And if you will take your Bible and turn this morning to Psalm 31. You find Psalm 31 if you're using the Pew Bible beginning on page 461. We'll read the Psalm in its entirety and we'll look at a number of passages within the Psalm as well as a few other passages from other parts of scripture. But it's especially to the first line of verse 15 that will turn our attention. Today marks the last Lord's Day of the year of our Lord 2024, and while I acknowledge that you have a New Year's Eve service planned, we also thought we would turn our attention this morning to some of the themes that perhaps come to our mind as we note the passing very quickly of another year and all of the experiences in life that one year can bring. Both experiences that we might categorize in the positive column, but also the experiences that perhaps we might be more inclined to place into some type of a negative column. So with that in mind, we read from Psalm 31. to the Choir Master, a Psalm of David. In you, O Lord, do I take refuge. Let me never be put to shame. In your righteousness, deliver me. Incline your ear to me, rescue me speedily. Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save me. For you are my rock and my fortress, and for your name's sake, you lead me and guide me. You take me out of the net they have hidden for me, for you are my refuge. Into your hand I commit my spirit, you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God. I hate those who pay regard to worthless idols, but I trust in the Lord. I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love because you have seen my affliction, you have known the distress of my soul. And you have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy, you have set my feet in a broad place. Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress. My eye is wasted from grief, my soul and my body also, for my life is spent with sorrow and my years with sighing. My strength fails because of my iniquity and my bones waste away. Because of all my adversaries that have become a reproach, especially to my neighbors, and an object of dread to my acquaintances, those who see me in the street flee from me. I have been forgotten like one who is dead. I have become like a broken vessel, for I hear the whispering of many terror on every side as they scheme together against me as they plot to take my life. But I trust in you, O Lord. I say you are my God. My times are in your hand. Rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors. Make your face shine on your servants. Save me in your steadfast love. O Lord, let me not be put to shame, for I call upon you. Let the wicked be put to shame. Let them go silently to Sheol. Let the lying lips be mute, which speak insolently against the righteous in pride and contempt. Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you in the sight of the children of mankind. In the cover of your presence, you hide them. From the plots of men, you store them in your shelter from the stripes of tongues. Blessed be the Lord, for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me when I was in a besieged city. I had said in my alarm, I am cut off from your sight, but you heard the voice of my pleas for mercy when I cried to you for help. Love the Lord, all you his saints. The Lord preserves the faithful, but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride. Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord. Thus far our reading this morning from the word of God. And again, it is especially to verse 15 that we begin turning our attention. My times are in your hands. Our congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ, the scriptures are clear that time hastens on and if we step back and pause for a moment, we'll have to agree with scripture because of course scripture is authoritative in and of itself, but also our experience confirms the testimony of Holy Scripture that our life is but a vapor. And as we travel down the stream of human history, we have various experiences, or we hear of various experiences, of various events in individuals' lives that confirm the truth that my wife's grandfather often spoke, although I don't know that it's a quote original with him. Some of you may remember John van Dyck. He had a saying that went, trouble from the womb to the tomb. And isn't that in one regard the plight of humanity? Trouble from the womb to the tomb. The cries begin, you might say, in infancy. Now, not all cries are necessarily cries out of distress, but many cries of infants and toddlers are cries that are expressed out of distress. Sober lean statistics are evident of the increase of depression and anxiety among teenagers as well as young adults. And it's not just isolated to that age demographic as well. Loneliness has been categorized even by secular experts as a rising pandemic in our culture. And many individuals who find themselves in the later years of one's life would affirm that those years also can be very trying years. Years in which perhaps the lack of health, perhaps some of the disappointments of brokenness begin to confront them with the painful reality that indeed from one perspective life is trouble from the womb to the tomb. And yet to offset that reality of the seemingly constant trouble, there are the wonderful promises of the Word of God. Our lives, our times are in our Father's hand. And I want to strive this morning for simplicity and brevity as we look at this phrase, as we find it in Psalm 31, verse 15. My times are in your hand. So a simple theme, our lives in the hands of God. And we acknowledge that hands of God here, boys and girls, is figurative language. Now, of course, Jesus Christ, after he was born, in his human nature, he had real hands. He worked with those hands. He blessed people with those hands. and also nails pierced those hands, even as he quoted from Psalm 31. But what we're talking about here is the divine nature. And God in his divinity does not have physical hands like we have, but this is figurative language to help us understand something of the nature of our God and of his care for our lives. So our lives in the hands of God. We'll notice this morning, the need for the hands of God, and then secondly, the description of the hands of God, and then thirdly, the benefit from the hands of God. So our lives in the hands of God, the need, the description, and the benefit from the hands. Now, many, many a person in our culture lives out of a secular worldview, which pretends that there is nothing beyond the here and the now. no transcendent being, no one who is higher than us, no one who is above us, no one who is beyond us. But the knowledge of God's existence is innate within our soul. And we have been blessed as the covenant people of God to have this knowledge confirmed by the revelation and by the instruction that we have received from many of our youngest days. We know that God exists because he has revealed his existence. And as he has revealed his existence, we are confronted with the clear testimony that there is a higher being. There is a God, one only God, the true God, the creator of the heaven and the earth, a triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And this is most necessary because as we live this life, we have need for hands that are beyond ours, hands that are greater than ours, hands that are more powerful than ours, hands that are moved by a knowledge that is greater than ours. Now many of us perhaps sometimes are prone to think that we are self-reliant. And yet when times of distress come, we are confronted with the reality that we are not self-reliant. but that we are utterly dependent upon our heavenly Father. This especially becomes true in troubles in life. So the hands of God are necessary because of the troubles of life. Notice what the psalmist says in verse 10, as he identifies the intensity of these troubles. For my life is spent with sorrow and my years with sighing. I just wanna pause there momentarily this morning and if a person has entered into this place of worship this morning with that type of a spirit, if you walked through those doors and if you sat in your pew And if you in essence said, my life is spent with sorrow and my years with sighing, I want to give you a pastoral word of encouragement that you are not alone in your experience. And this is not a novelty. The psalmist long, long, long ago, David himself, gave this verdict, my life is spent with sorrow and my years with sighing. He was troubled because of various enemies within his life. Notice what he says in the second half of verse 15, rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors. And there was a host of enemies who opposed David throughout various seasons of his life. Enemies who plotted against him. Enemies who had a bitterness and an enmity against him. Enemies who coveted his position. Enemies who sought his downfall. Enemies who you can think of his younger days, the Saul who threw a spear at him or a javelin seeking to pin him to the wall quite literally. You can think of his own household, of his own son Absalom rising up in rebellion against him. Indeed, if anyone could say trouble from the womb to the tomb, it could have been David. Intense trouble. As he says, my life is spent with sorrow and my years with sighing. But it wasn't just because of the enemies in his life, it was also because of troubling circumstances in life. Notice what he says in verse nine, be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress. My eye is wasted from grief, my soul and my body also. Distress. There's a certain, I believe, intentional vagueness about the context of Psalm 31. What do I mean by intentional vagueness? We don't know absolutely certainly what was going on in David's life when he composed this Psalm. And that's intentional because it can then apply to all of the experiences of distress in life. distress that weighs down upon a person's soul and also weighs down a person's body. Notice the holistic unity that is described. In verse nine, I am in distress. My eye is wasted from grief. My soul and my body also. The Bible has much to say about our constitution, about who we are as a person and the interrelation between the soul and the body. When the soul is distressed, the body is distressed. And when the body is distressed, the soul is distressed. And David acknowledges this reality. He is in need of the hands of God because of the troubles of life. But notice that he also goes a step further and he identifies the cause, the cause of distress in life is because of the sin of man. Again, if we go back to verse 10, my life is spent with sorrow and my years with sighing, my strength fails because of my iniquity and my bones waste away. Iniquity describes the sinful actions of a person as well as the very sinful nature of a person. Now we want to try to be especially clear here. Every ailment that a person may experience, every distress that a person may experience is not necessarily directly related to a specific sin that they have committed. Some have taken that approach, but it goes beyond the testimony of scripture. So if a person, for example, has a severe medical condition is not always a direct result of a specific sinful action that they have committed. But we can also say this on the testimony of Holy Scripture, that all misery in this world is a general result of the fall. Prior to the fall, the rebellious actions of Adam, The curse was not found within humanity nor within this world. But after the fall, well, then we find all sorts of miseries. So generally speaking, the trouble we experience in this life, the distress we experience in this life, generally speaking, is connected to the reality of humanity's rebellion. And David, with the wisdom and the inspiration given to him, recognizes this and identifies this. And this is so important because this directs the attention of his hope to God and not man. You see what happens if a person or a group of persons believe that misery is just a result of the failure of social evolution among humanity, then people look to themselves for the remedy. We call this humanism. Then they look to their own hands. And they think, we can fix this. All we need is more of our own hands. But David doesn't go there. He doesn't say, I'm in a tough spot. I'm in a miserable spot. I've got some enemies around me. I've got some distressing circumstances around me. I just need 10 tips for a better 2025 and then I'll be all set. No, as he acknowledges the intensity of his distress and its general connection to sinful rebellion. His faith and his hope is directed to God and to the hands of God. And that brings us to our second point, the description of the hands of God. And two things that we want to identify about the hands of God. And again, we speak with figurative language and anthropomorphism. The hands of God would refer to his power, to his care, to his work, to his providence. You think of the Heidelberg Catechism. Lord's Day 10, what do you understand by providence? The almighty power of God whereby he as with his hands upholds all things and governs all things. So what two things do we want to say about these hands? They are covenantal hands and they are good hands. The hands of our heavenly Father. our covenantal hands and covenant theology. And I hope and I pray that all of our churches, including Cornerstone United Reformed Church, I hope and I pray that we understand covenant theology, that we love covenant theology, that we embrace covenant theology, that we find our hope and our comfort in covenant theology. What is covenant theology? That the Lord has made a promise. I will be your God and you will be my people. That's what we understand by covenant. And notice how the Psalm refers to this covenant theology. Look, for example, at verse 14. But I trust in you. There's a contrast he's just been describing in prior verses, some of the distresses that come upon him. How he is an object of reproach to his neighbors and to his acquaintances. but I trust in you, O Lord. And as many of you no doubt well know, Lord there being all capitalized is that special name of God that he gave himself to reveal something of his character. It's Yahweh, it's I am who I am. I'm the unchangeable God who is the source of my own existence and I will always be the same. And as we note the passing of time and one year follows and then another year comes, all around us we see things change. I'm confronted that we come back to the Hudsonville area somewhat frequently, two or three times a year, traveling from Palo Iowa to here, and every time I come back, it seems like in Hudsonville and in Iowa County, there's a new building here or a new building there. Things change. We see that even in ourselves. Even the facilities here have changed over the course of time. The pews used to be straight, now they're on an angle, things change. There is one thing, if we can say that respectfully, one person who never changes, and that is our God. We often make our plans. We plan to do this, we say, well, we're going to go do that and then unforeseen circumstances come up and we have to change our plans. God never has to change his plans and he never does change his plans because he is all knowledgeable, all wise, all powerful. Also, he never changes his promises. Boys and girls, you know, sometimes your parents promise things, they say, well, we're going to go here, we're going to do that, and then they have to come, they have to say, actually, we can't do this because this happened or because that happened. And you know the disappointment that comes with that. God never, never changes his promise. And what is his most basic promise to us? I will be your God, and you will be my people, including all of the benefits that are really summarized in verse 16. Make your face shine on your servant. Save me in your steadfast love. One scripture passage we would cross-reference this morning, if you would turn there if you're so inclined, is Isaiah chapter 49, speaking about the covenantal hands of our God. Isaiah 49, verse 13 through 16. There the Lord speaks through his servant Isaiah, Sing for joy, O heavens, and exalt, O earth. Break forth, O mountains, into singing, for the Lord has comforted his people and will have compassion on his afflicted. But Zion said, the Lord has forsaken me. My Lord has forgotten me. And then the rhetorical question, can a woman forget her nursing child? That she would have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands. I have engraved you on the palms of my hands. Boys and girls, have you ever been forgotten somewhere? My wife and I, blessed with five children, a few of them have been forgotten at places. One was left at church when we served covenant unit from church south of Byron Center. One was forgotten at cadets. And I may be forgetting a few other of the times that children were forgotten. I think especially of the child who will remain unnamed as of now who was forgotten at cadets. and of the distress he had at perhaps the age of 10 of being forgotten at Cadets. And there is this fear, isn't there, that lives within our hearts of being forgotten? Is it not then most comforting that the Lord says, I will never forget you? In fact, I have engraved your hand, your name upon my hand. I will never forget you. Covenantal hands, also good hands. If we go back to the Psalm, Psalm 31, and look, for example, at verse 19, you notice that the hands of our covenantal God are good hands. And that's exactly what we need, especially in times of distress. Verse 19 of Psalm 31, oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you in the sight of the children of mankind. And we have to hasten on because time also hastens on this morning, but the basic idea of goodness is that the hands of God are exactly what they should be. The hands of God are exactly what they should be. There's nothing missing. There's nothing lacking. There could be no improvement made to the hands of God, to his care, to his covenantal, providential care for his people. There's nothing absent. God is exactly who he should be. And his work is exactly that which it should be. So often we do a work perhaps in our trade, or perhaps in our office, we build a home, we maybe make a business deal, we sell an automobile, and we say that was a good day work. And maybe indeed it is, but there's always room for improvement. It could have always been made better. You can think of the building of a house and the builder may do a good job and build a good home. And yet what happens inevitably is, There needs to be some updating and some remodeling eventually. But when it comes to the work of God, there's no possibility for improvement because it's good in the ultimate sense and his hands are good. And his hands are especially good as they display mercy. Now this is a theme that's woven all throughout the Psalm. Look, for example, in verse seven, I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love. The ESV has this phrase, steadfast love. Older translations have mercy. Verse nine as well. Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress, my eyes wasted from grief, my soul and my body also. Be gracious to me in your steadfast love. You can look at verse 16 as well. Make your face shine on your servant. Save me in your steadfast love. In steadfast love, this mercy is also then connected to the covenant promise that God has made. And what is steadfast love? What is mercy? It is, first of all, an attitude of compassion, an attitude that is soft-hearted, that is tender-hearted towards certain specific people. And that's what I asked earlier in the service. When you think of God, what is the first thing you think about in regards to his nature? Is it His steadfast love? His mercy? Now, I well understand that there needs to be a balance in our theology, a balance in our comprehension of God's nature. And at times the undefined, vague notion of love has been overemphasized by the broad evangelical world. And so there has been a reaction that has emphasized the justice of God and the righteousness of God. And that certainly is true of God as well. We need to maintain these things in balance. But there's a danger that we then begin to have this cold, hard view of God sitting up in the heavens, threatening us constantly with eternal destruction if we don't do everything exactly right. And what happens then is people begin to interpret the distress that they experience in life as signs of the displeasure of God. I'm sick, God must be angry with me. I'm discouraged, God must be angry with me. I'm this or I'm that. The only logical explanation in some people's thinking is, well, God must be angry with me. Well, as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we can be absolutely certain that God is not angry with us in his judicial anger. He is characterized by steadfast love, by mercy. You can think of, and I know that the brokenness of sin impacts relationships in this earth as well, but think of the hands of a good earthly father. The hands of a faithful, loving, earthly father. And when a toddler walks along and comes to an uneven path perhaps, or a situation in which they are somewhat frightened, they've reached their tiny little hand up towards the hand of that loving father, and what does the father do? Doesn't he take the hand of the child? And with strength blended wonderfully with compassion, hold in love the hand of the child? communicating, I will lead, I will guide, I will protect. And what then is the response of the child? Isn't there an immediate sense of peace? My hand and his hand makes everything all right. The hands of our father. Covenantal hands, good hands. And when our hand is in his hand by the exercise of faith, it brings certain benefits and that's our third point briefly to consider. The benefit from the hands are the benefit of deliverance. Of deliverance or of redemption. Verse 19 emphasizes this, oh, how abundant is your goodness which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you. These hands are hands that have worked in the accomplishment of our redemption, in the accomplishment of our salvation. And we'll talk more about this, Lord willing, tonight, about the great exchange. And I understand, and I hope we understand that the implications of the gospel are broad and wide in its range. But the heart of the gospel, the heart of the gospel is reconciliation with God. Sure, the Christian is surrounded by distressing circumstances. And sure, the Christian may have many an enemy. All of that is true. But if I am reconciled with God, at the end of the day, what does all of the other really matter? So often I think, and perhaps I need, not to this congregation, because I haven't preached here in some time, I think to my home congregation, maybe I should apologize for quoting Romans 5 verse one so much, but I can't help it. It's such a beautiful summary of this whole concept of reconciliation. Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Peace with God. And if, and we could say it this way, and since, and since I have peace with God through his covenantal good hands, well, then I have hope. Hope not in some vague wish that tomorrow's going to be better than today, but hope in the sense of a certain confidence. a certain optimistic confidence. And the optimistic confidence of that hope is what then carries me forward. Day by day, throughout all the seasons of life, from the trouble that began at the womb, all the way through to the trouble that will end at the tomb. See, faith and hope go together. Faith is this exercise of reliance upon God's good covenantal hands. Hope, hope is the optimism that flows out of knowing my time, my life, my entire person is safe and secure in the hand of God. And we need to point out another truth that this Psalm identifies, that this is a particular benefit. Notice verse 17, O Lord, let me not be put to shame, for I call upon you. Let the wicked be put to shame. Let them go silently to Sheol. Verse 23 as well makes a contrast. Love the Lord, all you his saints. The Lord preserves the faithful, but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride. There is a commonality within humanity that all persons to some extent or another experience distress in this life. But there's also a world of contrast within humanity. Some people moved by the Holy Spirit, according to the eternal decree of election, find safe refuge in the good and in the covenantal hands of the Lord God. Sadly, many, many others are too proud, too wicked to receive the hand of the Heavenly Father. And so they go on in self-reliance and maybe in self-deception. Self-reliance thinking I can do this by myself. I don't need any divine being. They adopt the idea that religion is just for the weak. And in that self-reliance, they are self-deceived because no one No one can make it through the distress of life, but especially the distress of death, without their hand in the hand of God. Isaiah 59 verse one and two says, behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save, nor is ear heavy that it cannot hear. And he's speaking here about apostate Israel. Your iniquities have separated you from your God and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he will not hear. And I never know the heart of every single person who sits before the pulpit. But this morning, if these words find the ears of someone who is wicked in the sense of unbelieving, or proud in the sense of refusing to bend the knee before the Lord Jesus Christ in faith, then I need to lovingly warn you, you're on a path that leads to certain destruction. But I also have the opportunity to call out to you, the hand of the Lord is not shortened. but it actually extends to you in the gospel call. Simply repent and believe, and you will be saved. And when there is salvation, there is hope, there is confidence, there is security. My hand in His hand for now and for all of eternity. May that grant us the strength to go forward in times of trouble and distress, with a note of joyful gladness, amen. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word and for its testimony to our lives, and we especially thank you this morning for the reminder of the goodness of your hands and of the covenantal nature of your hands. And as we have considered this passage together, Father, by the working of the Holy Spirit, we pray that the result might be that our faith might be strengthened. And as our faith is strengthened, we pray too that our hope might be encouraged. We confess that many times we find ourselves in times of overwhelming distress. And in those times, may we never lose heart, but may our eyes of faith look up. into the benevolent face of our heavenly Father. And may we then experience the security that comes from knowing that we belong to you and you belong to us, both now and forevermore. For Jesus' sake, amen. We'll then respond with song of thanksgiving.