Psalm 90 Lord thou has been our
dwelling place in all generations before the mountains were brought
forth or ever thou hast formed the earth and the world even
from everlasting to everlasting thou art God thou turnest man
to destruction and sayest return ye children of men for a thousand
years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past and
as a watch in the night, thou carryest them away as with a
flood. They are as a sleep. In the morning
they are like grass, which groweth up. In the morning it flourisheth,
and groweth up. In the evening it is cut down
and withereth. For we are consumed by thine
anger, and by thy wrath are we troubled. Thou hast set our iniquities
before thee, our secret sins, in the light of thy countenance.
For all our days are passed away in thy wrath, we spend our years
as a tale that is told. The days of our years are threescore
years and ten, and if by reason of strength they be fourscore
years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow, for it is soon
cut off and we fly away. Who knoweth the power of thine
anger? Even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath. So teach
us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Return, O Lord, how long, and
let it repent thee, concerning thy servants. Oh, satisfy us
early with thy mercy, that we may rejoice and be glad all our
days. Make us glad according to the
days wherein thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein we
have seen evil. Let thy work appear unto thy
servants, and thy glory unto their children. And let the beauty
of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish thou the work of
our hands upon us. Yea, the work of our hands establish
thou in. Our Father, bless your word that
we have just read. Give us spiritual understanding
and nourishment out of your word this evening. Help us as much
as is possible to forget the cares of this life and to listen,
to listen to our God speak. Lord, speak to our hearts and
teach us, be our teacher this evening, instruct us and grant
unto us the spirit of worship. Let us worship you tonight, Lord,
in spirit and in truth. Lord, thank you for your many
mercies. They are too numerable to reckon up in order. All the
blessings, the spiritual blessings that we need, you have provided,
Lord. And all of our temporal blessings
you have provided. Thank you. Oh, help us to be
a thankful people. And we pray for those, Father,
in this congregation, those who are sick and afflicted, we pray
for them. Pray your hand of mercy be upon them. and that you would
make them to know that thy grace is sufficient. In the name of
Jesus Christ, our Lord, we pray. Amen. Turn back to Psalm 90. I titled the message, life the brevity of life And that's Moses speaks of that
quite a bit here in this song Now this song this prayer as
is a prayer of Moses the man of God It's concerning Israel in the
wilderness But there's a lot of benefit
in it. Spiritual benefit for us. I have been real blessed
in just reading this psalm over and over. These things are written
for our learning. Also, I like to read the prayers
of the saints of old. I like to read their prayers
in the scripture. They show me that they had the
same needs as I. They had the same needs. They
live on the same earth. They deal with the same things
I deal with. And I like to, when I read prayers
like this and other prayers in the scriptures, I like to look,
stand back and look how they approach God. You know, you go
over in the book of Job, and look how he lays out his prayers
before God, speaking to God as a son would speak to a father,
with reverence and respect, but he opens his heart up. God knows
my heart anyway, so why not open it up? It's not like I'm keeping
anything from Him. So I like to read these prayers,
and I like to see how God answers their prayers. You know, the
advantage you and I have is we get to read the whole story.
You know, in the book of Job, you know, Job didn't know what
was all going on there, did he? He said, I think in chapter 10,
he said, I'm full of confusion. But you and I have the advantage
of sitting down and reading the whole chapter from beginning
to end. It's like watching a story unfold. But Job had to live it. He had to live it, but we have
the privilege of watching their lives and we get to watch and
see their faith and their lack of faith. They're just like me,
just like me. Now, this is a prayer of Moses,
the man of God. He says, Lord, thou has been
our dwelling place in all generations. I think when Vicki and I were
first married, I forget how many times we moved when we were very
first married. You know, we rented when we were first married and
we would move to this place, this place, this place, this
place. We were a lot of different places there in those early years.
But, you know, our dwelling place, our dwelling place has always
been in the Lord. Our dwelling place has always
been in him. I was in Christ before I came into this world.
I was in Christ before I even knew Christ. God put me in Christ,
chose me in Christ before the foundation of the world. Is that
not right? He put me in Christ, chose me in Christ. He's been
our dwelling place in all generations. God has always been the dwelling
place of His people. Whether they're in Egypt, whether
they're in Canaan, whether they are in Spring Lake, the whole
church, right now, right now, the whole church is gathered
together in Jesus Christ, right now, the whole church. It's not,
you know, as time goes by, then some are added. No, the whole
church dwells in Him. The church has always been assembled
together in the Lord Jesus Christ. And now here in verse two, he's
gonna tell us, speak of the eternality of God in contrast to man's brevity
as we go on through this now. And he says here, you've been
our dwelling place throughout all generations, before the mountains
were brought forth, wherever thou hast formed the earth and
the world, before God gave birth to them, Even from everlasting
to everlasting thy God. Our God, Moses is saying, has
no beginning. Now if my God or your God has
a beginning, we've got the wrong one. He said he's from everlasting
to everlasting. That's over our head. I need
a God that's over my head. I don't need one on my level.
God said, my thoughts are higher than your thoughts, my ways than
your ways. I don't need a God whose thoughts are like mine
and whose ways are like mine. I need God who's from everlasting
to everlasting, whose ways are higher than mine and his thoughts
higher than mine. On another level, on a completely
other level. He is God from everlasting to
everlasting. He never became God at any point
in time. He is God and he's always been
God. Now, in verse three he says,
thou turnest man to destruction and sayest, return ye children
of men. God turns man back to the dust. That's what that word means.
You turn him back to destruction, you turn him back to dust. From
where he came, because of sin, God turns man back to dust. It
says over in Genesis 3, 19, for dust thou art and unto dust thou
shalt return. It says the body goes back to
the earth and it goes back to dust and the spirit goes back
to God who gave it. God formed man. Now, think about
this. I was thinking about this as
I've been reading this. You know, God said, let the earth
bring forth. And it brought forth trees and
it brought forth plants and he would tell it to what to bring
forth and it would bring it forth. But he formed man from the dust. Our bodies are made of dust.
That's why when you have a blood test, you got iron, you got magnesium,
you have all these chemicals that the earth has because your
body's made from the dust. And it's going to go back to
that. It's going to go back to dust. He said, thou turnest man back
to dust. And you say to the children of
men, You say it's thy return. Return to what? Return to the
dust. And that's because of Adam's
sin. We have to die. Now, our times are in his hand. Our times are in the hand of
God and by his word, by his word we came into this world and by
his word we are taken out of it. Aren't we? I don't know what
means God will use to take us out. But I do know this, by his
word I came and by his word I go. When he gives that word, when
he speaks, he commands life to be and he commands life to leave. That's when I die. That's when
I'll leave this world. When he commands me to die and
leave this life, Cause of sin, man has to die. He's got to return
to the dust. And this shows us the brevity
of it and the frailty of it. We're so frail. You know, when
you're young, you think you're so strong, don't you? You think
you're just so... The next thing you know, age
takes over and gravity takes over and you're dragging everything.
That's what it does. That's what sin does to us. That's
exactly what sin does to us. It takes us to the grave But it also could mean this when
he says this And says return you children of men. God can
take a man to the grave And then bring him back I mean give him
his health back You know, I was thinking when I read that I thought
of I thought of Todd Nyberg When he was just a young man, I remember
this. I went down to the hospital once and visited him while he
was there. They were ready to make his arrangements. They were
ready to make his arrangements. But God said, return. Return. And then there's spiritually.
Spiritually, we are dead in trespasses and sins. We are children of
wrath by nature, even as others. And what does God do? He commands
life. He calls us to himself by his
grace, by his spirit. He calls us. Return! Return. Like he did Hezekiah. Remember
Hezekiah? God added 15 years to his life.
He was going to die. Hezekiah prayed and God added
15 years to his life. But in order for us to understand
something of time, we have to understand something of God. He says in verse four, for a
thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it's passed. What's time to God? What's time
to God? And as a watch in the night. Time is for us. Time to be born. Time to die. As soon as we come
into this world, we are on the clock. We are on the clock as
soon as we come into this world. And I believe, I have no doubt
that our life is measured by the second. It's actually measured
by the breath. When you take that last breath,
and it doesn't come back. It doesn't come back. But with
God, God is timeless. God is timeless. A thousand years
in his sight is just like yesterday when it's over. How fast was
yesterday? It's gone. My dad said once,
and I've said this before, but he said one time, looking back
on his life and the time we lived, you know, we were kids growing
up on a farm. We were all there. His steps
were buttered. I mean, you know, he said, it
seems like a dream. He said, it seemed like just
a dream. At your age now, how fast has
it gone? But with God, listen, with God,
a thousand years is nothing. With God, a thousand years is
nothing. You know what that's like? It's
like saying this. The earth was created, what,
about 6,000 years ago, the heavens and the earth and Adam, and there's
about 6,000 years ago. With God, that's six days ago.
Hasn't even been a full week yet. Seven days make a week. With God, it hasn't even been
a week. Now with us, we think it's a long time. Just 6,000 years ago, this earth
was perfect. When I think of it that way,
that's not that long ago. But with God, it's just six days
ago. But in time, listen, in time,
he says in verse five, thou carriest them away as with a flood. You
carry the ungodly away to their eternal home as with a flood. They are as a sleep or a dream. A dream is just like that. In
the morning, they are like grass which grows up He's saying here,
time, like a flood, carries all her sons away. It just sweeps. You've seen devastating floods.
You've seen them. Flash floods come on, especially
back, you know, at home when you got mountains and it comes
down, and boy, then creeks come up and, I mean, they're over
the road. And it just, water just washes it all away. And
he's saying here, And as compared to this time like a flood, it
takes everyone away eventually. Eventually it takes us all away
when our time comes. And man in his youth and health
looks so strong. He looks so strong. It's so impressive. You know, some of these athletes,
you know, especially nowadays with all the scientific things
they've got in the way you exercise and work out. Man, I mean, they're
just, they're just chiseled. I saw, I was trying to think
of that bodybuilder. Anyway, he was like Mr. Olympia
five, six, seven times. And now he can't even, he can't
walk. He can't walk. And he's just,
I mean, he's a mess. He's an absolute mess. Time. Time. Sometimes on the computer I'll
have you saying, I see it on the, if I'm looking on YouTube,
they'll say, before and after pictures, you know, I show an
actor or actress. And they'll have one that's young
and they'll have one that's old. And you go like, that's the same
person. Really? That's what it does to us. It
sweeps, we look so healthy and strong. In the morning, he says
there in verse six, in the morning it flourishes. It flourishes,
it grows up. In the evening it's cut down
and withered away. It withers. Charles Spurgeon
said it's green in the morning and hay at night. I watch him
cut this field over here. Green as can be. They cut that
thing down and in just a few days it's brown. That's man. You know, like I told you many
times before, there's a spiritual implication in all of creation.
And here he's using grass. I mean he's using what? He's
using something we walk on. He's using something we mow and
the animals eat. He's saying this is man. This
is man. In the morning it flourishes.
In his youth he flourishes. He's vigorous and he's got it
all going for him. He grows up. He's in the morning
of health and in the evening of old age comes around he withers. The old age and pain. And then
man dies. He dies in the flood of time.
The flood of time just washes him away. Here's the history
of man. Charles Spurgeon gave this. He
said, the history of man and the history of grass is tied
together. It is sown, grown, blown, mown,
and gone. There you go. That's it. That's
it. How great a change is made in
man in such a short time. In such a short time. I remember
my parents when they were strong. I mean they were strong and young
and now they're weak and feeble and can't hardly get along now
at all. Sin and age has taken its course. The morning saw the blooming
and the evening sees the withering. Now it says in verse seven, for
we are consumed by thine anger. Now he's talking here, Moses
is talking specifically about the children in the wilderness.
Because how many of them died? They entered not in because of
unbelief. Only two of the original group went into the land of Canaan.
You know, their march, their march through the wilderness
is marked by their graves and their tombs. They didn't enter
the land of Canaan. You know, God told them when
they went in there, their shoes wouldn't even wax old, didn't he? Their
shoes and their clothes wouldn't even wax old. And yet, what happened?
They died in the wilderness. Why? Unbelief. That's why they
died. They didn't die because they
were 40 years in the wilderness. It took them too long to get
there. No, that's not. That's not it. They died because
they didn't believe God. And God took them. And He took
them in wrath. Took most of them in wrath. Because I know this. Unbelievers
do not die under the wrath of God. Or believers. Believers
do not die under the wrath of God. Unbelievers do, but believers
don't. That's why I know he's not talking about believers. They couldn't do it. Believers
are not consumed by God's wrath because Jesus Christ took their
wrath. Jesus Christ is burnt ground. Where God's wrath is burned once,
it will not burn again. He took the wrath of God. Believers
experienced the rod of chastening, but not the rod of wrath. Not
the rod of wrath, just the rod of chastening. But those who die in unbelief,
they are consumed by God's anger, and by wrath are they troubled.
And look at this in verse 8. Thou hast set our iniquities
before thee, our secret sins, in the light of thy countenance.
God's gonna deal with every sin. Even, he says here, secret sins.
The ones that you don't want no one to know about. The ones that you think are in. I heard a lady say one time,
her and her husband got married, she said, we told everything
to each other. You did not. You did not. And you're still married? You
did not. And it happened. But I tell you
what, God knows our secret sins. Because when we talk about secrets,
we talk about sins, we're talking about something we've done. There's no way we've told each
other everything we've thought. The thoughts we've had? No, you
can't express that. You can't do it. That's why I
know you've never told everything. Because only God knows that.
God knows our thoughts. He knows our secret sins. We
don't want nobody to know our thoughts. We don't want nobody
to know. He knows them. And it says here, Thou hast set
our iniquities before thee. And they're going to be dealt
with either at Calvary or in Hell. One way or the other, every
idle word, every thought, every action is going to be dealt with
by God. And I have a just punishment attached to it. It is only by the blood of Jesus
Christ, only by the blood of atonement that we can escape
the wrath of God. That's the only way. That's the
only way. And he says here, for all our
days are passed away in thy wrath. This is how I know he's not talking
about believers right here, because that's not subtle. We spend our
years as a tale that's told. Their journey, as I said, was
marked by graves in that wilderness. And their lives, listen, listen
to this. And we spend our years as a tale that's told, as a gossip
story. I looked at that and I read some
things on that and some stories, but I thought about this. There is nothing that flies by
faster than gossip. There's nothing travels faster
than gossip. You want to talk about the brevity of life, you
can compare it to a gossip story that's been told. It gets told
today, then tomorrow, before you know it, it's all over the
community. I mean, it goes that fast. And he says, we spend our years
as a tale, like a gossip story that's already been told many,
many times over. And our years fly by. Someone
said this, and I thought this was good. Our years fly by faster
than a thought. I thought, wow, that is true. Our years fly by
faster than a thought. And then he gives us a reminder
here in verse 10 of the brevity of life. The days of our years
are three score years and 10. And if by reason of strength,
they be four score years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow,
for it is soon cut off and we fly away. What is 70 years to
eternity? It's not even like a grain of
sand on the beach. All the beaches to eternity.
Eternity is timeless. It's timeless. If we live longer than 70 years,
they are spent, he said, in labor and sorrows. I've seen this.
At my age now, you know, I've seen my parents and others grow
old and I've seen this. I've seen the body break down.
I've seen it, you know, people that live to be old. I've seen
the body break down and it's just labor and sorrow. It's labor
and pain. It's to the doctor, to the doctor,
to the doctor. That's just the way it goes in
this life. It's what he says, if by reason
of strength we live to be 80, it's still labor and sorrow. Sooner or later this human life
is cut off and like a bird, he says, therefore soon it's cut
off and fly away. Like a bird, we fly away. I think of it as a believer.
I think of it this way, and I've thought of it this way for some
time. But I think in that hour of death, it's like a bird being
let out of a cage. Because this body is a body of
death. This body I'm walking around in is a body of death.
It's dying. And there's a sense, there's
a sense in which I feel like I'm trapped in this body of death. For a while I am. I've got to
live in it. I've got to deal with it. I've
got to deal with that old man. I've got to walk around with that
old man. And he stinks. Like Lazarus, he's been in the
great four days and he stinketh. But one day, one day, and this
is how, this is where, especially us getting older, this is where
our minds ought to be. One day that God's going to open
the cage and we're going to fly away. And we're going to fly
away to glory. We're going to be in his presence.
But now those who believe not, They're gonna be under God's
wrath. There's a real, and I was trying
to think how to say this, and I think this is one of the great
tools of Satan in our day, in preaching. Always preaching of
the love of God, the love of God, the love of God. And God
is love in Christ. But now I'm telling you, outside
of Jesus Christ, I have no good news for anybody. The good news
is in the Son of God. And I'm not going to stand and
talk to a bunch of rebels that do not believe God and hate God.
And I'm not going to stand there and say, God loves you and wants
to save you. Here's what I'm going to say.
Listen, John 3, 36. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son shall
not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. God's wrath
is on you, not His love. If you are outside of Christ,
you believe not on Christ, here's what I have to say, God's wrath
is on you. Now, if you love Christ, you
believe on Christ, God's love's on you. God's love's on you. God's love doesn't exist for
anybody outside of Jesus Christ. Now, he says here, Verse 11,
now who knoweth the power of thine anger? Even according to
thy fear, so is thy wrath. Who knows the power of thine
anger? Who among the sons of men knows
the, who knows the power of God's anger? No one, for this place
would be packed. More afraid of COVID than God. Isn't that amazing? That's just
astounding. That's astounding to me. You know, COVID does not have
wrath in it. You know, you die, God took you.
That's what he used to take you. But now God, listen, who knows
the power of thine anger? Listen, there is one person who
knows the absolute power of God's anger, Jesus Christ, but nobody
else. I mean, people would literally
be knocking these doors down to get in here. They wouldn't
let me sleep over that night. They'd be wanting me to tell
them. Tell them of Christ. Tell them who saves. Tell them
the old, old story. But people aren't afraid of God.
The general public out there, they have no fear of God's wrath. They have no fear of God's wrath.
I'll tell you one of the ways you can tell they have no fear
of God's wrath. They have no fear of the law
of the land, period. I mean, when you see people that have
no fear of the law, well, you know they have no fear of God.
You know they have no fear of God. That's a good evidence of
it. In this life, no man or woman
can have a full sense of God's wrath. You can't even listen.
You cannot even have an exaggerated sense of God's wrath. You can't
exaggerate it enough. You can't exaggerate it enough. There's just no words for it.
There's no words for it. There's no imagination for it. And that being so, here's what
we need. So teach us to number our days
that we may apply our hearts to wisdom. That wisdom there
is the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the wisdom of God. That's
what He's talking about. He's not talking about just being
wise in this world, but He's talking about being wise in Christ. And I thought of this when I
was reading this over and over. I thought, He's teaching me now. He's teaching us now. Can we
hear the lesson? Do we get it yet? Let's not go
out that door and forget what we've heard. Let's not forget
the instructions that we are hearing. This man prayed to God,
and God has written it down for our learning. And notice he says
here, he said, teach us to number our days. You notice he didn't
say years? Who said you were going to live
another year? Who said you were going to live to be 80, 90? Who
said you were going to live that long? God didn't. I mean, we don't have any words.
My name's not written down there. John Chapman's gonna live to
be 90. I don't know. I don't know. I know God knows.
Listen to this in Job 14.5. Seeing his days are determined,
man's days are determined, the number of his months are with
thee. His days are determined and the
number of his months. He don't even say years. Even
there he doesn't. Thou hast appointed his bounds. Now listen. God, he says you
have appointed his bounds, man's bounds, you have appointed his
bounds that he cannot pass. It's like the sea, God says to
the sea, hither shall thy waves come and no further. I don't
care how long a man tries to live, I don't care how healthy
he tries to live, he's gonna die. He's gonna die. It may have been a plane crash,
car crash. He's gonna die. He's not gonna
pass the bounds. He's not gonna pass the boundary
line. You know, there's boundary lines. He's not gonna step one foot
over the boundary line that God has allotted. And men don't fear God. They
die every day. People go to funerals every day. every day. You know, tomorrow,
I thought of this, tomorrow is not going to come for some people. I sat there in my office and
I thought about that and I thought there, give you an experience. This has been some years ago. I'm driving down Interstate 64.
I'm going to, from, I was probably going to want mom and dad. I
was driving down Interstate 64, this was in the morning, and
there was a trucker in front of me. He was about from here
to the parking lot of the house over there. So I'm driving, and
he's going, and I'm seeing him start to drift. I thought, he's
going to hit that bridge, because the bridge goes over the interstate. The interstate goes over this
road, and there's this bridge, and it's a high bridge. I thought,
man, he's going to hit that bridge. And I was gripping my wheel,
like, you know, get it straightened up. He didn't. He hit the bridge,
shot across the bridge, went up on top of the rail, rode down
the rail to the bridge, went down over, the back tires caught,
and in front of that cab slammed the concrete abutment. And I
stopped up, just after I got across the bridge, I stopped,
and the other cars stopped, and they went down, and they came up and
said, he's dead. And I thought he never thought of that when
he left home that morning. And I thought in my mind, I thought,
I could see in my mind his family receiving the news. They didn't
think of that this morning. They didn't think of that. And
I watched it happen. Years, years, days in a boundary
line. Maybe that's what I ought to,
The title is, Months, Days, and a Boundary Line. That's a good title for that,
Don. I didn't bring my tape recorder, so you don't have to put that
up there. Months, Days, and a Boundary Line. Wisdom says this, Flee to the
Lord Jesus Christ from the wrath to come. That's what wisdom says. Wisdom says fear the Lord. That's
what wisdom says. Apply your heart to wisdom. Not
what you're going to do tomorrow. I'm not saying don't think about
tomorrow, but I sure wouldn't set my heart on it. Because a
lot of people are not going to see tomorrow. I guarantee you. Pick the paper up and look at
the obituaries. They didn't make it until tomorrow. Wouldn't it be wise to prepare
to meet God You know, one of my responsibilities here is to
prepare you to meet God. First is to glorify Christ, and
in glorifying Christ, sheep are fed. I know that's how the sheep
are fed, when Christ is glorified. But it's to prepare to meet God,
prepare you to die. A big responsibility. And then
he says in verse 13, and I've got to get through this. If you're
in a hurry, you came to the wrong place tonight. Return, O Lord,
how long? And let it repent thee concerning
thy service. Come in mercy to us again. Do
not leave us to perish. Suffer not our lives, be both
brief and bitter. I got that from Charles Spurgeon. I've said this to Vicki about
a certain person. And this reminds me of it. Suffer not our lives, be brief
and bitter. I know several people, but this
one particular person, this person's had a tough life. Tough life. This person doesn't go to church,
doesn't profess anything, but they've had a tough life. But
it's one of the kindest, sweetest persons you'll ever meet. And
I said, you know, it's tough. It's tough for me to think, I
can't think about it. I can't think about it. To have
a very difficult life in this life and then perish. Oh, that's too much to think
about. Don't let our lives be both brief
and bitter and then end up in torment. Oh, satisfy us early
with thy mercy that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. This is a way to turn a dark
day into a bright day is at the throne of grace. He's at the
throne of grace now. And it says, satisfy us early.
Oh God, satisfy us early with your mercy. Save me early. Listen, I believe
the Lord saved me when I was between the age of 22, 23 years
of age. I heard the gospel. I can't tell
you, and I know I'm not thankful, we're never thankful enough,
but I can't tell you how thankful I am that the Lord saved me as
a young man. I don't have to look back and
say my life was nothing but vanity. Vanity of vanity. And listen,
to save me early that I may spend my days rejoicing in thee, that
I may spend my days worshiping thee, that I may spend my days
coming here to hear the gospel. In my years, I've not seen God
save many old people. I haven't. Most of the ones that
I've experienced seeing the Lord do something, they've been in
their earlier earlier years. I'm not saying it doesn't. I'm
just saying I haven't seen many. Not many. What a blessing if
God saves you early in life. And make us glad according to
the days wherein thou hast afflicted us and the years wherein we have
seen evil. Let me read to you what Charles
Spurgeon wrote because I think it was better than anything that
I could write down. Let me read the scripture again,
verse 15. Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast
afflicted us and the years wherein we have seen evil. The prayer is original, childlike,
and full of meaning. It is moreover based upon a great
principle in providential goodness by which the Lord puts the good
over against the evil in due measure. Great trial enables
us to bear great joy. It may be regarded as the herald
of extraordinary grace. God's dealings are according
to scale. Small lives are small throughout,
and great histories are great both in sorrow and happiness.
Where there are high hills, there are also deep valleys. As God
provides the sea for Leviathan, so does he find a pool for the
men of it. In the sea all things are in fit proportion for the
mighty monster, while in the little brook all things befit
the tiny fish. If we have fierce afflictions,
we may look for overflowing delights, and our faith may boldly ask
for them. God, who is great in justice
when he chastens, will not be little in mercy when he blesses. He will be great all through.
Let us appeal to him with unstaggering faith. And what he's saying here
is let the days that I have been afflicted, let the good days
be in proportion to that. Not to have just an afflicted
life from beginning to end. Not to be suffering from beginning
to end, but to have joy in the things that God's given as well
as the sorrow that he gives. Let them be in proportion to
each other. And let thy work, verse 16, I'm gonna close. Let
thy work appear unto thy servants and thy glory unto their children.
Let thy work of grace and mercy appear to thy servants. Let it appear to me. Let thy
mercy of grace and goodness appear to me. Let it appear to me afresh.
Afresh. Don't let this grow cold. Don't
let Christ crucified grow cold. Don't let amazing grace just
become grace. Let it always be amazing. Make
it amazing. And here's, this is good. And let our children, he says
here, and thy glory unto their children. And what is, let our
children see and taste of thy goodness. Let them see your glory
too. It's not only let them, but let our children, the children
hear. Vicki and I was watching a thing
last night on, American Idol or something like that, this
girl was singing. She was a young girl, 14 years old, singing.
And she was telling a little bit about her life, and she was
telling about her parents. She was talking about how happy
she was. She said, I have great parents. She says, my parents
are happy. She said, I want to grow up and
be like them. I thought, whoa, what a compliment. I want to
grow up and be like them. I want to have a life like them.
I want to have a home like them. And you could see it on her face
that she grew up in a happy home. And that's what, and that's what,
let our children see the grace of God at work in us. Let them,
let them see that. And let the beauty of the Lord,
our God, verse 17, let the beauty of the Lord, our God, be upon
us and established all the work of our hands upon us. Yea, the
work of our hands, established thou it. Let the work of grace
be seen in our lives. You know, we got so much sin
in us, that's easy to see, isn't it? But Lord, let your superabundant
grace be seen over my sin, my sinfulness. Let it be evident,
let it be evident that God has done something for you. And he's
asking God to make that evident. You can't make it evident. Wearing
a cross around your neck or wearing some kind of religious paraphernalia
is not evidence. Love, joy, peace, kindness, long
suffering. That's the evidence. Make it
evident. Let our children see that. Let
them see that. Turn over to 1 Peter. I can read
this to you. 1 Peter. Let me read the first four verses.
Likewise, you wives, 1 Peter 3, 1 Peter 3. Likewise, you wives, be a subjection
to your own husband, that if any obey not the word, they also
may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives,
the life, your life before them, the way you've lived before them.
You know, they won't come and hear the word, but I tell you
what, they're watching you. They listen to you talk. While they
behold your chaste conversation, coupled with fear, whose adorning,
let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair and of wearing
of gold or putting on apparel. Don't let that be your attraction,
the outward stuff, but let it be the hidden man of the heart,
in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and
quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God, Great price. That's what he's talking about.
Oh, let that be seen in me. Let what we do be done in truth. And listen, here's another one. I copied three or four or five
things down that Spurgeon said. He said, let what we do be done
in truth and last when we are in the grave. May the work of
the present generation minister permanently to the building up,
he says, here of the nation, but let it be building up of
the church. That'd be the building up of the church. And when he
says here, establish the work of our hand, direct it. Direct
it. I just asked the men upstairs.
I said, you know, I've been asked to preach in three different
congregations here in the next couple months or so. Lord, direct
that. Direct that. Give us direction
on that. Give me direction on it. All right.