Well, would you please take your Bibles this morning and open them up one last time to the book of Psalms for the summer school is back in session.
The boys are back in school, which means we are preparing to depart from the Psalms once more and we'll be somewhere else next week.
But one more Sunday this morning in the book of Psalms, Psalm chapter 39.
If you don't have a Bible of your own, you can use one in the seat back nearby.
We provide those for you to make it easy for you.
But you do need a Bible open.
I want you to have your eyes on God's word even as you hear it from my mouth.
So Psalm chapter 39, when you've found that, let's stand in honor of the reading of God's word this morning.
This is the Psalm of David.
He says, I said, I will guard my ways that I may not sin with my tongue.
I will guard my mouth with a muzzle.
So long as the wicked are in my presence.
I was mute and silent.
I held my peace to no avail and my distress grew worse.
My heart became hot within me.
As I mused, the fire burned and then I spoke with my tongue.
Oh Lord, make me know my end.
And what is the measure of my days?
Let me know how fleeting I am.
Behold, you have made my days a few hand breaths.
And my lifetime is as nothing before you.
Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath.
Surely a man goes about as a shadow.
Surely for nothing they are in turmoil.
Man heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather.
And now, oh Lord, for what do I wait?
My hope is in you.
Deliver me from all my transgressions.
Do not make me the scorn of the fool.
I am mute.
I do not open my mouth.
For it is you who have done it.
Remove your stroke from me.
I am spent by the hostility of your hand.
When you discipline a man with rebukes for sin,
you consume like a moth what is dear to him.
Surely all mankind is a mere breath.
Hear my prayer, oh Lord, and give ear to my cry.
Hold not your peace at my tears.
For I am a sojourner with you, a guest like all my fathers.
Look away from me that I may smile again before I depart and am no more.
The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of the Lord endures forever.
Father God, we pray once more, would you speak through the preaching of your word?
Would you show us Christ and draw our hearts to him in faith?
We pray in Jesus' name.
Amen.
You may be seated.
I love to hear missionary stories,
and I was reminded this week of the story of the missionary C.T. Stud.
C.T. Stud.
He was a missionary back in the 1800s.
He had just about everything going for him.
He was born into a wealthy family.
He quickly became a star cricket player
and was world-renowned for one of the best cricket players in the British Empire.
But when he heard the gospel and put his faith in Jesus at the age of 18,
everything changed for C.T. Stud.
His priorities changed.
His perspective on what a successful life looked like changed.
His vision of life and success changed.
And he was one of what we call the Cambridge Seven,
who left behind their elite status to go and follow Hudson Taylor to China as missionaries in 1885.
The life that C.T. Stud.
chose is worlds apart from the life that he left and the life that he could have had.
And just to give you an example of this,
two years later in 1887,
he received an inheritance in the sum of $125,000,
which in today's money doesn't seem like that can buy too much, right?
But in today's economy, that would be well over $4 million today.
And what did C.T. Stud do?
He gave most of it away for the cause of missions and the spread of the gospel.
He gave away this successful future, this promising life,
in order to face all sorts of struggles overseas.
He faced chronic asthma.
He lived in poverty.
He dealt with heart issues and disease.
He ate a diet that was mostly just wet rice.
And he and his wife were constantly sick, constantly ill.
They had to send their children back over to England.
They lived separated from them so that they could have a good education there.
They voluntarily lived in hostile climates,
in hostile territories, with hostile people,
and houses made out of mud.
It was a far cry from the life of luxury that could have been for C.T. Stud.
And you wonder, what in the world can motivate someone to live like that?
C.T. wrote a poem at the end of his life in 1931.
By this time, he was in the Congo, again, doing mission work.
He was battling the illness that would eventually take him out.
And in this poem is the constant refrain that helps us understand his motivation.
He says this,
Only one life will soon be passed.
Only what's done for Christ will last.
Only one life will soon be passed.
Only what's done for Christ will last.
C.T. had learned the lesson that David asked God to teach him here in Psalm 39.
He learned the bad news that life here in a fallen world is hard.
And we experience this, don't we?
And we deal with issues.
We deal with stress.
We deal with sickness.
We deal with sacrifice.
The life in a fallen world is hard,
especially if you want to live faithfully to Christ.
But he also learned the good news that this present life,
with all of its hardship,
with all of its suffering,
with all of this weight of sin,
and this present life is a passing moment in the scheme of eternity.
Soon and very soon,
our God will come and transform this world,
and we who know Christ will be with him forever.
Church, that truth ought to shape the way that we go about our lives here and now.
Amen?
David, here in Psalm 39,
he is dealing with the weight and the difficulty of living in a fallen world.
He's dealing with some of these same tensions that you and I deal with here in a fallen world.
And he gives us three strategies for life in a fallen world.
This will be our outline if you're taking notes.
Three strategies for life in a fallen world.
The first strategy he gives us,
guard your tongue.
Guard your tongue.
Look there with me to verse 1.
Here, it's like David is having a flashback.
He's remembering a time of intense suffering.
We don't know exactly what was going on here.
It could be when Saul was still occupying the throne,
and David faced intense persecution then.
It could be when his own son Absalom rebelled against him.
You could draw from a number of instances in David's life.
But David is thinking back,
and he's recalling this time of suffering,
and he remembers a commitment that he made to himself.
Look there at verse 1.
He says,
I said,
I will guard my ways that I may not sin with my tongue.
And I will guard my mouth with a muzzle,
so long as the wicked are in my presence.
David commits in this moment of suffering
to keep a close guard on his tongue.
And he gives us two clear reasons why.
They're in verse 1.
The first reason, for one,
and maybe the most obvious reason,
he says he's going to guard his tongue,
guard his ways,
so that he doesn't sin with his tongue.
Now David hits on something very important here,
doesn't he?
He understands how easy it is for us to sin with our speech.
David understands that our words have incredible power,
more power than any weapon on the earth.
Our words can build up or they can tear down.
Our words can lead one another into truth,
or they can lead one another into destruction and deception.
Our words can make someone feel like they are worthy,
and like they can just go do anything.
We can build one another up and encourage one another in that way,
or our words can make one another feel worthless,
and like we can't do anything.
Our tongues, our words can speak in ways that honor the Lord,
as they were made to do,
or they can speak in ways that dishonor the Lord,
as we often do here on this side of the fall.
Church, when we're pressed,
and when we're under distress,
when we're suffering,
I think it's an all-too-common occurrence
that we fail to keep a guard over our mouth,
don't we?
And we're tempted to grumble,
and to complain when we don't get our way.
We're tempted to speak foolishly,
and to speak quickly,
and to speak rashly.
Do we realize that like David,
we don't have to say everything that we think?
You can, like David,
put a metaphorical muzzle over your mouth
if you're worried that something might come out sinfully,
if you don't.
You know, this is wise.
This is practical wisdom here for living in a fallen world.
We ought to, as God's people,
be very careful with our words.
In the New Testament, the book of James,
he says something very similar, doesn't he?
In James chapter 3,
he says,
how great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire.
He's talking about your tongue.
The tongue is a fire,
a world of unrighteousness.
The tongue is set among our members,
staining the whole body,
setting on fire the entire course of life,
and set on fire by hell.
For every kind of beast and bird,
of reptile and sea creature,
can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind.
But listen to this.
But no human being can tame the tongue.
It is a restless evil,
full of deadly poison.
With it we bless our Lord and Father,
and with it we curse people
who are made in the likeness of God.
From the same mouth come blessing
and cursing.
My brothers,
these things ought not to be so.
Have you experienced this in your own life?
Do you ever wrestle with what comes out of your mouth?
You wish you didn't say that thing that you just said?
David knows he is in danger of sinning with his tongue.
And so he says,
I'm going to keep silent.
It is better for him and for us, church,
to suffer in silence rather than for us to speak
and to sin against the Lord with our tongue.
That's the first reason.
The second reason,
he says he will guard his mouth with a muzzle
because he is in the presence of the wicked.
See that in verse 1.
Now think about that for a minute.
This is God-centered wisdom here for David.
Why does he not want to speak sinfully?
He says that he is in the presence of the wicked.
Well, why does that matter?
It's because he does not want to give the wicked
any reason to rob God of the glory that he's due.
David's not just thinking about himself
and defending himself
and speaking that word that he's talking back
and speaking against those accusations
that are coming against him.
He's not just speaking about himself,
thinking about himself.
He is thinking ultimately about the glory of God.
What would these wicked people say
if they heard God's anointed covenant king
just grumbling and whining about his life?
What would they say
if they hear God's anointed king
complaining about what God has brought into his life
by his hand of providence?
You can imagine how they'd run wild with that.
What would they say about God?
How would David's foolish words
commend God's goodness to the wicked?
We have to realize that God's opponents,
even if we don't think that they care at all
about what we say when we are in our best day
talking about the goodness of God,
we can be sure that they are listening
when we grumble and complain.
And they will take that and run wild with that
to rob God of the glory that he's due.
David is resolved, as we should be,
to only speak in ways that magnify the glory of God
in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Church, I confess to you,
this is incredibly difficult.
Isn't it?
Am I alone in that?
Church, I confess,
I think about the ways this week,
and you take inventory of this week,
the ways that I have spoken to my family,
to others around me,
the words that I thought that I should speak in my head,
but it's hard to rein it back in.
This is incredibly hard.
But church, God will give you grace.
You can speak in ways that honor the Lord.
I want you to try it with me this week
as we look ahead to Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.
Take inventory of your speech.
Speak carefully and intentionally
to only speak in ways
that magnify the glory of God.
And church, would you pray for his help?
Because we need it.
David is determined to muzzle his mouth,
but we see in verse 2,
that determination only lasts so long, doesn't it?
Verse 2, he says,
I was mute and silent,
but I held my peace to no avail.
My distress grew worse.
My heart became hot within me,
and I mused, and the fire burned.
It's like this image.
You see an image of a volcano here?
It is bubbling and gurgling under the surface.
You've probably felt this very thing before.
In your mind, you're telling yourself,
don't say it.
Don't say it.
Don't say it, right?
And you can cover up your mouth if you want,
but at some point,
that just kind of burst its way out.
And there's no getting it back.
It's rumbling here inside of David.
It's hot like fire,
and then he speaks,
but it may surprise you to see
what he says and who he says it to.
He doesn't speak horizontally to the wicked at all,
does he?
He doesn't lash out at them.
No, when he speaks,
he speaks vertically,
directly to God.
And what he says to God may surprise you.
He doesn't complain about the wicked.
He doesn't wish evil on them even,
not at this point.
Rather,
he asks God to give him the grace of a new perspective.
This is the second strategy here.
Second,
measure your days.
Measure your days.
What does David pray in verse four?
Look there with me.
He says,
Oh Lord,
make me know my end.
And what is the measure of my days?
Let me know how fleeting I am.
Now that is a strange prayer,
isn't it?
David wants to know how long he has to endure life in this fallen world.
God,
when will all this be over?
How long do I have?
Are we talking about one year of this suffering here?
Are we talking about two years?
Are we talking about 20?
Are we talking about 30?
What is it?
If I can maybe see the light at the end of the tunnel here,
maybe I can press on a little bit further.
He asks God to show him,
to impress upon his heart,
the reality of how short life really is.
He says,
Behold,
you have made my days a few hand breaths.
You know what a hand breath is?
You look at your hand.
A hand breath is the width of your hand,
the four fingers across.
Everybody has different size hands.
Some of your hands are bigger than others.
When you shake Treg's hand,
your hand gets lost.
You hold somebody else's hand,
a baby's hand,
you realize how small that hand is.
When David says,
it's just a few hand breaths stacked together,
you realize how short that really is,
don't you?
David says his days are just a few hand breaths.
He says,
My lifetime is as nothing before you.
Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath.
He speaks like we read in Ecclesiastes,
doesn't he?
Vanity of vanities.
All is vanity.
This life is short as a breath.
How many breaths have you taken this morning?
Do you think about your next breath?
You breathe in.
You hold it as long as you can.
You breathe out.
David says in comparison with eternity,
in comparison with our infinite God,
who has no beginning and has no end,
as long as our life may seem here,
especially in times of suffering,
it seems like we can't even get to the next day.
David says this life is just a mere breath.
The fact is, church,
you and I will not live forever.
I don't want to be overly morbid with you this morning.
You and I will not live forever.
You are not guaranteed to make it to the end of this sermon.
You are not guaranteed to come back here next week.
You are not guaranteed to leave here and go to lunch.
You don't know how long you have.
And again, when you zoom out of your present life
and you look in the scheme of eternity,
what is this life?
If you have 70, 80, 90 years,
my grandmother is about to turn 99.
That's an old life, right?
Long life.
Not in the scheme of eternity.
It's a breath.
And it's gone.
How would it change things for you
to think and to know how short your time really is?
Church, there is wisdom to be gained
from measuring your days.
Now, depending on where you stand with the Lord,
you're going to hear that fact very differently, aren't you?
You're going to hear that truth very differently.
The non-believer, those who are outside of Christ,
those who have not put their faith in Christ,
they cannot take comfort in this.
The perspective of the non-believer is,
well, you only live once, right?
So eat and drink and be merry,
for tomorrow you die.
You live it up.
And all you have is this life.
It's this short window
to have as much pleasure as you can in this life.
And then it's done.
There's no hope beyond the grave for the non-believer.
So you gather up as much wealth as you can
and you enjoy as much pleasure as you can.
You go see and you go do as much as you can.
You have a bucket list that you want to check off
before you kick the bucket.
The non-believer hears this reminder
how short life is,
how brief our time is,
and that response in their heart is one of fear.
Don't talk to me about that.
They respond with this urgency to live it up
before the bell rings,
before the believer.
The shortness of our time here, church,
is a great comfort for us.
David is like a runner.
He's running and he's rounding the turn
and the people around him are shouting,
there's just one more lap.
You got this.
You can do this.
And he's yelling at them saying,
well, tell me how much longer I have.
How much more do I have to endure?
When can my lungs get a break
and get some oxygen here?
For David and for the believer,
the shortness of our life gives us hope.
We are looking forwards to a time
when we no longer have to deal with suffering.
When we no longer have to deal with the wicked men
and their schemes against us.
We no longer have to deal with our own sin
and the discipline of God in our life.
We don't have to muzzle our mouths anymore
because we won't have to worry about something sinful
coming out of it.
We won't have to worry about how the wicked men around us
will take what we say.
For the Christian,
the shortness of this life
is a great comfort ahead of us.
I've shared before about our friend Holly,
who is now with the Lord.
You all remember Holly?
But before she died,
she was in the hospital very sick
and I went to go speak with her
and we read scripture together
and we prayed together
and we talked about death together
and because she is a Christian,
we talked about what lay ahead of her
after her death.
And afterwards,
I think I've shared this with you before,
I bumped into the doctor
who was there in the room with us
and he said,
you know,
we try not to use that D word too often around here.
Makes people a little bit uncomfortable.
And I said,
sir,
Miss Holly is a Christian
and she is not afraid of death.
We talk about death all the time.
You come to our church,
come on,
we'll tell you about death, right?
And we'll tell you about the hope
that God's people have beyond the grave.
It's not an enemy for us anymore.
Christ has risen.
from the grave.
So for us,
for her,
for David,
death is not the end of her joy.
It's the end of her suffering.
It's not the exit from her best days.
It is the entrance to her best days
in the presence of God
for the rest of eternity.
The believer hears this reminder.
This life is short.
And they take heart
that this light
and momentary affliction
is preparing for you
an eternal weight of glory
beyond all comparison
as we look not to the things
that are seen
which are hard, right?
As we look not to the things
that are seen
which are painful in the present,
but to the things
that are unseen
that God has in store for us
in glory.
Church,
this is the key to endurance.
And this is the key
to faithful obedience
in this life.
Do you need the strength
to endure a little suffering
here and now?
Remember,
this life is short.
Christ is coming soon.
And do you need motivation
to keep on running
faithfully,
to obey,
to lay it all out
and run the race
that's set before you?
Christian,
remember,
this life is short.
Christ is coming soon.
Only one life
will soon be passed.
Only what's done
for Christ will last.
Church,
the good news of the gospel
is that Jesus Christ
has conquered the grave
to give us hope
beyond our suffering.
And so,
it's because of this
that we respond
third,
like David,
third strategy here,
by hoping in God.
This is the third strategy
he gives us
for life in a fallen world.
He says,
hope in God.
David says in verse 7,
And now, O Lord,
for what do I wait?
My hope is in you.
And so he prays.
He prays,
deliver me from
all my transgressions.
Now,
notice how he starts there.
Notice how he starts there.
Yes,
there are external enemies.
There always are.
But David realizes
he is a sinner
in need of deliverance.
Yes,
there are wicked men
around him.
But David recognizes
the first enemy
he's got to deal with
is his own sin.
He has fallen short
of the glory of God.
He needs deliverance
from his own sin.
And Christian,
I ask you,
when is the last time
you called out to God
for deliverance
from your sin?
Nonbeliever,
that may be the first time
you call out to God
for deliverance
from your sin.
Do you groan
as you wait
for the redemption
of your bodies?
Do you long
to be freed
from this body
of death
with all its
sin-twisted desires
and thoughts
that come streaming
out of your mouth?
Do you long
to be freed
from a time
when you have
to muzzle your mouth
so you don't have
to pour out wickedness?
Call out to him,
God,
would you deliver
me from evil?
David prays,
do not make me
the scorn
of the fool.
God,
keep me
from being the fool.
God,
keep me
from the foolishness
of other wicked men.
Keep me
from earning scorn
from others
and thereby leading
them to scorn you.
Church,
do you pray,
Lord,
keep me
from temptation?
Keep me
from wandering
into foolishness,
not for my sake,
but for your sake,
God,
not for my reputation,
but for your reputation,
not for my glory,
but for your glory,
for the praise
of your name.
He prays,
God,
would you remove
your hand of discipline
from me?
He gives another reason
for his silence
there in verse 9.
You see it?
He says,
I am mute.
I do not open
my mouth,
for it is you
who have done it.
He sees this
suffering
and this affliction
ultimately
as the discipline
of God.
And so he prays,
God,
would you remove
your hand of discipline
from me?
Remove your stroke
from me.
I am spent
by the hostility
of your hand.
When you discipline
a man with rebukes
for sin,
he says,
you can assume
like a moth
what is dear to him.
Surely all mankind
is a mere breath.
When God's children
find themselves
running after
false gods
and setting their hearts
on the joys
of this life
ultimately
and not on the Lord
ultimately,
guess what God
is kind enough to do?
He is kind enough
to take it away.
David says,
God has consumed
like a moth
what is dear to him.
This is the severe,
merciful,
hard,
but loving discipline
of our God.
He does this
not to us
to afflict us
but for us
to train us
to train our hearts
to love him
and to delight ourselves
into him
and not the cotton candy
pleasures of this life.
We should ask,
friend,
is there anything
in your life
that your heart
is so consumed with
that if God
were to
eat it up
like a moth
you would just
be completely undone?
Ask it another way.
Is there anything
that without it
life would not
be worth living?
If you can find
an answer
to those questions
that's not rooted
in the Lord,
you may have just
identified an idol
in your heart
and it's wise
for you to pray
with David,
God,
would you deliver me
from my own sin
and then remove
your hand of discipline
from me
that I might delight
in you
and then rightly
enjoy your good gifts?
Augustine,
he says,
our heart is restless
until it finds
its rest in thee.
David prays
for relief
but look at this.
David also prays
for joy.
Look at verse 12.
He says,
hear my prayer,
O Lord,
and give ear
to my cry.
Hold not your peace
at my tears
for I am a sojourner
with you.
I am a guest
like all my fathers.
Look away from me
that I may smile again
before I depart
and am no more.
In other words,
he says,
I don't belong here.
I'm a sojourner.
I'm a citizen
of the kingdom of God.
I'm not like
these wicked men
whose entire life
and whose entire identity
is right here,
whose entire treasure
is here
and things that rust
and fade.
I am headed
for the kingdom
but even so,
God,
would you relieve me
of this hand
of discipline
so that I can have
some joy
here and now
before I die?
It's not a bad thing
to pray like that,
church.
It is true,
yes,
we will suffer.
It's also true
there is much joy
to be had
here and now.
It's true
that our treasure
is in heaven
but it's also true,
guess what,
we can enjoy
in right perspective,
we can enjoy
God's gifts to us
here and now.
It's true,
yes,
this world
is quickly passing,
this life
will soon be passed
but it is also true
that when we have
this eternal perspective
and when our hope
is in him,
we of all people
ought to be marked
by unshakable joy
in this life.
That sort of hope,
church,
that sort of joy,
that is compelling.
How do we explain
a joy
and a satisfaction
that is not anchored
to our circumstances
in life?
How can we explain
a heart satisfaction
that doesn't get rattled
when things get rough
in your life?
That demands
an explanation
and when the non-believing world
sees that in you,
you have the opportunity
to say,
I have this joy
because I have set
my hope in Jesus
because it is only
in Jesus
that this prayer
of verses 7 through 13
can be prayed
with confidence.
It is Jesus
who,
like David,
silenced his mouth
in the presence
of the wicked,
who,
like a lamb
before its shearers
was silent,
so he opened
not his mouth,
who did not take vengeance
into his own hands
but entrusted himself
completely to the Lord,
not looking at
the temporary relief
from his suffering
but at the eternal
weight of glory
that lay beyond.
It is Jesus
who knew all too well
the shortness
and the frailty
of this life
whose earthly life
was cut short
at age 33.
You know,
we would call that
a tragically short life,
wouldn't we?
Just a breath
but it was no tragic accident.
This was the eternal plan
of God
to redeem us
from the vanity of life
and the struggle
of a life
in a fallen world.
Friend,
if you want to be lifted
out of despair,
out of the hopelessness
and the struggle
of living in a fallen world,
the only hope
is to look
to Jesus
and to call out
to him
and to trust
in him
and to delight
yourself in him
and to look forward
to the day
when he will come
again to transform
this world
and usher in
the age to come.
He says,
behold,
I am making
all things new.
In that day
he will not ignore
our tears.
He will wipe away
every one of them
from our eyes.
Friend,
that day
is coming soon.
That day
is coming soon.
And then we will see
just how light
and momentary
this present affliction is.
How worth it
faithfully suffering
for his glory was.
I referenced the poem
from C.T. Studd
and I think it's worth
hearing in full
as we close.
He writes,
two little lines
I heard one day
traveling along
life's busy way.
bringing conviction
to my heart
and from my mind
would not depart.
Only one life
will soon be passed.
Only what's done
for Christ will last.
Only one life,
yes,
only one.
Soon will its fleeting
hours be done.
Then in that day
my Lord to meet
and stand
before his judgment seat.
Only one life
will soon be passed.
Only what's done
for Christ will last.
Only one life
the still small voice
gently pleads
for a better choice.
Bidding me selfish aims
to leave
and to God's
holy will
to cleave.
Only one life
will soon be passed.
Only what's done
for Christ
will last.
Only one life
a few brief years.
Each with its burdens,
hopes,
and fears.
Each with its clays
I must fulfill
living for self
or in his will.
Only one life
will soon be passed.
Only what's done
for Christ
will last.
When this bright world
would tempt me sore,
when Satan would
a victory score,
when self would
seek to have its way,
then help me,
Lord,
with joy to say,
Only one life
will soon be passed.
Only what's done
for Christ
will last.
Give me,
Father,
a purpose deep.
In joy or sorrow
thy word to keep,
faithful and true
whatever the strife,
pleasing thee
in my daily life,
only one life
will soon be passed.
Only what's done
for Christ
will last.
Oh,
let my love
with fervor burn
and from the world
now let me turn,
living for thee
and thee alone,
bringing thee pleasure
on thy throne.
Only one life
will soon be passed.
Only what's done
for Christ
will last.
Only one life,
yes,
only one.
Now let me say
thy will be done.
And when at last
I'll hear the call,
I know I'll say
it was worth it all.
Only one life
will soon be passed.
Only what's done
for Christ
will last.
Father,
we pray,
would we live
this life
in view
of eternity?
Would we recognize
the shortness
of our days?
Would you teach us
to measure our days
that we may gain
a heart of wisdom?
Lord,
would you show us,
Father,
that there is only
one life
and it will soon
be passed.
Would you motivate us
and strengthen us
by your spirit
to live for ways
that will last
into eternity?
We pray this in Jesus' name.
Amen.