"Through the Watches of the Night"

Psalm 119:148

Rev. Min J. Chung

(Summer Lock-In, July 28, 2000)

"My eyes stay open through the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promises." Psalm 119:148. NIV

"Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish." Psalm 1. NIV

  1. Introduction
  2. "Through the watches of the night" I would like to first of all talk aboutbenefitsof having the Word of God in your heart; then secondly,how to praywith the Word; and thirdly, some of myfavorite verseswhich have formed me. Tonight, we want to talk about the Word of God so that hopefully it will be both motivational and instructional as we pray.
  3. In Psalm 1, there are three benefits or results of having the word of God in our hearts, hiding it deep within us. The first verse introduces theblessed person. What does he look like? "He does not walk in the counsel of the wicked." Also, he "delightsin the law of the Lord." "Hemeditateson it day and night." This is not a casual recognition of the Word of God. It is a man who sees and measures everything through the Word of God. A desire change has taken place.Meditation of Gods Word is equivalent to meditating on God. Its just a means to meditate on God. Not just on Sundays when he comes to church, but his days and nights are filled with meditation of Gods word, indeed with God Himself.
  4. For a man such as this, there arethree benefitsrecorded in v. 3,
  5. Fruitfulness€yields its fruit in season
  6. Durability€whose leaf does not wither
  7. Prosperity€whatever he does prospers
  8. Body
  9. THE BENEFITS OF THE WORD IN YOUR HEART
  10. Fruitfulness: "yields its fruit in season"If you meditate on the word of God, and your heart and mind is planted near theriverof the Word, what happens is that you grow in a way as to become fruitful. What does it mean to be fruitful? If people spend time with you,they eat the fruit of your spirituality. If they hang around you, they get something. People who are around you get to eat the fruit of your spiritual life. They grow because of you and arehelpedby you; whether throughcounselorexample.
    When people spend time with you, do they becomespiritually hungryor do theylaugh? Do they getangry? Do they getdepressed? Does itgenerate in them hunger for the word of God? Does their time with you make them want topray,go on,persevere, andlearnfrom you? If you are like a tree planted by streams of water, because you spent time in the Word of God, you mature, and people want to hang around you €to ask for advice, and they in turn become fruitful. They get something spiritual through you.
  11. Durability:"whose leaf does not wither."When the dry season comes, and there is no rain, all the plants are in want for water. Even in the midst of such dry and barren times, your leaf does not wither. You can go through suffering and hardships because you are in the Word. Your roots are deep into the soil of the Word of God!!! Conversely, if you re not in the Word, you will fall. What is the key the Bible gives to hang on through life? Many of us have echoed this prayer in our own hearts: "I never want to fall" A freshman may pray, "I dont want to fall as super senior." A super senior says, "I dont want to fall after I leave college." Graduates may say, "I dont want to fall after marriage." So on and so on.What is the key to hanging on?Be like a tree planted by streams of water, and pray that your delight is in the law of the Lord. When difficult times come, it does not shake your interpretation of reality. You are not shaken because you have meditated and deeply planted yourself in the reality of Gods Word. You have the right interpretation of life. You have Biblical wisdom, and can get through it. Your trust in the Word gets you through thehardshipsanddeceptionsof life. Even though what you are experiencing is different from what you know to be true, you trust in the Word of God. The Word of God is your reality, not your physical senses. You will not be deceived by the lies and the temptation of this world. You are going to go through it. Why? Because you are a tree planted bystreams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither.Because you meditate on the law of the Lord day and night. You are fruitful even in dry season.
    Do not blame your church. Some graduates say, "Pastor Min,you dont know my church." I would say, "You dont know your Word.You dont know your God!" Get deep into the Word of God. You can carry it anywhere you go. Its just bound pieces of paper, but the Holy Spirit will hook you into it and the power of God thats in it. Then in dry season, all the trees that have not touched the Word will fall. Their leaves will wither and fall, but not yours,ifyou meditated on the Law day and night.
  12. Prosperity: Some people think this ismaterial prosperity. Of course, thatsnotwhat it means. What is it talking about? Of course, it is referring tospiritual prosperity, the approval of God. On Judgment day, we will discover who really is rich, who is approved by God, who is a worthy person. Someone who glorifies God prospers. Why? Because hes a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither.Whatever he does prospers. Hes rooted, plugged and tapped into the Lord through the Word. Whatever he does, God would be glorified through that person.
  13. Benefits of the Word: Do you want to be an influence? Be fruitful, hang on, prosperous? Glorify God? Valuable in Gods eyes? Then get into the Word of God!!! Soften your heart, repent tonight, so tomorrow morning as you read the word of God, your heart will catch on and become good soil. Get rid of the rocks, thorns in your heart. Dont let Satan take away the seed! Meditate on the Word of God so that you will love the Lord and delight in him. Then after the lock-in you will be fruitful.
  14. PRAYING WITH THE WORD
    Psalm 119:Whatdo I pray about andhowdo I pray? Lessons on how to pray with the word.
  15. Psalm 119:2:"Blessed are they who keep his statutes andseekhim with all their heart."
    Now if I read Psalm 119, it pumps me up to read Gods Word. There are a couple things that pumps me up to read. When I browse a CBD (Christian Book Distributors) catalog, I feel like reading Christian books. Man, I want to grab a Christian book and read it. In the same way, when I read Psalm 119, it makes me want to read the Bible. If you dont want to read the Bible, just read Psalm 119; it will pump you up. (Unless your heart is so evil) (laughter). Every time I read it, I consistently realize one thing. I see that if you want to love God, then you should search God through the Word of God. Blessed are they who keep his statues and seek the Word of God! How do I seek him? Seek him through the Word of God. Someone who loves God would love His word.
  16. Psalm 119:11,12:"I havehiddenyour word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Praise be to you, O LORD; teach me your decrees."
    As you pray tonight,underlinesome of these verses and pray, "Lordteachmeyour Word." Pray with that verse. Make some sentences and generate in your mind some prayer requests.
  17. Psalm 119:18:"Open my eyesthat I may see wonderful things in your law."
    How do I pray with the Word? Pray this prayer:Open my eyes,my heart,my emotion, so that I will see you.Cleanse my heartbecause its so clogged up with sin and other desires. Open my eyes for the blind cannot see and the deaf cannot hear.Just like Blind Bartimaeus, may we cry out to have our sight.
  18. Psalm 119:25:"I am laid low in the dust; preserve my life according to your word."
    Lord, dont let my life beswayed awayfrom You. Keep it right there, Lord. If you see discrepancy between your life and the Word, then pray this.
  19. Psalm 119:27"Let meunderstandthe teaching of your precepts; then I will meditate on your wonders."
    Ask for theunderstandingof the verses. The psalmist asks for theunderstanding of the Wordin the first portion of the verse. Interestingly, instead of saying, "then I will meditate on yourWord", it says "I will meditate on yourwonders." The point is, when you meditate on the Word, you see whats going on - God and his wonders. If you understand the Word, you will understand the wonders. People who have the Word of God see things as they ought to see (through the lens of the Scriptures, which is the eyes of God.)
  20. Psalm 119:28:"My soul is weary with sorrow;strengthenme according to your word."
    If you feel weary and sorrowful, then you can pray through this verse. You can pray for strength, because the Lord promises to strengthen such people.
  21. Psalm 119:33-40"Teach me, O LORD, to follow your decrees; then I will keep them to the end. Give me understanding, and I will keep your law and obey it with all my heart. Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight. Turn my heart towards your statutes and not towards selfish gain.Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word. Fulfil your promise to your servant, so that you may be feared. Take away the disgrace I dread, for your laws are good. How I long for your precepts! Preserve my life in your righteousness."
    Those of you who do not want to fight the battle of your heart, and for others who are attached to your idols (money, grades, pornography, etc.), cry out "Lord SAVE ME!" The psalmist is saying,if you keep your eye on the idols, youre going to die!!!Turn your eyes away so that your life will be preserved!You will face disgrace if you do not keep the Word of God.
  22. Psalm 119:47"for Idelightin your commands because I love them."
    Lord, help me to live and delight in your commands. You know, I dont know why its such a delight to me when I read this verse. Is it not delight to you? Amen? I think its because I love them.
  23. Psalm 119:64"Theearth is filled with your love, O LORD; teach me your decrees."
    Do you know the whole earth is filled with the love of God? Those withpure eyes will see thewhole worldfilled with Gods love. If you dont see this love that fills the earth, you need to know the Word of God. When people get blessed, they often give testimonies of how everything looks different. After you get blessed, you go outside, and everything looks different. Have you ever experienced it? Its kind of like when youre in love (but much better), everything looks different.
  24. Psalm 119:66"Teach me knowledge andgood judgment, for I believe in your commands."
    You can ask for wisdom. What is the relationship between these words and your life? If you have wisdom, We CAN SEE and understand the Word. We are able to relate the Word of God to peoples lives. You canteachand givecounsel. You candiscernthe will of God, not only for your life, but for others. You can counsel and direct them to the right path. When? When you have wisdom from the Word of God € not just information, butbelieving,knowing, andclingingto it in your heart.
  25. Psalm 119:71:"It was good for me to beafflictedso that I might learn your decrees."
    Why is it good to be afflicted? Theres something about hardship, difficulty, suffering. Through it, you get more hungry for the Lord and for His Word. So I pray for the blessings. Everybody said? Amen. If thatsgonna get you hungry for the Word of God, pray for the blessings of affliction (for yourself).
  26. Psalm 119:74:"May those who fear you rejoice when they see me, for I haveput my hopein your word."
    When you see somebody who loves God, does it give you joy? The person who loves God is described as someone who hasput their hope in the Word. When you fear God, and you see a person like that, it will give you joy. Thats why two people who love the Word of God get along and love each other, just like Jonathan and David. You can each say,I put my hope in the Word!Youll give joy to each other.
  27. Psalm 119:81"My soulfaintswith longing for your salvation, but I have put my hope in your word."
    This psalm writer is going through hardships and difficulties, and his soul faints with longing for salvation. There is a discrepancy between whats happening in the psalmists life at that moment and the promises of the Word. Nevertheless, he puts his hope in the Word. It may not seem like the Word of God will be fulfilled, but his hope is still in his Word.
  28. Psalm 119:96, 97:"To all perfection I see a limit; but your commands are boundless. Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long."
    Psalm 119:104:"I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore Ihateevery wrong path."Please compare v.97 with v.104.If you have true understanding, it will cause bothloveandhate. It will cause love for the law of God. You will eat the Word, and as you do, you will understand it, and it will feed you. You will exclaim, "Wow, this is so good for my soul!!!" Also, it will cause hatred for the wrong path and sin and selfishness and selfish motive.True understanding of Gods Word causes love (of word and Him), and hate (of sin and wrong path).
  29. Psalm 119:105"your word is thelamp"
    If you dont know whats going on, the Word will give you light for the path of life.
  30. Psalm 119:148"My eyes stay open through the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promises."
    This is the Lock-In verse. Why is this psalm writer staying up all night? It is to meditate on the Word of God!!When was the last time you stayed awake?Why? Five videos? Talking with your roommate about somebody elsesroommate?What can you stay awake through the night for?Can we stay up just one night to meditate on the Word of God and cry out to him? Can we be intentional just one night so that we can get deeper and be like the tree planted by the river? If you meditate on the Word day andnight(lock-in), you will be fruitful, durable, and prosperous.
  31. Psalm 119:164"Seven times a dayI praise you for your righteous laws."
    I think this person is going through this: He is meditating on the law day and night. Then something hits him as he meditates. Seven times! Something hits him and he says, "Wow! I understand this. Praise God!" This person is meditating on the Word of God all day; day and night, and at least 7 times a day he gets excited about some new understanding of the Word. Seven praises a day from the Word!
  32. Psalm 119:70"May mysupplicationcome before you; deliver me according to yourpromise."
    (Maybe its morning by now in this psalm writers all-night vigil in the Word.) Hold onto thepromisesin your prayer. Keep meditating and lifting up supplications.
  33. Psalm 119:72"May my tonguesingof your word, for all your commands are righteous."
    Here at the lock-in, we can meditate on the Word of God, praise God seven times a day, cry out to God in supplication, and then once in awhilesing. May my tongue sing of your word.
  34. VERSES THAT IMPACTED MY LIFE
    This is nothing new. Youve all heard me mention these verses because it is such a part of who I am. These Bible verses are sohidden in my heart,youve probably heard me say them a hundred times in my sermons. Because if its so in me it is bound to come out here and there. These verses have influenced me in my pilgrims journey € during my college years, my youth pastor years, and now during my CFC years.
  35. Matthew 22:37-40m"Jesus replied: "`Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: `Love your neighbour as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.""