Psalm 119: Focus On God's Word. Pt. 64 Suffering For Christ Leads To Triumph

Psalm 119:17-21  GIMEL. Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live, and keep thy word. 18)  Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. 19)  I am a stranger in the earth: hide not thy commandments from me. 20)  My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times. 21)  Thou hast rebuked the proud that are cursed, which do err from thy commandments. 

Suffering reproaches is part of walking by faith in Christ. 

Psalm 119:22  Remove from me reproach and contempt; for I have kept thy testimonies. 

We are learning about what the Psalmist meant when He asked the Lord to remove all reproach and contempt away from himself. 

Generally, reproaches are directed at the church Christ is building or at individual believers. 

In part this prayer request meant that the Psalmist did not want to do anything that would bring reproach, shame or contempt upon Jehovah. 

Second, it includes those who mock, ridicule and hate the Psalmist because he chose to live a godly life. 

In a general sense we learned that suffering reproach for the name of God or for His cause, are part of the Christian life. 

They are usual afflictions that all believers who commit to walking closely with Christ, will endure. 

They are grievous afflictions because they stem from the attacks of darkness upon the kingdom of light, that all believers in Christ belong to. 

The children of God are always afflicted with reproaches for the sake of the Christian religion. 

Suffering reproaches is a place of blessing from Christ. 

Matthew 5:11  Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 

Jesus reminded His disciples that we must recognize that being reviled by men for His sake is the place of blessing. The word "revile" has the same essential meaning as the word "reproach." 

Men will attack believers by saying things that are false, hurtful or even slanderous against us. 

The word "persecute"  signifies legal persecutions and public accusations, which, though totally unsubstantiated, are used against believers. 

Foxe's Book of Martyrs is full of examples of innocent believers who were wrongly accused, condemned and maliciously mistreated. 

We suffer reproach for the sake of faith in Jesus Christ. 

Psalm 69:6,7  Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord GOD of hosts, be ashamed for my sake: let not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel. 7)  Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face. 

This Psalm is the most widely quoted Psalm in the New Testament and it is a Messianic Psalm. This means that much of what is said here refers to the work and person of Jesus Christ, even as it encompasses the hardships and struggles all followers of Jehovah endure through the ages. 

Thus, King David could say that he personally suffered reproach for the Lord GOD's sake. 

Christ on the cross could also make this same claim of suffering reproach because He chose to fulfill the salvation mission that the Father gave Him to complete.

King David declared how grievous  suffering reproach was to his heart. He sought to honor God in all respects and yet, he was rejected, scorned and mocked just as Christ was. 

Suffering reproach grieves our heart but our Lord comforts us.

Psalm 69:20  Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.

This text certainly applied to King David who had to deal with enemies within his inner circle, militant rebels, and those who hated him for his resolute faith in Jehovah. 

The words poignantly express the heart of our Lord as He hung on the cross experiencing great agony and profound misery, as He received the wages of our sins.

Men's vile reproaches and harsh words broke His heart as He came in love, to seek and save the lost. His heart was heavy and none had pity for Jesus. None offered Him comfort. 

We must be content to keep working for our Lord as we suffer reproach.

1 Timothy 4:9,10  This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation. 10)  For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.

Paul certainly experienced his own suffering, and was the target of many vicious, hateful reproaches for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

He reminds all believers in Christ that we will keep on working in gospel ministry and keep on suffering reproach for this specific reason. We trust in the living God who is the Savior of all those who believe on Christ with repentant faith. 

Men's mocking is cruel persecution and a reproach.

Genesis 21:8,9  And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned. 9)  And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking. 

The word "mocking" means Ishmael was laughing at and making fun of Isaac. Yet, in the following text from Paul's letter to the Galatians, it is called "persecution." 

Remember, the Holy Spirit of God inspired the scriptures and He directed Paul to choose a word signifying that Ishmael persecuted Isaac. 

The Spirit did this to place before us the great contrast of carnal men always attacking those who are born again into the family of God. They are called "cruel mockings" in Hebrews 11:36. 

The unregenerated ones will always attack the regenerated ones. 

Galatians 4:29  But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now. 

This is the spiritual principle involved in suffering for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. Those who are of the flesh will always persecute those who are regenerated by the Spirit of God.

Satan attacks Christians with many weapons. 

Proverbs 22:1  A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold.

A good name is connected with the upright man who walks in the law of the Lord. 

A good name is connected with words like integrity, honesty, and godliness. King Solomon said a good name was more valuable that great riches (See also Ecclesiastes 7:1). 

Yet, Christ hanging on the cross would notice all the people who passed by Him, scornfully laughing, shooting out their verbal venom at God's perfect Lamb (Psalm 22:7).

Our enemy knows what he is doing. When society speaks evil of godly men, then the truth of the gospel suffers and we are profaned by their evil actions. When we are polluted by their slanderous speech, then our God is also polluted.

Satan's plan is to do all that he can to discourage believers from doing their part of the work God left us here to do, and if this fails, he will do all that he can to blast us with his evil schemes and blemish or tarnish our Christian character. 

God's plan for our sufferings overrides all other considerations. He wants to test our faith, to purge us from worldliness, selfishness, pride, so that He might refine us and purify us for Himself (See Daniel 11:35; Deuteronomy 8:16; Job 23:10, for examples). 

Suffering for the sake of Christ is part of God's plan. 

2 Corinthians 12:7  And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. 

When Paul was stoned and left for dead at Lystra, he was caught up to the third heaven and saw many amazing visions. This could easily have caused the apostle to become self conceited and self centered instead of Christ centered. 

Therefore, God gave Paul an affliction called a thorn in the flesh. It was also called a messenger of Satan to buffet Paul, which reminds us of Job's trials (Job 1-2). God used this thorn in Paul's flesh to keep His apostle humble and dependent upon his Lord. 

God's grace and strength is sufficient for our needs. 

2 Corinthians 12:8,9  For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. 9)  And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 

Paul prayed three times for God to remove his affliction but the answer he received from heaven was that the grace of God was sufficient to sustain him. His strength is perfected in Pauls' weakness. 

Paul's response to God's answer? He was glad and willing to rejoice in his infirmities so that the power of Jesus Christ could rest upon him, enabling him to do the work of the ministry he was given by Christ. 

2 Corinthians 12:10  Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong. 

Paul declared with a jubilant spirit, that he took pleasure in infirmities, reproaches and persecutions for the sake of Jesus Christ. Why? Because when he was weak, Christ made him strong. 

Thoughts to Ponder...

We must study what God says to us, for we are not above our Master, Jesus Christ.

He suffered and so will we. He was reviled and we will be too. He endured reproached from evil men and so will we. 

Jesus taught us that suffering reproaches for His name's sake is a place of blessing for the believer. Unbelievers hated Christ and they will hate us too. 

Suffering reproaches grieves our hearts but our Lord is faithful to comfort our hearts. 

Though Satan may be behind our sufferings, God has a plan for it. He will purge us and purify us so that we come forth as gold, ready for His use. 

May we remember to pray for each other that we endure afflictions and hardship for the cause of Christ, like Paul did, with joy in our hearts. 

May we remain faithful to our God and not be resistant when trials, troubles or sorrows come our way. We must look up to our Great Redeemer and King, for Jesus is coming again.

Bob