matter how harsh the world is. What we have been given is eternal life that transcends physical life, and we have been transformed into beings who do not need to fear death. The life of the flesh and the life of the spirit are not opposites that must be chosen one over the other. The flesh has an end, but the spirit has no end. It is a matter of a different dimension.
2. Ask the Lord for help (123.124)
123 My eyes fail, looking for your salvation,
looking for your righteous promise.
124 Deal with your servant according to your love
and teach me your decrees.
“Even so, God is not giving me the salvation and justice I think He should, and my eyes, which were wide open in anticipation of what was to come, have grown tired and dim. I feel like I am being treated unfairly by you.” the psalmist is frankly and honestly confronting God with his feelings.
But unlike the psalmist, we know that we don’t have to keep screaming. For we are able to listen to the Lord, like Nicodemus, and we are the ones who know to hope in the power of the Holy Spirit. Easter is over for this year. Do you remember what the next anniversary on the church calendar is? It’s Pentecost. This is the day to commemorate the Holy Spirit intensely came upon the disciples and filled them. They were praying and waiting for the Holy Spirit, as Jesus had told them to do after sending Jesus to heaven. Pentecost this year is the week after next, on May 28th.It would be my turn to speak, and I thought I would share a message from the Pentecostal text in the Acts of the Apostles, but the next part of this Psalm is also a text that curiously recalls Pentecost, so I am going to share it with you as a continuation of the series.
When we face difficulties, we lose confidence in the steps we have taken, doubt our faith, and lose hope in the path we are taking.
Jesus said to Nicodemus, “Be born again.” It was beyond his imagination, and Nicodemus could only give an unconsidered answer.
But we who have experienced Pentecost know. To be born again, this is not possible on one’s own, but is only possible through the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit gives us the strength to keep walking forward with Jesus. That is what it means to live as a person born again.
B. We know the time of Jesus
1. What kind of time is it now? (125,126)
125 I am your servant; give me discernment
that I may understand your statutes.
126 It is time for you to act, O LORD;
your law is being broken.
We have been reading a series of Psalms from the Old Testament, and many of those in the Old Testament who tried to be faithful to God, like the psalmist, were anxiously waiting for the time when God would work. We know it is “the time of Jesus”.
Why, then, did the disciples, who experienced “the time of Jesus” in real time, consider not only the Gospels, the Epistles, and other parts of what we now call the New Testament, which contain the words and deeds of Jesus, but also the Old Testament, which was the Jewish Bible, as the Word of God, which those who followed Jesus should also believe? This is because they took the entire Old Testament as the ultimate prophecy to be fulfilled by the appearance of Jesus. This is because they believed that Jesus was not the founder of a new religion who appeared out of nowhere without any connection to the history or religion of the people, but the manifestation of God that the people of the Old Testament had been waiting for.
Also, since the New Testament contains many quotations from the Old Testament, and Jesus himself quoted words from the Old Testament, it is impossible to accurately understand the message of the New Testament without reading the Old Testament. To read the Old Testament correctly, we must read the New Testament, and to read the New Testament correctly, we must not ignore the Old Testament.vAnd now, the New Testament as a document is already complete, and it is strictly forbidden to add to it or omit it. We are made alive neither in Old Testament times nor in New Testament times, but in later times.
So now there is one more thing to consider in order to read the Bible correctly. It is about what the content means in the world we live in. For example, we know that we don’t have to follow the Old Testament “food regulations.” We also know that Jesus did not want us to follow Paul, who in New Testament times told us that women should not teach in church.
Reading the Bible correctly is not the same as reading it literally. Even if we know the meaning that is appropriate for our time, we need the help of the Holy Spirit so that it does not become a selfish interpretation.
The disciples experienced the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, experienced Pentecost, and began to walk as the body of Christ, the church. If we call the New Testament time they lived in “the time of Jesus,” then after Pentecost we could call it the “time of the Holy Spirit” or the “time of the church.”
2. Keep walking until the end of days (127,128)
127 Because I love your commands
more than gold, more than pure gold,
128 and because I consider all your precepts right,
I hate every wrong path.
The reason why now is the time of the Holy Spirit is because we cannot experience the appearance of Jesus with our eyes and the voice of Jesus with our ears. Now we see and hear Jesus through the work of the Holy Spirit. For with the help of the Holy Spirit, regardless of our weakness or sinfulness, we can continue walking with Jesus toward the completion of the Kingdom of God in any environment.
And the reason why now is the time of the church is because Jesus brought us into this world as His body, the church. In a world that is like a field that God dared to allow even the tares that were mixed in later to grow, it is essential that we live as a body or community, with Jesus as its head so that we can grow strong as good wheat until the end of time. It is a new body, a new life, that only those who admit their powerlessness can have.
Paul, who wrote many letters in the New Testament, expresses the truth that “the weak are strong.” in this way.
For to be sure, he was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God’s power. Likewise, we are weak in him, yet by God’s power we will live with him to serve you.（2 Corinthians 13:4）
And the Lord Jesus Himself clearly said:
Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.（John 15:4,5）
Let’s follow Jesus until the end, until the last days, and continue walking with Him in a life that bears much fruit.
(Prayer) Dear God, thank you for coming as Jesus, giving us a new birth, and allowing us to live with you in the “time of Jesus”.
Pour out your spirit abundantly on us living in the “time of the Holy Spirit”.
We cannot know or do your will without the help of the Holy Spirit.
Please fill us with your spirit so that we can see the world right through your eyes.
Fill us with your Spirit so that we may be your ears, to hear the call for help, and to work as your hands and feet.
May your grace abound in our weakness.
Thankfully and hopefully, we pray in the name of Jesus Christ.
Summary
“Why is it that those who turn their backs on God prosper and those who follow God are not rewarded? “ In this psalmist, who is weary and make complaints in his walk of faith, we find the essence of our faith in the gospel. None of us are right or strong enough to satisfy God. That’s why Jesus came. Let’s keep walking, believing in the grace of being kept alive as part of the body of Jesus.
For Discussion
1. Why can we say that this is the time of the Holy Spirit, the time of the Church?
2. What does it mean for us to love God’s commandments?