My Days are Yours

Selah:

Sacred Songs of the Psalter

Max A Forsythe

^© Anno Domini 2005

From the pulpit at Pilgrim’s Rest

Presbyterian Church in America

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Introduction: Once again the Psalmist hopes to rise from the black emotional and spiritual hole into which he had fallen. In these verses, he begs rescue from the Lord of Heaven, even as he pledges his trust. Delitszch comments that “although a curse of the world and an off scouring of all people, he is confident in God, his Deliverer and Avenger.” Further Delitszch writes “the times, with whatsoever they bring with them, are in the Lord’s hand, every lot is of His appointment or sending.”

Here is David, ever the warrior king laying out the whole of his life before his God. It is with such bold confidence that believers can enter into battle in every age and place. Come what may, the Lord is gracious indeed and into His hands we may commit not only our spirit, as David did in this Psalm earlier, but also our times as well. In order to convey the totality of David’s understanding, I have translated the first line of verse fifteen in this way: “[Every aspect of my life] is in Your hand.” And well it is, if we read our scriptures correctly. God’s people are the equal of any and every challenge because the Lord in the kindness of His grace will uphold us in every trial and situation – and thereby is His glory shown to all the earth.

But, we are not finished with the opening thoughts here in verse fourteen. In the opening line, I have followed Delitszch in dramatically setting apart the context of these verses from those that went before. “But” or “yet”, David boldly proclaims, even in spite of all my trials, troubles and tribulations, still “I trust in You, O Lord.” And why, the world may well ask? Because “You are my God,” David proclaims. And therein lays the great and vast divide between the elect of all the earth, and the common worldings who have been left to their own imagination and devices. This is the Covenant message of the whole Scripture, God has proclaimed to His people: “I will be Your God and you shall be my people.” And from our perspective, even as we understand that of David, not only are we His, but He is ours as well. This is why the people of God may come with boldness before the very throne of the Lord of life, because He has told us we are His and He is ours!

When we read the scriptural report of the many adventures of David, do we surmise even half of the whole of it? Consider the incredible course of his life, the challenges, the threats and all the problems that came his way. In a world ignorant of the providence of God, what are the chances, the odds of such a life lived on the brink for many decades? Must not any person fall prey to some trouble or another? In Tolkien’s classic tale, the elves were “immortal” in the limited sense that they did not die a natural death. However, in the course of the “history” of Middle Earth, they could have accidents and they could be killed. Once a student asked exactly what that meant. I supposed out loud, that if he had such a limited gift of “immortality,” he would not want to step in front of a big Mack Truck! He agreed as he understood the meaning of Tolkien’s fictional universe.

Now write that fiction a little larger in the sense that we are getting at. The very fact that David survived and ruled the very fact that the Hebrew people survived in the Middle East when so many others disappeared completely – and thereby: through the gracious acts of God in that history, we like David may better learn to trust the One whose guided providence informs the pages of history.

Development: In light of all that a gracious God intends, David humbly makes three requests in the following verses, and then closes this section by contrasting the way of the elect with that of the wicked.

Calvin explores the intensity of David’s plea. “Nothing is more difficult, when we see our faith derided by the whole world, than to direct our speech to God only, and to rest satisfied with this testimony which our conscience gives us, that he is our God.” The specific focus of lines two and three of verse fifteen is that David might be relieved from persecution by the contemporary adversaries of God Himself. The persecution comes upon David precisely because he is God’s man and king. While contemporary events are not as intense in public spirituality as those of David, we can certainly see the current political persecution of our own president by the Media and all those who would oppose any mildly biblical agenda. David’s enemies are clearly those who oppose his God, and thereby the wickedness of their actions reflects their real agenda: opposition to the providence of God.

David understands that this is not possible unless the Lord God of heaven and earth first looks upon him and his sinful condition. “Shine on me,” David pleas, in the words of a contemporary spiritual song. And thereby, as David would explain it, the very interest of the Creator God is sufficient to accomplish salvation and demonstrate the Lord God’s “steadfast love.” God first loved us, the apostles would inform us, therefore we should not be afraid, but stand up for every spiritual task: simple or difficult that may come our way day by day.

David’s third request is that the honor of God’s name and reputation for loving him be upheld and that none of that saving relationship be tarnished in any way shape or form before the watching world.

O Lord, he is asking – do not let Your cause be disgraced by any stupid or crass thing which he may in his ignorance reflect before a watching world. Because he must call upon Him, he begs the assistance of God to proclaim the wonders of Your grace and please allow me the honor and privilege of doing Your will. I am reminded of the Australian volunteers in South East Asia in the sixties. For misbehavior in the field, they could be sent home in disgrace. Our American draftees never quite understood the question of honor that motivated our allies. Neither does the world appreciate or comprehend the relationship of David with his God. We of course have much to learn in this regard. We may wish to avoid disgrace for our own reasons, but to pray so for the honor of Christ is another matter entirely. Church discipline, whenever it is allowed to be instituted is always about the honor of Christ and only secondarily for the eternal good of those being disciplined.

Application: If we understand the point of Christ’s honor in this regard, then the closing verses in this section will make more sense:

In my translation, I printed boldly the word “But:” which sets this section apart from that which came before. In the same way I have done the same with the word [Instead:] in the second half of verse seventeen. I do this to set up the implied contrast between how David understands his cause and purpose in opposition to every worldly impulse aimed at the Covenantal promises and acts of God.

Instead of the disgracing persecution of the godly, he prays that the wicked receive their just reward not only in this life but also in the world to come. What we have here is the biblical position concerning apostasy in all times and places. The naming of that which is good as bad and the raising up of the bad to being understood as good. That is why these advocates are being eloquently and verbally cast into the netherworld, or in our language today, David is simply saying, “let them go to hell!”

And in this world, David begs that their jaundiced opinions be muted simply because they speak against any civilization that must always spring from a proper understanding and application of the Bible to the lives of citizens and their culture. These worldly of David’s time, as well as those in our world do speak against the regulations of our God and king because they are puffed up with their own pride in place and their resultant contempt for the ways of God.

The transition here in this section is proper and right, ever and always. Because, whenever the people of God, like David: are persecuted by a world run amuck in sin and depravity, then the worldly must be called on the carpet and told in no uncertain terms just who it is they are representing. Jesus pointedly told the leaders of the Old Covenant Church that they served the father of lies, Satan himself. And then He went on to castigate them in no uncertain terms. If you look at those passages in the New Testament, we can better comprehend the restraint of David here in this section. After all, it is the proper place and role of the Almighty to speak pointedly against His adversaries. It is also His prerogative to take timely and final actions to make the distinctions for which David prays here in this section.

Like David, we too must practice all do restraint in our public discourse as well. And like David as well, we too must engage the Lord of all the earth in sincere prayer, praying that His cause and the honor of His Name be upheld on earth even as it is in heaven. May David’s prayer be ours as well. Amen.

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