Our Sermons

Bible Passage: Psalm 119:153-168
Pastor: Pastor Berg
Sermon Date:  December 16, 2020

Have you ever prayed against yourself? Think about that one for a moment. My guess is that you’re struggling to find an example. The truth is, you have. Still struggling? Every time you pray the Lord’s Prayer, specifically the Third Petition, you are praying against yourself. When we pray, “Your will be done,” we are not asking God to bring his will into alignment with our will. Just the opposite. We are imploring him to bring our fickle and unpredictable wills into harmony with his good and gracious will. We are praying against ourselves.

Do you see the conflict? Do you see the trial that is coming? This is the tentatio Luther refers to. This is the spiritual attack that comes when we meditate on God’s Word. And we see it so clearly in Psalm 119. Look at verse 153. “See my affliction and deliver me, because I have not forgotten your law.” Meditating on God’s Word, praying over God’s Word, striving to keep God’s Word brings about affliction. So where does that affliction come from?

In his explanation to the Third Petition, Luther writes, “God’s will is done when he breaks and defeats every evil plan of and purpose of the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh, which try to prevent us from keeping God’s name holy and letting his kingdom come.” And there they are, the source of our affliction. The familiar three who are constantly battling to bring us down. And the more that we remember God’s Word, the more we love his precepts, the more we rejoice over God’s sayings, the more we love God’s Word, the more we become targets of spiritual attack. 

And so we need to pray against ourselves. Why? We have a sinful nature that doesn’t want God’s will to be done nor can it carry out that will. As Paul reminds us in Romans chapter 8. “For the mind-set of the sinful flesh is hostile to God, since it does not submit to God’s law, and in fact, it cannot.” 

We need to pray against ourselves because the world doesn’t want God’s will to be done either. Look at verse 157. “Many are my persecutors and my foes, but I have not turned from your testimonies.” Can you hear the pressure being placed on the psalmist by the world to turn away from God’s Word? Can you sense the spiritual attacks he’s facing? Or how about verse 161. “Officials persecute me without cause, by my heart trembles at your word.” Brings to mind the words of Jesus from John 15, “If the world hates you, you know that it hated me first…However, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen out of it, for that very reason the world hates you.” Or the reminder of the Apostle John in his first letter, “Do not be surprised, brothers, if the world hates you.” 

We need to pray against ourselves and ask that God’s will be done because the Devil is working every single moment to see that it is not. He’s encouraging our sinful nature. He’s empowering the world. He’s whispering in our ear that the trials, the suffering, the hate isn’t worth it. That’s what he wants us to believe.

However, the Psalmist won’t let that happen. His study of the Word has proven to him that just the opposite is true. Just look at how boldly and confidently he calls on the Lord for deliverance from these attacks. “See my affliction and deliver me…Argue my case and redeem me. Give me life according to your saying…Your compassions are many, O LORD. Give me life according to your judgments…See how I love your precepts. LORD, according to your mercy, give me life.”

The Third Petition is a dangerous prayer because we are praying against ourselves. However, it’s also a prayer of confidence. It’s a prayer of hope. It’s a prayer that brings peace because we know God’s will. Advent reminds us that God’s good and gracious will is revealed in the infant Savior, given the name of Jesus. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. His mercy is great. His compassions are many. God’s good and gracious will is our salvation, which Jesus accomplished by carrying out God’s will by living and dying and rising for us! 

But that’s not all. Luther continues, “God’s will is done when he strengthens and keeps us firm in his Word and in the faith as long as we live. This is his good and gracious will.” And again, the Psalmist put this truth on full display. “I hate and detest falsehood, but I love your law. Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous judgments. Great peace belongs to those who love your law, and nothing is a stumbling block for them….My soul keeps your testimonies. I love them greatly. I keep your precepts and your testimonies, because all my ways are before you.” 

These words of Psalm 119 can be ours as well. It is only by God’s power, as we stay rooted in his Word, that we can echo these words. And we can. God’s will is being done as he strengthens us and keeps us firm in his Word and in the faith. Our new man can rightly say that we love God’s law, we love his testimonies and precepts and words. We love them greatly. And despite the spiritual attacks that we face because of our relationship with God, we have great peace. Peace in knowing our salvation is secure and that Christ is coming again. 

When you think about it, the Christian life is really one long Advent season. We are waiting on a Savior who has already come, who comes even now in Word and Sacrament, and who promises to come again. He has died in our place, defeated our enemies, and has been raised for our justification. Clinging to his Word, “[we] wait for your salvation, O LORD.” And while we wait, we face the spiritual attacks from all those that are in opposition to the Lord. But like the psalmist, our confidence is not in ourselves, but in God’s sure and certain Word. And so we pray, “LORD, according to your mercy, give me life. The sum of your word is truth.” Your will be done! Amen.