My Hope is In Thee

I want you to turn now to Psalm
39. While you're turning to that
scripture, I want to read two scriptures that you need to turn
to them, but this is a psalm of David. Psalm 39 is a psalm
of David. Now, the reason I say that, all
the psalms are not psalms of David, some written by Moses
possibility some were written by others, we're not certain.
But God spoke to Saul, and he said, Saul, you've done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment
of the Lord thy God, and thy kingdom shall not continue. The
Lord has sought him a man after his own heart, and the Lord has
commanded him to be captain over his people. And that's in the
Old Testament. And then over in the New Testament,
almost the same words are repeated in the Book of Acts. And when
God had removed Saul, he raised up unto them David to be their
king, to whom also he gave testimony and said, I have found David.
the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfill
all my will." Now, David, three things about David. First of
all, David was a man of strong temptation and trial. He was
a man totally committed to God, totally committed. He was totally
involved in a spiritual world. He was totally involved in the
conflicts, in the warfare, and in the revelation of God's kingdom.
David was not a man who sat on the sidelines and watched the
purpose and providence of God unfold, but he was a man who
was always a participant. He was in a spiritual world. He was a man of great trial and
great tribulation and great temptation and great trouble, illustrated
You can turn to this, if you will, 1 Samuel 17. Now Israel
was encamped out yonder somewhere, and they were challenged by the
Philistines. And there arose a giant, a huge
man by the name of Goliath, challenging Israel and laying down the gauntlet
and saying, Now I represent the Philistines, and you send out
a man representing Israel. And we'll do battle, and the
one that wins, his side conquers and the other become the spoils. And all of the men of Israel
trembled and were afraid, and they were standing back watching
this man flaunt his superiority and his strength and his power
over the armies of the Lord. And here this young man David
came up, keeper of the sheep. His daddy had sent him up there
to take supplies to his brethren. And he saw what was going on.
He said in verse 26 of 1 Samuel 17, he made it his business.
As I say, David was a man involved. He wasn't a man to sit on the
sidelines and watch the purpose of God or the program of God
or the providence of God unfold. He was involved in this thing.
He believed. And he said in 1 Samuel 16, 26, David spake to the men
that stood by, saying, Well, what shall be done to this man,
to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the
reproach of Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine
that he should defy the armies of the living God? Who is this
man? And the people answered him after
this man is saying, So shall it be done to the man that killeth
him. And one of David's brothers, Elab, his older brother, heard
what he spake to the men, and Eliab's anger was kindled against
David. And he said, Why did you come
down here? And with whom hast thou left those few sheep in
the wilderness? Get back to your little flock
of sheep, shepherd boy. I know your pride and the naughtiness
of your heart that thou art come down that thou mightest see the
battle. And David said, What have I now done? Is there not
a cause? This is God's And where God's
cause is, I am involved. That's the way he felt. A man
after God's own heart. A man involved, a man totally
committed to the Lord. And when the armies of Israel
were challenged by this huge character named Goliath, David
was involved. He felt it. Who is this fellow
to challenge the armies of the Lord? Is there not a cause? All
right, David also, second thing about him, He was a man of strong
passions and feelings. He loved. He loved completely. He loved with all of his soul.
Now you take, as an illustration of that, his love for Jonathan. Jonathan was Saul's son, and
Jonathan and David loved one another. They had a covenant
between them. They were the deepest of friends. And Jonathan said, Now David,
someday you'll be king of Israel, and I'll be dead. And I want
you to promise me that you'll care for my family when I'm gone."
The first thing David did when he became king was remember that
promise and that covenant with that man whom he loved. And he
made all preparation to take care of the only son that that
man Jonathan had left. David was a man that loved completely. And he praised God wholeheartedly. Listen to him as he says, let
everything that hath breath praise God. He praised God wholeheartedly. And David was a man who felt
humility deeply, strong passions and strong feelings. For example,
turn to 2 Samuel 6. I think this is one of the best
illustrations of a man who was truly humble. Now, if a new pastor
assumes duties in a church, what he's going to do for a while
is wear his best suit and put on his best airs, and he's going
to have his best smile. And if a man gets to be the mayor
of the town, he's going to go about impressing people with
his distinguished personality. his wisdom and keep himself aloof
from all confusion and conflicts. A new man on the job at the mill
or somewhere, a new boss, he's going to impress everyone with
his abilities and with his strength and with his knowledge and wisdom
and his authority and all these things. David had just become
king, and they went down to get the ark to bring it back to Jerusalem. always when they brought the
art in on the shoulders of the priest. Now, the priest carried
the art, only the priest. That was a position of great
prominence. And then they had the different ones that walked
in the procession, but they usually had a slave or a servant out
in front dancing. clothed in a little linen girdle
of some sort, and he would dance barefooted out in front of the
Ark, and it was a celebration, a parade. And this was just something
that a servant did. What do you think position David
took in that parade, bringing the Ark of God back to Jerusalem? Well, he took the place out there
in front of the servant, and it was shocking to his his wife
who wanted to impress people with their position, the new
king. Look at 2 Samuel 6. It says in verse 15, verse 14,
And David danced before the Lord with all his might. And David
was girded with a linen ephod. And David and all the house of
Israel brought up the art of the Lord with shouting with the
sound of the trumpet. Now read verse 20. After all
the parade was over, he came in the house, David returned
to bless his household, and Michael, the daughter of Saul, came out
to meet David. And she said, How glorious was
the King of Israel today, who uncovered himself today in the
eyes of the handmaids of his servant, as one of the vain fellows
shamelessly uncovereth himself! unto his wife, Michael, it was
before the Lord who chose me before thy father, and before
all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of Israel,
the people of the Lord. Therefore will I play before
the Lord, and I will yet be more vile than thus, and will be base
in my own sight, and of the maidservants which thou hast spoken of, of
them shall I be had in honor." A man of strong passion. Do you
see that? He was a man of great love and
great humility and great gratitude to God. And then David was a
man of strong faith. These were the three great characteristics
of David. He was an involved man. He was
a man of great temptation and trial. He was involved in the
kingdom of God. He was committed to a spiritual
world. He was a man of strong passions
and feelings and a man of strong faith. David never ceased to
believe God. Like Abraham, he believed God. And God, his faith was so great,
a gift of God, that God allowed David, now listen to this, God
allowed David to write the Messianic Psalms, speaking the words of
the Lord Jesus Christ as if they were his own words. That's right. Turn to Psalm 22. Christ hasn't
come when this psalm was written. Christ had not come to this earth.
And David is writing this psalm. And David is crying these very
words of the Lord Jesus Christ. These are the words of David.
And yet they're the very words which the Master himself uttered
from the cross. My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? This is hundreds of years before
Christ came. Verse 16, "...dogs have compassed
me, the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me, they have pierced
my hands and my feet." Verse 18, "...they have parted my garments
among them, and cast lots for my vesture." Here's David writing
the words of the Master, those holy, precious words that he
spoke from the cross. God gave David those words to
pen. That's a man of faith, a man
of God, a man after God's own heart. And this psalm we're about
to look at, and the reason I've preceded and introduced the message
with those words, is to impress upon you that what we read that
this man by the Holy Spirit has written is well worthy of our
notice and of our deepest study. You know what I know about this
psalm first, just this glance at it before we get into it?
This psalm was written in a time of great conflict. This psalm
was written in a time of great sorrow, great trial. Now, the reason I know that,
let me show you, just briefly run through it. The last line
in verse 2, my sorrow was stirred or troubled. Verse 4, the last
line, how frail I am. Verse 8, deliver me from all
my transgressions, make me not the reproach of the foolish.
Verse 10, remove thy stroke, or this strife, this blow of
thy hand from me. I am consumed. The last line
of verse 11, every man is vanity. Verse 12, hear my prayer, O Lord,
give ear unto my cry. Hold not thy peace at my tears. I'm a stranger, I'm deserted
of God, I'm a sojourner. spare me that I may recover my
strength before I die." So this psalm was written, and this is
important. This is very important. I said
one time to the Bible class, if you're going to study the
Word of God, find out who wrote it, to whom it's written, and
what he's writing about. And you just won't get anything
out of this psalm as you ought to get it unless you first have
that foundation. This was a psalm written in deep
distress, conflict, conviction, and trouble, and sorrow. All
right, let's look at the first part of it. David writing, I
said, I said. Now just pause there a minute.
He was talking to himself. It was to himself that he said
this. Now let me tell you this. Wise is the man or woman who
spends much time talking to himself. I don't mean out loud, but I
mean meditating and communing with your own heart. Wise is
that person who, like David, communes with his own heart.
Let me show you some Psalms for that now, Psalm 4. Turn over
here a moment. Psalm 4, verse 4. It says in
Psalm 4, verse 4, "...stand in awe and sin not." Commune with
your own heart upon your bed. Talk things over with your own
heart. Weigh things. Meditate. Talk to yourself. I say it, David. I'm talking
to myself, he says. Look at Psalm 77, if you will. Psalm 77. And notice this. Psalm 77, verse 6. Psalm 77. I call to remembrance my song
in the night. I commune with my own heart,
and my spirit made diligent search." You see what he's saying? I commune
with my own heart and my spirit made diligent search. It was
to himself that David said this. What did he say? What was he
concerned about? Let's read on. I considered this, and I amused
and meditated about it. He was under a strong burden.
He was evidently afflicted by God in some kind of deep trial.
Some of it he understood and some of it he didn't understand,
and God hadn't seen fit to reveal it to him. And God hadn't seen
fit to reveal his purpose. So he says, here's what he says,
I'll take heed to my ways, I'm going to be careful now, that
I sin not with my tongue. I'm going to be careful that
I sin not with my tongue." You know, this is one of the things
God said about Job. Turn to Job 1. Now, David was
under God's rod of affliction. David was in severe and deep
trial, and he was going through some very trying times, and he
said to himself, I don't understand what the Lord is doing, what
his purpose is, but I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I'm
not going to complain, I'm not going to murmur, I'm not going
to find fault with God's purpose, because that would be sin. I'm going to take heed to my
ways that are sin not with my tongue. And it says when all
these things were taken away, it says verse 21, verse 20, Job
arose and rent his mantle and shaved his head and fell down
on the ground and worshiped, and said, Naked came I out of
my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither. The Lord gave,
and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord."
In all this, Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly. There is a great danger When we're in God's afflicting
hand and going through trials which God has sent for our good,
for his glory, to have too much to say and to actually sin with
our tongue. A young man came to his old teacher
one time and he said, teach me one of David's Psalms. And the
old man opened the Bible to Psalm 39 and he read verse 1. I said,
I will take heed to my ways that I sin not with my tongue. I will
keep my mouth with a bridle." And the young man stopped him
and said, hold it right there, that's enough. If I learn that
well, that'll be enough. The young man wrote 19 years
later, I'm still studying that first verse of Psalm 39. In all these years, I still haven't
learned it yet. Man's mouth is a small cavity,
isn't it? But somebody said it holds a
world of sin, it holds a world of evil, it holds a world of
blasphemy. I will keep my mouth with a muzzle,
that's what the word is. Put a muzzle on my mouth, especially,
now watch this, especially while the unbeliever is in front of
me or before me or in my presence. How careful must be our words
in the presence of those who are not believers. Because these
are the people who misuse and misunderstand even the purest
of speech. I must especially speak with
care and caution all the time, but especially, David said, when
the wicked is before me. I said, I meditated, I thought
on this, I communed with my heart, I said, I'm going to watch my
ways. And these are the ways I'm going to watch that are not
seen with my tongue. I'm going to put a bridle on
my mouth, especially while the wicked are in my presence." And
then verse 2, now this is interesting. I was dumb, or I was quiet, I
spoke nothing, I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even
from good. Now listen to this, David said,
I determined not to speak. in complaint against God's afflicting
hand. And also I determine not to speak
in instruction, even in good. I'm not going to speak evil,
I'm not going to speak good. Lest if I begin to talk, I say
things I should not say. What a wise and powerful lesson.
I'm convinced today that our religion is one of talking, most
of it is. Our religious world is a world
of talkers. Have you noticed that? Talk, talk, talk. Everybody's
got something to say about God, or about heaven, or about hell,
or about Christ, or about the law, or about something. Nobody's
quiet, nobody's still, nobody's waiting on God. But David was
not only concerned with complaining and murmuring, but he was concerned
about speaking, even of that which is good, uninspired. He was concerned about speaking
even that which is good, not led by the Holy Spirit, not led
by God. I think Job was too. I want you
to turn to Job 42. Job was a man who had a lot to
say, an awful lot to say. We've got the Bible record of
what he had to say. But he repented over talking
too much. He talked about God, he talked
about righteousness, he talked about salvation, he talked about
redemption, he talked about all these things. And you know what
he said in Job 40 verse 4 when he saw the Lord? He said, Behold,
I am bound, what shall I answer thee? I lay my hand on my mouth. I lay my hand on my mouth. Once
have I spoken, but I'll not answer ye twice, but I'll proceed no
further. Here was a man concerned about
all the talking he had done. In fact, he said in Job 42, now
turn over there, Job 42, he says, This is Job speaking. Who is
he that hideth counsel without knowledge? Therefore have I uttered
that I understood not things too wonderful for me which I
knew not. There's a lesson here, I don't
know how to teach it, but there's a lesson here. David said, under
affliction, conflict, sorrow, and trouble. I'm going to put
my hand on my mouth. I'm going to put a Bible on my
mouth. I don't want to sin with my tongue, especially while the
unbelievers before me. So I'm not going to complain.
I'm not going to murmur about God's dealings with me. I'm not
going to murmur about providence. I'm not going to murmur about
the things that God does. But not only that, I'm going
to hold my peace even for making any comment about it. I'm not
going to try to express what God's doing lest I reveal an
error. I'm not going to try to describe
what God is doing, what God's purpose and providence is, lest
I speak even of that which is good in an unadvised manner or
uninspired manner. Everything people say about God
is not true. Everything people say about this
Bible is not true. We may not be speaking in blasphemy,
we may not be speaking in a critical manner of God, we may not be
speaking in a manner of murmuring and complaint, but we may be
speaking of things we don't know anything about, things too wonderful,
things too great. We may be expressing an opinion
of good things that's just not so. And would not that be error? Would not that be error? But
I kept silence, he said. God moved. I tell you, I've been
guilty of this, and probably you have. When something happened,
we figured out why the Lord did it. We expressed our opinion.
Now, this is what God's doing. And this is what God's doing.
David said, I'm not going to do that. I don't know what God's doing.
I don't know what God's doing. Now, this is what the Lord, I
heard a preacher, they said, the Lord told me this. The Lord never told me anything
except what everybody else has heard or read. That's about all
I can say. Here it is right here. That's
about all he ever told me. I never heard a voice. I don't know whether
we ought to be so quick to express our opinion, even on good things,
even on righteous matters, when we have no leadership. When we
have no inspiration, when we have no heavenly direction, when
we have no divine unction, it may come back to trouble us.
Verse 3, And so my heart was hot within me. All of this was
going on, this dealing, God dealing with him. God dealing with him,
and whatever the matter was, I don't know. But God was dealing
with him, and he didn't say anything. He didn't murmur, complain, or
find fault, and he didn't even express his opinion. He was silent,
and all the time his heart was stirred and warmed and moved.
That's where the work of grace is done. It's not done here.
It's done here, in the heart. That's where the work of grace
is done, in the heart. That's where God moves, in the
heart. That's where God convicts. That's where God regenerates.
That's where God implants life. That's where God Almighty sheds
abroad love. That's where God does the work
of grace, in the heart. Not through the mouth. Our Lord
said it's not that which a man puts in his mouth that defiles
him. It's not that which he puts in
his mouth that enlightens him. It's that which comes out of
the heart. And the wise man said, keep your heart out of any of
the issues of life. It's from the heart that we sin.
Out of the heart proceeds evil thoughts, murders, adulteries,
fornications, blasphemies. It is in the heart that sin is
realized. They were pricked in their hearts.
You know what scripture said? We're going to sit a man down
and we're going to talk him into the kingdom of heaven. Now, you
believe this? Yeah, I believe that. Now, this
is what God says. Now, that's true because this
is true. You see that? Yeah, I see that.
Now, if you believe that, you believe that. Now, this is all
wrong over here, and this is right here, and this mouth and
words and all these things, you know, and I see it. Well, will
you take Christ as your Savior? Yes, I'll take Him. You've done
the job. You've made a proselyte. He's
two-fold more the child of hell than you are. The work of salvation
is done in the heart. God working in the heart. They
were pricked in their heart. It is with the heart that a man
believes. Do we believe that? Paul wrote,
If thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus to be Lord, and believe
in thine heart, believe in thine heart, God hath raised him from
the dead, thou shalt be saved. It is with the heart men love
God. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with
all thy soul, and thy strength. David said, My heart was warm. My heart was warm. And while
I was meditating, and the fire burned in my heart, and a knowledge
of God burned in my heart, and what God was doing was working
on my heart. Wouldn't that be great if that
were the case, if that was what was going on in our congregation? People would move not their bodies,
but their hearts, broken hearts. God is known to them of a broken
heart. God saved us such as be of a
broken heart. The sacrifices of God are broken
hearts. God said, I'll take away that
stony heart and give you a heart of flesh. That's where God does
his work. And I'll tell you, when God does
that, you just back off and watch him work. Stand still and see
his salvation. Stand still. Well, then I speak
with my tongue. David's got something to say.
And you know who he said it to? I speak with my tongue, Lord,
he didn't run and tell somebody. This is what we do. We're the
religion of talkers. We're the religion not of feelers,
but of talkers. Not of great depth, but great
words. We won't run and tell somebody. You know what happened?
We've got to tell somebody. Somebody's going to say, tell
others! Not David, he's going to talk it over with the Lord.
to talk at all with God. If the world from you withhold,
that old man wrote of it, silver and it's gold, and you have to
get along with meager fare, remembering his word, how he feeds a little
bird, take your burden to the Lord, leave it there. Leave it there. I just wonder some of these so-called
works of faith, I hear preachers on the radio say, now this is
a work of faith, you better send us a dollar. I wonder if we'd
get the dollar if we didn't tell anybody but just told him. I
wonder if the issue would be settled if we didn't tell anybody
but just told him. I wonder if the matter would
be taken care of if we didn't tell somebody but just told him.
That's what David did here. If your body suffers pain and
your health you can't regain and your soul is almost sinking
in despair, he'll make a way for you and he'll lead you safely
through. Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.
Leave it there. When your youthful days are gone
and old age is stealing on and your body bends beneath the weight
of care, he'll never leave you then. He'll go with you to the
end. Take your burden to the Lord. Leave it there. David said,
I'm not talking, I'm not going to say anything with my mouth,
and I'm not going to talk about good things. My sorrow stirred,
my heart was warm, and I was meditating while the fire burned
in my soul. Then I spoke, and I said, Lord,
Lord, I've got a threefold request. Here it is, verse 4, I've got
a threefold request, Lord. Number one, I want you to make
me to know my end. Now he's not talking about his
death there, Charlie. I used to think he was, but he's
not. Talk about that later on. Number one, I want you to make
me to know my end. Now he's not talking about his
death there, Charlie. I used to think he was, but he's
not. Talk about that later on. You know what he's talking about
there, make me to know my end? Make me to know the end, the
goal, the consummation, the perfection of all my desires, what I'm going
to be. Make me to realize that I'm going
to be like Christ. That's my end. I'll be satisfied
when I awake with thy likeness. Where do you get that preacher?
Well, turn to Psalm 73, will you? You remember David in Psalm
73, he saw the people of God in great trouble and distress.
And he saw the wicked, the blasphemer, the atheist. He saw them, their
eyes stood out with fatness, everything they touched turned
to gold. They weren't distressed, they
weren't sick, they weren't in trouble. He couldn't understand
this. And the Lord sent him down to the sanctuary. And verse,
when I thought, verse 16, Psalm 73, 16. When I thought to know
this, it was just too painful for me until I went into the
sanctuary of God. Then I understood their end.
understood what was going to happen to them. When they filled
up the cup, their foot was going to slide. Their end was condemnation,
the wrath of God, separation from God, eternal punishment. Now he said, Lord, I'm in trouble,
I'm distressed. Lord, make me to know my end. I'm going to be like Christ.
Somebody said one time, all things ought to be judged by their end.
by the results, by what's going to happen. Not what's happening
now, but what's going to happen. And the wicked, God taught David
to judge the wicked that way. The wicked in their prosperity,
the wicked in their plenty. He said, look at their end. Look
at the wrath and judgment under which they'll come. The righteous
in their trouble and trial and temptations, look at their end.
They're going to be like Christ. They're going to be like Christ.
They're going to be perfect, righteous, holy, just like the
Lord. Make me always, no matter what
today presents, make me to look and know my end. No matter what
the day brings forth, no matter what I have to endure, or what
I have to go through, or what I have to take, this is not it,
that's it. I'm going to be like Christ.
Make me to know that. Now, Lord, I need that. I need that right
now. I need to know that 1978 is not it. It's the coming of
the Lord, and what he's going to do for me and to me and in
me, that's my end. Make me to know that, all right?
Second request. And, Lord, make me to know the
measure of my days. Now, he's talking about the shortness
of life, how short they are upon this earth. Man is born of woman
and is a few days. Notice he didn't call it years.
Decades, he called it days. Make me to know the measure,
the shortness of my days. They're in the hands of the Lord.
Help me to remember that. And then help me to know, Lord,
the third request, how frail I am. He knoweth our frame. He remembereth that we're dust.
He knows how frail we are. Do we? If I knew my frailty,
you know what it'd do? It'd do four things for me. If
I really knew the frailty of this flesh, first, it would make
me more humble, it would take away my pride and my arrogance
and my haughty spirit. Secondly, it would make me more
patient with other people if I knew my frailty, my proneness,
my possibility, my potential to sin. There is no sin in this
world that I couldn't commit if God lifted his hand. You remember
that. My frailty would also make me
more diligent about divine things. If I knew how frail I really
was, it would make me more diligent about the things of God. If I
knew the dangers about me, if I knew the dangers within me,
if I knew the dangers that surrounded me, I'd hold a little tighter
to that rope. I'd give a little more time to
this book. I'd give a little more time to prayer. If I knew
my frailty, it'd make me more dependent on Christ. My days,
look at verse 5. Why, he said, thou hast made
my days as a hand-breadth. What's a hand-breadth? I think
this is it, isn't it? Isn't that a hand-breadth? It's the shortest
of measures. It's the shortest measure. But
then you don't need a long line to measure a short life, do you?
Somebody said, we carry the measure of our days around with us. There
it is. Well, look at it every once in
a while. So teach me to number my days, that I may apply my
heart to wisdom. He goes on, he says, My days
are as a hand-breath, my age is nothing before thee. In God's sight, compared to his
eternity, my days are nothing. Now, my age is short compared
to Methuselah. 969 years is my shortage. My days are short compared to
the age of this world. I don't know how old it is. And
my days are short compared to the angels, but my age compared
to God, nothing, nothing, nothing. Thou hast made my days as a hand
breath. I carry the measure around with
me. My age is as nothing before thee. Now watch this. Let us
read this good. Verily, every man at his best
state is altogether vanity. Read that and read it slowly
and look at every word. Verily, important, listen, behold,
every man, not some of them, not the worst men, every man
at his best state Take old Adam in the garden in his innocence,
subject to fall. He was altogether, totally, completely. What is the word vanity? Do you
know what it is in the Hebrew? I don't know Hebrew. I looked
it up. The word vanity in the Hebrew
is unsatisfactory, and a better word, empty. Empty. Every man at his best state,
every woman, every person at his best state, emptiness. Man's body, beauty, health, strength,
all subject to change, death. His mind, his memory, his judgment,
his purpose, his promises, they'll all fade, they're empty. his
riches, his honor, just so much scrap paper and trash, at his
best, take that man at his best moment, at his most holy moment,
at his most spiritual moment, at his most successful moment,
take him when he's on the top of the pinnacle, and right then,
at his very best, in all his years, right then, nothing, empty,
unsatisfactory, Listen to this. Man is consistent
only in inconsistency. That's right. Man is real good
only at that which is bad. Man is wise only in foolishness. Man is secure only in his insecurity. Now, that's sad news. Why don't you look at that again?
This right here, what David says, every man at his best, I'm not
at my best right now, I don't think most of you are, somebody
here might be, but if you are right now at your best, God says
you're nothing but empty, unsatisfactory vanity, that's all. That's sad
news to people who rest in their works, isn't it? The best works
that I can get together and accumulate and rake together and present
to God, just so much chaff that the wind blows away. That's sad
news to people who glory in the flesh. That's sad news to people
who try to bring their honor and service and glory and strength
and power and deeds to God, isn't it? God said, nothing. At your
very best, the best you can bring, all of you put together, presenting
it to me is nothing but emptiness. Who wants emptiness? Now watch
this little word, Selah. You see it here? Let me take
just a moment with this word. If you've got a pencil and paper,
jot this down. The word Selah, it appears twice
in this psalm. It appears 74 times in the Bible. It's in the book of Habakkuk
three times, in the book of Psalms 71 times, that's all. I've given
a little study to the word SELA today, and I want you to listen
to these four things. First of all, the word SELA is
a musical pause. That's true. That's what we've
always thought, and that's exactly true. It's a pause. But it's
more than just a pause in the music. It's more than just a
change in the tempo. It's more than just a change
in the loudness or softness, but it's a pause. Now, the book
of Psalms is the Psalter, the hymn book of the Church. The
book of Psalms is divided into five parts. If you've got just
a moment, I'll show you the divisions. First of all, the first division
of the Psalms ends at the end of chapter 41. That's the first
division of the Psalter, the book of Psalms. You see how it
comes to the end of verse Verse 13 of Psalm 41, Psalm 41, verse
13, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting,
Amen and Amen. That's the end of book number
one. Turn to Psalm 72 and you'll have
the end of book two, Psalm 72. It comes to the end. Blessed be the glorious his glorious
name forever. Let the whole earth be filled
with his glory Amen, and amen the prayers of David the son
of Jesse are ended book number two Psalm 89 verse 52. Here's the end of the third book
Psalm 89 52 blessed be the Lord forevermore. Amen and amen and
now Psalm 106 You have the fourth end of the fourth book Amen praise
you the Lord and then down to the third Psalm 150. But this
word, selah, is more than a pause. It's where we're to stop and
meditate a while. We're not to go any further.
The music closed, the music ceased, the music stops, there's a pause,
and David checks himself as if to say, Speak, Lord, thy servant
here. That's the way that verse ends
there. Behold, I have made my days as a hen-breath, my age
as nothing, barely every man at his best state is altogether
vanity." Just stop right there, and you think about that, and
you meditate on it, and let that sink in. Selah, that's what he
said. Secondly, the word selah, some
say it also directed them to sing that word again, sing that
sentence again, where selah is affixed. Sing that again. Do
that over. That's worthy of repeating. Every
man at his best is altogether vanity. Thirdly, it also signified
an end of the matter. One man said it's the same thing
as saying, Amen. So be it. Amen. That's what he's saying there.
Every man is altogether at his best state, altogether vanity.
Amen. So be it. God has spoken. It's true. And then fourthly,
the word Selah instructs us to meditate seriously upon this
particular thing. It's worthy of singular observation. Selah. It's important. Vastly important. All right,
our time's gone, but let me just point out two or three things
with your patience. Go to verse 6. He illustrates the vanity of
man. He stops there. He's going along
saying, Lord, make me to know my end, what I'm going to be.
Make me to know the measure of my days. Make me to know how
frail I am. Lord, my days are a handbreath.
My age is nothing before you. Every man at his best, even the
king at his peak, is altogether vanity. Amen. That's so. So be it. Let's stop right there
and count. Now he describes or illustrates
that vanity. Now listen to three things. Surely
every man walketh in a vain show. The allusion here is to a parade
where men dress up and act out their parts, or to a play. One
plays the part of a king, one plays the part of a general,
one plays the part of a One plays the part of a drum master. One
plays the part of a lawyer. One plays the part of a businessman.
One plays this part. We're all acting parts. We're
all dressed up in our uniforms. After we get through playing
our bard parts, we lie down and die, and someone else acts the
part, and we're off the scene. And he says that's what life
is. It's just a vain show. That's all it is. You know what?
I found something old Shakespeare said about that. He said this,
listen to it, he was a profane man, but he had a lot of natural
wisdom, and he's saying the same thing David's saying here. David
said, every man strutteth in a vain show, in a parade or a
play, acting out a borrowed part, dressed up in a costume, pretending
to be what he's not, acting a part that'll finally come to an end,
just strutting. Listen to Shakespeare. Life is but a walking chattel.
a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage
and then is heard no more, life is a tale told by an idiot, full
of sound and fury, signifying nothing." That's what David says
here. The vanity of our joys and our
honors, that's what he's talking about, all of our joys and fame
and honor and accomplishment. Now think about it, all of you
have had a few of them, all of us have had a few. But David
said, it's vanity, it's vanity, just a vain show. All of our
honors and our joys are just a vain show. That's right. On
this earth, will it be remembered in glory? Will it be praised
in eternity? Will it be written on the walls
of God's kingdom? Will it help me to gain that
end? Will it lift me out of my misery into his glory? Secondly, man's vanity, his joys
and honors, are nothing but emptiness. Not only do they walk in a vain
show, but they are disquieted. You know what that word means?
Distressed. Now, all of us are home there,
aren't we? Fretting. Like I told our Sunday school
class Sunday morning, this thing of going with a daughter to have
a baby. Now, I tell you, just be glad
you don't have a daughter, and if you do, you just got one.
I tell you, that fretting, that worry, that concern, that anxiousness,
that distress, that disquieting spirit, you know what he says?
They are disquieted in vain. It's all for nothing. He who toils and frets and worries
over the physical treasures of this world is a fool that is
trying to hold on to and protect the soap bubble. That's all it
is. I'm talking about all of us now.
This is at our best with vanity. Now, the third thing, he says
you're walking in a vain show. That's nothing, it's nothing
but a lot of put-on, that's all it is. We're just walking, we're
just in a parade down here all dressed up like somebody and
we're nothing. Nothing but flesh, we're nothing
but dust, clothed with the fancy garments of this world. And all
of our worries and our distresses and our disquieted spirits, that's
all in vain. And then watch this. and our
material possessions. That's all vain, too. And he
heapeth up riches, and he doesn't know who's going to gather them.
Somebody said a man labors and stays up at night and burns the
midnight oil and sweats and toils to build a house, and somebody
else moves in, and he never occupies it. Somebody said, what David is
saying here is that a man spends all of his time and effort and
strength to rake together the chapter of this world, and then
God sets it on fire. The world's trinity. Heaven's
trinity is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Do you know what
the world's trinity is? It's fruitless honors, it's needless
cares, it's useless riches. That's the world's Trinity. That's
what the world worships. That's what it bows before. That's
the world's God. It's fruitless honors, it's needless
cares, and it's useless riches. David then says, and I'm going
to quit, and now, Lord, what wait I far? What is there here
to enchant me? What is there here to enthrall
me? What is there here to interest me? I've thought on all these
things of the world, and I turn in disgust from them, and I say,
Lord, my hope is in you. My hope is in you. You'll live
when all else dies. You'll be full when everything
else is empty. You'll stand when all else falls. My hope is in you. I've got a
living hope within the veil. What weight I fall? Why should
I weigh life's darkness with heaven's light? Why should I
weigh life's dust with heaven's light? Why should I weigh earth's
errors with heaven's truth? What weight I fall? Why do I
tarry? Why halt ye between two opinions?
There's no decision to be made here. This is all vanity. There's
no decision. What wait I for? Why am I even
thinking about it? Why am I even considering? The
silliest thing I know is to argue with a man about believing in
God. Now, if he's that big a fool, you'd probably leave him alone.
If he's still debating between heaven's glory and earth's vanity,
between heaven's life and earth's death, between heaven's light
and earth's darkness, well, he's got problems. He's got no one
illumination and no understanding and no need. But David said,
what am I waiting on? Why should I be involved with
these things? Why should I even consider these things? My hope
is in him, in his righteousness, in his grace, in his covenant. Lord, verse 8, deliver me from
my transgressions, be merciful to me, a sinner. Verse 9, I was
dumb, I opened up my mouth. You know why I didn't? What's
the reason for all this? I opened up my mouth because
God did it. God did it. God did it. I close with this one statement.
Verse 10, remove thy stroke away from me. Afflictions are from
God, thy strokes. Afflictions are only removed
by God. Remove, you remove thy strokes. Afflictions have their
objective from God. It's done its work. I'm consumed.
I am consumed. And when you rebuke, verse 11,
when you rebuke a man and correct him for iniquity, you make even
his beauty to consume away the best thing he's got, to fade
away like a moth before a flame that just consumes The flame
of God's glory just consumes the very best I've got. Our Father,
we are grateful that you have been pleased to open for us,
even to a small extent, this precious treasure. We've learned
something. You've been gracious and good
to teach us. We stand corrected, convinced,
O Lord, of our vanity, at our best state, vanity. O Lord, help us to put a muzzle
upon our mouths, speak not evil, not allow our tongues to be the
instruments of Satan, the weapons of evil, but O Lord, help us
to also seek to talk inspired. taught of the Spirit, led by
the Spirit, speak those things which are both glorifying and
honoring to our Lord. Teach us the silence of subjection
and submission to our King. Teach us, O Lord, not only what
to say but when to say it. For we ask it in Christ's name
and for his glory. Amen.

My Hope is In Thee

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My Hope is In Thee

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