in the woods and in barns and
things like that to worship. And John Knox, a priest in the
16th century, Mary Queen of Scots, was the one in power and she
just slaughtered people left and right. And she said of all
the things in her kingdom that she feared, she feared John Knox'
prayers more than anybody. Because boy, he wasn't afraid
of nothing. The gospel makes you that way. He wasn't afraid
of her or nobody else. But here in Psalm 39, we have a saint, one of God's
blessed people. We have one of God's blessed
people here, taking heed, interested in his
way, interested in his life, interested in what God knows
about him. and many things in his relationship
with God. And he says some things here
that we, as the Lord's people, need to pay special attention
to. I think they're very instructive. I know they are for me. But the
first thing David said here, and I think that all of us would
say this, I said, and how many times have we said this about
ourselves? We've said this to ourselves. I'm going to take
heed to my ways. How many times have we said that
to ourselves? I'm going to take heed to my
ways. I'm going to take heed to my ways. I'm going to quit
this way. I'm going to quit doing these
things. I'm going to quit those things. And when David said, I'll take
heed to my ways, he said, I'll take heed to my motives. Oh,
my motives. What is my motives for why I
do what I do? Is it for the glory of God? Is
it to get a blessing? Is it to just keep my conscience
clear? Or to get people to think that
I'm doing a good thing? Oh, will I take heed to my motives?
Will I take heed to my habits? Habits sometimes, there's good
habits and there's bad habits. And it's as easy to pick up a
good habit as it is a bad habit. And they say if you do something
30 times it becomes a habit to you. And if you want to set a
good habit, start doing something right 30 times. And you'll start
doing something good 30 times. You'll start a good habit. And
break the bad habits, if you've got any of them. And then my
manners, my motives, my habits, my manners. And what most people
think, when you start talking about their ways, they say, well,
you know, I may not be right, but they're my ways. That's the
wrong way to look at things. Now we're talking about spiritual
things now. I want, you know, just because we think they're
right, just because they're my ways. Our rights, just because
they're our ways, doesn't make them right. I know one particular
man that they always say, well that's just the way he is, that's
just the way he is. And somebody finally told him, because that's
just the way you are, that don't make it right. And he's trying
to make excuses for himself and always trying to justify himself
for being the way that he was. And he kept saying, well, that's
just the way I am. That's just the way I am. Well, if my ways
is not in harmony with God's ways and God's Word and the way
God instructs me to do and the things God tells me to do, then
my ways are wrong. My ways are not right. That's
why the scripture says, there is a way that seemeth right to
a man. And I tell you what, God says
my ways are not your ways. For my ways are higher than the
heavens. And I tell you what, God's ways are not our ways.
And if my ways and your ways are not in harmony with God's
ways, we have to let them go. We have to forget about them.
We got to let them... Our ways... Oh God, teach us... In fact,
David said in one place, Lord, teach me thy ways. And Pam sang
that song, Lord, teach me thy ways, teach me your word, teach
me your way. And if my ways is the wrong way,
then God, and how many times we say, Lord, don't let me have
my way. Please don't lead me to myself. If we left ourselves in our own
way, you know what we would do? We certainly wouldn't go in the
way of God. And that's what David said. I said I will take heed
to my ways. I'll take heed to them. I'm going
to take heed to my ways. And then look what else he said.
I'm going to take heed to my mouth. I'm going to take heed
to my ways and I'll keep my mouth with a bridle that I sin not
with my tongue and I'll keep my mouth with a bridle while
the wicked is before me. And let me tell you something,
you know, about this business. Let me go back to my ways again.
You know, we make, in our ways, we make promises to ourselves.
We make resolutions. And we make them to ourselves
and we say, well, I ain't going to do that no more. I'm not going
to think that. I'm not going to do this. I'm not going to do that.
And you know, we can't even keep ourselves from a common code.
So we certainly cannot keep ourselves in the way. So we ask God to
please keep us in the way. Save us and keep us in the way. I want to know the way. Our Lord
said, I'm the way. And whatever way God has for
us in this life, that's the way we want. Oftentimes it's not
the way we would go. We wouldn't go and have things happen to us and
have things confront us and have troubles in our home and have
heartaches in our home. We wouldn't choose those ways,
but those are God's ways. And God, you take your ways and
just make them our ways. And if that's your way to do
us this way, then that's the way we want to go. Would you
all agree with that? And then look what else he goes
on saying, that I stand not with my tongue, I'll keep my mouth
with a branch. Oh, while the wicked is before
me. And what he's saying is, whenever the world's before me,
you know, God is judged by the way his people are. ever how
you are and how you are in public and how you act towards people
that's exactly the way God is judged by how you act and by
the way we act God is judged by the way we act in public and
that's why I said I'll keep my mouth with a bride with a bride
I want you to see something over here if you keep this and look
with me in Colossians chapter 4 you know it's a soft answer turns
away wrath and uh And I'll tell you something about our mouths and how we are too
quick with our tongue, too quick with what we say sometimes. It
comes out before we realize what we've said. Look here in Colossians
chapter 4 and verse 5. We're talking about keeping our
tongue with a bridle while the wick is before me, that I sin
not with my tongue. And oh my, he said here, He said,
walk in wisdom toward them that are without. Colossians chapter
4 and verse 5. He said, I want to walk, you
know, I want to keep my tongue when I'm before the wicked. He
said, walk in wisdom toward them that are without. People that
are without the church, people that are without Christ, people
that are without wisdom, people without grace, people without
any knowledge even of the scriptures. Walk in wisdom toward them that
are without. And you use the time right when
you're in their presence. Redeeming the time. Use the right. Buy up that time. Use that time
because it's a precious time. Don't say or do something that
will cause God to be judged wrongly by what you say or do. And then
look what he said. Let your speech. Let what you
say. David said, you know, I'm going
to bridle my tongue. I'm going to put a bridle. He
said, I'm going to put a muzzle on my mouth. And he said, walk.
And he said, let your speech be seasoned with grace. Grace. Let your speech be always with
grace. My word. Oh, that's a lifetime
of, take a lifetime to learn that. After all these years, when I
read that, I say, let your speech always be with grace. Let your
speech be with grace. How do we do it? Huh? When you talk, let grace,
grace, grace, grace, let grace have your speech. Let grace come
from your lips. Let grace come from your mouth.
Let grace come from your mind. Let grace come from your heart,
he's saying. Season with salt that you may know how to answer
every man. And I tell you back over here,
David says this, that I sin not with my tongue, I keep my mouth
with a bride. Keep it with a bride. And that's
why James said in James chapter 3 and verse 2, he says, if we
offend, if we offend not all, if we not offend anybody, we're
really something, but if a man He offends with his tongue. He
said, let him bridle his tongue if he offends with his tongue.
And that's where we offend. Oh, if we offend one with our
tongue, we offend all. And he says, so James says, put
a bridle on our tongue. And that's why he goes on to
say that here. And that's why David said in another place,
keep thy tongue from evil. Keep thy lips from speaking guile. And our Lord Jesus, this is what
he said about how people talk. using our mouth, especially before
the wicked, before the world that's before us. Our Lord Jesus
said, O you generation of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak
good things? For out of the abundance of the
heart the mouth speaketh. And He says to a good man, out
of the good treasure of his heart, he brings forth good things.
But an evil man, out of the evil treasure of his heart, he brings
forth evil things. And so if there's a good treasure
in there, And there's treasure in there, treasure from heaven,
the treasure of the Word of God, the treasure of grace, the treasure
of Christ, the treasure of His blessed mercy, the treasure of
Christ in you. Then surely, surely good things
come out of our mouth. Surely they would. And let's
go on down here to now the third thing. Oh, God's judge. Let me tell you something else
about what we need to do. Before anything comes out of your mouth,
you say, well, I need to talk to somebody, or I need to say
this, or I need to say that. Here's three things to ask yourself
before you say something, before you go to talking to somebody.
First of all, is it good? Is it good? Is it good? Secondly, will it
edify? Will it build up? Will it strengthen?
Will it establish? And the third thing to ask before
you say something, will it glorify God? Will it glorify? Is it good? What I'm going to
say, is it going to be good? Is it going to be good for the
people that I hear? That's going to listen to what
I've got to say? Will it edify? Will it establish? Will it build
them up? Strengthen them and encourage them? And will it glorify
God? Boy, if we just let His peace be with grace. My goodness, after all these
years, it still shocks me when you read something like that.
How far I fall from it. Then look what he says down here
in verse 3. He said, I'll take heed to my ways, I'll take heed
to my mouth, my tongue, I'll bridle it. I'll bridle it. You know, we hear some people
say, well, we said bridle her tongue, but you know, what about
us? It's us that need her tongue. Me! And then look what he says,
talking about his heart. He said, my heart was hot within
me. My heart was. My heart is me. My heart is my soul. It's what responds to God. It's what communes with God.
It's me, my personality. It's everything that I am. And
he says, my heart was hot and hot within me. Why was his heart
hot? What made it burn? What made
it burn in his heart? What made it? He was like those
disciples on the Emmaus road when the Lord Jesus lived and
said, did not our heart burn within us? Well, he spake with
us by the way, and that's what David said. What made your heart
hot, David? I was musing. I was musing, I
was considering, I was thinking on God, I was thinking about
His Word, I was thinking about His ways, and when I began to
muse on God, and I began to muse on the grace of God, and on Christ,
and on justification, and on God that this, that the Lord
imputeth not iniquity to His beloved, and blessed is that
man. He said, I began to think on
these things, and my heart got really, really hot. And oh Beloved,
He began to muse on them. And you start musing on what
you have in Christ. That you're perfect in Christ,
complete in Christ, accepted in the Beloved. That you have
the righteousness of Christ Himself. And that right now in the sight
of God you're as righteous as you'll ever be. Now that'll put
your heart on fire. That'll make you rejoice in what
God's done. You start thinking about all
the spiritual blessings that you have in Christ. You start
thinking about God's wisdom. The riches of His wisdom and
knowledge. How that His ways are past finding
out. And His judgments. Who had ever
said in judgment on Him? That His judgments always right,
just, and true. And how many times have your
heart got hot within you when you start thinking about the
scriptures and Christ and what he's done for you and the relationship
you have with him? Don't your heart get hot sometimes? Had company yesterday, we began
to talk about the gospel, some things, and boy, our hearts,
both our hearts, hot! It gets hot! Oh, my! Then, oh, listen to this. He said in verse 4, He said,
Lord, Lord, make me to know mine end. and the measure of my days. Make
me to know my end. Make me to know my end. Wonder
what your end will be. There's an end coming for all
of us. There's an end and God's got our steps ordered. He numbers
the hairs of our head. He orders our lives for us before
you and I ever was. He picked out every day for us.
Everything that happens, God has ordered it for us. God in
His infinite wisdom. And you know, our time is always
at hand, but the end is coming. And you know, we ought not be
afraid. You know what the scripture says, precious in the sight of
the Lord is the death of his son. Why would we fear death
when God Himself said it's precious in His sight? God said, Oh, for
you to be taught, brought home to me, that's precious in my
sight. To see you, to take your last breath and bring you to
be with me like I did that day. Today you'll be with me in paradise.
And to know my end, Lord, make me to know my end. I know that
I've got a day out there. I know I've got an appointment.
I know there's a time coming when I'll get to my last day.
I'll get to my last hour. I'll get to my last minute. I'll
get to my last second. Lord, make me to look to that
end. Make me to know what that end
is. And make me to know it. Just don't let it be something
in my mind, something that's way far off. Let me know it now. Don't wait till I get to the
end and then start trying to get things in order. Don't wait
till I get to the end and then start getting sincere and honest
with you. Make me to know that my... what
did he say here? He says, as a hand's breadth
and the measure of my days. I'll tell you one thing, time
goes too quick. Oh, how fast time goes. Started out January this year,
31 days gone. February, 28 days gone. March, 31 days gone. Fourth month
of the year, we're already down to half of the way through the
month. Time, time, time. And he says,
make me to measure my days. I got days. And help me to measure
those days. And while we have a day, from
we get up in the morning, we go to bed, Lord make me to measure
those days. Appreciate those days. And enjoy
the measurement of them. Cause they're just, they're short
and few and far between. Oh my, and I know one thing,
for those who are in Christ, the end for us is salvation. The salvation of our souls. But
here's the thing that you've got to ask yourself. When I get
to the end of my ways, will I be a sinner without hope? Or will I be a saint in the sight
of God? Huh? Oh my. And he wanted this made
real to his heart. Make me know the measure of my
days. Will I stand when I get to the
end? Will I stand in self, or will
I stand in Christ? Will I be found in Christ, or
will I be found in Adam? Will I be found with all my sins
gone, or will I be found with all my sins only? Will I be found
accepted in the Beloved, or will I be found accepted in self? Those were things, that's what
David said, Lord I want to know my end and I want to measure
my days. I heard an old man today that
had been preaching for over 50 years. And he was crying in his
preaching. And he said, Oh Lord, if I ain't
been saved, I want to be saved now. And I've never preached the gospel,
I want to preach the gospel now. And he rolls around with all
these people and talks about this fundaments, talk about a
no soul salvation. Oh people, listen. There is some
things we know. But David said, Lord, I'm just
a man. I've got the infirmities of a
man, the weaknesses of a man. So make me know my end in the
measure of my days. Make it real to me. Make me to
know, look what else he goes on, that I may know How frail
I am. How frail are we? How frail are we? We're so frail that we can't even thought off
a headache or a toothache. I mean, we're frail. God said
He took us up out of the dust. And David said, Lord, as a father
pities his children, the Lord pities them that fear them, knowing
how frail they are and that they are but dust. Dust. Make me to know how frail I am.
How frail are you? You ain't got... You know, you
see people and say, boy, he's got awful frail, ain't he? He's
got really frail. Last time I seen Brother Henry,
he got really frail. And you see people get frail,
they get frailer and frailer, you know. Annie was telling me
about her dad, this, you know, how frail he'd become and how
quick he went down hill. And how, and of course he passed
away yesterday morning, but he, you know, and you watch these
people and you say, boy, they're getting frail. Now listen, I
don't have to wait till I get old to know how frail I am. I
don't have to wait till I get to where I can hardly get around.
I know how frail I am right now. I know how frail I am right now.
Do you know how frail we are? Oh, we're so frail. Any little old thing, you know how little things affect
us because we're so frail. In Deuteronomy 6 it says here,
in verse 5, He said, Oh Lord, David said,
I'm taking heed to my ways, to my mouth, my heart, my end. Now look inside of my days. Look
in verse 5. Behold, thou hast made my days
as a hand's breath. My name is as nothing before
thee. Do you know what a hand's breath
is? There it is. He said, that's my Dave's, a
handprint. James asked the question, what
is your life? What is your life? James said, what is your life? He said, you look out on the
morning, And there's a little vapor out there over the pond,
a little vapor over yonder on the street, a little vapor over
yonder on the hill, a little cloud, a little fog. And he says,
what is your life? He says, see that vapor? He said, that's what your life
is. That's what your life is. And that's what David is dealing
with this thing. He wanted the Lord to make this real to him.
He wanted the Lord to make this so to him. And that's why the
scriptures tells us, oh my, look over here in Job. Look in Job
chapter 7, verse 6 with me just a moment. Make the shortness of my life
real to me. Shortness of life real to me.
Look what Job said here. Chapter 7, verse 6. My days are swifter than a weaver's
shuttle. I don't know if I never saw a
weaver's shuttle. I've never been, you know, I
hear people talking about using a weaver, you know. You know,
they push the pedal and they weave. And, you know, I know
if you go down there where they weave out, down in Georgia, one
of those factories where they weave those rugs and carpets
and things like that. They have all those spools of
thread on there. You can't go so fast, you can't watch it.
He says, that's the way, he says, sitting here is what he says,
My days are swifter than a weaver's shovel and are spent without
hope. And look what else he said about it. He said, Oh, remember
that my life is wind. Sometimes it feels like a strong,
sometimes it feels like a gentle breeze, but it's just the wind
that blows. And then it's gone. Huh? Oh,
that's what he said. God make me the no man. Make
my days, my days. And I'll tell you this, you know,
and he says mine ages as nothing before thee. And I'll preach this Sunday night
about, you know, going to be with the Lord and our final salvation,
you know, You know, we have been saved, we are being saved, we
shall be saved. On the way out, Darrell Hardman said to me, he
said, you forgot to say there won't be no more birthdays either,
when we talk about going to glory. And I won't. When we start, when
we leave here, that's not the end of life. That's the beginning. We just started. That's what
he said here. He said, make me to know my date,
because beneath it, my age before this, there's nothing. When I
leave here, you may say, well, he was 90 years old, or he was
85 years old, or 75 years old. But listen, when I get to glory,
that's the beginning of a brand new life, a life that starts
out and there's no days to it. That's why God says, your age
don't mean nothing to me. Age is nothing to me. He says, you know what, when
you come to where I am, age will cease to be. Time will cease
to be. He said, you'll come to me and
it'll be a brand new day and you'll never ever have another
birthday. After you've been there a year,
you reckon you'll be a year old? After you've been there 10,000
years, what did old John Newton say? We're shining bright as
the sun. We've only just begun. Just getting
started. Well, he's been there 10 years,
that means he's 10 years old in heaven. No, no, no, no, no,
no, no. There ain't no age there. Time ceases to be. And that's
what David said, said, my age has nothing before you. And he
said, and this is the fact, said, before you man, his best state
is nothing but vanity. Vanity. And then look what else
he says now. Look down in verse 7. He talks about his hope. He says,
Now, Lord, and now, Lord, what wait I for? What am I waiting
for? My hope is in me. Whatever I'm
waiting for, whatever's going to happen, whatever my days are,
whatever my end is, whatever goes on in my life, He says,
I'm waiting. Whatever it is that I'm waiting
for, my hope's in you. From the end of my days, the
middle of my days, when my time don't mean nothing to you? He
says, my hope is in you. Where else am I going to have
hope? He says, my hope is in you. Oh my beloved, we are saved
by hope. And hope that's not seen is not
hope. For if we see what we hope for,
why then do we yet hope for it? That's why, you know, Paul says,
and now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in
believing and the love of God shed abroad in our hearts fills
us with hope and makes us not ashamed look what David said
over here in Psalm 40 11 talking about the Lord helping him and
preserving him and keeping him, being his hope he says withhold
not thy tender mercies from me, O LORD, let thy loving kindness
and thy truth continually preserve me. I found you to be my hope. I found you to be the one to
teach me, the one to preserve me, the one to keep me. And look over here in Psalm 42
in verse 11. Why art thou cast down, O my
soul? We hear these things we dealt
with tonight and sometimes we get a little cast down and say,
I don't think about things like that. Why art thou cast down,
O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within
me? Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise Him who is the help
of my captains. Lord, what do I wait for? You're
my hope. When I get to the end of the
way, my hope's in Christ. And what did I preach here a
few weeks ago? We got a good hope. How did we get that good
hope? Through grace. God gave us this
hope through His everlasting love and consolation in Christ.
Gave us this good hope, this blessed hope, this sure hope,
this strong hope. And my hope is in thee. Boy,
if we put any hope in this flesh, or any hope in anybody in the
flesh, we'd be in trouble, wouldn't we? Oh, what would we do? Now
let me give you another one, you've got two more and then
I'll be done. Look what else he says about his transgression,
down in verse 8. He said, deliver me from all
my transgressions and make me not the reproach of the foolish. Save me, that word deliver means
save, it also means to save. Save me, deliver me, come and
bring me from it, save me from it, save me from my transgressions,
deliver me from my transgressions. And what David is saying here,
Lord, how in the word. I've got transgressions. He admits
to his transgressions. He says he has transgressions.
Look over here in verse 18 of chapter 38, look what he said
about himself there. He says, for I will declare my
iniquity. I'll just don't up to him before
you and I'll be sorry for my sin I'm sorry for him I'm ashamed,
I'm sorry for my sin I'm really sorry for him and
he says so Lord he'll save me from my transgressions and how
in the world God gonna save us from our transgressions I mean,
but one way He can save us from our transgressions and bless
His name when He saves you from your transgressions, He saves
you from all of them, past, present and future. And all of them are
gone. How? Because Christ bore our
sins in His own body. Christ was our substitute. Christ
was our satisfaction. And look what David said over
here in Psalm 51. Psalm 51. verse 1 through 4 that's why David also said this
he said Lord if thou shouldest mark iniquities could be able
to stand but there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be
feared and look what David said here in the first four verses
of Psalm 51 have mercy upon me O God according to your love
and kindness according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies.
A multitude of tender mercies. God got a multitude of them.
Brought out my transgressions. Do you see all the motives he
used for God to brought out his transgressions? Mercy, loving-kindness,
tender mercies, a multitude of them. And because of that, wash
me throughly from mine iniquity. Cleanse me from my sin. Because
I've got them and I acknowledge them. And my sins ever before
me, and they'll be there until you take them away. Against thee
and thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight,
that when you justify it, you might be justified when you speak
it, and be clear when you judge it. So Lord, only way you can
save me is to justify yourself and justify me. That's what he's
saying. And I'll tell you something about
us, beloved. We can all fall by ourselves, but not one of
us can get up by ourselves. We can fall, but we can't get
back up. God's got to bring us up. And
then look what he said in verse 12, and I'm done. Oh, he's talking about his prayer
now. He comes to the end and he said, this Lord, hear my prayer. Give ear unto my cry. My cry. Hold not thy peace in my tears.
Oh, he was touched. He was moved. He said, all these
things that's happened, my days, my end, my frailty. My tongue, my mouth, all the
things that's got me in trouble. And I know because they do make
me to know the end of my days. Please make me to know my transgressions
are gone. And they brought him down to
tears. He said, Lord, I'm crying and my heart is broken and I've
got tears before you. And said, Lord, hear my prayer
and give ear unto my cry and hold not your peace. Don't come
and manifest yourself to me. Don't stand afar off. Don't just
be quiet. Come and speak to me. Come and
bless me. Come and meet my needs. And he
says, for I'm a stranger with you. You're a stranger in this
world. I'm a stranger with you. You're
a soldier in your own land as all my fathers were and so am
I. so Lord hear my prayer give attention to my prayer don't
hold you peace in my prayer hear me when I cry in my tears and
this spare me that I may recover strength my strength is clean
gone before I go is to the end of my days and be no more and
I tell you got a little couple of verses here behold oh Lord
my days are few a hand breath at the most ere yet this noon
my flower must fade and I give up the ghost then teach me Lord
to know my end and know that I am frail to heaven let all
my thoughts ascend and let let not earth prevail that's what
David said don't let this earth over them.