Psalm 39. Title of the message
will come from verse 7 of Psalm 39. Look at verse 7 with me. And now, Lord, what wait I for? My hope is in thee. What wait I for? Look at verse one. I said, I'll
take heed to my ways. We certainly would be wise to
do just that, to take heed to our ways. In Haggai 1 verse 7,
we read this, thus saith the Lord, consider, consider your
ways. David says the same thing. He
said, I'm going to take heed to my ways. I'm going to observe
my ways. I'm going to guard against and
guard about my ways. And quickly here we see the sin
that dwells in all of us. Look here, he says this. This is how he said, I'm going
to take heed to my ways. He said, that I sin not with my tongue. I'll keep my mouth with a bridle
while the wicked is before me. I will sin not with my tongue."
I imagine we could all give that a real good effort and probably
do as well as David did here. Turn with me to James, the book
of James, chapter 3. James chapter 3, beginning with verse 3. James 3, verse 3. Behold, We put bits in the horse's
mouth that they may obey us, and we turn about their whole
body. Isn't that an amazing thing that
you can put a bit, a small little bit, in a horse's mouth and turn
that horse any direction that you want him to go? Read on here. Behold also the ships. which
though they be so great and driven by fierce winds, they're turned
about with a very small hem, whithersoever the governor listeth."
Large ships. These large ships we see out
on the sea, they're guided to safety, they're guided away from
danger by just a small rudder on the back of it. and turn that
ship any direction it needs to go. Read on. Even so the tongue, it's a little
member. It's a small, small thing, yet
it boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a
little fire kindleth. These are all talking about just
small things, right? How often have we seen What starts
out is just a small fire. Destroy acres and acres and acres
of land from just a small, just a small little spark. I was reading
back in 2019, over 400,000 acres of land were burned out in California. And that fire, that great fire,
it started from just A little spark from a hammer driving a
stake. That spark drifted and started
that fire. Over 400,000 acres destroyed. The tongue. The tongue is a fire. It's a
world of iniquity. The tongue, so is the tongue
among our members, it defileth the whole body and setteth on
fire the course of nature. It's set on the fire of hell. The tongue, such just a tiny
little part of our body, but when moved with anger, when moved
with envy, when moved with jealousy, ambition, passion. It's like
a destructive fire just spreading and destroying everything in
its path. How is it? How is it that something
so small, so small, can destroy friendships that have endured
for years? You can break up homes, you can
break up churches, places that were once happy and content.
Words spoken from this little tongue here have destroyed men's
character, destroyed men's reputation, planted suspicion and doubt,
and turned men from truth to error. We should set a watch on our
tongue, shouldn't we? Scripture said, James, he said,
every kind of beast, of birds and of serpents and of things
in the sea is tamed. These things have been tamed
and have been tamed of mankind. But the tongue, no man, no man
can tame. It's an unruly evil full of deadly
poison. Therewith we bless God, even
the Father, and therewith, that same tongue, we curse men, which
are made in the similitude of God, in the same manner as God.
Out of the same mouth, how is that, proceeds both blessing
and cursing. And he finishes, he said, my
brethren, these things, they ought not, they ought not to
be. David said, I'll take heed to my ways that I sin not with
my tongue. You know, just as we read there
in James, I think man has succeeded in taming all kind of animals. I can remember years ago we went
to the circus and you watch those big old elephants and they do
those tricks. Man has trained those elephants
to do those things. Dolphins. Dolphins and sea lions,
the military actually uses those animals to find landmines, not
landmines, that would be kind of tough for a sea lion, wouldn't
it? But under the water. Those mines
under the water and even enemy divers. Those animals have been
trained to spot those things and report them back. I've got
two dogs at home that even they know how to sit. I've trained
them. It's the only thing I've ever taught them to do, but they
can sit. But the tongue, no man, no man
can tame. No man can control it. No man
can hold it in check. No man can stop its bitterness.
No man can tame the tongue. And here's why. Here's the problem.
This tongue speaks what's in the heart. That's what God's
word says. Out of the abundance of the heart,
out of what's in this heart, that's what the mouth speaks. And only the grace of God can
tame it. Only the grace of God can subdue
it. Only the grace of God can make
it an instrument of God's praise and God's goodness. Well, back
to our text. Turn back to Psalm 39, verse
2. David said, I was dumb with silence. I held my peace even from good,
and my sorrow was stirred. My heart was hot within me, and
while I was musing, the fire burned, and then I spake with
my tongue." I could only keep a lid on it for so, so long. Let's read on here. Next we see
something of the frailty of this life. Look at verse 4. "'Lord, make me to know mine
end, and the measure of my days, what it is, that I might know
how frail I am." There's much written about David
in scriptures, good and bad. You know, it was David that prayed
this. David said, remember not the sins of my youth. nor my transgressions. According
to thy mercy, remember thou me for thy goodness sake, O Lord."
In Psalm 51, he prayed, he said, have mercy on me, O God. According to thy loving kindness,
according to the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out
my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from mine
iniquity. Cleanse me from my sin, for I
acknowledge my transgression and my sin is ever before thee. Against thee, who were those
sins against? Against thee and thee only have
I sinned and done this evil in thy sight, that thou mightest
be justified when thou speakest and clear when thou judgest. These words are written, listen,
not for us to imitate or copy David, but they're written for
our instruction. They're written for our learning.
In Romans 15.4, God's Word declares, whatsoever things were written
aforetime, they're written for our learning. that we, through
patience and comfort of the scriptures, might have hope. David says, make me to know how
frail I am. That's David. David was a king. David slew
Goliath. We could just go on and on. David
was a great... David said, make me to know how
frail I am. And you know what? If we ever
learn something of the frailty of this flesh, it might just
humble us a little bit. To know something of my frailty might cause me to know more of
my need of the Savior, my need to know Him, my need of Christ. When I see my need, when I see
my frailty, my weakness, maybe it caused me to be a little more
patient with others. When I see my frailty, the weakness
of this flesh, eventually it'll wean me from this world and cause
me to trust and rest in Christ and Christ alone. Behold, thou hast made my days. Let's read on here in our text.
Behold, thou hast made my days as a hand breath. A hand breath. And my age is as nothing before
thee. Verily, every man at his best
state is altogether vanity. My days are as a hand breath. I look that up. The distance
between these fingers at the base of the hand, that's a hand
breath. That's not much, is it? It's
about four inches. About four inches. Now our days,
whatever length they may be, they are appointed of God. But David says, my days are,
my age is nothing, nothing before they. Think about that for just a minute.
Almighty God, who spoke the world into creation, Almighty God who is sovereign
in all things. Almighty God is eternal. He has no beginning and no end. What's 70 years? What's 70 years
to Him? Three score and ten. What's that
before God? What's 120 years? Moses lived
to be 120 years. Methuselah lived to be 969 years
old. That's a long time for us, but
what is that before Almighty God? Nothing. Nothing. Scripture says the nations
The nations, what are they? There is a drop in the bucket. They're like a speck of dust
on the scales. That's a very small thing, isn't
it? We think. There's times we're
convinced we're something. But scripture says we're all
together. We're nothing. Nothing. Man at his best state. Absolute best. Get up early in
the morning, right? Absolute best is altogether vanity. That means empty. It means worthless. Well, let's read on in our text. Verse 6. The vanity and sinfulness
of man. Look at verse 6. Every man walketh in a vain show. Surely they are disquieted in
vain. And that word disquieted, I don't
know, I've never used that before. Disquieted, it means to murmur. It means to cry aloud. It means
to mourn. It means to rage. It means to
be troubled. just to be in an uproar. That's a pretty good description
of us, isn't it? Disquieted. We fret, and we fume, and we
worry, all for nothing. All in vain. Look at, read on
in verse six. He heapeth up, man heapeth up
riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them. Like that rich man we read of
in scripture, whose ground brought forth plentifully. And he said,
what shall I do? I have no room to bestow all
my goods. And he said, I'll do this. I'll
tear down my barns, and I'll build bigger barns. And there,
I'll bestow my fruit, my goods. And I'll say to my soul, soul,
thou hast much goods laid up for many years. Take thine ease. Eat, drink, and be merry. Then God spoke. God spoke and
said unto him, thou fool, this night, this night thy soul shall
be required of thee. And then, then when that happens,
whose shall those things be that you've provided? All these riches, Who's going
to gather them? How many times have we seen folks, might as well say they died with
great wealth and then they just leave it for kids to fight over
or courts to fight over? All those riches, who shall gather
them? It's all vanity. All vanity. Our joys and honors, our griefs,
our sorrows, our earthly possessions, we can describe it all as this.
Vanity. Vanity. Well, that leads me to
the final point. Our only hope. Our only hope
is Christ. Look at verse 7. And now, Lord, What wait I for? What am I looking
for? Where is my expectation? Where
is my confidence? To whom shall I look? Peter said
this, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life. What is my expectation in light of all these things?
Well, it's not long life, is it? Days of man are short. His age
is as nothing. It's not help for man. Man's worthless. He's altogether
vanity. Is it from riches? Not riches
and honors. They're all fading and perishing
things. What wait I for? What is my hope? What is my expectation? Well, we've ruled out everything
in this world, haven't we? But the glories of another world,
the Lord Himself in this world and in the world
to come. Look at verse 7. Now, Lord, what
wait I for?" Here's the answer. I pray this
is every one of us' answer. My hope is in Thee. My hope is in the Lord, in His
grace and mercy, in His redemptive work, in His sin-atoning sacrifice,
in His all-sufficient grace, in His power to not just save
but to keep me, my hope is in the Lord. Listen to just a few
verses of Scripture concerning hope. Romans 5, verse 5, we read
that hope maketh not ashamed. In Romans 8, 24, we're saved
by hope. Peter wrote this in 1 Peter 1,
3, he said, God hath begotten us unto a lively hope, a living
hope. 2 Thessalonians 2, 16, God hath
given us a good hope through grace. What's my hope? My hope is in
the Lord. Spurgeon wrote this. Let me just read it to you. He
said, my hope lives not because I'm not a sinner. That's not
the case, is it? But because I am a sinner for
whom Christ died. My trust is not that I'm holy. but that being unholy, he is
my righteousness. My faith rests not in what I
am or shall be or feel or know, but in what Christ is, in what
Christ has done, and what he is doing for me. Now quickly,
look with me at the last few verses of Scripture. Verse 8, deliver me from all my transgressions. There's only one, only one who
can take away my sin. We have but one hope, and that's
the Lord Jesus Christ. Scripture says this, he shall
save his people from their sin. We could pray with that public
and of old, couldn't we? God be merciful to me, the sinner. Deliver me, that's what he says. Deliver me from all my transgressions,
all my sin. The sins of my youth, the sins
of old age, deliver me from all my transgression. And then David
says this, make me not the reproach of the foolish. Don't let me give reason to the
enemy to blaspheme his name. Well, let's read on. Verse 9,
I was dumb. I open not my mouth because thou
didst it. Remove thy stroke away from me. I am consumed by the blow of
thy hand. When thou with rebukes dost correct
man for iniquity, thou makest his beauty to consume away like
a moth. Surely every man is vanity. Verse 12. Hear my prayer, O Lord. and give ear unto my cry. Hold not thy peace at my tears,
for I'm a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers
were. Hear my prayer. Give ear unto my cry. Hold not thy peace at my tears. Is there anything that gets our
attention more than the cries of our children or the tears
of a little one? Consider our Lord. Scripture
says, We have not a high priest which cannot be touched with
the feeling of our infirmities. He was in all points tempted
as we are, yet without sin. What wait I for? My hope is in the Lord. Aren't we thankful that he's
able to sympathize? I forget that. I forget that. he's able to sympathize with
his people. How is that? Almighty God was made a man,
and he came to this earth, and he was tempted and tried in all
points like we are, yet without sin. He knew no sin, but he understands. our weaknesses. He understands our pain. He understands
our infirmity, our tears, our temptations. Verse 13. Oh, spare me. Oh, that the Lord would spare
me. That I may recover strength before
I go hence and be no more. Spare me. I ask again, what wait
I for? What wait I for? You know, we're
told, we're told to do this. Wait on the Lord. Be of good courage. He'll strengthen,
he'll strengthen your heart. My hope is in thee. My hope is in the Lord.