Let's turn to the Psalm 31 this evening. We welcome you. Thank you for joining with us this evening. So we're in Psalm number 31, and we'll read this Psalm together. It is a Psalm of David. He has written it to the chief musician, and David writes these words by inspiration. In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust. Let me never, let me never be ashamed. Deliver me in thy righteousness. Bow down thine ear to me. Deliver me speedily. Be thou my strong rock for a house of defense to save me. For thou art my rock and my fortress. Therefore, for thy name's sake, lead me and guide me. Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me. For thou art my strength. Into thy hand I commit my spirit. Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth. I have heeded them that regard lying vanities, but I trust in the Lord. I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy, for thou hast considered my trouble, thou hast known my soul in adversities, and hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy. I was set my feet in a large room. Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am in trouble. Mine eye is consumed with grief, yea, my soul and my belly, for my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing. My strength faileth because of mine iniquity, and my bones are consumed. I was a reproach among all mine enemies, but especially among my neighbors, and a fear to mine acquaintance. They that did see me without fled from me. I am forgotten as a dead man, out of mind. I am like a broken vessel, for I have heard the slander of many. Fear was on every side. While they took counsel together against me, they devised to take away my life. But I trusted in thee, O Lord. I said, thou art my God. My times are in thy hand. Deliver me from the hand of mine enemies and from them that persecute me. Make thy face to shine upon my servant. Save me for thy mercy's sake. Let me not be ashamed, O Lord, for I have called upon thee. Let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave. Let the lying lips be put to silence, which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous. Oh, how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee. For thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men. Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man. Thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues. Blessed be the Lord, for he has shown me his marvelous kindness in a strong city. For I said in my haste, I am cut off before thine eyes. Nevertheless, I heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee. O love the Lord, all ye his saints. For the Lord preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer. But be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord. Amen. And we'll conclude at the end of the chapter. Know the words in this particular psalm have provided a saint, the saints of God, a bright beacon for the dark passages of life that they have been called to walk through in their Christian experience. I'm initially thinking of those words in the verse number five. Into thy hand I commit my spirit, as redeem me, O Lord God of truth. You'll be well aware that these are the words that the Lord Jesus Christ himself spoke before he gave up the ghost, when he died for our sins upon The Cruel Cross. In Luke 23, we read verse 46. And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, He was quoting from Psalm 31. and the verse 5. Some of the last words that were uttered by that much favored and much renowned Jerusalem deacon Stephen as rocks and stones rained down upon him were these particular words. in Psalm 31 verse 5. Luke informs us in Acts 7 verse 59, and they stone Stephen calling upon God and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. Similar words as we find here in Psalm 31. What you may not be aware of is that these words have also been employed by many a Christian martyr prior to their execution and at their death. These are the words, the parting words, the closing words, the final words of Martin Luther. He would quote these words. John Knox was another who would also quote these particular words when he went. To his death, Jerome of Prague, Julian Tammer, one of the noted martyrs during the reign of the English Marian, Francis Teaser, the first martyr of the desert, who ascended the scaffold singing these particular words in the year 1686. On the 6th of July, 1415, on the anniversary of his birth, in other words, on his birthday, Jan Hus, or John Hus, was burned to death in a field near the ancient city of Constance. The doctrines for which Hus was condemned were essentially that which Luther would proclaim almost a century later. A brass tablet in the floor of the cathedral marks the spot where Jan Hus stood while seven bishops removed his priestly dress piece by piece and placed on his head a paper crown painted with demons. They addressed him in these words, we deliver thy soul to Satan. Hus replied, but I commend it into the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ who has redeemed me. When taken to the place of execution, Jan Hus, he fell to his knees and repeated in prayer some of the Psalms. He was often found repeating frequently the words, into thy hands I commend my spirit. Thou has redeemed me, O Lord God of truth. When he arose, He said, Lord Jesus, stand by me, that by thy and thy father's help I may endure this painful and shameful death, which I suffer for thy word. When the fire was kindled, he cried three times, Jesus, thy son of David, have mercy on me. At the third time his voice was stifled by the smoke. Those who stood by watching him saw his lips still moving. Jesus, thy son of David, have mercy on me. His ashes were cast into the river Rhine. For a century it seemed that the fire and the water had triumphed over truth. then broke the dawn of the Protestant Reformation, when the biblical truth that Jan Hus preached was published and proclaimed throughout Europe by the Protestant reformers. Many went to their death with the comforting words into thy hands, I commend my spirit. Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth. But before we go to prayer tonight, I want us to look at another statement in this psalm that has also brought great comfort and consolation to many a child of God down through the ages of church history. You'll find that statement at the beginning of the verse 15. You'll probably be aware of that. That is why we sang the hymn this evening before we opened the scriptures. David makes the particular statement the following declaration to God He says, my times are in thy hand. My times are in thy hand. I want to think about these words briefly for a few moments, and then we'll get to prayer. It's always good to try and get a grasp, to try and get an understanding as to the background that would lead to the inspired pen man to write what he wrote. And so let's take a few moments to consider the back story to the psalm. We want to think about the back story to the psalm. Now admittedly Psalm 31 contains no reference as to when, where or on what occasion the psalm was written by the psalmist David. That sounds familiar I know but that is often the case when we come to these particular Psalms. But having said that, as is the case in many of the Psalms, internal evidence does give us a kind of vague understanding, some kind of insight as to what the inspired pen man himself was going through in his personal life when he came to the time of writing the particular Psalm. Notice in the verse 1 that the Psalmist, he's seeking God here, for deliverance he cries at the end of the verse deliver me and thy righteousness we can but only but conclude therefore that this appeal for deliverance comes on the heels that he obviously was in a particular time of trouble and at this particular time, trouble from which he is seeking now the Lord's deliverance. In verse 2, David continues this theme of seeking God for deliverance when he makes the request, Can you get an idea that he's in a particular place that there needs to be a rapid response on the part of God This isn't something that can drag out with regard to time, nor rather this needs to be done speedily with haste on the part of God. It seems to be that such was the danger that David was in that his case required a hasty deliverance affected by God. The wonderful thing, brothers and sisters, is this, that God can come with speed. He can come with great haste. He can deliver us speedily. We've experienced it, I'm sure, all in our personal lives. We've noticed it. We've cried to God, and God has come to our aid almost immediately. The Lord does help, and that right early, as the psalmist says. He is a present help. in our time of trouble. And there are occasions when he does deliver us once as soon as the mercy is asked for and this is David's appeal, oh God, deliver me speedily. In the verse four, things become a little clearer as to what kind of trouble the psalmist is presently in. He says, pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me. The net was a form of entrapment And here the penman testifies that his enemies with subtle name, with craft, had concealed a net, had concealed a trap that he had unwittingly become ensnared in. Thank God, God can break the nets of our enemies. Thank God God can deal with the snares that our enemies set for us and the wicked one sets for us, those that are secretly laid for the people of God. Here's the man of God and he's found in the net, he's become ensnared, but he doesn't give up in defeat. A just man doesn't do that. No just man falleth seven times and rises again. We sometimes get ourselves In a terrible mess, we find ourselves in a net and a snare. We've walked into it with our eyes wide open, and yet God in his mercy still comes and lifts us out of the net. How patient, how long-suffering, how good our God is. In all of our foolishness, he comes and he plucks our feet out of the net. Thank God for that. Skip down to the verse 13 because it's a verse that really indicates that the psalmist, he's become aware of the discussions that were taking place. about him among his enemies for i have heard the slander of many he said fear was on every side while they took counsel together against me they devised to take away my life and really it is that verse 13 that sets the context for our particular text this evening david's enemies they they were slandering him and having slandered him in the past They were now plotting to take away his life. God's servant's life was under threat and we note the response of David to that threat in the verse 13. Fear was on every side. And I say such a response would only be but natural. Can you imagine how you would feel if you got a knock on your door? And you open the door and you find a couple of officers of the PSNI standing outside and informing you that they had just received a credible death threat regarding your life. Some people here have had that experience. Others in our nation have had that experience. A credible death threat on your particular life. I'm sure you weren't going about clapping and saying, that's great news. Thanks for bringing the great news. I can imagine that first of all, fear filled the heart and then that fear, that would have been then followed on with shock and then maybe eventually with anger and with rage. Well, David was just like any one of us. And he comes to acknowledge that fear was on every side. And maybe that's where you are tonight. Fear is on every side. Whatever way you turn, fear on every side. You look back in the last week, the news that you've received, the letter that you received, the phone call that you received, the circumstances that you found yourself in, Fear, fear on every side. You look to this right to the left, fear on every side. You're looking into next week, you're looking into tomorrow, and into the days ahead, and there's nothing there to encourage you. And maybe tonight you would say, preacher, I am like David. Fear is on every side. That fear may not arise from a death threat like David's fear arose in this particular occasion, but it might arise from a health scare, Fear because of that. Maybe a family problem, a difficulty, maybe an uncertain future. Maybe the devil is attacking you, causing you great fear. Many are the sources from which our fears arise. Well the antidote for fear is obviously faith. Faith is the antidote for fear. Not blind faith, but rather a confiding faith. Not a blind faith, but a confiding faith, a faith in God. And this is what David comes to express in the verse number 14. He comes to express his faith in God. Yes, he expresses his fear to God. And that's a good thing to do, to be right, to be honest, to be frank, to let the Lord know how you're feeling. And so he expresses his fear, but he then quickly follows on the heels of that. He comes to express his faith in God. His faith in God. Verse 14, he says, But I trusted in thee, O Lord. I said, Thou art my God. It was as if David was saying amidst these distresses and in spite of them all, I'm still trust in Jehovah. I'm still trusting in God and I express my entire confidence by solemnly declaring him to be my God. He's my God. He remembers his covenant. union with his God, he says, he's my God, thou art my God. I wonder, can we do that? When fears are at their height, can we still trust God? That with all the afflicting circumstances that come our way, does our faith maintain its hold? in the midst of the storm, a faith that is unwilling to be turned aside and away from that trustworthy object in which our faith has been placed, not in faith itself, but in the God, the God in whom we trust. However great David's troubles were, his trust in God was greater. May it be so in our lives. In the times of our fear, may God enable us to say, but I trust in thee. But having considered the background and a little off the background and the backstory to the psalm, let's move on to what David actually says in light of this. He comes to say, my times are in thy hand. When David speaks of his times being in God's hands, It's really just another way of him saying, my life is in God's hands. My entire life is in his hands. That's where my life is. It's in his hands. The times or the life of the child of God is in the hand of God. Life has its various times and its various seasons. And every one of those times are in the Lord's hands. The season or the time of prosperity. That's in the Lord's hands. We need to remember that. When days are good and the sun is shining and the finances are well within the bank and our health is good, those times, our days of prosperity are in the hand of God. It is God who has given us those times, those seasons of life. God reminded Israel in the book of Deuteronomy that the obtaining of wealth was only something that was accomplished by them because God had permitted them to obtain wealth. He said, Thou shalt remember the Lord thy God, for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he swear on to the fathers as it is this day. Sadly, in days of prosperity, God is often forgotten by many. However, the spiritually minded Christian is the person who comes to understand that the times and the seasons of prosperity are in God's hand. Oh, for grace to accept that. Oh, for a knowledge to recognize that, that God is in our mercies, as well in those times when we feel that all is going awry. Oh, for grace to recognize God in our mercies. for hearts to be lifted up in love and praise and gratitude and thanksgiving when the barns are full and the bank balances are in the black rather than in the red. The times of my prosperity, they're in the Lord's hands. But on the other side of the coin, we must also understand that the days of adversity are also in God's hands too. Adversity in our lives can come in many different disguises and many different guises. the adversity of sickness and sorrow, the adversity of depression, the adversity of loneliness and worry and fear and anxiety and unemployment, temptation. All of these are times of adversity. But what we need to remember in those times of adversity and in those times of distress is that they are as much in the hand of God as in the times and seasons of prosperity. Job would acknowledge that to his wife. He would say to his wife there in Job 2 verse 10, shall we receive good at the hand of God and shall we not receive evil? Job understood that both good and evil, prosperity and adversity came to him from God's hand. God's hand gave me the good. and God's hand has given me the evil or the adversity. I was able to acknowledge God in the days of prosperity. Oh, that's easy to do, but in days of adversity, that's just not so easy. When you're sick, someone in your family is, not easy to acknowledge God's hand in it all. Yet child of God, The hand that allowed good to come our way is the same hand that allows adversity to come our way. It all passes his loving heart before it ever reaches us, whatever the time is, whether it's prosperity or whether it's adversity. And can I say, brethren and sisters, that both have their dangers. Some people think, well, if my life was just prosperous and everything was running smoothly, Then there will be no difficulties then, no danger then, no temptation then. I say you know not what you speak of. Days of prosperity are fraught with dangers as much as days of adversity. And so we must remember that. Child of God, in days of adversity, we need to remember that that adversity cannot come unless our God has bidden it. Octavius Winslow, he wrote, Health cannot fade. Wealth cannot vanish. Comfort cannot decay. Friendship cannot chill. Loved ones cannot die until he, in his sovereignty, permits. And therefore, your time of self-isolation is by his wise appointment. And your time of sickness is by His wise appointment. And your time of sorrow is by His wise appointment. And your times of adversity, whatever form that adversity is taken, is by His wise appointment. Maybe sickness has taken hold of the body. Maybe bereavement has come in and darkened the home. Maybe adversity has reduced your resources, has changed... lesson, maybe your comfort, maybe sorrow has crushed your spirit, but remember, remember child of God, your times have been in and are still in God's hands. The Lord has permitted it so. May God bring us to that place of glad submission in our lives where we're enabled to say whatever comes our way, as Eli said, it is the Lord Let him do what seemeth him good. It is the Lord. We can consider this term times also with regard to the various stages of life that we pass through. There is a time in which we find ourselves in an infantile state, and that time passes for us to find ourselves then in childhood for that time to pass, for us to find ourselves in adolescence, and then in young adulthood, and then through the middle years of life, and then eventually into old age itself. And yet through all of those times of life, the Christian can say, our times are in his hands. My times are in his hands. One preacher said, the times of our youth are in God's hands. Times when often we are subject to the decisions others make for us. The times of our maturity are in God's hands. Times when we should be about our father's business and face both apparent success and failure in it. The times of our old age are in God's hands when God will care for us and bless those days as much as the others. All the times of life. For the Christian, we can say they're in his hands. They're in his hands. Oh, then let us place entirely our lives, every time of life into God's hands. Young person, put your life in God's hands. Put your times in God's hands. Older person, place your times in God's hands. No safer place can you put your life than in the hand of the one who controls and holds the teller of the world and of the entire universe. The one who by his hand is guiding all the affairs of life, no safer place could you give your life into, and you're at times into than in his hand, his hand. Let me draw from the statement a few threads of comfort. I trust they'll be an encouragement to you. Number one, the statement in Psalm 31 verse 15, it reminds us that God's unfailing providence orders all our affairs. Each event, each event in life is ordered and directed by his unfailing hand. Since a sparrow, since no sparrow falls from the sky without his knowledge, then surely without him, no adversity, No evil will be allowed to reveal against us. His hand is over all. His hand is over all. Number two, whatever path or whatever trial you have passed through, are passing through, or will pass through, remember that every time is under the control of God's infinite wisdom. They're under the control of His hands. Number three. Be comforted with the fact and with the truth that your times are not in your hands. That's a comforting truth. Your times are not in your hands. What a hash, that's a Northern Ireland statement, what a hash, or what a mess we would make if that were the case. that we take our times into our own hands. You know, we get an example of Christian people who did that. And whenever we take matters into our own hands, the outcome is never the desired outcome. Just ask Abram and Sarah, or Abram and Sarai. They took matters into their own hands. They wanted a child. And so the decision is taken that Abram will go and lie with Hagar. And as a result of them taking matters into their own hands, it has resulted in a family conflict that is the longest running family conflict in human history. You maybe think your family conflict is the longest running conflict in human history. Maybe it feels like that. But this family conflict is the longest running family conflict because this conflict continues to this very day between the descendants of Isaac, the Jews, and the descendants of Ishmael, the Arabs. And the family conflict continues because people took matters into their own hands. Better to leave it in the Lord's hands, child of God. Leave it. in his hands. Let him work it out, leave it in his hands. And so there's a great comfort to know that our times are not in our hands. Number four, whatever the variant times, whatever the variant times are that we are called to pass through, what does not change is the hand in whose times in whose times are found. My times are in thy hand. My times are in thy hand. Our circumstances change, but the hands don't change. The hands don't change. The adversity, the problems, they change, but the hands or the hand doesn't change. And what is his hand? Because it's in the singular here. Well, God's hand is an omnipotent hand. And God's hand is an immutable hand. And God's hand is an invincible hand. Our times are not in the hands of angels. They're not in the hands of men. And they shouldn't be in ours. but thank God they're in the Lord's hands. Every Christian can say their times are in safe hands. Whenever I say my times are in thy hands, I am saying my times are in safe hands. They're in safe hands. Fifthly, there's not a time in my life that is out of God's hand. My prosperous times are in his hand. My trying times are in his hand. My working times are in his hand. My recreational times are in his hand. My waiting times are in his hand. My soul distressing times are in his hand. Yes, and even my dying time, it's in his hand. Every season of my life is under the divine management of a sovereign God, all our times. are under God's hands, and infinite wisdom and mercy and justice and sovereignty are the principles on which they are regulated and on which they are controlled. My times are regulated by mercy, wisdom, justice, and sovereignty. When we come to understand, brethren and sisters, that our times are in God's hands, That truth, it produces contentment, and trust, and peace, and gratitude, and expectation in our lives. Octavius Winslow, he gave the following counsel when he commented on this particular statement at the beginning of verse 15. He said this, learn to be content with your present lot with God's dealings with and His disposal of you. You are just where His providence has, in its inscrutable but all wise and righteous decision, placed you. It may be in a position, painful, irksome, trying, but it is right. Oh, yes, it is right. Only aim to glorify Him in it. Wherever you are placed, God has a work for you to do, a purpose through you to be accomplished in which he blends your happiness with his glory. And when you have learned the lessons of his love, he will transfer you to another and wider sphere for those nobler duties and higher responsibilities that the present is perhaps but disciplining and preparing you. Our times are in his hands. The hand that you put and placed your soul into at salvation is a hand into which you can place your times, brother and sister. You committed that to his hand, well then you commit your times into his hand too. Every event is under God's divine control. Nothing left to chance. Nothing left to fate, nothing left to luck, but under His divine control. John Newton said, our Heavenly Father knows best what is good for us. Oh, for grace to yield ourselves simply and cheerfully to His wise management of our lives. May God enable us, each and every one of us, to leave our times in his safe and strong hand. For no better place could they be this evening than there. My times are in thy hand. May God be pleased to bless your heart and comfort your heart through his word this evening for Christ's sake. Amen. Let's bow our heads in prayer, please. Our gracious and loving Father, we thank Thee this evening that our times are in Thy hand, every time, every time of life, the days, Lord, when all goes well, the days, Lord, when all goes amiss and awry. Lord, we thank Thee that we can look up into heaven. If, Lord, we can say that our sins are forgiven, that we're walking in the light then lord we can say my time whatever it has come my time is in thine hand we pray lord that thou will continue to encourage thy people may they understand where their times are lord we pray that each one will take comfort in the truth may they be enabled to say as david has said in this particular psalm with all of the varying and trying circumstances around him, he was able to still look up to God in faith and say, my times are in thy hands. We pray, Lord, that thou wilt help us, O God, to place our lives in thy hands. May we not take, O God, our lives into our own hands, but may we leave it for the Lord to guide us by his guiding hand. into the way that he would have us to go. And so bless our continued fellowship, even as we'll come around the throne of heavenly grace. May we know your blessing even in that, for we offer prayer in and through the Savior's precious name.