Psalm 119 Lesson 11 - Fairhaven Baptist Church

Psalm 119

Lesson 11

Kaf

Text: Psalm 119:81-88 “My soul fainteth for thy salvation: but I hope in thy word. 82 Mine eyes fail for thy word, saying, When wilt thou comfort me? 83 For I am become like a bottle in the smoke; yet do I not forget thy statutes. 84 How many are the days of thy servant? when wilt thou execute judgment on them that persecute me? 85 The proud have digged pits for me, which are not after thy law. 86 All thy commandments are faithful: they persecute me wrongfully; help thou me. 87 They had almost consumed me upon earth; but I forsook not thy precepts. 88 Quicken me after thy lovingkindness; so shall I keep the testimony of thy mouth.”

Kaf Noon (open hand life) 1.Yes

Kaf Lamed (open hand control) 2.All Everything

Kaf Pey reysh (open hand speak head/ person) 3.Atone Forgive

Kaf Lamed Alef (open hand control power) 4. Jail

Kaf Lamed Hey (open hand control behold) 5. Bride

Kaf, open hand/ palm/ wing
1. Number 20
  1. The Meaning is: a hand, to cover, allow, a hollow, to open,
    1. the difference between the yood and the kaf are very clear.
      - Where the yood was a closed hand and it had a much harsher tone such as labor, fear, dispare,
      - the Kaf is an open hand carrying a much softer tone, used in words such as yes, priest, forgive, like, and such.
    2. We can gain a better appreciation for the letter Kaf if we will imagine yourself in a position where we were communicating with someone without using words, just hand gestures.
      - For instance which one would seem more pleasant and acceptable,
        
        someone waving a fist at us, or someone waving an open hand at us?
    3. If we were attempting to give someone something and they held out a open palm or a closed fist?
    4. In the 11^th stanza of Psalm 119, we will see the open hand of God,
      - another way we may think about the difference between the yood and Kaf is that of Law and Grace, the free gift or payment for works.
2. Faith and Patience,
  1. Fainting But Hoping, vs.81-83
    1. it has been said that the christian life is lived on a battlefield, not a playground,
      - we all should know by now that we will have tribulations,
        
        See John 16:33; I Peter 4:12; James 1:2
      - this is true for the christian as well as the Jewish people form the beginning of their existence.
    2. You can see here in vs.81 the psalmist was spiritually exhausted,
      - he fainteth, wore out tired,
        
        but even then he did not give up hope.
        
        Hope springs eternal in the human breast (Alexander Pope essay on man)
    3. His eyes were strained looking for evidence of God promise and presence,
      - how often have we just wanted to catch a glimpse of the presence of God?
    4. Vs.83, for I am become like a bottle in the smoke,
      - this makes very little scenes to us today,
        
        we think of a bottle as being glass,
        
        but let us go back into context:
      - the Hebrew word is NOD, it is a wine skin,
        
        a piece of leather that has been sewed to hold fluids, like a canteen
        
        think of how it would look if it had fallen into a fire?
        
        This is how the psalmist was describing himself,
        
        dried up, withered, spent, thrown aside and useless.
    5. But all the while he never gave up hope,
      - “I do not forget thy statutes”
        
        we too often give up on God to move in a situation,
    6. V. Raymond Edmond said “it is always too soon to quit”
  2. Questioning but waiting, vs.84&85
    1. vs.84 “How many are the days of thy servant?”
      - how long? How long are you going to allow me to stay in this state?
        
        This is a question that many of us have asked
      - He follows it up by asking when will you execute judgment on them that persecute me?
        
        Revelation 6:10 “And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: 10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?”
    2. I think it is natural for anyone to wonder this,
      - we see it throughout the bible, as I read in revelation, but also:
        
        Jeremiah 12, 15, and 20 he responds with the same thought.
      - It can be difficult for Christians to wait, but there are promises form God:
        
        Hebrews 6:11&12 “And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end: 12 That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.”
        
        Romans 15:4 “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. ”

where does hope come from? Patience,

Isaiah 40:31 “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

The Enemy dig pits,
- this is another thing we see in the bible, the pits of life,
  - Joseph was thrown in a pit, (Genesis 37:24)
  - David lifted his eyes form the pit (Psalm 40)
  - Daniel was put in a Pit (Daniel 6)
- But here is a promise of this as well,
  - each one of these come out of the pit with the help of God,
- Psalm 9:15 “The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made: in the net which they hid is their own foot taken.”
- Proverbs 26:27 “Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein: and he that rolleth a stone, it will return upon him.”
  - God will allow them to fall in the pit (our enemy)

Trusting and Receiving, vs.86-88
1. notice the central point of these last three verses?
  - Despite what is happening, the psalmist wants to remain true to the word of God
2. Vs.85 they digged pits for him
3. Vs. 86 they persecute him wrongfully,
  - I want to point out again there is a difference between suffering for the Lord, and for our own choices,
    - I Peter 4:13-16 “If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters. 16 Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.”
      - Peter marks a difference between suffering for the sake of Christ and as a: thief, murderer, evildoer, busybody,
        
        I love that one, busybody, we tend to look lightly on it, but it is counted among evildoers, and murderers.
4. Vs.87 they almost consumed him on the earth,
  - the word means to completely end/ to accomplish,
  - I Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:”
  - all in all, he did not forsake the word,
5. He concludes this stanza with a final plea,
  - Quicken me with thy lovingkindness,
    - make me alive again.
  - I Peter 3:18 “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:”

Next Week: Lamed, (l) (a shepherds cane, cattle goad) (Control, prod forward, to go toward)

Alef Lamed (power control) 1. Heart
Lamed Bet (control house) 2. Afflicted
Lamed Chet Mem (control fence in chaos) 3. God
Lamed Mem Dalet (control chaos door) 4. War
Lamed Bet Tet (control home surrounded) 5. Teach

answers: 1-3, 2-1, 3-4, 4-5, 5-2