Lynn had a low-grade fever last
night, and so she thought she'd stay home. She'll be here, Lord
willing, tonight. But she woke me up. It's 101,
you're supposed to go to the hospital, and it was 106. So
I was thinking, oh. I didn't want to spend the night
at UK, so I'm glad I didn't get any higher than that. Psalm 39. Psalm 39. I said. I will take heed to my
ways. That I sin not with my tongue. I will keep my mouth with a bridle. While the wicked is before me. I was dumb with silence. I held
my peace even from good, and my sorrow was stirred. My heart was hot within me while
I was musing the fire burned. Then spake I with my tongue,
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, thou hast made
my days as an handbreadth, and mine ages as nothing before thee. Verily, every man at his best
state is altogether vanity, Selah. Surely every man walketh in a
vain show, and surely they are disquieted in vain. He heapeth
up riches and knoweth not who shall gather them. And now, Lord,
what wait I for? My hope is in thee. Deliver me from all my transgressions. Make me not the reproach of the
foolish. I was dumb. I opened not my mouth
because thou didst it. Remove thy stroke away from me,
for I am consumed by the blow of thine hand. When thou with
rebukest this correct man for iniquity, thou makest his beauty
to consume away like a moth. Surely, every man is vanity. Selah. Hear my prayer, O Lord,
and give ear unto my cry. Hold not thy peace at my tears,
for I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner. As all my fathers
were, O spare me. that I may recover strength before
I go hence and be no more. Let's pray. Lord, we feel something of what you said,
that every man is at his best state, altogether vanity. And
Lord, teach us that, that we might look outside of ourselves
for all of our salvation in thy son. We pray that we might hear
your gospel and the power of your spirit. We pray that you
unite our hearts together to fear thy name. We pray that we
might be found in Christ. We pray that we might be enabled
to look to him only. We pray for the forgiveness and
the cleansing from our sins. We pray for all your people wherever
they meet together. We pray for your blessing upon
them. We pray for those. Needs that we all have. That you know. Lord, those that
are going through grievous trials, we. Pray for them. That you bless those trials,
whatever they be for your glory and their good. Lord, give us
the grace to always esteem the other as better than ourselves.
Bless us for Christ's sake, in his name we pray, amen. Real briefly, I want us to look
at this psalm as the word of Christ, because every psalm,
first and foremost, is the word of Christ. And I'm gonna spend
more time as the word of David, but who's the only one who could
say this? I said, I will take heed to my
ways that I sin not with my tongue. You know, it's amazing to think
that the Lord never sinned with his tongue. How much sinning
do we do with our tongue? Every time we open our mouth,
without exception. But the Lord never sinned with
his tongue. He said, I'll keep my mouth with
a bridle while the wicked is before me. I was dumb with silence,
and I think this is speaking of his silence before his accusers. I was dumb with silence. I held
my peace even from good, and my sorrow was stirred. His sorrow
was stirred at this time. My heart was hot within me while
I was musing the fire burned then spake I with my tongue.
Lord, make me to know mine end. Complete glory. That's his end. Complete glory. Make me to know mine end and
the measure of my days. What it is, you know, his days
here on earth were only 33 years that I might know how frail I
am and how frail he was on the cross. Behold, thou has made
my days as a hand breath and mine ages is nothing before thee.
Every man at his best state is altogether vanity. And you know
when the Lord says he made himself of no reputation in Philippians
chapter two, that word actually means vanity. Vanity, when he
became flesh. Surely, and he's the one who
can see this, surely every man walketh in a vain show, and surely
they're disquieted and vain. The Lord looks at people worrying,
and he thinks, how vain. He heapeth up riches, and knoweth
not who shall gather them. And now, Lord, what wait I for?
My hope is in thee. Deliver me from all my transgressions. And that's how truly he owned
our sin. He said, deliver me from all my transgressions. Make me not the reproach of the
foolish. I was dumb, I opened not my mouth, because thou didst
it. Thou didst it. That's why. Remove thy stroke away from me.
I'm consumed by the blow of thine hand, which is talking about
the cross. When thou with rebukest this correct man for iniquity,
thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth. When's the
last time you touched a moth? How quickly they're crushed,
just like dust. Surely every man is vanity. Hear
my prayer, O Lord, and give ear unto my cry. Hold not thy peace
at my tears, for I am a stranger with thee and a sojourner, as
all my fathers were." God's a stranger in this land. He made it. He's
still a stranger in this land. And so are we. Oh, spare me that
I may recover strength before I go hence and be no more. Now these are the words of David.
I said, you know I've said this a lot of times, I'm never going
to talk bad about somebody again. I'm never going to be critical
again. I'm going to hold my tongue. I've made this vow I don't know
how many times. David did too. And it ought to
be kept, shouldn't it? It ought to be kept. I said,
I'll take heed to my ways that I sin not with my tongue. The sins of the tongue. Angry words, flattering words,
lies, harshness, gossip, being critical, judgmental. hurtful words, the sins of the
tongue. Now before, I want you to look
at a passage with me in Ecclesiastes chapter seven. How many times have you become
quite upset with the things that are said about you? Sins of the
tongue against you. Look what the wise man says in
Ecclesiastes 7, verse 20. For there's not a just man upon
earth that doeth good and sinneth not. Also take no heed unto all
words that are spoken, lest thou hear thy servant curse thee. For oftentimes also thine own
heart knoweth that thou thyself likewise has cursed others. Now, before you get too upset
about the things people say about you, remember, you've done the
same thing. Isn't that so? Sins of the tongue. We can't
talk about that without looking at James chapter three for just
a moment. My brethren, be not many masters. Don't desire to be a teacher,
knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. For
in many things, we offend all. Wouldn't that the truth? If any
man fend not in word, the same is a perfect man, able also to
bridle the whole body. Behold, we put bits in horses'
mouths that they may obey us, and we turn about their whole
body. Behold, also the ships, which although they be so great,
are driven in fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a
very small helm. Whithersoever the governor listeth,
even so the tongue is a little matter, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a
little fire kindleth, and the tongue is a fire, a world of
iniquity. So is the tongue among our members
that it defileth the whole body and setteth on fire the course
of nature, and it's set on fire of hell. For every kind of beast,
and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea is tamed,
and hath been tamed of mankind. But the tongue can no man tame."
Up to this point, have you been able to tame your tongue? I don't think so. You ought to.
I ought to. We ought not ever say another
negative thing again. But the tongue can no man tame. It is an unruly evil. full of
deadly poison, therewith bless we God, even the Father, and
therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude
of God out of the same mouth, proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought
not so to be. Amen. They ought not so to be. Back to Psalm 39. I said, I'll take heed to my
ways that I say not with my tongue. I will keep my mouth with a bridle
while the wicked is before me. I was done with silence. I held
my peace even from good. Now, David does at this time
what we all do. We take what we say too far.
I'm going to hold my tongue, and I even held it from good.
I didn't say anything. I was dumb with silence, and
during that time my sorrow was stirred, my heart was hot within
me, while I was musing the fire burned, then spake I with my
tongue. And what did he have to say?
Lord, make me to know mine end. Now, this is not saying, let
me know how I'm gonna die, what's gonna happen. at the end. I don't
want to know, do you? I don't want to know. I'm happy
being ignorant of that. But I want to know my end in
this sense. My end is perfect conformity to the image of Jesus
Christ. That's my end. And when I see
that as my end, that puts everything else in proper perspective, doesn't
it? My end is absolute perfection before God. My end is not having
a tongue that needs to be tamed, a tongue that will speak nothing
but praise to our God. And if I see my end because of
what Christ has done for me, that puts everything in its proper
perspective, doesn't it? Make me to know my end and the
measure of my days, the fewness of my days, what it is that I
may know how frail I am. Now, why would anybody want to
know how frail they are? When I'm weak, then am I strong. The only time I'm strong is when
I'm utterly weak in myself and my only strength is Christ Jesus. Make me to know my end, the measure,
the brevity of my days. Our life is compared in the scripture
to a vapor. You go out in the cold weather,
breathe, the vapor's there for a second, it's gone. That's about
how much significance my life and your life has. Do you believe
that? It's so. Make me to know mine end. The measure of my days that I
may behold how frail I am. Behold, verse five, thou hast
made my days in handbreadth. That's how wide that is. A hand
breath. And mine ages is nothing before
thee, verily every man at his best state. Now, who's man at
his best state? Man at his best state. Well,
does not the Bible say Solomon was the wisest man to ever live? It does say that. What about the way he died? What
about the way he lived at the end? If God didn't tell us in
his word that he was his son, we would think that man left
the gospel completely and died as an unbeliever. If you look
at the foolishness of what that man did, there's man at his best
state, Solomon. And what is he? All together. Don't miss that. All together.
Vanity, does that describe you? All together, vanity. Surely, verse six, surely every
man walketh in a vain show. It was true then and it's true
now. Every man is seeking to project
a certain image. I'm doing it, you're doing it,
at all times. Somebody says, I don't want to
be a part of that church. Too much hypocrisy there. Well,
you ought to fit in just perfect. You'd do real well there. You'd
be just like everybody else. Every man walks in a vain show,
seeking to project some kind of image. In this sense, every
man's a hypocrite. All a hypocrite means is an actor. Every man
walketh. No exceptions to this rule. And
you know that's so. You know it's true with regard
to you. We have to project an image. I mean, we have to. Somebody
says, what's wrong with you? Same thing that's wrong with
you. Same thing. I mean, you know, I could say,
well, how can I listen to a guy preach like that? I wouldn't
listen to a guy preach who's not like that, because he's really projecting. Well, whatever. David calls it
a vain show. And look what he says next. In
verse six. Surely they are disquieted and
in vain. Now you think of the worry and
anxiety everybody experiences. Worrying about this, worrying
about that, and the Lord said, can you by anxious thought add
one minute to your life? I want you to think about how
stupid worry is. Every time I worry, it's really stupid, because when
I worry, I'm saying I've got some kind of control in this
thing, but I don't. I don't have any control over anything. You
know that's why control freaks are so miserable. They're trying
to control what they have absolutely no control over. And he's disquieted,
he worries in vain. It's such a silly thing to worry.
Verse 7, he heapeth up riches and knows not who shall gather
them. He's looking for security in all the things he possesses.
And it's all going to be gone. Now what does he say in verse
seven? And now, Lord, what wait I for? What am I looking for
in this world? My hope is in thee. My hope isn't
in what I have or the image I project or what I do. My hope is utterly. Now what is hope? Hope is a confident
expectation with regard to the future. I have confident expectation
that when I stand before God on judgment day, he's gonna look
at me and he's gonna say, well done, thou good and faithful
servant. Now somebody says, how could
he say that? If Christ did well, I did well, because my hope is
in him. If Christ is utterly faithful,
I am utterly faithful because my hope is in him. Now that's my expectation. It's in thee. And not only that,
I believe that everything that takes place is working together
for my good and his glory. Now my hope is in thee. What am I looking for in this
world? My hope is in thee. Now here's his desire. Verse
eight, deliver me from all my transgressions and make me not
the reproach of the foolish. I don't want to sin. I want to
be delivered from my sin. I know I am sin. But I want delivered
from all my sin. Christ came into this world to
save His people from their sins, and that's what I need. Deliverance
from my sins. Deliver me from all my transgressions. And I know this, the only way
I'm going to be delivered from my transgressions is Him delivering
me. Well, I'm just not going to sin
anymore. You should have that desire, but see how long that's
gonna last, how much you're able to do that. He's addressing this
to the Lord. Lord, deliver me from all my
transgressions. Make me not the reproacher, the
foolish. I don't wanna bring dishonor to the gospel. I was
dumb. I didn't speak. I opened not
my mouth because thou didst it. Now, remember this with regard
to everything that takes place in my life and in your life.
He did it. He did it. Now it's okay to be
sorrowful. It's okay to mourn, but don't
do it over much because he did it. When Shemai cursed David
and Abishai said, you want me to go take his head off? He said,
no, the Lord said, curse David. And whatever comes into my life
and in your life, the Lord did it. And he had wise and glorious
purposes in it. In everything, give thanks, Paul
said. In everything. In everything,
give thanks. For this is the will of God in
Christ Jesus concerning you. Isn't that blessed? Whatever
takes place, it's the will of God. That good, holy, perfect,
and acceptable will of God. It's best. No matter how painful
it is, it's best. This is the will of God in Christ
Jesus concerning you. So he said, I was dumb. I opened
up my mouth because thou ditched it. Remove thy stroke away from me. No chastening seems joyous. It's grievous. And David says,
remove thy stroke away from me. I'm consumed. by the blow of
thine hand, when thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity. Thou makest his beauty to consume
away like a moth. Now I've thought before, how
does a mouth even have life in it? I mean, they're so, they're
like, you touch one, it turns into dust. There's absolutely
nothing to it. Now you can go on thinking high
thoughts about yourself, I can go on thinking high thoughts
about myself, but when the Lord lets us know something about
ourselves, our beauty. It's consumed away like a moth. But you know what? When you have
no beauty, isn't it wonderful to have Christ as your beauty
before God? Is he beautiful before God? Oh,
you think of his beauty before his father. As he is, so are
we in this world. It's a wonderful thing to have
Christ as your beauty. But when you correct me for my
iniquity, when you give me some idea of what I am, my beauty
is consumed away like a moth. And then he repeats him, surely,
surely, this is for sure, there ain't no doubt about this, every
man is vanity. You know that true about yourself?
Every man is vanity. Selah. Consider this. Now he
ends. Hear my prayer. Oh, Lord. You isn't it a blessing
to be able to address the Lord as the Lord? He's who we're speaking
to. Hear my prayer, O Lord. David is speaking as one who
knows the Lord. Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give
ear unto my cry. Hold not thy peace at my tears. Whether we cry inwardly or outwardly
with tears, every believer knows something about tears. Tears. Tears of joy at the awesomeness
of the Lord, at the glory of the gospel. Tears of sorrow over
their sin. He says, I am a stranger with
thee and a sojourner as all my fathers were. Now I think of
the Lord Jesus Christ. He came into the world and the
world did not receive him. He made the world. He created
the world. And the world wanted to have
nothing to do with him. He was a stranger in this world.
He said, I'm not of this world. And he said, concerning his people,
they are not of this world, even as I am not of this world. Now, I'm a stranger here. You are too. We're passing through. This world is not our home. We're looking for that great
heavenly city where we'll behold the face of Christ continually,
and we won't sin anymore. It's that place wherein dwelleth
righteousness. And our place here, it's not
our home. Oh, spare me that I may recover
strength. Before I go hence and be no more."
Now, somebody says, does that mean after death there's no life? Of course not. Of course not. I mean, you got to look at every
scripture and the other scripture. Somebody might take that scripture and
prove there's no afterlife. Doesn't say that at all. But
it does say this, the days I have left here, give me grace to honor
you. Give me grace to conduct myself,
to think, to talk, to walk in a way that honors you. Oh, spare me that I may recover
strength before I go hence and be no more." Now, today is the
first day of the rest of this life of vanity you've got to
live, that I got to live. First day. and every day is new
in Christ Jesus. May the Lord give me grace to,
well, wouldn't you like to honor him, honor his grace, honor his
presence. May the Lord give us grace to
do so the few days we have left here in the days of the vanity
of our life. Amen.