I'd like you to turn with me to the psalm that we read together, Psalm 31, and the text you'll find in verse 15. Really just the first part. My times are in thy hand. It goes on, deliver me from the hand of mine enemies and from them that persecute me.

The psalm is a psalm of David. Not really sure as to when it was written but looking at the context of it, like many of the psalms it was written in the time when David is fleeing Saul and the various oppositions that he met with, the times when he had to flee from men and had to trust in the living God and how in those times he was completely dependent upon the Lord for his safety and protection.

And so he describes the Lord as his rock and his fortress, that he would be led and guided, that he would be protected from the traps that were set in the way to capture him. We know that although Saul was after David, yet we know that the Lord's plans for David's life could not be altered, that he had been anointed a king and so therefore that was going to take place as we saw in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ and the prophecies regarding his birth right at the beginning of time.

there the seed of the woman and then with the prophecies regarding the place of his birth and the prophecy regarding the means by which he would be brought into this world written so many years before all these things came to pass and we know that that was God's plan. and what God has said must surely come to pass that no man can stop his hand or say unto him what doest thou that if God has said it will happen it will take place and although the opposition may come, that the forces of darkness may seem to thwart the will and the plans of God, yet ultimately even those forces of darkness are working together to bring about the purposes of God, because our God never ever loses control of any situation.

And our God sits upon the curvature of the earth, ruling all events as the sovereign of the skies. And David, as he passes through these difficult experiences, and at times believes that he's going to lose his life at the hand of Saul, yet ultimately God is his protector, God is his fortress, God is his rock and God is going to deliver him.

But as a person, only able to see a moment at a time. He has those doubtful experiences, those lack of faith experiences and those times when he's filled with fear and filled with anxiety about what the future holds. And that's why, as I always say, the Psalms are of a great comfort to the Lord's people because they are real life. They show what the Lord's people really go through, and we're able to enter into what they are passing through.

That David, although he is the man after God's own heart, yet to be a king, and as a king, yet he still experienced the weaknesses of the flesh and the He was still unable to look into the future and to see all the fulfilment of God's plan and will for his life. But what he did know, is in our text. My times are in thy hand. The events of my life, the things that are taking place in my life, they are in the hands of a sovereign God, the sovereign ruler of the skies. He was able to, as it were, pass over the events in his life and put them into the care of an all-knowing and an all-powerful God.

This is an amazing thing, an amazing privilege that believers have. to the people of the world everything is just chance and luck and bad luck and we're able to map out and work out our own future and we're able to deal with our own problems but the Christian, the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, he is able to see the hand of God at work in his life and in the lives of other believers around about him and in the lives of the people of the world. He's able to see the king of kings working all things out for his own purposes and for his own glory because because he is the one who is ultimately in control.

As we saw this morning, the heart of the king is in the Lord's hands and we saw it there as he caused the king there to make the decree that there should be that taxing and everyone should go back to their their town and Mary and Joseph go back to Bethlehem and there it would be the fulfillment of the prophecy. And so we see the hand of an all-knowing and an all-powerful God.

A God who is the creator of time. As David looks at his life, he sees that his life is made up of times, of situations. We can say chapters or pages in his life. And he sees that in those chapters and in those pages of his life, there are times and seasons by which the Lord is working. And he sees a sovereign God over these chapters, writing out his purposes in his life. And so he sees his life governed by times.

If we go all the way back to the beginning of the scripture, we see that before there was heaven and earth, before there was this world, there was no time. God, Christ, Father, Son and Holy Spirit existed outside of time as they do even today. Christ put on flesh to step into a time state but in eternity past they lived outside or they existed outside of time but when God created the heaven and the earth he began time evening and morning were the first day and so he set things in motion that this world would be governed by times and seasons and that our lives would have a beginning and that our lives because of sin will have an end and throughout our lives we would be there would be those those chapters and those pages that would be our life put together.

As we look over our lives, no doubt we can see those chapters. There are chapters that we would rather forget in our unconverted state. There is that chapter when the Lord began to deal with us in the new birth, that new beginning, that new chapter. And as we have walked with the Lord, there are different ways that he has led us and guided us, and there are different people that have entered into our lives, and there are different chapters that have taken place. And we look at all of those chapters, all of those pages that have been written of our history, and we see all our times are in the hand of an all-knowing God.

You see, our life is governed by time. From the moment we are conceived in the womb, we have a beginning. And the timer of our life begins to tick. It is set by God, the beginning and the end. And every moment of every day is overshadowed by a ticking clock. Every second is one second less. Every birthday is one birthday less. Every Christmas is one Christmas less. Every new year is one new year left.

It's always ticking, constantly moving forward and never going back. Oh, there is times, isn't there, where we said, oh, if we could reverse the clock, We've said something foolish and we wish if only I could reverse the clock back and undo what I have said or we've done something. Something in our lives that we just wish, oh, that I could reverse back the time, but we can't. We have to acknowledge time presses forward all the time.

Every minute drops off into eternity, never to be reclaimed again. And yet, this is something that we constantly push to the back of our lives, that our life is ticking away. We barely, as we have sung, we barely have a moment to call our own. We have now, and we know that we're alive now, but we don't know in five minutes time what will take place. Every moment is gone.

And yet, we know how fragile our lives are. We know that our lives are limited, that it's something that we push to the back of our minds all of the time, that we believe that we're going to have an extended period. We believe that God is going to continue adding more and more minutes to our lives, that we're going to be the one that makes it to 100 or 150. We dare not think that our life is going to be cut short.

And yet, as we live, time doesn't slow down. Time seems to get faster and faster and faster. When you were younger, the summer holidays, the school summer holidays, they seemed to last for ages. But now years just flick by. Gone. And you wonder how much of that year did I waste? How much of that precious time did I lose? Did I waste it on something foolish or something unimportant or laying in bed for hours on end for no reason? We forget the true value of time. Our focus is often on money. And we see that the greatest thing of any value in this world is money. We want to make sure everything is all secure, everything is tight. We forget the most valuable thing. is our time constantly ticking away our lives constantly as the hymn says as the sands of time are sinking.

The scripture tells us in Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 16 redeeming the time Or see, verse 15, see that you walk circumspectly, or see that you walk very, very carefully, putting your feet securely in the right place as you are, as it were, walking through a minefield, being very careful not to step upon a mine. Walk very, very carefully, not as foolish people, but as wise people. Doing what? Counting your money? No. Redeeming the time. Buying up the time. Using every opportunity and every moment that the Lord gives us to live a life for His glory. Redeeming the time. Why? Because the days are evil. What does Satan want? He wants useless Christians. He wants us to waste our lives. Waste our opportunities. Colossians also, chapter 4, chapter 4 and verse 5, walk in wisdom towards them that are without, redeeming the time. Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how ye ought to answer every man. Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time. Making the most of the time that we have, because the time that we have is very, very, very precious. Every moment of every day is a day and a moment that has been given to us by God.

In Matthew chapter 16 the Lord Jesus tells us there of the of Lazarus and the rich man. Oh sorry no, but it is the statement of the Lord Jesus Christ what For whosoever shall save his life shall lose it, and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? And so you see that there's the worldly view, that the worldly man seeks after gain, after worldly increase, but at the expense of his own soul. What shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Nothing. The soul is the most valuable thing that we possess. It is that part of us which exists beyond the grave. Everything that we own here below, we have to leave. And so there is nothing that can purchase our soul apart from the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

What did with it profit you? If you own the whole world, you spend your days seeking after material gain and every day you heap up more and more and more for yourself and then one day you own the whole world. You become the richest man, the richest woman in the whole world. You can go to any island, any land and claim that it's yours. What good will it do if you spend eternity in hell? Eternity rejected by God. Your life, if you live for a hundred years, is nothing compared to an eternity. that existence without time, with no end.

And this is where Satan wants us to focus. He wants us to focus here, on everything that you can see, all the material things that you can touch. And he says, get as much as you can, you're going to be so happy. You're going to be so happy if you just get just a little bit more. Isn't that what he says? Just a little bit more and you're going to be happy. Just something a little bit better than what you've already got, you're going to be happy. But if your happiness is not in Christ Jesus, then you're never going to be happy. Your bank account is never going to have enough in it. Your car is never going to be good enough. Your house is never going to be big enough. Your health is never going to be as you want it. You're always looking for something else and you will never, ever, ever find it in this world. Even if you gained the whole world.

Your soul and my soul is without value because it is eternal. And it can either spend an eternity away from God, under His wrath, or it can spend an eternity with Him, with treasures unimaginable. And so Jesus, the scriptures tell us to make the most of our time, to redeem the time, to buy up the time, to use the time wisely today. Jesus says, if you hear his voice, harden not your heart today. And this moment is the day that you have been given and the time that you have been given by God tomorrow. It's been said tomorrow is the devil's day. You don't know whether you will be there. He will always tell you tomorrow, oh, don't worry, the next day, or the next day, or the next day. But it will never be. You'll always kick the can down the road until you kick it off into eternity and you'll be lost forever and ever.

Live wisely, Jesus says. Live wisely with your eye on the time David says, my times are in thy hands. He understood that the events in his life were not haphazard. That things weren't out of control. He understood that everything had a reason, everything had a purpose and that God was working out his plan in his life and he was willing to shift everything over into the hands of God.

Ecclesiastes tells us there that to everything there is a season. You see, as God set time going at the beginning of time, he gave everything its season. It's perfect place. To everything there is a season. A time to every purpose under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to break down and a time to build up. A time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance. A time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones together, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing. A time to get and a time to lose, a time to keep and a time to cast away. a time to rend and a time to sow, a time to keep silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time of war and a time of peace.

What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth? I have seen the travail which God hath given to the sons of men to be in exercise in it. has made everything beautiful in his time. Also he that set the world in their hearts so that no man can find out the work of God maketh from the beginning to the end.

And so the preacher Solomon in his wisdom given to him by God declares that there is a time and a season for every single thing, a time to be born and a time to die, that our lives are and the life and the existence of this world is made up by chapters and times and seasons. And that all of those times and seasons never work outside the will and the providential workings of a sovereign God.

And although there are times when we may see confusion and we may see things looking like God has lost control, we can be assured, we can be sure that God has his purposes in it. Think of the children of Israel as they had to wait in the land of Egypt for all those years. There was a time that God had set. when they began to cry unto the Lord and he delivered them out of their distresses and he raised up Moses to deliver them. He takes them then through the wilderness and he guides them and directs them by his cloud. He makes them to wait. He makes them to go forward. He turns them to the left. He turns them to the right. He led them in all the places that he would have them to go. Their times were in his hand.

And it's the same today with the Lord's people. Our times are in the hand of God. Although the times that we pass through may be peculiar, they may be difficult to understand, yet God is in control of them. He never loses sight of his sheep. He always goes before them as their good shepherd. Yes, there are times when we may bring trouble upon our own heads, just like Jonah by walking in rebellion to God, yet he is still merciful and compassionate.

Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Even the chastisement that the Lord deals with his people, it is the working out of his love, a sign of his love and care for them. And so even in those things, our times are in his hand and they can be very, very difficult times that the Lord's people have to go through. as if we can grasp that fact that our times are in his hand and that helps us to deal with those situations.

Think of Job. Job chapter 1 after Satan had come and taken away all of his material possessions and his children Verse 20, and Job arose and rent his mantle and shaved his head and fell down upon the ground and worshipped. That was his response. We could almost think of him saying, all my times are in thy hand. He fell down and worshipped and said, naked came out of my mother's womb and naked shall I return thither. The Lord gave and the Lord takes away, has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.

All of my times are in thy hand. And again, after he's smitten with boils and he's sitting in the ash, in verse nine, chapter two, and his wife said unto him, do you still retain thine integrity? Curse God and die. That was her opinion. That's what she felt he should do. Just end your life. do away with it, reject God and abandon the faith. He says to her, I say unto, but he said unto her, thou speakest as one of the foolish woman speakest. What? Shall we not receive good at the hand of God? And shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.

Not that it was, evil, but it was in his sight an evil and very difficult situation, the opposite to good. But in all of that, Job kept the Lord as his object. that all of his times were in the hand of God. He says, should we not receive good things at the hand of God? Why should the Lord continue to give us, give us and give us and give us? The Lord has given and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Should we not just receive good things, but also what about bad things and difficult things and hard things? Those hard things and difficult things are those things which try us and test our faith. As David is chased around the mountains by Saul, that promise is being tried and tested. But ultimately that promise could never fail. Because God has promised that he would be anointed king. He was anointed king over Israel. All of his times were in the hand of God.

So this is a great comfort to the Lord's people. Great comfort indeed, that our lives, as Jesus says, no man can pluck them out of my Father's hand. That our lives are secure in Christ Jesus, they're in a covenantal relationship with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, and they can never be abandoned. And even if our life situations cause us to lose every single material possession that we ever have, yet, The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. My times are in thy hand.

Jesus is the one who is in control. We are called to deny ourselves, take up our cross and to follow Jesus. He is the one that goes before. He is the one who's at the helm of the ship, guiding and governing our lives. He's the one who leads us into the storms. He's the one that will lead us out of the storms. We are in his care and protection. But it is not wrong to pray and ask for help. My times are in thy hand. Deliver me from the hand of mine enemies and from them that persecute me. That's his prayer.

I acknowledge that everything that I'm going through is in your hands. But please, Help me. Please deliver me. If it is your will that you're able to shorten this difficult situation, then please help me. If not, then assist me to continue on in this trial. Make thy face to shine upon thy servant. Save me for thy mercy's sake. That was his desire. that in the storm, you can imagine the storm and the dark clouds and the wind and then he desires the sun to shine on him while he's in that storm.

That's not something that we, that is something that we should desire, to see the brightness of God, the presence of Christ in all our afflictions. And as he passes through this difficult experience, he says, show me your face. Show me your glory. Help me in this difficulty. Ultimately, time will continue moving on and time moved on for David. David, we know, is taken to glory. He's with the Lord forever. and ever and there will be that time when time will stop. As the Lord started the time, he set a timer for our lives and he set a timer for this world and when the Lord Jesus Christ comes again there will be time no longer. In Revelation 10 Verse six it says, and swear by him that lived forever and ever who created heaven and the things therein and the earth and the things that therein are and the sea and the things which are therein that there should be time no longer. We're at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ as the bodies are raised up from the grave and their souls, the departed souls enter into the bodies and as Christ comes to judge with his angels, time shall be no more. We will enter into the eternal state.

And although then our timer was set at conception, The time for our soul will never end. Our souls are immortal. Once the Lord has given us life, our spirits will never die. We will either live with Christ forever and ever, or we'll live rejected by him and cast into hell forever and ever. Though our bodies are corrupted by sin and have a time set on them, then we must die. Our body and soul will separate. Our bodies will be placed into the ground. But then on that day, when time shall be no more, body and soul will be reconciled. Time will stop. Then where will we be? Where will we be when time shall be no more.

My times are in thy hand. Well may we have that view of what it is to truly appreciate the time that the Lord has given to us and truly appreciate the frailty of our lives and truly appreciate that we are not guaranteed tomorrow. And that Jesus says, he that has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Today, if you hear his voice, harden not your heart. And if you are the Lord's, then be comforted by this fact, that my times, the events in my life are held in the hands of an almighty, sovereign, powerful God by which means that he will bring us safely through, through time and into eternity, where we will be with him forever and ever. May the Lord add his blessing. Amen.

Let's sing our final hymn.

167. Lord, speak to me that I may speak in living echoes of thy tone as thou hast sought, so let me seek thy erring children lost and lone. Hymns for Worship, 167, tune 435. As thou hast taught to men, they see.

? The wounded, the weak with fear ?
? O feed me, Lord, that I may feed ?
? Thy humbling burdens, O Lord, to bear ?
? Yes, Lord, it be ?
? I may stretch out a helping hand ?
? To rest my spirit at rest ?

I love this school, down to my very heart of gold. Just as the wind and weather, until thy missing face I see. Thy best hour.

Almighty God we pray that we may be helped to redeem the time of our lives knowing that the days are evil. We pray then Lord for that help to consider our end and the frailty of our lives and yet we thank thee Lord that our events, the times of our life are secure in thy hand. We pray then for that faith to commit our way unto the Lord, to trust also in thee that thou bring it to pass. Do dismiss us, we pray, with thy blessing.

And now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, the fellowship and communion of the Holy Spirit, to be with you each now and forevermore. Amen.