Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to Psalm 39. Psalm 39 and verse
13, the last verse in that psalm. O spare me that I may recover
strength before I go hence and be no more. And the subject is
the recovery of spiritual strength. Psalm 39 verse 13. Very evident that when we are
brought down to the grave that all of our physical strength
will all be taken away. That one to pray for that kind
of physical strength at such a time is not consistent in that
way. The only way it would be consistent
is when Joseph came with his sons and to his father Jacob
and he strengthened himself on the bed, wanting to speak to
his family, his sons, needing that physical strength In that
sense he wanted it before he went to the grave. This is the psalm of David and
I want to begin in looking at the psalm itself and what David
says through this psalm that leads up to the text, and then
a few points relative to the text itself. Firstly, David wanted
reality. In verses 4 through to 6, he prays, Lord, make me to know
mine end, and the measure of my days what it is, that I may
know how frail I am. Behold thou hast made my days
as an handbreadth, and mine ages as nothing before thee. Verily
every man at his best state is altogether vanity, sealer. Then surely every man walketh
in a vain show, surely though disquieted in vain he heapeth
up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them. How many have
no Consideration, no thought whatsoever of how short their
days are, the vanity of riches, the reality of our time here
below. And yet, David, he prays, Lord,
make me to know, make me to know my end. By nature, we don't. We don't consider, we don't think,
we don't ponder the path of our feet. and how many really walk
in paths of following amusement or things to take their minds
off reality. And you've got to go to a library
and you look at the shelves and shelves of fiction. What is it? It's escape from reality. In writing fiction, you can make
the start, make the end, make it to be what you want. You are
in control. It's almost like an idol. If a man has an idol, he can
put it where he wants, he can make it say what he wants it
to say, he can imagine it's his, imagine it wants this or that. It's not real. And many people's
lives don't live for reality. There's escapeism. Those who
haven't got the power to be rich or do things or go places in
the world, they vividly follow those on the Internet or social
media that can do it, and they do it in their stead. They live,
as it were, a fantasy life in the life of someone else. Now
we need to beware of that which is taking us away from reality,
away from our real condition and what we are in this life
and how fast our life is going away and soon there must come
a time when we must lay it down. So we find in our text the latter
part of it, before I go hence, and be no more. He knew death
was before him. He knew that one day he should
pass this way. Now, of course, he does not mean
that his soul would cease to exist. But we are told that the
place that knew us before shall know us no more, again forever. Many of us have had loved ones,
very dear to us, that we've been with, we've talked to, parents,
loved ones, aunties, uncles, and there are no more. We cannot
see them. We cannot talk to them. We have
sweet memories of them. The memory of the just is blessed. But their houses, their goods
are sold. Their wealth is given to others.
They have no part at all under the sun ever again. And that
shall be the place with us, David. in all his wealth, in all his
kingdom, handed over to Solomon. And then after Solomon, Reboam,
the kingdom split and divided. He was not having a part in any
of that at all. He says, I go hence, and we shall
go hence. One day here below won't know
us, We will be in the world to come. And before our maker and
our creator and all imagination will go then. No one will be
imagining things then. Paul says, then shall I know
even as I am known. We shall have to face. Face eternity,
face our maker, face our creator, then And David had this before him.
How much is it before us? And how much do we want reality
and fear, lest we should just put that off and try and blot
it out? But we can't face it. But David
wanted to face it. He wanted to know. He has a wonderful testimony.
In verse 7, he says, my hope is in thee. Now, Lord, what wait
I for my hope is in thee. In whatever is the state and
the condition here below, whatever his condition is, and his petition
in our text, his hope is in the right place in God. The psalmist says in another
place, answering thee, questioned his own soul, why art thou cast
down? O my soul, why art thou disquieted
within me? Hope thou in God, for I shall
yet praise him who is the health of my countenance and my God. We are saved by hope, but hope
that is not seen is not hope, for what a man does see, why
does he get hopeful? But here is David, his hope,
is in God. We find also he testifies that
he is a stranger, a stranger and a sojourner. Verse 12. Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give
ear unto my cry. Hold not thy peace at my tears,
for I am a stranger with thee. and a sojourner as all my fathers
were." Don't you know that's a beautiful thing, isn't it?
He doesn't just say, I am a stranger and a sojourner, but a stranger
with Thee. With Thee. With the Lord. The Lord was a stranger here.
He says, I am not of this world, they are not of this world, even
as I am not of this world. This world is not the rest of
the people of God. And the Lord, when he came into
this world, he was rejected of men, despised, rejected of men. My kingdom is not of this world. And the Lord's people are to
be like the children of Israel going through the wilderness.
They drank of that spiritual rock that followed them. Yes,
the Lord was with them. And that rock was Christ. He
was with them in the wilderness. He was with them as they were
strangers there. And the Lord is with his people
here as they feel to be strangers in this world, rejected by the
world and the world they do not want. the world they are passing
through as a sojourner. It's a blessed thing to look
back to the former generations and realize we had fathers and
grandfathers and those who have prayed for us and those who are
amongst that cloud of witnesses that show that same path to heaven. It's a great blessing to have
those who have hung upon those promises that is unto you and
your children, even as many as the Lord thy God shall call. In verse 9, he, no, verse 8 and
9, delivered me from all my transgressions, made me not the reproach of the
foolish. He knew his transgressions, he
knew his sins. And if that is the case with
us, as we go through this world, are we mindful of our sin? Sin, as we heard this morning,
the transgression of the law of God, breaking of the law of
God. Not against man, but against
God. Again, it is a reality. All have
sinned and come short of the glory of God. And David knew those transgressions. He knew also what it was to be
under the correcting hand of God. He says, remove thy stroke, in
verse 10, away from me. I am consumed by the blow of
thy hand. Why did the Lord deal with his
children like that? He chastens every son whom he
receiveth. Himrida says, the lash is steeped,
he on thee lays, yet softened in his blood. But the Lord deals
with his people, and David's description in verse 11 is the
effect. When thou with rebukes dost correct
man for iniquity, thou makest his beauty To consume away like
a moth, surely every man is vanity. The effect of the Lord's chastening
is to take away our supposed beauty, to take away our strength,
our own righteousness, our own health. And it is in this context
that David prays the prayer that he does. As he is in this world,
as he is a stranger, as he is under the chasing hand of God,
as he is mindful of his transgressions and mindful of approaching death
and to be brought to stand before God, he prays, O spare me that
I may recover strength before I go hence and be no more. So now, he wanted this time to
spiritually recover. As it were, he pictures himself
in the midst of the Lord's dealings. He pictures the Lord dealing
with his sin, chastening him, when thou with rebukes does correct
man for iniquity. It is when he brings down their
strength by the way. He takes that all away from them,
takes away their righteousness, takes away their hope in self,
takes away everything that they've been standing upon outside of
Christ. Think of Psalm 107. What happened
again and again? They fell down. There was none
to help. It's as if our text finds the
psalmist in such a situation like that. And he says, Lord,
leave me not like that. Leave me not fallen down with
none to help. but in Psalm 107 we have, then
they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them
out of their distresses. He brought them out of that dark
pit. He brought them to praise Him.
He didn't leave them in that low place. I believe all of the Lord's people,
they'll have those times in their experience that the thought of
dying in that condition where they are in would fill them with
dread. When the Lord brings down, when
He corrects, when He takes away our unrighteousness, When it may be we have no assurance,
our faith is very low. We're very tried about many,
many things. We can see little in us to encourage
and to help us. The fear of dying in the dark,
the fear of parting this life when We are so tossed and have
so little faith that fills us with dread. And so the psalmist, he goes
from under the rebuke of God, and here he's crying to the Lord
because of his tears and because of his condition, O spare me
that I may recover strength before I go hence and be no more. And he means that spiritual strength. He means what we read in Ephesians
3, verse 16, that he would grant
you according to the riches of his glory. to be strengthened
with might by his Spirit in the inner man. That's what he wanted. That strength. I want to look then with the
Lord's help. Firstly, our times that are in
God's hand. His first petition was, O spare
me. That is, He's not taken immediately
away. He is given time. But what is needed to face death
in the second place? That I may recover strength. And then I want to look thirdly
where that strength comes from. But firstly, time. O spare me. Our times are in the Lord's hand. And the Lord will not leave his
dealings with his people unfinished, half done. There's many in a natural sense
that may begin to do something. They may begin to build a house.
And they'll dig the foundations and lay the foundations with
the intention of building it up. But before they can build
it, the Lord takes away their lives. They're not able to continue
it. They're not able to finish it.
An unfinished work because of what we might term an untimely
death. But with the Lord's dealings
with his people, what the Lord is doing with them. The Lord
himself is in control of their lives. Nothing will happen to
cut his work short, I say reverently, so that the Lord says, oh dear,
I had intended to bless that soul as well as bring them into
conviction, but they've died and now I haven't got an opportunity
to bless them. The Lord will never, can never
say that. If He brings a people down, if
He deals with them, His purpose is to finish the work. He which
hath begun a good work in you will perform it unto the day
of Jesus Christ. Is conviction of sin part of
God's work? Yes it is. Are we to think then,
that when he's convicted of sin and that person fears the wrath
of God, fears the worth of this soul, fears impending eternity,
the Lord suddenly cuts it off and he sends him into eternity. Where the Lord begins, it is
that he will continue. Remember this was one of the
things the children of Israel kept charging the Lord with or charging
Moses with. You brought us out of Egypt so
that we perish in the wilderness. You haven't brought us into the
promised land. We're going to die with no food,
with no water. We will perish before we see
any good. You know, the Church of God,
the individual, People of God can feel the same. They can say,
like in Isaiah, the Lord hath forsaken us. They can say, like
Jacob, all these things are against me, but wait, Jacob. The Lord
hasn't cut off your life yet. He's not finished yet. He hasn't
finished. You're looking at in the middle. We need to remember that. We think of Hezekiah. Hezekiah as yet had not got a
son. He knew he was in the line to
the promised seed. And the Lord said that he was
to put his house in order, that he should die and not live. And
Hezekiah immediately he pleaded with the Lord. He cried unto
the Lord. And the Lord added to his days
15 years. And in those 15 years, Manasseh
was born. And the Lord delivered Judah
out of the hands of Assyria. That time was used. The Lord
always intended to give it, but he would have Hezekiah pray for
it. The Lord always intended with
David that he wouldn't die in the dark and under the chastening
hand of God, he would spare him, he did spare him, but he'd have
him pray for it. And the same with us. If we are
under the hand of God, maybe Satan will tell, what if you
were to die now? What if you had your life taken
from you now? What would it be? I always remember,
probably mentioned her before, late sister in faith in Australia,
Alice Robinson. When the Lord first began with
her, 22 years of age, and she had an operation before her, an appendix
operation, and she hadn't assurance, she hadn't comfort. She was concerned
of her soul. She knew that some people died
under the anesthetic, and it brought her into great concern.
The Lord blessed her through the words of Hymn 377, still
pray, for God will all explain, nor shalt thou seek his face
in vain. Thou afflictions still abound,
still pray. David, her first ray of hope,
he raised her heart and raised up to know many blessings of
the Lord. But it's with this reality, this
sense, if I was taken away now, where would my soul be? How would
it be? Maybe this word finds us and
you say, well, I don't know whether the Lord has even begun with
my soul. How would I be if I was taken
away now? That's a blessed thing to realise
that now is the day of grace. It is in this world that the
Lord converts his people and saves them and brings them to
knowledge of himself and brings them to a comfort that they are
able to stare death in the face, to see that is well with them
while life endure and well when called to die. We know of course
there are degrees of faith amongst the people of God and some of
the Lord's dear people do and are called to walk through that
last valley in quiet darkness. But the desire of the psalmist
and the desire of all the people of God is that they might recover
strength. What measure of strength must
be left with the Lord. I'm thinking of Bunyan in his
Pilgrim's Progress. I think it was when Christian
was going through the river of death and hope was with him. It was asked there, how deep
is the river? And the answer was that it was
as deep as what their faith was. Where their faith was strong,
It was shallow. Where the faith was not strong,
then it was deep. And it was hope that said, I
feel the bottom, and it is sure. And Bunyan pictures that, that
difference amongst the people of God. But here's David in the
midst, in the midst of the Lord's dealings with him. And we need
to remember that our times, as much as the Lord's dealings with
us, are in the Lord's hand, our times are also in the Lord's
hands. And we are to rest in that. We
are to turn it into prayer in this way. Oh spare me. May we always remember like it
was with The Ninevites, the only ray of hope that God gave through
Jonah's ministry was 40 days. They were given time. And really
in the fall, because the first sentence was, in the day that
thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. In dying thou shalt
die. Spiritually it was instant. But
physical death was deferred. And it is in that time, the time
that the Lord gives us, uncertain with us, we do not know what
a day nor an hour may bring forth. And even if our days are long,
as he says in verse five, my days are as an handbreadth, mine
ages as nothing before thee. That may be valued, the blessing
of time, But remember, when the Lord is dealing with us, He won't
leave that work unfinished. And that we are to see, when
we are under His chasing hand or in darkness, that He will
spare us to see a time, that we see His light, we are strengthened,
our faith is strengthened, and that we are brought out of that
dark and deep valley. There's a ray of hope in the
text. that the Lord would have us,
if we feel in that same position as David, to pray in light manner. Oh spare me. What? To enjoy some
pleasures of sin for a season? To do this or that? Or to fill
a bucket list, as some say when they have a terminal illness,
they've got a bucket list, they want to do this and that and
that, and they want to get through that list before they die? That
wasn't what David wanted. Recover strength, and as we said,
not physical strength, because he knew he was going to be brought
down to the grave. But spiritual strength, like
Paul wanted for the Ephesians. It's a beautiful hymn, isn't
it? Not a single shaft can hit. till the God of love sees fit. Many times the Lord deals with
His people in affliction, in sickness, brings them down, then
raises them up again, blesses them, helps them, works through
those things spiritual strength. He knows what time is needed
when the work of grace is done. And that time of grace and work
of grace is in the Lord's hand. There's a great comfort in being
able to realise that the Lord has begun. To say with Newton,
I once was blind, but now I see. To say that once I was unwilling,
but now the Lord has made me willing. Willing to be taught.
Willing to follow the Lord. to walk in His ways, willing
to be subject unto His mind, His will. Nevertheless, not my
will, but Thy will be done. And where that is so, we may
rightly pray, O spare me, and have that expectation that in
the days that we are given, the Lord will give us increased strength
and blessing, and help, recovery of strength. That is our first
thought, our times in God's hand, our days in which God is dealing
with us, shall not be cut short and catch our God unawares. He knows what he will do. I know
the thoughts that I think towards you thoughts of peace and not
of evil to give you an expected end. But secondly, what is needed
and what he needed to face death is what we all need to face it.
Not ignorance, not blotting it out, not imagining There's nothing
beyond the grave. We have in Psalm 73, the wicked
that went to their grave with no troubles in their death, completely
denying the reality, having no idea what was awaiting them,
the other side of the grave. With God's people they do know.
And that heightens the need to have that spiritual strength. Again, that's a token for good. If we are not deceived in what
is actually needed to pass from this world into the presence
of God and to stand before his judgment throne. Well, David says that I may recover
strength. He'd already had strength. He'd
lost it. The Lord gives his people that
strength and blessing, especially right from the beginning. I give
unto them eternal life, they shall never perish, neither shall
any man pluck them out of my hand. That strength is right
at the beginning. When we were without strength
in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. Sin weakens. Sin takes away our strength.
We cannot stand before God, even know that, as a child, unless
they are completely hardened and brazen. They've done something
wrong, they've been found out. They brought before a teacher
or brought before parents, they hang their head, hang their head
in shame, they've been found out, they're guilty. And so when the Lord begins,
He gives His people that strength when they are yet sinners. He
pays the debt, suffers for them, bleeds for them, and quickens
them into life. Gives them new ears, new eyes. Gives them a tender conscience,
a teachable spirit, the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning
of wisdom, grants them grace, saving grace. He gives them all
these things. Now in one sense it's an illustration
of a child that is born. Now it has everything. If it
is healthy and strong, it's got all its limbs, it's got everything. It's all there. but it must grow
and it must be strengthened. And the people of God, they gain
Paul's desire for the Ephesians, but grow in grace and in the
knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. The children of
Israel, the reason why the Lord had those 40 years in the wilderness
with them, was that the Lord would prove them and try them
and know what was in their heart, whether they would serve the
Lord or not. And so that strength, in one
sense, was known when the Lord quickened, but then in the Lord's
dealings, as more sin is shown, As the heart is opened up, like
in Ezekiel, turn again, thou son of man, thou shalt see greater
abominations than these. Let me say, can ever God dwell
here? The Lord said to his disciples,
I have many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them
now. If the Lord showed his people
all their sin and all their wickedness and the great depths of their
heart, Right at the beginning, with no hope in Him, with no
knowledge of salvation, with no knowledge of the depth of
redemption, He would just crush us all. But He teaches them,
line upon line, and here a little, and there a little. Not to be
surprised as if we go on in the Christian pathway, there are
those down sittings, David says in Psalm 139. Thou knowest my
down-sitting and mine up-rising. Thou knowest my thought afar
off. The same as Psalm 107. Down and then raised up. Down
and then raised up. Same as Psalm 84. They shall
go from strength to strength. Every one shall appear before
God in Zion. That is, the Lord gives them
strength. And they use it all up. They fall down. They have
no strength. Then he gives them fresh strength.
They go in the strength of that mind, maybe 40 days as Elijah
did, but then down again. And so what he desired, what
he needed, was recovery of strength. What you and I need when we have
death. that is before us. What does
Paul pray going back to Ephesians again? That He would grant you
according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with
might by His Spirit in the inner man. That's a strength. The Holy Spirit within, in the
inner man. Now is that going to be evidence?
He describes it there. Christ may dwell in your hearts
by faith, that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be
able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and length
and depth and height, to know the love of Christ, which passeth
knowledge that me may be filled with all the fullness of God. A beautiful chapter in Romans
8, the way that the apostle finishes it, really describes that strength
of the people of God. He pictures all of those things
that shall come against a soul, that shall bring a soul down,
who shall separate us from the love of Christ, shout tribulation,
or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril,
or sword, those things will bring us down. But where the love of
Christ is renewed in the soul, where it is shed abroad in the
heart by the Holy Ghost, then that balances, it makes up for
all those things. As it is written, for thy sake
we are killed all the day long. Strength is taken away. Counter
is sheep for the slaughter. But in all these things we are
more than conquerors. How? Through him that loved us. And there's his persuasion that
neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor
powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor
depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us
from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Having
loved his own, he loved them unto the end, applies not just
to the twelve, but to all of the people of God. His love is
eternal. I have loved thee with an everlasting
love, and therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee. Now in the soul, has faith to
lay hold on these precious truths and upon that love of God, and
that love of God is shed abroad in the heart, that will take
away the fear of death. That will overcome that last
enemy. Faith is to be turned into sight,
but it is faith the Lord gives his dear people that they see
What is not seen by the natural eyes. We read in Hebrews, we
see not yet all things put under him, but we see Jesus. And we see him, he was slain
for his people's sin and raised again. Triumph over death, that
is what our Lord did. He triumphed over death. When
we see that, the children of Israel, when they went through,
the River of Jordan, which was atypical of death. They had the
ark pass before them in a greater distance so that they could all
see it. And when they went through that
river, they went right past that ark, Christ in the midst of it. That was to take away their fears. And the Lord says, I will come
again and receive you unto myself that where I am, there ye may
be also. The Lord shall give not only
quickening grace, not only grace to help in time of need, and
the Lord said to the Apostle Paul, my grace is sufficient
for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness, but
he will give dying grace in a dying hour. And give that strength
and that help in that hour, and David is asking, He is praying
that he might be given this strength so that his faith is strong,
that grace is given for that hour, that his hope is anchored
within the veil. O spare me that I may recover
strength before I go hence and be no more. What a blessing to
have that desire. Do we need it? Do we feel to
need it? Do we look for it and ask the
Lord for it, what David did? In the third place, where is
that strength to come from? Is David saying, give me a little
time and I'll use that time, I'll strengthen myself? He knew very well that the strength
must come from the Lord. The Lord was his shepherd. It was from the Lord that his
strength and his hope came. It's very evident. from the Psalms. Psalm 121, I will lift up mine
eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help. My help cometh
from the Lord which made heaven and earth. That strength comes from the
Lord. That's why David is praying for it and praying that the Lord
would bless him with that strength, the God that laid him low with
correction, with chastening, and we know David's sin was forgiven,
yet the sword was not to depart from him all the days of his
life. I believe in a way the Lord wonderfully
strengthened David. Remember the account of his numbering
of the children of Israel and the falling into the hands of
the Lord, and the three days' pestilence, and how that that
was used to show where the temple was to be built on Mount Moriah,
where the Lord answered him on the threshing floor of Aaron
of the Jebusite. That was only two years before
David died. He was 68 then. But what a wonderful thing to
see that the promises that God had given him that where they
would be fulfilled if the temple, and it was a type of our Lord
Jesus Christ, and certainly the sacrifice offered there, Mount
Moriah, with Abraham and with Arona, they all set forth Christ's
sacrifice. And David saw that. And when
we see the Lord Jesus Christ, see what he has suffered for
sin, When we acknowledge our sin, when we confess our sin,
it's often struck me, when we read the Fox's Book of Martyrs,
and the Lord's dear people in the fires, when they were in
death, they knew they were dying this painful death. Would they
have strength for it? Would they throw away their faith?
Would they not be able to endure the fire? be on the fire to stand
before God. Very many of them. They read
Psalm 51. Of course, that is David's confession,
David's repentance from his sin. Have mercy upon me, O God, according
to thy lovingkindness, according unto the multitude of thy tender
mercies, blot out my transgressions. Those dear martyrs, They faced
reality, they were sinners. They were dying because they
were sinners. But their hope was in the mercy
of God, in the precious blood of Christ. Paul says, though
I give my body to be burned, and yet have not charity, or
have not that practical love of God in my soul, then that
avails nothing. They did not trust in the offering
of their bodies as a sacrifice. No, they read this psalm. Thou desirest not sacrifice,
else would I give in. Thou delightest not in burnt
offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken
spirit, a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. Now David is all the time looking
from his sin to the sin bearer, looking to Christ, looking to
the provision in the Gospel, looking to that way of escape
through the precious blood of Christ. What an example David
gave us, what an example the martyrs have given us in the
very face of death. Where shall our strength be?
In seeing by faith the Lord Jesus Christ. as he went through death
and laid down his life for us. That is where that strength and
help comes, to get a view again of our Lord Jesus Christ. Was not that the strength that
dear Stephen was given as the stones rained down upon him,
the first Christian martyr? He looked up. And he testified
he saw the Lord standing at the right hand of the Father to receive
him, not before, but in the very time of death. What a strength,
what a blessing, when the Lord comes for his dear people and
takes them home. Dear soul, if you are fearful
of death, in a low place now in darkness and troubles and
fear that the Lord will take your way in that. The Lord will
not leave his dear people. He will come again for them.
He will revive them. He will bring them safe home
to him. He will complete the day of grace. He will not leave it half finished.
We read in Hebrews 12 regarding chastening. Now no chastening
for the present seemeth to be joyous but grievous, but it doesn't
end there. Nevertheless, afterward, it yieldeth
the peaceable fruits of righteousness to them that are exercised thereby. And with David, with all of the
people of God, The Lord will rightly complete that work of
grace to his honour and to his glory and bring his people safely
home. No man is able to pluck them
out of my hand. Hope thou in God, for I shall
yet praise him who is the health of my countenance and my God. O spare me that I may recover
strength before I go hence. and be no more.