How to Resist When People Tempt You
Psalm 119:113-120
Jesus has called each of us to go and make disciples. He has a way for each of us to be involved in meeting people, genuinely loving people, and sharing the gospel with them so we can lead them to faith.
But sometimes as we do this, we end up in a group of people who are not interested in Christ, and who are drawing us away from Christ and into sin.
Maybe it’s guys inviting you to the strip club after work Friday. Maybe it’s women who want you to join them as they gossip about their husbands or friends. Maybe it’s guys who go fishing but always end up drunk and telling dirty jokes.
And the problem is, you are being tempted. You’re being tempted to turn from Christ and join them. So what can you do?
The answer is found in the next eight verses in Psalm 119. So let’s turn to Psalm 119:113-120. If you need a Bible, please raise your hand and we will bring one to you. This passage in Psalm 119 is found on page 515 in the Bibles we are passing out.
Let’s read verses 113-120, and as we read try to get a feel for what situation the author is facing. Start with verse 113 –
113 I hate the double-minded, but I love your law.
114 You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your word.
115 Depart from me, you evildoers, that I may keep the commandments of my God.
116 Uphold me according to your promise, that I may live, and let me not be put to shame in my hope!
117 Hold me up, that I may be safe and have regard for your statutes continually!
118 You spurn all who go astray from your statutes, for their cunning is in vain.
119 All the wicked of the earth you discard like dross, therefore I love your testimonies.
120 My flesh trembles for fear of you, and I am afraid of your judgments.
Verse 113 shows that the author is dealing with people who are double-minded. That probably means they put on a spiritual front sometimes, but love to pursue sin at other times. The reason I believe they love to pursue sin at other times is because in verse 115 he calls them evildoers.
But the problem is that when he is with them, his heart is drawn away from God and his word. You can see that in verse 115 –
Depart from me, you evildoers, that I may keep the commandments of my God.
So he wants them to depart from him, so he can obey God. Which means that this group of friends draws him away from God and into sin.
And I would guess that some of you have friends who draw you away from God and into sin. And whether we are in that situation or not, all of us need to know what to do when we find ourselves in that situation.
So in these eight verses he tells us how he resists this temptation because he wants to help us resist that temptation. And as I studied these eight verses I saw four steps that he takes. Let’s go through them one by one.
First, he sees all that he has in God and his word. That’s the point of verses 113- 114. Start with verse 113 –
113 I hate the double-minded, but I love your law.
When I first read this verse it troubled me. Because the author would have known that in Leviticus 19:17, God commands his people not to hate anyone. But here he says he hates the double minded. So what does that mean?
I think it means that he loves them, and cares deeply about their eternity, while at the same time hating the way they tempt him to sin. He does love them, but at the same time he hates how they are tempting him to sin. And that’s what we should do as well.
We need to be careful that this doesn’t become judgmental, as if we were better than them. We ourselves are sinners – sinners saved by grace, yes, but sinners nonetheless. So don’t fall into the sin of pride.
So what he’s saying is that he hates the way they are tempting him to sin, but he loves God’s law. But why? He tells us in verse 114 –
114 You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your word.
it’s because he sees that God is his hiding place and his shield.
Does that mean that when you trust Christ you are hidden and protected from all trials? No. The Bible is clear that those who trust Jesus Christ will face trials.
So what does God hide and protect him from? God hides and protects him from everything that could harm his greatest joy, which is God himself.
Think of the joys you have in knowing God. Yes, there are ups and downs. But every believer has times when God pours his presence upon us so powerfully that we are filled with his love, his glory, his reality
And the joy of knowing God in Christ is infinitely better than any other joys -- so it’s all we want now and forever.
But there are dangers that could destroy our joy in God forever, like God’s judgment against our sin, or temptations to sin, or the reality of death. But when you are trusting Jesus Christ you are protected from everything that could destroy your joy in God.
Think about God’s judgment against your sin. That could keep you from God forever. But because you are trusting Christ, who was punished in your place, God’s forgiveness protects you from God’s judgment forever.
Think about temptations to sin. They could keep you from God forever. But because of what Jesus did for you in the cross, when you turn to God and cry out to him for help, he will so satisfy you in himself that temptations lose their power -- so you are protected.
And think about death. Death could take you from God forever. But because of Christ, you can know that at the end of your life God will raise you from the dead and bring you to himself forever.
Picture it like this: you are surrounded by enemies who have the power to destroy your joy in God now and forever. But God is like a massive castle with high and thick stone walls. And so when you are trusting God and walking in his word you are in the castle, and protected from all those enemies.
But when your friends tempt you to sin they are tempting you to come outside of the castle, to come outside of your hiding place, out from behind the shield. Which means that to follow their temptation has the potential of destroying your joy in God now and forever.
So when you see all that you have in God and his word, and you see what could happen if you were tempted by your friends, then you will hate the way they are tempting you, and you will love God’s word.
But what if that’s not how you’re feeling? What if you love how they are tempting you more than you love God and his word?
Here’s the good news: you can turn to Jesus Christ as you are, with those wrong desires. And as you confess those to him sincerely, and trust him to forgive you, change you, and satisfy you, and as you wait on him with prayer and meditation on God’s word, HE WILL COME to you and forgive you, and fill you, and change your heart. He promises.
So that’s the first step – see all that you have in God and his word
Then second, he makes a clean break from these tempters. You can see that in verse 115 –
115 Depart from me, you evildoers, that I may keep the commandments of my God.
How can you tell when you should continue on with a group of friends, or when you should depart from them? Remember that Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners, because he loved them, and because he had good news of salvation for them.
But Jesus was able to be with them without being drawn into sin. But if in your case, being part of them means being drawn into sin, then something needs to be done.
Maybe you could share with them honestly that you love Jesus Christ, and that it’s not that you are better than anyone else, but that Jesus has called you not to go to strip clubs, or speak badly about other people, or drink too much, and that you’d love to keep hanging out with them but you just can’t do it in those settings.
Now again it would be important that you do this humbly, and that you are not feeling proud or judgmental in your heart.
But if they don’t want to hang out with you in different settings, if they insist that you join them in their sin, then you will need to make a clean break from them.
And remember why. It’s because God is your hiding place and shield to protect you from everything that could take you from joy in God now and forever. But if you turn from God and his Word, and move toward sitting with them, then you risk not having God as your hiding place and shield. You risk losing it all. Why would you want to risk all that you have in God, for the fleeting pleasures of sin?
So the second step is to make a clean break from these tempters.
Then third, he asks God to hold him up. The truth is that every temptation, including temptation from friends, is way more powerful than we are in ourselves. Whenever you’re tempted to sin, it’s like Satan drapes a 1000-pound chain over your shoulders, and the weight of that pulls you down away from God and his word into sin.
So what can we do? Look at what the psalmist does, as he describes in verses 116-117
116 Uphold me according to your promise, that I may live, and let me not be put to shame in my hope!
117 Hold me up, that I may be safe and have regard for your statutes continually!
So what does he do? He doesn’t rely on his own strength. He knows better than that, because he knows that his strength is no match for sin.
So instead, he cries out to God for help: “uphold me according to your promise! Hold me up that I may be safe and have regard for your statutes continually!”
When he finds that he’s being tempted, he puts everything else aside and cries out to God to help him.
Is that what you do? When you feel that thousand-pound chain pulling you towards impatience or worry or gossip or lust, what do you do? Do you just rely on your own willpower? Do you just try harder not to be impatient or worry or gossip or lust? That’s like trying to resist 1000-pound chain by yourself.
But the whole time God is right there, ready to help. He’s ready to help us when we ask, when we pray, and we open up his word. If we will look to him, and fight the fight of faith, he will meet us every time, and lift that thousand-pound chain from our shoulders. So that’s the third step: ask God to hold you up.
And there’s one last step: fourth, he lets the truth of God’s judgment strengthen his resolve. You can see that in verses 118-120 –
118 You spurn all who go astray from your statutes, for their cunning is in vain.
119 All the wicked of the earth you discard like dross, therefore I love your testimonies.
120 My flesh trembles for fear of you, and I am afraid of your judgments.
God’s word teaches that if you are trusting Jesus Christ, you don’t need to fear God’s judgment. If you’re trusting Jesus Christ, then he has secured your salvation and you will never face God’s judgment.
But if that’s true, then why in verse 120 does he say he’s afraid of God’s judgments?
It’s because he knows that if he turns from trusting God, and joins the wicked in their sin, then at that point he has no assurance that he is saved and will avoid God’s judgment. He might still be saved. But he has no assurance that he is saved, because what gives us assurance of salvation is the fact that we are trusting God.
But if we are turning from God to sin then we are not trusting God. Which means that at that point we can’t be assured that we are saved and that we will escape God’s judgment.
So he’s not trembling that he will face God’s judgment. But he’s trembling with the knowledge that if he turns from trusting God, to sin, then he might face God’s judgment.
So, to strengthen your resolve in battling sin, remind yourself of God’s judgment. Remind yourself that if you turn from trusting Jesus Christ to join the wicked, then you will have no assurance of salvation. You will have no assurance of avoiding God’s judgment. So let that strengthen your resolve to turn from sin and keep trusting Christ.
But what if this morning you can tell that you have turned from Christ and have been pursuing sin? There’s good news. Jesus Christ stands before you, and his nail-pierced hands are open to you, they are beckoning you, they are inviting you.
And if you will turn back to him as you are, trusting him to forgive you, to change you, to satisfy, he will. He will.