In Times of Suffering

Transcript

GRM 1240
May 24, 2020
In Times of Suffering
Psalm 39
Gil Rugh


I want to direct your attention to Psalm 39. I want to go back and look at this psalm and maybe a few others in the weeks ahead. The 39th Psalm, and it's going to talk about our life being but a vapor, but a breath and it is God's mercy and grace that sustains us and carries us through the dark times, the difficult times. We recognize His sovereignty in it all.

Psalm 39, and you'll note in the instructions that are at the head of this psalm, it's for the choir director, for Jeduthun. And it is a psalm of David for the choir director, Jeduthun. We're reminded that music was a key part of the worship of Israel in the Old Testament. This psalm written by David was given to the music director. We know a little bit about Jeduthun. He was one of three chief musicians that were entrusted with the responsibility of leading the worship and the music worship of Israel at the tabernacle and then the temple. And it was their families as was characteristic in Israel; families had certain responsibilities delegated. These three men were chief musicians and then their family lines are laid out.

Turn back to 1 Chronicles 25, and you'll note how this chapter opens. “Moreover, David and the commanders of the army set apart for the service…” This would have to do with the service in the context at the tabernacle where the worship of Israel was focused. The previous chapter talked about the Levites, the priestly families' responsibilities, but he “…set apart for the service some of the sons of Asaph and of Heman and of Jeduthun, who were to prophesy with lyres, harps and cymbals; and the number of those who performed their services was...” You take each of these men who were at the head of their family, Asaph, and then you talk about his sons. And then in verse 3 there is Jeduthun, particularly this was entrusted to him, perhaps to be set to music and then responsible to have it prepared for leading the choir, the musicians. And then verse 4, Heman and his sons. These are involved in a prophetic ministry, using the truth of God and conveying that truth. Then you come down, verse 6, “All these were under the direction of their father…” in each of these three men, their sons with responsibility. Their father was responsible for their area and their family's responsibilities here. More details are given, and if you go down just a few verses you'll see a list of all the different ones by name. But come back to verse 6, “All these were under the direction of their father to sing in the house of the Lord...” That is the responsibility they have.

So, a song like we're going to look out was just not a record or perhaps David's personal responsibility, but this was for the worship in Israel and the musicians would lead Israel, and this truth would be proclaimed in song. They accompanied it with musical instruments, “…with cymbals, harps and lyres, for the service of the house of God. Asaph, Jeduthun and Heman were under the direction of the king. Their number who were trained in singing to the Lord, with their relatives, all who were skillful, was 288.” This was serious ministry. You note, they were skillful, this was something that they were to do well, and it was important in the worship of Israel.

A couple of things as you come back to Psalm 39. Just note that music was an important part of Israel's worship. It was used to communicate truth, the truth that we are studying 3000 years after David. It was part of the worship of Israel and part of their music ministry, if you will. And you note, it was accompanied by musical instruments. I remember many decades ago we first had drums in the service. That was unsettling because we have drums, but what would you think if we had cymbals? I thought in my less spiritual time this week, maybe we could have cymbals and when I made a really dramatical point I could just point, and they could go bang! And it would wake the dead, some of them in the congregation, I'm afraid. But you see it was a time. Sometimes we identify a certain style, and I just couldn't help but think as I looked at some of these things, what would we have thought when we went to a service there. It was to be reverent. It was to be focused on God. It is His Word being proclaimed. But it was done with the music and the accompaniments that went with that, the stringed instruments, the cymbals and others. Sometime, you might look up in a Bible dictionary, or a Bible encyclopedia just under music or musical instruments, and they'll go through and tell you all the different instruments that are mentioned in the Bible that were used in the worship, particularly of Israel. So that's a key part, that's why we have music as part of our worship. And it is referred to in the New Testament, not developed the way it is in the Old, but you see part of the worship of God involved that.

Also, in this psalm it reveals here the personal experience of David, as often the psalms do. They write out of their personal experience, the psalmist does. But it's not just so we can know something about what that individual was going through, like David here. But you see it is inspired of God, it was to be given to the choir director as he is noted here, one of the chief musicians. That's because it is applicable to all of God's people. We're going to just read this and think I learned a little more about maybe David and something that happened in his life. Think about it. When the Jews came up to the tabernacle as it was when David was living until Solomon built the temple, the choir would lead in music. That was going on there in connection with offerings and special services and so on. And they would be singing this song that we are looking at. So not just something about David because the purpose wasn't to exalt David. This song would be sung, and it would be expressing something of the situation of God's people. Reflected in David's life obviously, but it has broader implication and application than just that. So, a reminder that when you say this is written here, but it's not just like a diary of David and we get to peek into it. This was given to the leaders of music so it could be part of Israel's life and history and the truth. All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable. That was communicated there.

And just while we are mentioning David, David had a relatively long life—70 years. We have a few glimpses into those earlier years, but when he was 30, he was appointed king by God over Israel. That would have been in 1040 B.C. And so, for the next 40 years David was king over Israel. In his life of 70 years we just get glimpses, and we have something of the history in the writings of Samuel and then in the Chronicles of some of the details. But remember 70 years, there is a lot that goes on in the days of that life. There is a lot we don't know, and we want to be careful. We read a psalm like this, it will tell us something, but we don't necessarily know all the details of the historical setting of what was going on. I say that because some of the commentaries on a psalm like this talk about the seriousness of David's sin. We don't know. But the truth of what is said here, and the reminder of personal sin and guilt is there for all of us. But we don't think it necessarily reveals that this was a particularly tragic, serious sin. All sin is serious, but you understand what I'm saying, the kind of sin that stands out in a glaring way. And remember this is going to be sung for all the Israelites who came up to worship, an expression. We'll see that as we move through, but just a little bit of that background.

It is written at a time when David was going through suffering, pain, and difficulty. And as is often the case for all of us, when you are in that kind of time, especially the difficult times, it can wear on you. It wears you down. It can create frustration. It can create other problems if it is not handled properly. So, we'll find here the emphasis in this psalm is going to be very similar to Ecclesiastes. In fact, let me note, remember when we did the book of Ecclesiastes? The word translated “vanity” usually in the New American Standard Bible is the word hebel, we brought it over h-e-b-e-l. Rather than vanity, it would be better translated “a breath”. And that's at the heart of what this psalm is. The word hebel, a breath, is used three times in Psalm 39. Let me just note them for you, then we'll see them as we come along. Down in the last line of verse 5, “…surely every man at his best is a mere breath.” That's the same word as we had in Ecclesiastes—hebel. Down in the middle of verse 6, that second line, “…surely they make an uproar for nothing…” a breath, we have it translated nothing. But the word is hebel, a breath. Then down at the end of verse 11, “…surely every man is a mere breath.” And there are going to be other words that go with that, so that becomes a key focus in this psalm. If you go back and reread the book of Ecclesiastes after we work through this psalm, you'll be reminded of the similarities as we work through the psalm here.

We're just going to work through these stanzas. In the first three verses, Silence in Sorrow. I've just made that as what these first three verses are about. David is extremely troubled in what is going on in his life at this point, the pressure that's bringing and the drain it is upon him. But he says, “…I will guard my ways that I may not sin with my tongue; I will guard my mouth as with a muzzle while the wicked are in my presence.” Particularly here, David wants to be very careful and he expresses it strongly, “…that I may not sin with my tongue; I will guard my mouth as with a muzzle...” And he uses that picture of what you would put over a horse or a dog to close his mouth. I'm going to guard my mouth as with a muzzle. He's going to say when we start verse 2, “I was mute and silent...” I mean, he stressed this. I will do everything I could, to keep my big mouth shut, to not say anything. Because under those kinds of pressures there is always the danger that we'll say something, and afterwards say I shouldn't have said that. I wish I hadn't said that, I wish I hadn't talked that way at that time. That is what he is being careful about. What? He doesn't get into details, just a general statement here in that sense. The wicked particularly are his concern, “…while the wicked are in my presence.” I don't want to say anything that could be misunderstood or would give the wicked, who are the unrighteous, the ungodly, the unbeliever, the opportunity to discredit God for saying something that would be a poor reflection of my testimony. And thus, a poor reflection on the God that I serve.

I have to be very careful. If I am complaining about what is going on, what is happening in my life . . . Wait a minute, I thought you trusted God, I thought you said that God watches over you. I thought you said God causes all things to work together for good to those that love Him. I thought that you had talked to me about Job and how God was in control of all his suffering. Doesn't seem that that works very well, does it? And you give the wicked an occasion for mocking and an excuse to disregard God. They are still accountable, but I have contributed to it, and David said it would be sin for him. Note, “…that I may not sin with my tongue…” And we've talked about this because the Scripture does often. James 3 is a passage that comes to mind, to be careful with our tongue. If we could control our tongue, we could control the rest of the body because . . . It just comes out and we've all experienced it. Sometimes it just seems it just came out. I don't know what I was thinking. I said it before I realized and suddenly, what did I say that for? I shouldn't have said that! And then you try to backpedal, but sometimes the damage is done. David wants to be very careful. I'm not going to say anything, I'm going to keep quiet.

The problem is, verse 2, “I was mute and silent, I refrained even from good…” David is afraid to say anything and that kind of pressure is on, and your mind is so caught up in what's happening that you can't trust yourself to even say good things. Because what's really grinding within you colors everything. And so, this is just a time for me to be quiet. The problem is “…and my sorrow grew worse.” It's not like I'll just wait a few minutes and I'll get over this. No, this is something that is going on. And again, we're not told. Was it something that was being done to him? The situation in that sense is not part of the reason the Spirit directs him. It becomes applicable to God's people. Then what is happening, as the choir leads Israel in their worship in singing this, the Spirit can carry its application to each person because it's the truth. Whatever the particular detail that has brought this about, we can all identify with the situation. “I was mute and silent, I refrained even from good…” But the problem is “…and my sorrow grew worse.” The grief, the burden, it's like the longer I'm silent the more weight is put on me. And it is just crushing me.

And then it stirs. I love the way he puts it, “My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned...” You know how that is when something is going on and it begins to churn in you. You can understand, and he says I can't trust myself to say anything right now, but I can't hold it in any longer. “…then I spoke with my tongue…” I'm going to bring it out, going to express myself. But the crucial thing, he doesn't do it in the presence of the wicked, he doesn't talk to another godly friend. “…then I spoke with my tongue: …” and what does he say? ‘Lord, make my know my end...’” Do you know the best thing to do? Have you ever had this kind of situation in your life where you are so worked up about something? The only thing you do is go into a room where nobody else is, close the door and say, Lord, I need to get this off my chest. I need to talk to You about this. This is where David is. I can't trust myself to say anything, I don't want to say anything in the presence of the wicked, I don't even want to try to say something good. It's like a fire in me. Jeremiah talks about something similar in Jeremiah 20:9 when he says I'm not even going to talk about the Lord and His Word. It's like a fire burning in me, I can't contain it. And if you note the end of Jeremiah 20, he's still working through things. But that same kind of idea.

I've titled these verses beginning with verse 4, verses 4-6, The Reality of Life's Brevity. David wants the Lord to so work in his heart and mind, to put things back in proper perspective. I love it! He doesn't start out saying, Lord, do something about somebody else. He's going to ask the Lord to relieve the pressure before he's done here. But the first thing, “‘Lord, make me to know my end...’” Lord You have to help me first to deal with myself, things have gotten out of joint here, out of perspective. “‘Lord, make me to know my end…’” You'll note this, “‘…and what is the extent of my days; let me know how transient I am. Behold, You have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing in Your sight...’” It's about me Lord, I need to get me right in my thinking. It's not particularly the situation, it's not the people. Lord, get me in the right mental state, if you will, the right frame of mind. And remind me of the brevity of my life.

When you think about it, and we'll see as we move through this, if my life is so brief, so is my suffering because my suffering won't go beyond my life. No matter how much pain I am having, no matter how much grief I am experiencing, when I take my last breath all that suffering, and all that grief is over. It's done. So, in a way when he is asking about this, it puts his life in perspective. “‘Lord, make me to know my end…’” We make the trial and the suffering a big deal, it's of great importance. But it's not! Do you know why? Because I'm not! The whole world is caving in on me, but do you know what? The whole world will go on after me and I'm here but a brief time. He's going to tell us, but a breath. So that's what he is saying, make me know my end. And I have underlined Lord, make me to know. He doesn't come to tell the Lord, here is what You have to do. But Lord, do something to me. I need to get my thinking oriented to God's thinking before I can go on. He's going to ask God for relief, but the most important thing is for me to get my thinking brought back into alignment with God's.

“‘Lord, make me to know my end and what is the extent of my days; let me know how transient I am.’” I'm just here and gone. “the extent of my days”, remember we talked in the book of Ecclesiastes that when he talked about “days”, it is a reminder. Doesn't talk to me about my years or my months or my weeks. He's talking about my days. What is the extent of my days, my end? My life is short, it's just a matter of days, so to speak. “…let me know how transient I am.” Now that will help put things in perspective. If this is going to be over tomorrow, bad as it is, I can work through it. Some of you have had to go through certain trials, major things. You say it will be over tomorrow. Well, think about my life that way, put it in perspective.

Verse 5, “‘Behold, You have made my days as handbreadths…” You'll note the repeated expressions as we went through this, “my days as handbreadths”. Do you know what a handbreadth is? Four fingers. I measured my fingers, it's about 3 inches. If you have bigger hands maybe you are 3¼ inches; if you have small hands like Marilyn, she's about 2½ I guess, I didn't measure them. But it's a handbreadth. So, if you read it in a commentary, they will say 3-3½ inches for a man's fingers. That's it. You've made my life as handbreadths. I have short days. We want to know what a day is like. Here is my day, it is just a handbreadth, each one. So, you see he has brought it down. He didn't have a wristwatch or some electronic device that ticked off the seconds, but this is a way of saying, you've made my days as handbreadths. I'm counting my days. Here is day 1, here is day 2. They are nothing, the shortness of it, the brevity of it.

“‘Behold, You have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing in your sight…’” Now you see we return to this. Lord, You do this to me and as he started out he could say, what am I in the sight of the eternal God? My lifetime is as nothing in Your sight. Think about it, God is eternal. If I live to be 100, what is that? Put that on a scale of a trillion and you couldn't put the scale out enough to enable your mark to be seen. The psalmist has it right, my lifetime is nothing. He doesn't mean, I as a person am nothing, but I see my life in proper perspective. So being overwhelmed with my situation, totally consumed with my grief, biting my tongue because I know whatever I say could be the wrong thing to say. And then this is churning. David's solution? Keep your mouth shut, get off by yourself and talk to the Lord and don't try telling the Lord, Lord, this is not right, this is not fair. I've been faithful, this shouldn't be happening.

Wait, Lord You teach me. Lord You give me understanding. And David knows what he needs to know. He just needs the reminder because he knows what he wants God to impress upon him, “‘…and my lifetime as nothing in your sight; …’” There we come, “‘…surely every man at his best…’” And I love that. You have in the margin of your Bible, every man standing firm, every man at his strongest, every man at his best in this physical life, “‘…surely every man at his best is a mere hebel, a mere breath.’” Man huffs and puffs, thinks how important he is, and how what is going on with him is what the world revolves around. Poof! We kept coming to that in Ecclesiastes. Maybe that's part of what God used to teach Solomon this great truth. Solomon, son of David, would write Ecclesiastes, about life being a Poof, breath of breaths, all is a breath. Every man at his best, when he stands the strongest, is a mere breath. Now David is not telling this so other people can learn. First primarily, this is what he wants God to teach him. Sometimes you first need to go to Scripture and say, I have to get this fixed in my mind. Lord impress this upon my heart. Lord, I can't change the circumstance, I can't change the situation. Remember Ecclesiastes? But I am responsible for me. And as we noted in Ecclesiastes, it's driven home here, I only have today or my days or in this breath.

Verse 6, “‘Surely every man walks about as a phantom…” an image. Again, we talked about this in Ecclesiastes, a shadow. That's it, you are a shadow on a wall, the song says; you are an image, a phantom. What is a shadow? It is just passing, it's there and it is gone. That's the point. “‘Surely every man walks about as a phantom…’” an image, a shadow. “‘…surely they make an uproar for nothing…” but it is the word hebel, the word that was translated breath at the end of verse 5 and will be translated breath down at the end of verse 11. Breath, they make an uproar for a breath. Think about it, how many breaths have you breathed even since you got up this morning? We won't count the breaths you had when you were sleeping. I don't know, breaths just come and go. That was the focus in Ecclesiastes. Keep your life in perspective. It doesn't mean that what goes on is not important.

That's why we didn't like the word translated “vanity”, because a breath can be very important. We talk about taking your last breath because when you don't get to take the next one, life is over. I'm not saying a breath is not important, but it is brief. What he wants to see here is that his life is brief. Now what is going on in this brief life is going to be important to me, but the thing of first importance is that I keep this brief life in context, in my thinking, in light of the God who is eternal. So, when I do that, this will put my troubles, my trials into proper perspective. And we know how that is, we look back, and you don't have to be very old to do this, but the older you are the easier it is. You can look back on situations in your life and it seemed like at the time it was overwhelming. And you are worried, and you have fretted, and maybe you did some things you wish you didn't do. Now you look back and say it was nothing. That's just a little speck. That's the idea; it didn't amount to anything. It was like a breath. That's what he is talking about.

Come over to Psalm 49. I tried not to go to other passages as we work through this, but you find them as you go to Scripture. And this was from the sons of Korah, so it's not by David but it's the same truth. Verse 10, “For he sees that even wise men die; the stupid and the senseless alike perish and leave their wealth to others. Their inner thought is that their houses are forever and their dwelling places to all generations; they have called their lands after their own names.” Note how Presidents have to have a Presidential Library. It's important so I will be remembered. But those things, what do they amount to? “But man in his pomp will not endure; he is like the beasts that perish.” And that's the connection. This is not like there is not a difference between a man and an animal, but as we saw in Ecclesiastes, man is like the beast and says I am going to die just like a dog. Like an animal dies, I'm going to die. But I've spent all my life thinking I'm acquiring this. I'm amassing this and it will last. And I can't control what will happen after I'm gone. Ecclesiastes 2:18 and following covers the same kind of emphasis. You don't know who is coming after you, you don't know what they will do with what you left, is the point.

Come back to Psalm 39. He asked the Lord to remind him of the reality of life's brevity. Now in verses 7-11 his emphasis is on Hope in the Lord. Now he's dealt something with getting overly concerned about how big I am and how big my problem is. Now I turn to the One, verse 7, “‘And now, Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you.’” Hope in the Lord is what verses 7-11 is about. I put myself in perspective, which is the perspective God gives me, and now my emphasis is on Him. My hope is in the Lord, I'm waiting for Him. This is addressed to the Lord. Verse 4 was, “‘Lord, make me to know my end…’” Now verse 7, here is what he needs to know. “‘And now, Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you.’” All I can do is trust you, Lord. I'm but a breath, I'm transient, the days of my life are just like a collection of handbreadths and they are gone. Verse 8, “‘Deliver me from all my transgressions; make me not the reproach of the foolish.’”

Trials are good, they refine us, they correct us, they chasten us. Not just for specific sins. We can't say, what did David do here in this? But whatever is going on, in trials, they do refine us. When we get our glorified body, we won't need to be chastened, we won't need trials and afflictions. They are part of God training us, developing us, and bringing us up. We talk about taking off the rough edges, removing the things that shouldn't be there. It's the growth process. Remember James 1, Count it all joy my brethren when you fall into various trials. Romans 5 says the same things. These produce endurance, they refine our character. So, David is aware. Later Solomon will write in Ecclesiastes 7:20, “…there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins.” So, this is a process. Lord, deliver me from all my transgressions, I'm a man that needs to be refined. Even Job, the most righteous man on the earth at that time, God said when he is done refining me, I will come forth as purified gold. That's the process, the psalmist is aware of this.


Verse 8 continues, “‘…make me not the reproach of the foolish.’” Lord don't let my transgressions come as such, that it gives opportunity for the foolish, which would be the same as the wicked at the end of verse 1, to give them an excuse to point at me. You know how our sins can be, any failure is an occasion for the unbeliever to point to me. You are supposed to be a Christian, you're supposed to be a child of God. But David realizes the imperfections of his life and the failures, and he wants God to deal with those so that David deals with those. And don't let them go to the point of making me a reproach. That's why he didn't want to say what he shouldn't say back up in the opening verses, remember. Guard my mouth, and he didn't want to sin with his tongue which would just compound the problem.

Now note, “‘I have become mute, I do not open my mouth...’” That's basically what we said in the opening verses, Psalm 39:2, “‘I was mute and silent…’” I kept quiet. Now he says again in verse 9, “‘I have become mute, I do not open my mouth...’” Earlier it was because he didn't want to say anything that might discredit God in the sight of the wicked or give the wicked an occasion to mock a child of God, or to mock God. But his reason now is different, “‘I have become mute, I do not open my mouth, because it is You who have done it.’” It's the Lord who did it. Now we are back to the sovereignty of God where Job had to come. I don't know why God is doing it, specific, but I know God is doing it. “‘…because it is You who have done it.’” Now whatever the problem is here, whatever the issue, however David is suffering, whatever is going on, God has brought it into his life. Maybe it is about a specific sin, maybe it's about a pattern in his life that needs to be fixed, maybe it is an area that is not where it ought to be. Verse 10, “‘Remove your plague from me; because of the opposition of Your hand I am perishing.’” You see the recognition here of God at work.

Just turn back to Job 9, just to see. Verse 34, “‘Let Him remove His rod from me, and let not dread of Him terrify me.’” That's his desire, the same idea. Job, Lord I see you doing this, remove your rod from me. This is back to David here, and he is asking the same. “‘Remove Your plague from me; because of the opposition of Your hand I am perishing.’” Whatever, back up, remember the hand of God is in this. If it is for a specific sin in David's life, that needs to be dealt with; or if it's just that David needs this for his maturing, count it all joy my brethren when you fall into a variety of kinds, multi-faceted, multi-colored trials as James 1 talks about it. This is developing me, but Lord, the heat is getting so hot that it's not refining me anymore. It is melting me!

I may have told you of my job when I worked at U.S. Steel many years ago. It was to go around and keep the temperature on the steel ingots in these big furnaces. And you had to watch because they had to be heated enough to burn off the impurities. But if the temperature got too high the steel melted and then you had a terrible mess because instead of being a rectangular ingot that could be rolled out to be usable steel, now you have a pile of melted steel lying in the bottom of that furnace. So, the temperature has to be right. And David is really saying to God, Lord You refine me, but I think I'm to the melting point. And it is sort of like Job came to that.

Verse 10, “‘Remove Your plague from me; because of the opposition of Your hand I am perishing.’” And he is not doing this disrespectfully, but he is crying to God for mercy. That’s always the way to come, with humility, with mercy. I realize You are doing this, and You are sovereign over my temporal life. Lord, all I can do is ask for mercy. Now I don't come because I think I am a sinless, perfectly righteous person, but this is my desire. “‘With reproofs You chasten a man for iniquity...’” There is a purpose in this. David may know the sin, he may not be able to identify it exactly, but it is for iniquity. I'm not all I need to be yet. “‘You consume as a moth what is precious to him…’” It's like the moth, he can come in, doesn't matter. You can have a fine, expensive piece of cloth or something, and we had an oriental rug and part of it had been done with those man-made dyes. But do you know what? The moths or whatever had gotten in. They didn't eat the manufactured stuff, but the stuff made from the vegetable oils or whatever, they ate, and they ruined it. That's what has happened here, “‘…You consume as a moth...surely every man is a mere breath.’” Realize what he is saying is acknowledging God's sovereignty. I'm in Your hands, I am nothing, I am a breath. I can be consumed like a moth consumes a piece of material. You can destroy me. I would be gone. So, he is acknowledging God's sovereignty over him in this situation.

He concludes with a prayer for mercy. “‘Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry; do not be silent at my tears; for I am a stranger with You, a sojourner like all my fathers.’” This point here, it would be like in the Old Testament times. We don't have time to look at some parallel passages, but if you were strangers in a land or something like that, you had no rights there. You couldn't claim anything. Like, it doesn't work in our day, but if you are a citizen here you have certain rights. Just the analogy, not getting into anything else. But if you are not a citizen, then you don't have the same rights. That's the way it would normally work. That's what he is talking about.

Like Paul when he claimed his rights as a Roman citizen, but the non-citizen didn't have those rights. And that's what he is saying. Lord, listen to me and I'm not asking this because I deserve it. Even my forefathers were but strangers, because none of the forefathers of David that go back to Abraham deserved the mercy of God. You can't deserve mercy, you can't deserve grace, that's what he is saying. Lord, listen to me, please, listen to my cry. I'm not coming because I deserve anything from You. I'm just a breath. In that sense, what am I to the eternal God? Do I need Him? Can I make a complaint, this is my demand, this is my right? No! That's what he means. “‘…for I am a stranger with You, a sojourner like all my fathers.’” Like we today in this day of grace, we have a claim that we come because of what Christ has done for us and God has done for us in mercy and grace. But that position doesn't change. Remember, sometimes I say He is God, we are not? Because what David had to remind himself of, and he is a special person in God's sight, and in the work that God is doing. But he must keep his perspective proper, he is not God. He is but a breath, God is eternal.

So, he comes here now. A good thing he kept his mouth closed earlier, and then put things in right perspective with God, to see himself as God said he was, and to see the hand of God in this. And I recognize that in Your sovereignty You brought this into my life. That's a second reason for me to have kept my mouth shut. Now I am going to open my mouth, but all I am asking for is mercy, grace. That's his prayer. “‘Turn Your gaze away from me, that I may smile again before I depart and am no more.’” I come to You without any grounds in and of myself and me, merciful. He pleads for grace. Relieve the suffering of my brief life. That's what it means to turn Your gaze away, that which has brought the intensity of God's chastening on him. He leaves it there, it's done. I know I'm brief, I'll soon be gone. I am asking for mercy to alleviate the suffering. Puts it all in balance.

Let me quickly give you seven points. I'm going to say them quickly, and you'll be able to access them. What I wrote down, I didn't pick seven, I just came to seven. But it's the number of perfection. So, this is the end of my perfect sermon. In times of suffering do these seven things. 1) Guard your tongue, that was the first three verses. 2) Talk to the Lord. Seems simple. Before you talk to anyone else, don't talk in the presence of the unbeliever, don't even go necessarily first of all, just go talk to the Lord. 3) Remember the brevity of your life. And when you do, that will help put the trials into perspective. If my life is brief, but a breath, so are the worst of my trials. My trials can't go beyond my life, so I realize my life is Poof! but a breath. That will help put my trials into proper perspective. That was verses 4-6. 4) Hope, keep your hope in the Lord. That's what he said. Lord, make me know my end and then he comes down to verse 7, Lord for what do I wait? My hope is in You. 5) Recognize His sovereignty. I don't open my mouth because it is You who have done it. I want to be careful when I open my mouth and talk to the Lord. I do it with respect. I do it with a recognition of who He is and who I am. I don't want to say anything improper. It was better that I kept quiet because I recognize that it had to come from You ultimately. We need to be careful or we adopt the world's thinking, that God doesn't want you to suffer, and God doesn't want what we call “bad things” to happen to you. As Job had to say, should we receive good things from the hand of the Lord and not bad things, evil things, things that are unpleasant? 6) This is encouraging. He caused it and He can remove it. Look at verse 10. “Remove Your plague from me.” Well, God did it and He can remove it. He caused it, He can stop it. He caused it, He can remove it. 7) Seek mercy, not rights, verses 12-13. We come to a throne of grace, come with boldness to the throne of grace. It's a time of mercy so we come to seek mercy, grace. Job didn't understand why God brought this into his life, but he did keep in perspective that it was God who brought it into his life. So, we come seeking mercy. And if He chooses not to give me what I ask, then I can ask to give me the grace to endure what You choose to keep in my life.

Let's pray together. Thank You Lord, for the riches of Your Word. Lord, through your servant David. And Lord we can appreciate from the distance of thousands of years the benefit and blessing of that time because he wrote this and then provided it for the worship of Israel. Little did he know and understand that it was part of Your plan to be used in the lives of Your people thousands of years later. So, we thank You for Your grace. May these truths remind us, encourage us, and be used of the Spirit in each of our lives. We pray in Christ's name, amen.