I've looked forward to this ever
since your pastor asked me, and it's a delight to see each of
you. Pray for me. Pray that God will be pleased
to make his word effectual, enabling me to exalt his son. Will you
turn with me to Psalm 39, the 39th Psalm? We'll read a few verses in just
a moment, verses 4 through 7. There are 150 psalms, and they
are quoted more in the New Testament. The psalms are quoted more than
any other book of the Old Testament. The word psalm means praise,
praise. I was about to say, I dare say,
but it's really not a dare. It's pretty safe to assume that
God's people turn more often to the Psalms than any other
book of the Bible. And it's not hard to understand
why they would do so. God's people are God's people
no matter when they live. whether it was during the time
of David who penned this psalm and so many others, or whether
they live today. They have this in common. They
have this in common. This never changes. They're all
sinners, every one of them. No exceptions are there. Every
believer is a sinner saved by God's grace. They have that in
common. And they admit it. They admit
it. David in this psalm makes a distinction. He turns from those who don't
know his God and then directs his self, his attention rather,
back to his God. But as we read throughout the
psalms, having that common faith as believers, we find our struggles
listed here, don't we? We find David saying the very
same thing that Paul said. The flesh lusteth against the
spirit and the spirit against the flesh. Paul wrote, as a believing
man, I emphasize that, Paul wrote as a believer when he penned
these words, when he made this cry, he said, O wretched man
that I am. At the very moment he was writing
those words under divine inspiration, Paul said, O wretched man that
I am. Not that I was before the Damascus
Road experience of grace, where he met the Lord Jesus Christ,
but since that time, Paul said, I yet am. But that sounds so much like
the confessions of David that we read in this psalm. We read
our own biography here, don't we? Don't we? We read our own
biography. Oh, how sweet, how delightful,
when we can, by the grace of God, sing with the psalmist words
like this. We can join in this song of praise. this most familiar of all the
Psalms. The Lord is my shepherd. Is that
sweet? Is that sweet? The Lord is my
shepherd. He's my shepherd. Yes, he's David's
shepherd. Did David pen that Psalm as a
young lad tending his father's sheep? Did he pen that psalm
as he sat under the stars, out in the open, and looking over
the sheep and protecting the sheep, guarding over the sheep? His heart soars heavenward, and
he says, O the Lord, the great Jehovah, he's my shepherd. I'm his sheep, the sheep of his
flock. The Lord is my shepherd. That
being so, that being the case, with such a great shepherd of
the sheep, David says, I shall not want. I shall not want. I shall not like. What a joyful,
confident note of praise. Another blessed experience he
mentions in Psalm 133. Oh, how sweet. How sweet, how
delightful it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. When your pastor and my pastor,
when Doll was down our way for the weekend in February, the
last weekend of February, one of our members came up to me
afterwards and he said, Larry, these have been sweet, sweet
services. God has met with us. He said,
I think, he said, I hope it's not presumptuous of me to say
this is the closest thing to heaven here that we can experience. And I said, I agree with you,
John. I agree. It is indeed delightful. But
also turn, if you will, to Psalm 73. We'll come back to Psalm
39 in just a moment and take our text. But in Psalm 73, we
read The words here and they too we
identify with, sadly so. Psalm 73, verse 1, David wrote,
truly, without question, truly God is good to Israel, even to
such as are of a clean heart. Yes, he is. God is always good
to his people. Always good to his people. He's
good in what he gives. He's good in what he withholds. Truly, God is good to Israel. But as for me, do you see that
there? Do you see that? No question
about God's faithfulness. No question about God's goodness.
But as for me, that's another story. As for me, my feet were
almost gone, is David's honest confession. And every child of
God will honestly confess the same thing. There have been times
looking back on our lives, we have to say with David, we can
read our own story here as well. As for me, my feet were almost
gone, my steps had well nigh slipped. for I was envious. Oh, surely not, David. Not after
all God did for you. Not after such favor, such mercy,
such grace. You were envious at the foolish
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked? You were envious
at the wicked? You envied men who know not your
God? You envied men who who have all
that they desire in this world, that never left a serious thought
to God Almighty, you envy such men as that? The rich man that
lifted up his eyes in hell, you envy such men when they lived
in this world? And in their pursuit of the world,
In the process, they neglect and therefore lose their own
soul. You envy such men as that? And
David says, yes. Continue to read this psalm,
and David says, yes, I did. I was like a beast before they. I was no more grateful, no more
thankful of my God than a brute beast. That's a sad confession, but
it's a truthful one, isn't it? But look at verse 23. As David
said in verse 1, truly God is good to his people. And even
though I was envious, even though I was foolish and ignorant, nevertheless,
oh, what a sweet word of God's grace and mercy there. Nevertheless,
not because of myself, but in spite of myself, nevertheless,
I am continually with thee. Oh, nevertheless, I am the Lord,
he proclaimed, our Lord God. I change not, therefore, therefore,
because I change not, not because you don't change, not because
you're fickle, but because I'm immutable. I change not, therefore
you're not consumed." And David says, nevertheless. Oh, what
a sweet note that is. Is that not music to our ears?
Especially after a temptation, perhaps yielding to that temptation,
after a fall, after being foolish, nevertheless. I am continually
with thee. Thou hast hold in me by my right
hand. It's not my hold on you, O God. Oh, so thankful that that's not
the case. But it's your hold on me. Nevertheless, I am continually
with thee. Thou shalt guide me, verse 24,
with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. Receive
me to glory. I that was so foolish, so ignorant,
whose steps had well nigh slipped, who was envious at the wicked,
you will guide me and receive me to glory? Oh, yes. Whom have
I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon earth
that I desire beside thee. In the Psalms we read the same
experience of triumph and failure, joy and sorrow, faith and unbelief. That's our story. We read them
all and our hearts echo in agreement. And we know the experience. Experience of Psalm 51, when
David cried out against thee, and thee only, have I sinned,
O God. Restore unto me the joy of my
salvation. My sin is continually before
me. We have experienced that. But
we've also experienced this. Blessed is he whose transgression
is forgiven. whose sin is covered. The world
looks at the celebrities of the world, as they're called, the
famous. They come and they go. Here today,
gone tomorrow. One's the celebrity of the hour. Shortly, you won't remember their
name. But we look at them, or the world
does rather, and says, well, there's a blessed person. No,
they're not. No, they're not. If God sets
the world in their heart, they'll curse the day that they look
to their possessions, look at the temporal and not the eternal. No, they're blessed, man. The
blessed man, the blessed woman is described here. Who is more
blessed in this life than this person? Blessed is he whose transgression
is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Huh? Who has more than that person? Blessed is the man unto whom
the Lord imputed not iniquity. Really? Really? You mean there
are People in this world who don't claim to be without sin,
who don't claim not to sin, but yet at the same time to whom
the Lord will not impute their sin, will not charge them with
sin. There are such people, my, my. Indeed, they must be blessed
people. Verse 2. And in whose spirit there is
no guile of Psalm 32. Thou art my hiding place, he
says in verse 7. Oh, we find in these songs, these
songs of praise, what a joyful, joyful note. As in Psalm 84,
we need not turn there, you know it. Oh, what a blessed promise
this is. The Lord shall give grace and
glory. He shall give grace and glory. Oh my, what a joyful sound. What a joyful sound. When I can
read my title clear, the mansions in the sky, I bid farewell to
every tear and wipe dry my weeping eyes. The Lord shall give grace
and glory. The Lord shall. He shall give
grace and glory. We can no more acquire grace
by ourself as we can glory. We are as helpless to obtain
grace by our own merit, by our own works, by our own will, or
anything we do or are, any more than we could make ourself enter
heaven. They're both gifts of God's grace. The Lord shall give. Notice,
not try to give. Does your concept of God imagine
a God that simply attempts and tries and fails? That's not the God of the scripture.
Don't trust him. He's not worth trusting. In that
same Psalm, Psalm 84, we're told, they go from strength to strength. That is, all the children of
God, every one of them, every one of them, in Zion, appeareth
before God. We just sang that, didn't we?
We just sang that a moment ago. Some through the water, some
through the flood, some through the fire, but all through the
blood. Bless his name, the great shepherd
leads every one of his sheep along. I seek my sheep, I find
my sheep. When I seek them and find them,
I save them, and I put them upon my shoulders, and I bring them,"
he said, all the way home. God leads his dear children along. Every one of them in Zion appeareth
before God. Now look, if you will, at Psalm
39, verse 4. says, Lord, make me to know mine
end and the measure of my days, what it is that I may know how
frail I am. Behold, I was made my days as
at hand breath, and mine ages as nothing before thee. Barely
every man, not just David, but every man at his best state is
altogether vanity, selah. Surely every man walketh in a
vain show. Surely they are disquieted in
vain. He heapeth up riches. and knoweth
not who shall gather them. And now, Lord, and now, Lord,
what wait I for? What wait I for? My hope is in
thee." David in verse 4 has a request, a prayer. Verse 7, a question,
but also an answer. I remember Brother Henry Mahan
stood here, Brother Henry, in 2008. Most of you were here. That night Henry preached, February
the 2nd. He preached from this psalm.
The title of his message was Reflections of 80 Years. Remember that? Of 80 years. And Henry said, this may be the
last time I make this trip. And I believe perhaps it was.
Now I don't bring 80 years of experience. to this message,
but I bring enough to know that the experience David speaks of
is my experience, too. It's my experience, too. First,
his request. Lord, verse 4, make me to know
mine end and the measure of my days, what it is that I may know
how frail I am. make me to know. God knows, but
David asked God to make him know. Only God can teach a man that.
Only God can teach a man that. Only God can open his eyes to
let him see the vanity of what he is, of who he is. Only God can thus teach. teaches
how short my time here is, David prays, how frail I am. Not how frail other men are,
but how frail I am. God spoke to the prophet, commanded
the prophet to proclaim, all flesh, no exception, all flesh
is grass, that includes me. And that includes each of you. I perhaps have told you before,
but when I look into the mirror, I don't see a 62-year-old man
looking back at me. You do, Alan. But I don't. I saw a brother. I preached in Cottageville Sunday
night coming back from Fairmont. I hadn't been there, I think,
since 82 or 83. And there was a brother in the
church that I used to stay in his home when I would go up to
preach back then in the early 80s, Danny Belcher. And we saw one another. And he
lied to me and said, Larry, you haven't changed. And I said,
thank you. And I lied to him and said, he hadn't changed.
But we had 30 years. All flesh is grass. David says, make me to know that.
Teach me this valuable lesson. Listen. Listen. There is an end
to this life. This is not all. And that end
is fast approaching. And in that hour, we will turn
loose of everything we imagine that we possess. Remember what
our Lord said in Luke 12, to those who trusted in their riches.
He said, a man's life consisteth not in the things that he possesses. Is that all your life is? Is
that all your life is? Is that all it amounts to? Is
that all you're living for? Is that all you have? Possessions? that are like a vapor, anything
more fleeting, anything more fragile, anything more uncertain
than that? Is that all your life consists
of? No wonder you thirst again. Our Lord said in that parable
that there was a certain man who had so much, you're familiar
with it, that's why we need not turn there, but in Luke He said,
I'll tear down my barns and build greater barns, and then I'll
say to myself, take thy knees, eat, drink, and be merry, because
you have much laid up for many years. But God, but God, that
never entered his thinking head. Our Lord said, but God said to
him, this night thy soul shall be required of thee. Then whose
will those things be? And our Lord made application
of that parable and he said, so then is everyone, so then
is he. Is that your condition at this
very moment? Our Lord said, so is he that layeth up treasure
for himself, but is not rich toward God. Is that all you have? And you are not rich toward God?
Is all the so-called treasure you have It's what's in the garage,
or under the roof, or in the bank, but you don't have any
idea of the treasure of God's amazing grace. You've never experienced
what David said, the blessedness of being that man to whom the
Lord will not impute iniquity. Oh, rich in grace. Rich in grace. That's the truth with riches.
David says, Lord, don't let me be like that. Don't let me be
like those men that live only for that. It's all vanity. Make me to know my end. This
life will soon end. It'll soon be over. I stand here
now, and I look at places that are empty, that were once occupied
by brothers and sisters in Christ. And soon, there'll be other empty
places. Because all flesh is grass. Our life story is not a long
novel, is it? It's a short story. Look what
David says in Psalm 90. Turn there, if you will, for
just a moment. Psalm 90, verses 9 and 10. A short story. Verse 9, for all
our days are passed away in thy wrath, we spend our years, listen
to this, we spend our years as a tale that is told. The days
of our years are threescore years in 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. We fly away. The wise man said, there is a
sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely riches kept to
the owner's hurt. But those riches perish by evil
travail, and he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand.
And as he came forth of his mother's womb, naked shall he return to
go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labor, which he
may carry away in his hand. And this is a sore evil, that
in all points as he came, so shall he go. And here's the question. What profit hath he that hath
laboured for the wind? David says, oh, teach me how
short my time here is. But look now at verse 7. I'm
anxious to get to this. Verse 7 of Psalm 39. Here's David's
question. And now, Lord, what wait I for? What wait I for? Am I different
from those men of the world? Am I different from those that
have all their desire in this world? Do I have a different
goal, a different desire? Does my life consist in more
than that, than others? Now, David says, and now Lord,
what wait I for? What's my goal? What's my ambition? What's my hope? You remember
perhaps when you were young and in so many houses There was a
plaque on the wall that said, only one life will soon be passed. Only what's done for Christ will
last. I believe half of that, Murr.
True, only one life will soon be passed. But it's not what
I've done for Christ. No, it's what Christ has done
for me that's going to last. That shall never end. Oh, no. David says, Lord, what weight
I I remember one of the points in Brother Henry's message, Reflections
of 80 Years. He said it was remarkable how
fast those 80 years had flown by. So quickly. I visited with
Sally and Bob yesterday, had lunch with them in their home,
and we talked about that a little bit. We thought, my soul. And
the older I get, the faster it goes. The faster it goes. But
now look at David's answer. Look at David's answer. There
is an answer. Lord, what wait I for? And here
it is. My hope is in thee. My hope. is in thee. Peter said, be ready to give
an answer to whosoever should ask you the reason of the hope
that's in you. And David gives it. He speaks
for every believer. My hope is in thee, Lord, in
thee. Then it's a good hope, isn't
it? It's a good hope if it's in the
Lord. It's a blessed hope. And it's
a sure and a steadfast hope. Peter said it's a living hope. And in reality, it's the only
hope there is for needy sinners. The only hope there is. Not one
of two. No, no. The only hope any sinner
has of entering glory. The only hope that any sinner
has of experiencing the sweet forgiveness of sins is in the
Lord, period. Nothing else. No one else. My
hope, David says, is in thee. Oh, what a good hope that is. Paul, in writing to the church
at Thessalonica, who were concerned about loved ones of theirs who
had died, believers, fellow believers who had died. Paul wrote to them
and said, sorrow not for them. Sorrow not for those who have
died in the Lord, like you would those who had no hope. Those who died without Christ,
they died without hope. They died without Christ and
they remain without Christ forever. But Paul went on to write, if
we believe, if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, if
we believe it speaks to those who have a hope, they have Christ. They have Christ. And David says,
my hope is in thee, period. Period. Nothing to add to that. Nothing can be added. What can
you add to completeness? What can you add to all fullness?
Christ is all, and we are complete in Him. David turns from the
vanity of men to the certainty of his God. Look in Psalm 37,
what David says here, verse 23. The steps of a good man are ordered
by the Lord, and He delighteth in his way, though he fall and
he will. He shall not be utterly cast
down, for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand, his mighty
hand. I have been young and now am
old, and yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken nor his
seed begging bread. Can we not say the same? My hope
is in thee. My hope of salvation is in thee. One more time, I'm thankful for
the opportunity, one more time, to make this statement. I don't
have the slightest degree of hope of salvation, of acceptance
before a holy God. I have not the slightest degree
of hope in anything I've ever done, nothing. You mean before
you were saved? No. I mean after I was saved. I don't have a hope in any prayer
I've ever prayed, any message I've ever preached, nothing I've
ever done. If I consider that to be a foundation
by which I can stand before God, then it's worse than done, as
Paul said. The only hope I have. Oh, and
this is a good hope, is the hope that Jesus Christ gives the poor,
needy sinners. Like they asked that one about
his testimony, about his conversion experience. Some old church leaders
wanted to know. And he said this. Oh, I love
his testimony. And it's mine, too. I'm a poor
sinner and nothing at all. And Jesus Christ is my all in
all. Nothing else. Only Him. Only Him. And all for a sinner. For a sinner that's been stripped. Before he's clothed, he's stripped. And the Father says, bring forth
the best robe. The very best robe. Bring forth
the robe of Jesus Christ. Bring forth the very righteousness
of my Son. And wrap it around that sinner. And God Almighty said, hmm, I'm
well pleased. I'm well pleased. Accepted in
Him. Oh, in the Beloved. In the Beloved. Oh, this wonderful place. God
calls me to dwell in this marvelous place. First He sees Jesus, and
then He sees me. In the Beloved. Accepted and
free. Jesus Christ our hope. Nothing
between. Nothing. He is enough. You remember
on one occasion, our Lord had sent his disciples out. And referring
to that after they had come back, he said, when I sent you out
without purse, without shoes, did you like anything? And they
all said nothing. Nothing. That's David's answer. Lord,
my hope is in thee. Child of God. I read God's Word and it tells
this weak sinner, and yet a sinner saved by God's amazing grace,
I like nothing. I like nothing. I read that God
had made Christ to be unto me wisdom, and righteousness, and
sanctification, and redemption. I read that I'm perfect in Him. I read that I'm accepted in Him. I read that God loves me like
He loves His Son. Ooh, my soul. No wonder David
says, my hope is in thee, of acceptance. in the beloved, my
hope of heaven, of eternal life, my hope is in thee. The Lord
prayed that night before he was arrested in his high priestly
prayer. As our great high priest, he
was ready to offer himself without spot to God. But first he interceded
on behalf of those same ones that he was going to lay down
his life for. And he said, Father, hear this. Father, I will also. that those whom thou hast given
me be with me where I am, that they
may behold my glory. I will that they also my, he
saved the very best for last, grace upon grace. Like a magnet in the hand of
our great shepherd, he says, I will. I will. I will that all
that the Father giveth me come to me. I will that they come
to me in time. And I will that they come to
me in eternity. I will that they be with me where
I am. When I read that, when I read
that it is the will of the mighty God that I be with him where
he is, I ask you, who can hold me back? Who can hold us back? If he wills that we be with him?
We shall be with him where he is. I believe when I die that
I'll go to be with the Lord. I believe him who said, Father,
I will, that they be with me where I am. Martha, he said,
I'm the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me,
though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever believeth
and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? You believe that, Bob Doe? You
believe that? You believe that when you die,
you really won't die, but you'll be more alive than you've ever
been in your life? More alive than you are now?
With a heart An unsinning heart. An unsinning heart to love and
to behold he who loved me and gave himself for me. Do you believe
that? Oh, yes, I do. Unless Jesus Christ
lied. And that's impossible. I believe
that. We have a hope of all these things. And David sums it all up in just
those few words. My hope is in thee. of sins forgiven,
of life after death, of hearing him say, enter into the joy prepared
for you from the foundation of the world, welcome home. He's
given us a right, given us a right to enter in through the gates
into the city. In thee, so secure, could not
be more so. In Christ himself, his glorious
person, His power to save to the uttermost, His mercy and
His grace, His promise, I'll never leave you nor forsake you,
His purpose and His sweet presence. We're not alone. Let me, in closing
this, will you turn with me to Isaiah chapter 45, a familiar
passage, but I would like to close with it. Isaiah chapter 46, verses 3 and
4. Harken unto me, O house of Jacob,
and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which are born by
me from the belly, which are carried from the womb to the
tomb, and even to your old age, And even to your old age I am
he. Even to whore hairs will I carry
you. I have made and I will bear,
even I will carry you and will deliver you. Every one of them
in Zion appeareth before God." Mr. Spurgeon in one of his sermons
used as an illustration of God's faithfulness to his own the story
concerning Roland Hill. a preacher of some years ago.
But someone gave Rowland Hill a hundred pounds with the request
that he would send it to a poor preacher. But don't give it to
him all at once. They asked Rowland Hill, send
him five pounds at a time. Put it in an envelope with this
note. More to follow. More to follow. And that's what he did. Spurgeon
said, Mr. Hill forwarded five pounds in
a letter with only these words within the envelope, more to
follow. In a few days' time, the good man received another
letter. The second messenger contained
another five pounds with the same words, more to follow. Till
the whole sum had been received, the astonished poor preacher
was made familiar with the cheering words, more to follow. Every
blessing that comes from God is sent with the same message,
and more to follow. I forgive you all your sins,
but there's more to follow. I justify you in the righteousness
of Jesus Christ, my son, but there's more to follow. I give
you grace upon grace, but there's more to follow. I've helped you
even to old age, but there's more to follow. I will uphold
you in the hour of death. And as you're passing into the
world of spirits, my mercy shall continue with you. And when you
land in the world to come, But there shall still be more to
follow. Lord, what wait I for? My hope is in thee. God bless you. God bless you.
Thank you.