Ayin

The psalmist tells God that he has “done what is just and right.” That he wants God to “teach him His decrees”. He asks for “discernment.” He reminds God that he truly does “love the Lord’s commands” and “that each of the Father’s commands are right.” All of these things are what the followers of our Lord should be seeking, especially us as under-shepherds of the flock that God has entrusted to our care.

Yet, the psalmist is still suffering at the hand of his enemies, seemingly at the mercy, of arrogant people. God’s people, even those who follow Him closely, will still struggle with the evil in our world, with people who wish to do them harm, with those controlled by or following the enemy himself.

You see, our status as children of God, as those who love Him, follow His Word, and serve as His under-shepherds, does not shield us from the arrogant and the evil around us, but as the psalmist knows God is the ultimate protector. The Lord can intervene at any time He chooses, just as He did for the children of Israel. And the psalmist is begging God to do so, sometimes though, God does not intervene. In fact, sometimes it seems that God is doing nothing. Maybe someone in your congregation, or on your work team, or in your community, or even your neighborhood, is making life difficult for you. They may be spreading lies, or undermining a task you’re trying to accomplish, or, worse yet, working to tarnish your reputation. Maybe it is evil you are experiencing at school or at work. You’ve prayed the prayer this psalmist is praying,

     “Don’t leave me to the mercy of my enemies,
       for I have done what is just and right.
       Please guarantee a blessing for me.
       Don’t let the arrogant oppress me!
       My eyes strain to see your rescue,
       to see the truth of your promise fulfilled.
       I am your servant; deal with me in unfailing love…”

You have been clear with God as the psalmist was. You need rescuing, delivering from whatever you are facing, but God has not yet acted. He has not yet stepped in and saved the day! He has not yet done whatever it is you are hoping He would do. Or maybe it just seems that way.

My dear fellow under-shepherd, God is always working. He is always hearing our pleas for help, our complaints, our fears, our concerns. We need never question His presence even if we cannot feel it. We need never question His provision even if we cannot see it. And we need never question His protection even if we cannot hear His army approaching.

As the psalmist ultimately does here, we need to trust our Lord. Fully. With His timing. His ways. His truth. Even in the midst of oppression, which in this passage in Hebrew literally means to mistreat, defraud, or extort. It describes the abuse of power and authority, and the ideas of accusation and slander.

To take a bit of a side trip from Psalms, remember God’s words through Isaiah?

     “For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and                my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:9)

It is in these moments that our faith, our trust in the Father, is tested. Do we believe that He knows what we’re going through? Do we believe that He cares? Does He really love us? I mean, after all, (we could think) if He did, would I be experiencing this? I’ve worked hard to shepherd this church, or this business, or this organization, or this ministry, or this community. Why is He not stepping up? Why is He not stepping in? Removing the wicked who oppress me? What is He waiting for?

Be warned, shepherd leader, it is those moments the enemy loves. The father of lies absolutely celebrates when he can get a foot in the door to cast doubt on your faith. Let me just say this, fellow under-shepherd: do not give him a centimeter of entry! Do not for one moment entertain the lies he wants to plant in your mind to keep you from living into your calling and leading well.

Instead, with full confidence, even before you see or hear or feel that He is acting, say what the psalmist said in the midst of his oppression:

     “Truly, I love your commands more than gold, even the finest gold.
       Each of your commandments is right.”

Trust Him, wait for Him, and follow our Good, Great, and Chief Shepherd wherever He leads. I promise, in fact, He promises, that He will not lead you astray. He will not leave us nor forsake us.

Please know that our God is using this time to refine you, to develop you, to stretch you, to deepen your trust and faith and dependence on Him because He knows what is ahead. Because He knows the plans He has for you. Five and 10, 15 and 20 years from now. And He knows that you need this experience in this way, at this time, to help you become what He wants and needs you to be.

As I’ve heard many times in the past, Jesus loves us just the way we are, but He doesn’t want us to stay that way! He desires that we grow in our relationship with Him, that we cultivate exactly what the psalmist is talking about in this passage—a love for God’s Word and His ways that is deeper than our love for anything else and that waits for Him, no matter how long it takes to realize God’s promises are true. And, sometimes, that’s really hard.

Bible Commentator, Warren Wiersbe, said this: “In our impatience, we sometimes want God to work immediately and set everything right, but His ways and times are not always the same as ours. Faith and patience go together, and God’s delays are not God’s denials.” He added, “The day will come when truth will be revealed and sin will be judged; meanwhile, instead of complaining about what we have paid or lost, let us rejoice in the wealth that we have in God’s Word.”

The psalmist demonstrated how he rejoiced in God’s Word, by using the example of loving God’s commands more than gold. In biblical times, gold was a sign of wealth (like a mansion, a luxury car, or a huge yacht or private jet might be today). It was also an indication of royalty. In fact, Solomon was not only known for his many wives and mistresses, but also the incredible amount of gold he owned. In addition, in those times gold was also associated with wisdom, and indicated blessing from God.

So, when the psalmist said he loved God’s commands more than gold, he was saying that God’s Word was better than being the wealthiest person on the planet, belonging to the royal family, being wise in the world’s eyes, and better than any other blessing he could receive from the Father.

The bottom line to this passage, my dear fellow under-shepherd, is that no matter what happened, no matter how long it took God to save the psalmist from the evildoers around him, he had a true, blessed assurance that the Lord was his rewarder, his surety (because He knew God would keep His promises), his Master, and the final judge. Not only are these imperative reminders from this passage for us today, but verse 125 provides another powerful take-away that we can easily miss in the midst of the psalmist’s plea for help, and that is this: that possessing God’s Word does nothing for us if we do not seek to discern His Word and understand His statutes and precepts.

So, shepherd leader, what will you do with the truths in this passage? How will you apply them? I’m going to leave with a portion of the prayer from Psalm 119 from the book, Endless Grace – Prayers Inspired by the Psalms, and maybe that prayer will help you decide how you immediately and practically apply this passage: