As the Lord may graciously help
me, I return your prayerful attention to the psalm that we read, Psalm
31 and the first part of verse 15. Psalm 31 and the first part
of verse 15. My times are in thy hand. Psalm 31 and the first part of
verse 15. This psalm was written by David. David, the sweet psalmist of
Israel, but one who also knew many adversities, who knew many
difficulties. While he was, before he came
to the throne, in the instances particularly when he was chased
and hounded by Saul, King Saul, And then after he came to the
kingdom, he also had many troubles and particularly after the sad
incident with Bathsheba, when the sword would not depart from
his house, he knew much trouble in his family and particularly
from Absalom, his son, who sought to take the kingdom unto himself. So the background in this psalm
is that David is in trouble. David, it's a psalm of him speaking
to God, but in great trouble. If you look in verse 9, have
mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am in trouble. Mine eye is consumed
with grief, yea, my soul and my belly. In verse 11, I was
a reproach among all mine enemies, but especially among my neighbors,
and a fear to mine acquaintances, they that did see me without
fled from me. And then I am forgotten as a
dead man out of mind, for I am like a broken vessel. David was in trouble. He felt
betrayed by those around him. He felt that he'd lost his support. And in many times in his life,
he was in situations like this. In verse 13, for I have heard
the slander of many. Fear was on every side while
they took counsel against me. They devised to take away my
life. David was being plotted against. As I say, this could have been
when Saul was chasing him out of jealousy. It could have been
also when Absalom was plotting against him how to overthrow
him when Ahithophel was giving counsel and Absalom was already
in Jerusalem. So there could have been various
times in David's life when this was true. And they were times
of trouble, times of difficulty. So the background of this psalm
is one of difficulty, and we come into difficulties at times.
It seems that things go badly against us at times. But David
in verse 14, there is a but, with all the troubles, but I
trusted in thee. It's really a confession of David's
stability in God, when all around him there are those plotting
and scheming against him, to overthrow him, to bring him to
naught, to go against him. And of course we have an adversary,
the devil, that goeth about as a roaring lion, seeking whom
he may devour. We have each of us an adversary
in Satan, accusing us. He's called the accuser of the
brethren. But I trusted in Thee, O Lord,
I said Thou art my God. So this confession of faith and
the stability of it was the Lord. Then coming to what we have named
as a text, My times are in Thy hand. You see if we look earlier
in the chapter we read of people plotting against him, we read
people of slandering him, that means making false allegations
against him, putting people against David and giving bad publicity
for him so he would lose all his followers. And you would
think naturally if you thought of this that therefore David's
future was very much at the mercy of these people that were plotting
against him, these people that were slandering him, these people
that were plotting to take away his life. These were the people
who held the power, you might think, in David's life. But you see, we have in verse
15 quite a different view on the matter than what our natural
minds would think. David makes this bold statement,
my times are in thy hand. They're not in the people that
are scheming and plotting. They're not in those that are
slandering me. They're not in those that have
been unfaithful to me. All these things have happened,
but my times are not in their hands. Because my times are in
the hand of my God." And what a blessing in our lives, in the
sorrows and in the joys that come into our pathway, that we
can realise that God is the prime mover in all things. Yes, he
has people that are used against us at times and those that will
do us good at times, but who is behind it all? You see, in Psalm 145, we have these words,
Thou openest thine hand. Psalm 145 verse 16, 145 and verse
16, Thou openest thine hand and satisfyeth the desire of every
living thing. God does it. Not man, God opens his hands. So in the Providences we read
that God seteth up one and puteth down another. My times are in
thy hand. But we look at it naturally and
we think, no, it's this other person. It's this boss that I
have. It's this person that's such an enemy, an adversary to
me. And they are likely to cause
my downfall and to overthrow me. But David says, no. We read
elsewhere that no weapon that is formed against thee shall
prosper. You see, the Lord is able to overthrow and able to
be more powerful than our greatest enemy. This is a comfort, you
see, to the Lord's people when they make this, their true statement
of faith, but I trusted in thee, O Lord. I said thou art my God. My times are in thy hands. This is a place of comfort for
a believer, a place of security. Of course, you might know that
Jonathan Edwards, one of his famous sermons that he preached,
which was greatly used for the salvation of many, was a very
solemn sermon that had the title, Sinners in the Hand of an Angry
God. And it was speaking of how God
has all people in his hand and all have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. And what a solemn, what a terrible
thing it is to be in the hand of God. Well, you might say that's
very different than the text that you've just quoted. My times
are in thy hand. You said that was a comfort.
And now you're saying to be in the hand of God could be a terrible
thing. Well, you see, if you look in verse 5 of the psalm
that we read, we have David's making this statement, into thine
hand I commit my spirit. Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord
God of truth. You see, this is the key. This
is the difference between Jonathan Edwards' sermon, Sinners in the
Hand of an Angry God, and my times are in thy hand. You see, out of Christ, almighty
power can do nothing but devour. To be in God's hand and to be
a sinner and to be one that's come short of the glory of God,
one who's a rebel, one who's far off from God, who desires
not the knowledge of God's ways, to be in God's hand will be something
which we shall try and run away from. It will be a most fearful
thing to fall into the hands of the living God, we read. Well
the vital difference then is, have we been redeemed? Have we
been brought back? Has the price of our redemption
been paid? That sin, have we come to confess
that we're sinners? Come to confess that we personally
have come short of the glory of God and therefore we are subject to the wrath of God because
of our sin and yet We come seeking mercy, seeking that the Lord
would have mercy upon us. Come unto me, all ye that are
weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. May we then be
amongst those that have come, have come and sought for mercy,
sought for forgiveness, confessed our sins, and realised the preciousness
of redemption, to be brought back. to God through the Red
Sea of his own blood. So for the child of God then,
the hand of God, is a place of comfort, a place of security,
because the Lord Jesus has paid the penalty. He has stood between
us and an angry God. He's stood in the breach. He
has paid the price that was due for our sin, and therefore now
He is our friend. He is our Redeemer. He is the
one that seeks communion and union with his Bride, the Church.
He seeks the Bride, and if you look in the Song of Solomon,
there's such a loving relationship between the Bride and the Bridegroom,
and both admire each other. It's strange perhaps to us to
think that the Lord Jesus should ever admire us, but He has given
us a beauty not our own. He has made us, we read, to be
conformed to the image of his Son and therefore there's a beauty
that he has put upon us and he delights in that beauty. So my times are in thy hand,
the hand of God. The hand of God that keeps us
and upholds us and preserves us. As I said in the times, he
opened his hand and satisfied the desire of every living thing. He can supply our needs. He can
give out of his bounty, out of his fullness. But obviously there's
also the times of adversity, the times of difficulty, the
times of reproof. the times when we need correcting. And we read in Romans 8 verse
28, and we know that all things work together for good. to them
that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose. Those who are redeemed, those
who have been called out of nature's darkness into His marvellous
light, they've come, they've confessed their sins, they've
found forgiveness, they've found mercy. And now they seek to follow
this one who is despised and rejected of men, but that one
who is precious in their sight. But then we read in verse 30
of Romans 8, moreover whom he did, sorry, verse 29, for whom
he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed
to the image of his son. that he might be the firstborn
among many brethren. And you see, this is all part
of this text. My times are in thy hand. If we are to be one who is going
to be going to glory, we need to be made right for glory. We need to be prepared. We need
to have a new heart. We need to have new desires. My times, the times I pass through,
the things that come into my life, the sorrows, the joys,
my times are in Thy hand. They're not in my enemy's hands.
It looks like it. I look on and I see it's that
person. That person's got it in for me,
perhaps you might say. And they just make my life so
difficult. And if it wasn't for that person,
my life would be so, so different. The believer, and David, and
David was saying this in difficult circumstances. He wasn't saying
this when he didn't have any troubles. My times are in thy
hands. So it's faith to look beyond
the individuals that are causing us difficulty and to realize
that God is above them. Wherein they dealt proudly, he
was above them. Just another example of this
in the life of the Lord Jesus, John chapter 7 verse 30. Then they sought to take him,
but no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet
come. My times are in thy hand. And of course, the Lord Jesus
that we read earlier in that verse five, into thine hand I
commit my spirit. Very similar words were uttered
by our Lord Jesus Christ, the seventh saying on the cross,
before he gave up the ghost, into thy hand I commend my spirit. So he committed his spirit to
his father, he committed his way to his father, And we read
that they sought to take him but no man laid hands on him.
It doesn't make sense in a sense that they sought to take him,
that was their desire, but no man laid hands on him. They couldn't
do what they wanted to do because his hour was not yet come. You see God's above them. wherein
they dealt proudly, they wanted their own way, they wanted their
own ends, they were dealing wickedly, and of course we see that so
clearly when it comes to the cross of Jesus Christ, and all
that happened there. We see the wickedness of man,
it seems unleashed completely. and completely free to do the
most wicked things they could to our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ. And you might say, my times are
in thy hands. But this is, the disciples thought
this had gone out of control. Something had gone really wrong
here. This was the one that should have redeemed Israel. This has
gone so differently than we expected. But no, my times are in thy hand. And they had to prove that. And as Jesus spoke with them
on the Emmaus road, ought not Christ to have suffered these
things and to have entered into his glory? And beginning at Moses
and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures
the things concerning himself. It was it was right. Yes, man
had done his worst. Man had done all he could against
the Saviour, but it was in God's hands. We read that also in the
Acts of the Apostles when Peter was speaking on the day of Pentecost. These two sides to the same thing
really. Acts 2 verse 23. Him being delivered
by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God this is
speaking of Christ, ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified
and slain. So there we have the determinate
counsel of God in one side but on the other hand you have the
wickedness of man and God is graciously orchestrating it and
not that he is the author of the evil but he is over them
wherein they dealt proudly he was above them. May we then take
this to heart tonight. My times are in thy hand. There's so many things going
on in our nation. There's so many uncertainties, but ultimately
our times are in the hand of God. He is majestically in control. Many would look on and not see
it, and without faith we would not see it. May we be amongst
those who see and desire the knowledge of His ways, desire
to know Him, whom to know is life eternal. My times are in
Thy hand. And you see, sometimes We might
have something in our hand and somebody might come along and
steal it from us. Or we might lose it or we might
drop it. We might lose that which we were
holding. Well, we have in John's Gospel, chapter 10, we have Jesus
speaking about this in verse 28. Verse 27, My sheep
hear My voice, I know them, and they follow Me, and I give unto
them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any
man pluck them out of My hand. Nobody will be able to steal
these people out of My hand. Nobody. I and my Father are one. And then he says in verse 29,
My Father which gave them me is greater than all, and no man
is able to pluck them out of my Father's hands. So we have
here, you see, the strength of the hand of God. He, David, perceives that his
times are in the hand of God. But that hand is a strong hand,
a loving hand. And you see, it's also a tender
hand. We read, like as a father pitieth
his children, in Psalm 103 we read this, so the Lord pitieth
them that fear him, for he knoweth our frame, he remembereth. that
we are dust. My times are in thy hands. What a blessing to know this
in our lives, to look round in our pathway tonight, to look
round at what's happened today, to look round at what's intending
to be happening in the future and to realise that it isn't
down to random chance, it isn't down to the influence of a few
headstrong people, it is ultimately in the hand of God. And God is
doing these things for a specific purpose and with a specific end
in view. He's doing this, you see, all
things work together for good to them that love God, to those
who are called according to His purpose. The analogy is with
the temple, when the temple of Solomon was being built. It was
that the stones were prepared in the quarry, a long way away,
but they were prepared completely, so that by the time they got
to the temple, they just had to be put in place. And the picture
is, we think of this spiritually, the Church of God, here below,
a long way from heaven, is being prepared for that heavenly building,
that heavenly temple. that it might be a people who
do glorify God continually. And God is doing this so that
my times are in his hand. The times of sorrow, the times
of joy, the times of instruction, the times of correction. My times
are not random. They're not just a chaotic chance. There is a purpose. There is
a purpose for everything under the heaven. a time and a purpose. Solomon spoke of this in the
Ecclesiastes. My times are in thy hand. And what a mercy then that as
we've read that God's hand is so strong. He is able to hold
his people. He's able to instruct his people.
He's able to bring his people to an expected end. See when
I was preaching recently on the life of David as a type of the
Lord Jesus in his kingdom and how he, in many ways, he was
that first king that ruled in Jerusalem. Saul did not reign
in Jerusalem, but David did. He was that first king and so
often when Jesus came, when it was prophesied, he shall sit
on the throne of his father David. There was a picture of David
being that king and being that great one who Jesus was going
to be the fulfilment of, to be that king of kings and that lord
of lords. And David had his kingdom, and
under him he had those who were the generals of his army, particularly
there was Joab, who was his nephew, his sister's son, Zeruiah's son. And it seems that Joab and his
brothers were very hard men. And David said, ye sons of Zeruiah
are too hard for me. I'm all, even though I'm in my
kingdom, I don't feel secure, I'm paraphrasing it, but because
of these sons of Zeruiah, they're too strong for me. And on three
occasions, Joab specifically went against David's commands
and killed those that David never intended to be killed. One of
them was Abner, the general from Saul's army, the other was Absalom,
and the third one was Amasa, who was who was general of Absalom's
army when he was revolting against David. These specific people,
the reason I'm saying this is that if you look in the life
of David, David, that one who portrayed that love and mercy
in many ways, you look in the life of David, he had a real
concern for Absalom. Absalom, his son, his rebellious
son, The one that acted so wickedly and didn't deserve David's favour
at all in so many ways. He acted so unkindly to his father
and yet David had thoughts of love and mercy and kindness towards
Absalom. He sought to bring Absalom back. He sought to bring Absalom to
repentance so that he may stop his evil deeds and no doubt come
into fellowship once again. with the king and with God, so
David so desired. But you see, David had these
thoughts of mercy towards Absalom, and when Absalom rose up against
him in wickedness, in rebellion, he sought to take his father's
throne by force. He didn't care really what became
of his father as long as he got the throne and the power and
the glory. David, when he was telling his
generals to instruct, to go into the battle, to fight, to save
his kingdom from being overrun by Absalom, he said to them,
be very careful with the young man with Absalom. Deal gently
with him for my sake. He sought, you see, to give Absalom
that time and that space and that opportunity. repent and
that he may not be cut off. And of course, you know, in the
case of David, David was bitterly disappointed, bitterly disappointed. Joab, when he found Absalom,
went straight against David's commands and killed Absalom. And we have then that lament
of David, Absalom, Absalom, O my son, Absalom, would God I had
died for thee. Well, you see, we have a greater
than David in our Lord Jesus Christ. My times are in thy hand. David sought to have mercy on
Absalom. But he was frustrated by Joab. Joab's turning away and undermining
what he'd been specifically told to do. And therefore, David's
thoughts and plans of mercy towards Absalom were thwarted. and were ruined, and Absalom
was killed. My times are in thy hands. We have a greater than David. We have one that cannot be thwarted
by wicked men, one that is almighty and able to save unto the uttermost
all that come unto God by him. You see, the Lord Jesus says,
in his high priestly prayer, of all that thou hast given,
have I lost none? He was able to save all that
the Father had given him. He had lost none. And he was
able to preserve them and able to keep them. And there couldn't
be a Joab in God's army that would overthrow his purposes
towards his people. What a mercy! My times are in
thy hands. There cannot be a joab, there
cannot be a joab in your life that can stop God from having
mercy upon you, from God from showing his thoughts of love
and mercy towards you. Because God is almighty, God
is over all. He has the hearts of all men
in his hand. He is able to stop the wicked in their ways. Now
that does not mean that wicked men will not do wicked things.
But you see, if you take what happened at Calvary, you had
wickedness going to its extreme at Calvary. And yet what was
the result? It was the determinate counsel
and foreknowledge of God. that Christ, for man, should
die. And it made a way for the great
plan of salvation. It made a way that we should
be saved because of what that had taken place. So may we be
encouraged then by this thought that our times, my times, and
may it be personal you see, my times, not somebody else's, although
it's true for them perhaps too, but my times, personal, my God. As David had said, but I trusted
in thee, O God. It's a personal confession and
you see true religion is personal, it's between your soul and God.
My times are in thy hands. the times of sorrow, the times
of sadness, the times of joy, the times when we can know the
Saviour's love, all must come, and last, and end, as shall please
my heavenly Friend. May we realise then in our lives
that God opens His hand, satisfies the desire of every living thing,
gives us that strength sufficient for the day, gives us that food
to eat convenient for us, and as we seek to come and read his
word we find that It's a great blessing when that Word of God
nourishes us and enables us to grow under the preaching of the
Word. It's a great blessing when we
realize that the ministry comes where we are. It's a wording
season. There's a flowing together. My
times are in thy hand. God is not random. He is able to know exactly the
right time and the right place to give the Word. But I trusted
in Thee, O Lord, I said, Thou art my God." And then David's
then, this great comfort, it is a comfort to us. It is a comfort
to me when you think of all that lies before, the uncertainty,
the unknown, and this time of the year particularly, where
are we to preach, to book up for the next year, what will
they have me to do? You think of all the uncertainties
and you want to know what the Lord would have you do and where
the Lord would have you be. And you think naturally it lies
in the hands of those who have asked you and those who have
written letters and so on. But can we not look beyond them? Can we not look and realise that
God is in control? God is ultimately doing all after
the counsel of his own will. We think then in all our pathway,
my times are in thy hand. What wilt thou have me to do? We want to do our lives, we want
to live our lives to God. And you see, this then is a cause
for us to give praise to God. To praise God. My times are in
thy hand. God is in control. And God is
working everything for my spiritual and my eternal good. He's working
everything to bring it to an expected end. He's working everything
so that I may come as a shock of corn ripe for the harvest. What a blessing. My times are
in Thy hand. To have that serenity, to realize
that He is in control, He knows what He is doing, He is God,
and we are then to live by faith and to walk by faith,
trusting that the God that has given us all that he has is able
to go with us. He has promised to provide. May
he teach me to resign. When a sense of sin and thrall
forced me to the sinner's friend, he engaged to manage all by the
way. and to the end. Well, may we then be amongst
those who praise the Lord this night for the fact that our times
are in his hand. And may we be also concerned
to know that we have that true relationship with him, so that
he is no longer a judge, But He is our Saviour, because out
of Christ He is only our Judge. And to be in the hand of God
and we sinners will mean destruction. But in Christ we have been forgiven. May we then come seek for this
mercy, seek for forgiveness, and then seek to live our lives
in the hand. of a merciful and gracious God
that cannot do but what is right, and must be righteous still. May the Lord add His blessing. Amen.