As the Lord helps me this evening,
I would like to draw your prayerful attention to particularly the
words you will find in verses 14 and 15 of this psalm. And they start with a but, a
contrast, something different than what's gone before. And
what had gone before was the slander and the fear and the
devising of David's enemies to take away his life. then in verse
14 it says, But I trusted in thee, O Lord. I said, Thou art
my God. My times are in thy hand. Deliver me from the hand of mine
enemies and from them that persecute me. So as we look at David's
trust in a difficult time, a time when things were going difficult
for him, it wasn't an easy time, and yet David puts his trust
in God. But I trusted in thee, O Lord,
I said thou art my God. He confessed that God was his
God, though he was in trouble, though there was many enemies.
and you see we think of that fear was on every side while
they took counsel together against me they devised to take away
my life we know there were times in David's life that this was
true when he was being chased by Saul persecuted by Saul but
also when his son Absalom was in rebellion against him seeking
to take the kingdom where there was those times when his enemies
were coming together and devising to take away his life. And if you looked at it on a
natural level, David could think, well, my times are in the hands
of the enemies. It's their, what their planning
and scheming is going to be what affects me. But you see, David
puts a contrast. But I trusted in thee, O Lord,
I said thou art my God. My times are in thy hands. And may this be an encouragement
for us in our lives when things are difficult, when it seems
that our hopes are being dashed and problems are arising and
those against us and those that are standing in our way have
such power and such control. And yet, you see, David recognises
that ultimately his enemies are not in charge. There's a precious
word in the Lamentations of Jeremiah. Lamentations 3 and verse 37,
it says, who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass when the
Lord commandeth it not? What a place of security this
is, to realise that our enemies cannot go beyond what God has
allowed them to do. You think of it with Job. God
put a bound with his enemies. First of all, they were not allowed
to touch his body, and then they were not allowed to kill him.
They went as far as they could, but they couldn't do it. They
couldn't destroy him ultimately. My times. are in thy hands, to
realise that we're in the hands of a heavenly friend. To be in
God's hands here, David clearly sees this as a place of comfort,
something to reassure him. You may have heard that Jonathan
Edwards, that famous preacher, preached a very well-known sermon
the title of which was Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. It was a sermon that was mightily
used to awaken many to the solemnity of being in the hands of an angry
God. Well, you might say that's very
opposite to our text. But you see, something had happened
in the life of David. And something has happened in
the life of all his people you see if you look in verse five
of this of this psalm we read into thine hand i commit my spirit
these are the words that jesus quoted uh on the cross the last
saying but then it says thou hast redeemed me oh lord god
of truth you see david had been redeemed and therefore those
hands that Sin is in a hand of an angry God that is something
fearful Our God is a consuming fire out of Christ almighty power
can do nothing but devour But you see when we are when we've
been redeemed when we've been brought back when we've come
with repentance and he has He has drawn us to himself come
unto me or either labor and a heavy laden and I will give you rest
and thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth.' And therefore
the hands that David speaks of here are hands of comfort, hands
of protection, hands that uphold him when all his enemies are
rallying against him. But I trusted in thee, O Lord,
I said thou art My God, this is something for faith to lay
hold on, that we may trust in God when all the things seem
to go against us, things come in our lives and it seems that our future hangs on on such a
brittle thread. It's just dependent on what comes
in what order and what opportunities comes if we're looking for a
job, which application comes in first and whether they get
back to you in time. And there seems so many things
that are all out of our control and it seems that our hands,
our lives are affected by so many other things which are out
of our control. And it might seem out of control,
but my times, or in thy hands. You see, the Lord Jesus recognized
this so many times in his life. When they tried to take him,
when he preached first at Nazareth, his time was not yet come. They couldn't take him and kill
him then. It was not his time. My times. are in thy hand, a
recognition that our lives are in the hand of God, and he is
working all things after the counsel of his own will to bring
us to that desired haven. My times are in thy hands. Those
who have come and fled for refuge, those that are not sinners in
the hands of an angry God, they have made peace with God through
the Lord Jesus Christ, through his finished And therefore these
hands now are those hands that nurture and support them. My
times are in thy hands. But the verse doesn't stop there.
It then says, deliver me from the hand of mine enemies and
from them that persecute me. So here we see the comfort of
knowing that our times are in his hands. But we are still to
pray. We are still to entreat the Lord. We're not to say, well, my times
are in his hands, so we just leave it and we don't pray about
it, we're not concerned about it. No, my times are in thy hand. Deliver me from the hand of mine
enemy. And so often we read of the of
God revealing himself in the way of a man with hands and feet
and eyes and face. We know that God is a spirit
and yet he often reveals himself in those ways that are similar
to the way we as human beings are. And how the picture is here
like as a father pitieth his children, picking his children
up with their hands and caring for them. Underneath are the
everlasting arms. It's all human language for something
that is far deeper and yet it gives that picture that we can
understand and how he cares for his people. My times are in thy
hands. And you see the Lord Jesus with
his hands. What He did. His hands, we read,
were used in creation. Thy hands hath made me and fashioned
me. He had those hands when he was
on this earth of healing. He put forth his hand and touched
them and saved them. He laid his hands on people to
bless them. But these same hands were the
hands that were bound in Gethsemane. His hands were bound. He had
done no evil, and yet he was going to stand in his people's
place. He was willing, he willingly allowed himself to be bound,
that he may be taken to Caiaphas. to be tried before the Jews and
then tried before the Gentiles on a mock trial and declared
to be completely innocent and yet condemned to death. And so
his hands then became pierced hands. They pierced my hands
and my feet. This hand that holds his people,
they're hands that have been pierced. he showed them his hands
and his feet. This is the one who carries his
people. He loves them, and David recognized
that this was where his safety was. My times are in thy hand. There's no security elsewhere.
There's all uncertainty and change and difficulties, but yet David
recognized that his times were ultimately in God's hands. And
that was such a comfort to David. He was able to lay hold upon
it. And he was able then to commit himself to the Lord. Like the
Lord Jesus did himself on the cross. Into thy hand I commit
my spirit. Committing all our souls for
time and eternity into the hand of God. And to recognize and
to acknowledge that my times, the times of my life, The places
that I'm going to go, the opportunities that God's going to give me are
in his hands. Oh, we can look at others and
think they're blocking my way. They're stopping me going forward. My times are in thy hands. He knoweth the way that I take
and when he hath tried me. I shall come forth as gold. So we see, and we have that lovely text in Isaiah,
I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands. His people are precious
to him. They're on his heart. He's graven
them in the palms of his hands. And therefore, you see, David
is not mistaken to put his trust in God. My times are in thy hand. And that's, in our pathways,
in the uncertainties that we each face, the things that we,
David had people rise up against him he never imagined would do.
His own son rose against him. And yet, ultimately, God was
with him and God restored him back to the throne when Absalom
was fighting against him and God brought him back and reinstated
him as king. My times are in thy hands. Realising that God is in control
and yet as we come together for prayer we're to pray We're not
to say, well my times are in thy hand, so no need to worry
about anything, we just go about our own way and we don't need
to communicate with God. No, my times are in thy hand,
deliver me from the hand of mine enemies. And what are those enemies? Well, the enemies, the world,
that is the system opposed to God, a godless world that rejects
the claims of God, the enemies. You see, deliver me from the
hands of mine enemies. We have the world, we have the
flesh, that is in our internal corruption, we each have sinful
hearts. Deliver me. from mine enemies. We have the devil, Satan, going
about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Deliver me
from mine enemies. We have that sin which does so
easily beset us. Deliver me from mine enemies. My times are in his hands. We
have that unbelief. Oh, in the city of man's soul,
unbelief that he could never quite be killed. He was always
lurking somewhere. unbelief. Deliver me from my
enemies that I may walk by faith. We have the enemies of false
teachers, those that teach a perverted gospel, a gospel that is not
according to the word of God. Deliver me from my enemies. And
then we think of what is described as the last enemy. That is death. My times are in thy hand. deliver me from the hand of mine
enemies. You see that the sting of death
has been taken out because he has gone before his people. He
has made a way and he is leading his people and bringing them
to an expected end. So David could say, my times
are in thine hands. Deliver me from the hand of mine
enemies. and from them that persecute me. May the Lord add his blessing.
Amen.