Psalm 31. 31st Psalm. Whenever I come to this Psalm,
a couple of things that stand out to me. Verse 15. My times
are in thy hand. Isn't that glorious? My times,
everything about me, they're in his hand. And I think of verse
five, into thine hand I commit my spirit. Who said that? Those
are the words of the Lord Jesus, his last statement. As a matter
of fact, all seven of those statements are found in the Old Testament.
Now let's read this psalm together. In thee, O Lord, do I put my
trust. Let me never be ashamed. Deliver
me in thy righteousness. Bow down by me here to me. Deliver
me speedily. Be thou my strong rock for a
house of defense to save me. For thou art my rock and my fortress. Therefore, for thy name's sake,
lead me and guide me. Pull me out of the net that they
have laid privily for me, for thou art my strength. Into thine
hand I commit my spirit. Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord
God of truth. I have hated them that regard
lying vanities, but I trust in the Lord. I will be glad and
rejoice in thy mercy, for thou has considered my trouble. Thou
has known my soul. in adversities, and has not shut
me up into the hand of the enemy, thou has set my feet in a large
room. Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for
I am in trouble. Mine eye is consumed with grief,
yea, my soul and my belly, for my life is spent with grief,
and my years with sighing My strength faileth because of mine
iniquity, and my bones are consumed. I was a reproach among all mine
enemies, but especially among my neighbors, and a fear to mine
acquaintance. They that did see me without
fled from me. I am forgotten as a dead man
out of mind. I'm like a broken vessel. For
I've heard the slander of many. Fear was on every side while
they took counsel together against me. They devised to take away
my life, but I trusted in thee, O Lord. I said, thou art my God. My times are in thy hand. Deliver me from the hand of mine
enemies, and from them that persecute me. Make thy face to shine upon
thy servants. Save me for thy mercy's sake. Let me not be ashamed, O Lord,
for I have called upon thee. Let the wicked be ashamed, and
let them be silent in the grave. Let the lying lips be put to
silence, which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously
against the righteous. Oh, how great is thy goodness,
which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee, which has wrought
for them that trust in thee before the sons of men. Thou shalt hide
them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man. Thou shalt keep them secretly
in a pavilion from the strife of tongues. Blessed be the Lord. for he has showed me his marvelous
kindness in a strong city. For I said in my haste, I'm cut
off from before thine eyes. Nevertheless, thou heardest the
voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee, oh, love the
Lord, all ye his saints, for the Lord preserveth the faithful. and plentifully rewardeth the
proud doer. Be of good courage and he shall
strengthen your heart. All ye that hope in the Lord. Lord, we ask by thy grace that
we would be enabled to enter in to this psalm and that we
might be of that number who hope in the Lord. Speak to us for
Christ's sake. Forgive us of our sins for Christ's
sake. Give us the grace to look only
to him. Lord, speak to each heart here.
Meet each need here according to your riches in glory. Be with
all your people wherever they meet together. Lord, as we look
toward this coming year, we look in anticipation because our times
are in thy hand. And Lord, we're thankful. I bless
us for Christ's sake. In his name we pray. Amen. You know, you can't help but
notice in the reading of that psalm that the psalmist goes
through about every range of emotion, doesn't he? As you look
at everything David says. Now, in verse one, in thee, O
Lord, do I put my trust. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ is
worthy of absolute trust. I love to think of trusting in
him in such a way as you're carefree. He's worthy of that trust. He's utterly faithful. He is
worthy for every one of us to be enabled by his grace to say
in thee, O Lord, Do I put my trust? Let me never be ashamed. That means two things. Let me
never be put to shame. Never let me be exposed. And
never let me be ashamed. Cause me to always be proud of
thy gospel. Not proud of myself, but proud
of the gospel. I love what Paul said, I'm not
ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Don't let me be put to shame.
Don't let me be ashamed. Deliver me in thy righteousness. Now, the only way that can be
understood is understanding the gospel. Not just deliver me in your mercy
or your grace, but in your righteousness. You see, every believer has the
righteousness of Christ as their personal righteousness before
God. And we can truly say, deliver
me in thy righteousness. Bow down thine ear to me, deliver
me speedily. Be thou my strong rock. for an
house of defense to save me. What a request. For thou art my rock and my fortress. Therefore, for thy name's sake,
for Christ's sake, lead me. and guide me. Now, don't you
want this for yourself, for the Lord to lead you and for the
Lord to guide you? And he does it for his name's
sake. Pull me out of the net that they
have privilege. They have laid privilege for
me, for thou art my strength. Now, David had people who plotted
his destruction. And aren't you thankful that
even those people who may plot your destruction are in the Lord's
hand? Everybody's in the Lord's hand. And that's why David said, pull
me out of the net that they've privily in secret laid for me
for my destruction. And then he says in verse five,
into thine hand, I commit my spirit. And that's the word of
the Lord Jesus Christ, his last words from the cross. And what
faith, you wanna know what faith is? The Lord completely entrusted
himself to his father. Into thy hands, I commit, I commend
my spirit. Wouldn't it be a blessing if
you and I can do the same thing just now? Into thy hands, Lord,
I commit my spirit. I'm safe in your hands. Thou hast redeemed me. Oh Lord
God of truth. Now I love to think of redemption. It doesn't say you've offered
redemption to me if I'll take it. It said, you have redeemed
me. And I love the way he says, oh,
Lord, God of truth. You know, there isn't anything
that demonstrates the truth of God like his redeeming work.
Every attribute of God is displayed by his redeeming work. Thou hast redeemed me. With the
Lord, there is plenteous redemption. And did you think about this,
saints? He has redeemed you. What could
be better than that? He's redeemed you. All your sins
are paid for. They're put away in a way that
magnifies his truth. Mercy and truth are met together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed one another in his redemption. Now he says in verse six, I've
hated them that regard lying vanities. Jonah said, they that
observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. Now, what he's
talking about, this is the Lord speaking, and he's talking about
somebody who trusts something other than himself. What they're
doing is they're regarding lying vanities, things that have no
salvation in them. And the Lord says, I've hated
them. Now, how can the Lord speak that
way? Because it's the Lord. He said,
I hate them with a perfect hatred. I mean, you can't do that. He
does. This is out of regard to his
father and love to his father and seeing someone look somewhere
other than what his father has provided. He said, I've hated
them that regard lying vanities. And that's what any form of salvation
by works is. It's a lying vanity. But I trust
in the Lord. I will be glad and rejoice in
thy mercy. Now look what he says. Now I know these are the words
of the Lord, but these are the words of David. And these are
the words of me and you. For thou has considered my trouble. Thou has known my soul. in adversity. And that's a promise to every
believer, whatever trouble you have. He's considered your soul
in that trouble. He has known you. He has loved
you throughout all your adversities. David had problems galore, didn't
he? And he knew that, but he said,
you've known me. You've considered my soul in
adversities and has not shut me up into the hand of the enemy. Thou has set my feet in a large
room, speaking of liberty. My enemies cannot triumph. My sins cannot triumph. You set my feet in a large room,
a spacious room of liberty and freedom. Now he says in verse
eight, have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am in trouble. Mine eye is consumed with grief. Yea, my soul and my belly for
my life is spent with grief. Now, these are the words of the
Lord regarding his own life. He's the man of sorrows acquainted
with grief. He said, I've been afflicted
in Psalm 88, speaking of his own life. He said, I've been
afflicted from my youth up, but this is David speaking. This
is David speaking in his own experience. He says, my life
is spent with grief, my years with sighing, my strength faileth.
Why? Because of mine iniquity. Now that is Christ owning the
iniquity of his people as his own. And it's the new man owning
the iniquity of the old man. You know, the only time you ever
truly confess your sin before the father is when the new man
owns it. The new man owns the sin of the
old. He doesn't simply say, well,
that was the old man. He said, that's my iniquity. And that's
what the Lord said with regard to the sin that he took upon
himself for his people. My bones are consumed. I was a reproach among all mine
enemies, but especially among my neighbors and a fear to mine
acquaintance. They did see me without fled
from me. And I have no doubt that's the
Lord talking about his disciples fleeing from him. Now look what
David says. I am forgotten. as a dead man
out of mind. You know what David's saying?
Nobody thinks about me. Nobody thinks about me. I'm isolated.
I'm alone. I'm forgotten like a dead man. I'm like a broken vessel. I can't hold anything. I mean,
whatever's poured in me is going to leak out. He felt so isolated. He felt so alone. Now, what is
amazing to me is the Son of God felt that way. on Calvary's tree. He was completely isolated, completely
alone. His disciples had forsaken him.
His father had forsaken him and he was alone. But this is a very
real feeling that any of us can feel. This thing of being isolated,
forgotten, forsaken, and alone. So David says in verse 13, for
I've heard the slander of many. Fear was on every side while
they took counsel together against me. They devised to take away
my life." David had this happen many times, slandered, death
plots, and the Lord obviously was slandered and had death plots
placed upon him. And how many of us have felt
the sting of slander? Now the Lord did. Somebody slanders. But verse 14, I trusted in thee. Oh Lord, I said thou art my God. My times are in thy hand. Would you want to be anywhere
else? My times, my past, my present, my future, whatever it is involving
time, it's in his hand. What a good place for that. Would
you want them in your hand? No, you'd mess it up. But David
could say with confidence, my times are in thy hand. Deliver
me from the hand of mine enemies and from them that persecute
me. I've got enemies, my sins, they
persecute me. I've got folks who wish me ill. You do too. But thank God, my
times are in his hand and we are promised this deliverance. He says, make thy face to shine
upon thy servant. Now, if the Lord's face is shining
on you, isn't everything okay? No matter what it is. I love
what John Newton said, when blessed with a sense of his love, a palace,
a toy would appear. And prisons would palaces prove
if Jesus would dwell with me there. Oh, make your face the
face of favor, the face of grace to shine upon thy servant. Save me for thy mercy sake. Now, this is a argument we can
always use with the Lord. Lord, save me for your mercy
sake. Would this, would not my salvation magnify how great and
free and sovereign your mercy is? And this is an argument in
prayer. Lord, save me for thy mercy sake. Verse 17, let me not be ashamed. Let me not be put to shame. Let
me not be ashamed. Oh Lord, for I have called upon
thee. Let the wicked be ashamed. Let them be silent in the grave. Let the lying lips be put to
silence, which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously
against the righteous. Now, I was thinking about this. Every believer, oh may God give
us grace to enter into this. Every believer is justified before
God. And every accusation against
you is a lie. And that's how real his righteousness
is. Every accusation, every slander
against you is not just overlooked. It's a lie because you stand
absolutely righteous and perfect before God. And every accusation
brought against you, it's a lie. Isn't that wonderful? That's
what justification means. I stand perfect, righteous before
God. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? They're justified, and God justified
them. Who is he to condemn me? Christ
that died, there's nothing to condemn me for. And that's why
he called these lying lips. He says, let me not be ashamed,
O Lord, for I've called upon thee. Let the wicked be ashamed.
Let the lying lips be put to silence, which speak grievous
things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous. Now, if
you're righteous, there's nothing to bring to your charge. But
yet that's what he says these people are doing. He says in
verse 19, Oh, How great is thy goodness. God's goodness. There's so many things we could
say about it. I mean, look at the creation
and you see God's goodness. Look at the beautiful sky. Look
at the earth he's given us. God's goodness is seen in many
ways, but that's not the way God's goodness is seen. God's
goodness is seen in his capacity to save. God is good all the
time. How great is His goodness, His
capacity for mercy. Oh, how great is thy goodness
which thou has laid up. You've got a savings account. It's laid up by God Himself.
It's His goodness. That's a whole lot better retirement
account than silver and gold, isn't it? His goodness laid up
by him for you. And who is it laid up for? Them
that fear thee. And I want to say this every
time I talk about the fear of God, the only thing that demonstrates
the fear of God is looking to Christ. You look to Christ only,
it's because you have this fear, and awe, and reverence, and respect
for God. You look anywhere else, all you
say by that is, I have no fear, reverence, awe, and respect of
God. The fear of God is to look to
Christ only, which thou hast wrought for them that trust in
thee before the sons of men. You know, I want to trust in him
before the sons of men, don't you? I want people to see my
only hope is in Christ, and I say that before the sons of men,
and I glory in that before the sons of men. You know, I repeat,
I hope I'm saying this the right way, I'm proud of the gospel.
I'm proud of the way God saves. It's worthy of God. It glorifies
God. It's all I need to make me perfect. I am proud of the gospel. So is Paul. He said, I'm not
ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it's the power of God unto
salvation. Now look what he says in verse
20. Thou shalt hide them, everybody who fears you. Everybody that
looks to you only, thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy
presence. Now, what a place to be hidden.
The secret of his presence. It is secret to everybody else.
Nobody else knows anything about it. But God's people know their
hiding place is in Christ, who's in the very presence of God. I'm hidden in him. He's in God's
presence. That may be secret to everybody
else, but it's very real to the believer. That's the only dwelling
place there is, is in the Lord Jesus Christ. And look what I'm
hidden from. Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence
from the pride of man. Now, there's something that can't
dwell in God's presence is pride. Can't do it. Can't do it. And I want to be hidden from
the wicked pride that's in me. Thou shalt keep them secretly
in a pavilion in the tabernacle from the strife of tongues. And
that word strife has to do with law condemnation. That's not
just talking about people speaking bitterly and in a strifeful way.
That's talking about law condemnation. No condemnation can be brought
up against the believer because I am perfect in Christ Jesus.
hidden in him. Blessed verse 21. Now look how
he's gone from so far down to so far up. Blessed be the Lord
for he has showed me his marvelous kindness. In a strong city, a
fence city of security, the city of God. Every believer is an
inhabitant of this city. For I said in my haste, verse
22. How many things have you said
in haste? A lot, haven't you? Said a lot of things in haste.
A lot of things you wish you could pull back. You wish you'd
never said it. David felt that way. I said in
my haste, I'm cut off from before thine eyes. How many times have
you said that in your haste? He's done with me. He's done
with me. I said in my haste, I've been
cut off from before thine eyes, nevertheless." I read a sermon by Martin Lloyd-Jones
and he entitled the sermon, Nevertheless. And he said, the whole gospel
is found in that word, nevertheless. Nevertheless, he saved them for
his name's sake. Even though I popped off in my
haste and said things that are so contrary to the gospel, he's
cut me off. What a statement of unbelief.
He's cut me off. Nevertheless, thou heardest the
voice of my supplication when I cried unto thee. Oh, love the
Lord. Is there any better exhortation
than that? Oh, love the Lord, all ye his saints. Now, a saint
is a holy one. A saint has the capacity to love
the Lord. You know what? I love the Lord. Now, anytime we say that, we
think you don't love him enough. I realize that. I don't love
him enough. My love is not what it ought to be. It's not what
it's going to be one day. But I love who the Lord is, don't
you? I love every one of his glorious attributes. I love the
way he saves. I love him. He's glorious. He's altogether lovely. Oh, love
the Lord, all ye his saints. Every single one of his saints
are called upon to do this to love the Lord for the Lord preserveth
the faithful You know why you're not gonna
fall away because you're preserved You know why you're faithful?
Because he gave you the faith to be faithful. That's the only
reason. He preserveth the faithful and he plentifully rewardeth
the proud doer. Now that is the description of
the wicked. They're proud doers, proud of
what they do. Lord will reward them and he
will reward them plentifully. Now, look at this exhortation. Be of good courage. He says this to every one of
his people. Be of good courage. And he shall strengthen your
heart, all ye that hope in the Lord. Now, hope is a confident
expectation with regard to the future. I have a hope that when
my name is called on Judgment Day, Jesus Christ will answer
for me, present and accounted for. I have a hope that it's
all going to go well for me on Judgment Day, and it's because
Jesus Christ is my righteousness before God. Because He paid for
my sins, He did it all. And I have a hope that everything
between now and then is going to be working together for my
good and His glory. Therefore, I have every reason
to be of good courage, knowing He shall strengthen my heart,
give me the grace to persevere, all that hope in the Lord." It's
a wonderful psalm, isn't it? They all are, but I love that.