We turn in sacred scripture to Psalm 31. Psalm 31, the text is verse 15. We first read the psalm in its entirety. To the chief musician, a psalm of David. In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust. 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 an 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 thine hand I commit my spirit. Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth. I have hated 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 has not shut me up into the hand of the enemy. Thou has 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 thy 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, which 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 hath showed me his marvelous kindness in a strong city. For I said in my haste, I'm cut off from before thine eyes. Nevertheless, thou 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. Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord." So far we read God's holy word. Verse 15 is the text. My times are in thy hand. Deliver me from the hand of my enemies and from them that persecute me." Especially the first part, my times are in thy hand. Beloved congregation, in our Lord Jesus Christ, in Psalm 31, David is sorely troubled. Especially in the middle part of the psalm, he is sorely troubled. We don't know when David wrote this psalm. David had so many troubles in his life that when you read in a psalm of David's troubles, it's hard to know when he wrote it. He could have written this psalm as a young man when he was being chased by King Saul who wanted to kill him. Or he could have written this psalm as an old man when he was being chased by Absalom, his son, who also wanted to kill him. But whenever David wrote this psalm, it is clear that David was sorely troubled. He was distressed. In verse 9, David says that he has been crying and that he has been sick to his stomach because of his griefs. In verse 10, David says that his very bones were being consumed, aching because of his trouble. I think the end of verse 12 is perhaps the most striking phrase of all. I am forgotten as a dead man, out of mind. I am like a broken vessel. I'm like a broken vessel." David was shattered, shattered with grief, like a vessel that had been dropped and shattered into pieces. But in the hour of David's deepest griefs and sorrows, what did David do? In verse 14 we read that in his deep grief, David used the best resource he had, his faith. He says in verse 14, but I trusted in Thee, O Lord. I said, Thou art my God. In his trouble and sorrow, David cast himself upon the Lord and he took the Lord as his refuge. If the enemies were going to slander David and try to take his life away, or try to ruin his life with slanderous accusations, David would not respond with railing accusations of his own. If the enemy is devised to take away his life, David was not going to take up his own sword and meet violence with violence. No. What did he do? He threw himself upon the Lord. Listen to what he says at the end of verse 14. I said, thou art my God. Yes, the enemy might have their slanderous words which they hurl against David so that he is made a reproach of all men. Yes, the enemy might have their ruthless tactics and stir up fear within the heart so that he becomes sick to his stomach. Yes, the enemy might be so cruel that they might make him like a broken vessel so that he is shattered. And yet, what does the enemy have compared to the man who can say these words, Thou art my God, If I have God as my God, what else is there to have? Then the enemy can have the whole world, but I have the one who makes, who made the world. And that is far more than everything in this world put together. That's David's frame of mind. And then having made that beautiful claim, thou art my God, David goes on to steady himself And he steadies himself upon one of the most cherished doctrines of the Christian faith, the doctrine of providence. In verse 15 he says, my times are in thy hand. My times are in thy hand. My times are not in the enemy's hand. As much as it may appear that way, my enemies are not the ones in control. God, Jehovah, who is my God, my times are in His hand. He is the one in control. He is the sovereign one right now. I'm not trapped in the corner at the mercy of my enemies who know no mercy. I am not without hope. I am not without courage. I am not utterly defeated because I know it's my God who rules in the heavens. It is my God who directs all the affairs of man. It is my God who arranges and appoints every moment. And He can and He will deliver me out of the hand of my enemy. It is my God who is the God of mercy and unfathomable compassion and who works all things together for my good to those who love Him, who are the called. according to His purpose. My times are in Thy hand, and therefore I can pray, I can pray, I can pray, and I can pray, and I can have peace, and I can have confidence. Going forward, it will be alright. God will take care of me." Congregation, that's not only the faith that God had given to David, that's also the faith He's given to you and me. And that's what we look at this afternoon as we make these words our own by faith. We take as our theme, my times are in thy hand. We look at that theme under three points. First, we see that this is a beautiful confession. We look at the confession itself, what it is, what it means. Second, we see that this is a helpful confession. We look at four ways in which this is such a good and helpful confession. And then third, we need to emphasize that this is a personal confession. In Psalm 31 verse 15, David is talking about the secret providence of God. The secret providence of God is a most comforting and beautiful doctrine. We know what God's providence is. The Catechism students have been going through it in Catechism class this past year. Lord's Day 10, what dost thou mean by the providence of God? answer, the almighty and everywhere present power of God, whereby, as it were by His hand, He upholds and governs heaven, earth, and all creatures. God upholds all things so that He is the one who at every moment in time continues to give existence to everything that exists. so that without God upholding all things, they would cease to exist, they would turn back into nothingness. He upholds all things and He governs all things, so that at every moment in time, He's controlling and directing all things, ruling over all things, so that everything serves the fulfillment of His purposes perfectly. God created everything with a purpose. And the word providence refers to the power of God to uphold and govern all things to realize those purposes. And Psalm 31 verse 15 uses the figure of a hand to capture this idea. My times are in thy hand. And that figure of the hand of God is used elsewhere in scripture. For just one example, in Job 19 verse 21, Job says to his friends, have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends, for the hand of God hath touched me. You remember what Job said at the end of Job chapter 1 when he lost all his animals, he lost nearly all his servants and he lost all his children. It says, the Lord hath given and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Job was confessing God's providence there right away in chapter 1 and now here, 19 chapters later, in the midst of all his pain and heartache, he's emphasizing the same thing. The hand of God hath touched me. God's hand is a picture of His almighty power, the power to control and to rule and to govern, the power to give and to take away. When we talk about the providence of God, it's sometimes helpful for us to speak of it as, just the way I did speak about it a moment ago, as the secret providence of God. Because from what we see in the world all around us, it isn't always so plain to see that God is governing all things to fulfill His purposes. God's purpose is to glorify Himself through Jesus Christ and gather a church unto Himself. But in this world, with all its sin and its wickedness, it sometimes doesn't seem as if God is glorifying Himself at all. God says He's working all things together for the advantage of His people. But when we look at our own situation in life, it doesn't always seem as if God is working all things for our good. Sometimes we ask, how can this be for my good? We ask, why is God working this way? Why this sudden turn of events? I don't understand it. I wasn't anticipating it. Why the death of a loved one? taken so suddenly. Why the loss of this job? Why a son or a daughter who is going wayward? Why such a difficult way? I don't, why? And then I say, it doesn't have to be so hard, does it? Why does it have to be so hard? Then we need to remember what God says in His Word. He knows that we think these things and He tells us. Isaiah 55 verse 9, For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. This is when we need to remember Psalm 77 verse 19, Thy way is in the sea, the Red Sea. Anticipated it thy way is in the sea and thy path in the great waters and thy footsteps are not known This is where we must simply remember God's everlasting love to his people when he tells us I have loved thee with an everlasting love Therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee and we need to reflect on that and think the only reason that I'm a Christian is The only reason I'm a Christian is because God's everlasting love has drawn me to Him. And how has He drawn me to Him? Well, He's been working all things together for me, that I might be drawn to Him, and I know Him as my God and Savior. It's all through His secret providence. And if His providence has done this, His providence will continue to go forward for my salvation. And God's providence then is secret, because although we can't see it, with our eyes always so clearly, but the only way I can understand it is by faith. Despite all I see around me, I know that God is in control of all things. I'm confident of all of it. He's fulfilling His purposes. He's working all things for my good. How do I know? By faith. This is what true faith believes. Now in Psalm 31 verse 15, it's exactly that secret providence of God that David is confessing when he says those beautiful words, my times are in thy hand. My times are in thy hand. What David is saying is this, all the constantly changing circumstances of my life, the circumstances of my life right now, are in God's complete control. David says, I see men huddled in a corner over there, Plotting how they might bring me to my death. David says, that's in God's control. David says, I see over here how my life is being spent with constant grief and I'm constantly consumed with sorrow and high stress situations day after day. David says, this is in God's control. David says, I see that I have no friends. Everyone has abandoned me at just the moment when I could use a friend the most. David says, this is in my God's control. And what David is really saying is this. In the context here, what he's saying is, whether today is the day that I die, or whether I live to see another day, my days are in God's hands. The day that I was born, that occurred at precisely God's appointed time. And the day that I die, that will occur at God's appointed time as well. David says, in effect, I know that I will not die a day before my time, my times. are in His hand from the beginning of my days to the end of my days. My times are in Thy hand." And what David says back in verse 14 is so important. Thou art my God. My God. My Jehovah. Covenant-keeping God. That's how he starts out the psalm. In Thee, O Lord Jehovah. My God who loves me with an infinite love. Who is the Lord of infinite wisdom. My God who knows my love for Him. My God who is my friend. My God who loves me so much He sacrificed His only begotten Son in my place on the cross. And who has ordained all things to work out for my good. Who is in complete control of the enemy. My times are in His hand and nobody else's. Oh, David must have said to himself many times before, I can't see it with the physical eye. I don't understand how it can be this way or why it has to be this way. I don't see why it has to be so hard. But David recognizes, so be it. Because there are many things that I cannot see. My Heavenly Father certainly knows better than me. Let me simply cling to this thought, O Lord, Thou art my God. My times are in Thy hand. I put my trust in Thee." That's David's confession. It's a beautiful confession, and it's your confession, too. You have faith, and this is the confession of faith. The Hatterberg Catechism students are essentially learning this confession every week again in catechism. What is thy only comfort in life and death? That I, with body and soul, both in life and death, am not my own, but I belong to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. And congregation, when you belong to Jesus Christ, then you are constantly under your heavenly Father's careful government. Why? Because it has to do with Jesus Christ. And it's because your Heavenly Father thinks more of Jesus Christ, more than He thinks of all the world. Everything that concerns Jesus Christ touches the heart of the Heavenly Father. And when God looks at you in Jesus Christ, and God sees you in Jesus Christ as one who belongs to Jesus Christ, and that's always how He looks at you, Then He also truly thinks of you more than He thinks of this present world. Then everything that concerns you also touches the heart of your Heavenly Father. You are never out of the Father's mind. You are never outside of His watchful care. His heart is constantly beating with love for you. He breathes after you in love, and you can be sure with such a love, He exercises His powerful hand of providence for your good. Everything you see before you, everything you see happening in your life right now, it lines up perfectly with what God eternally decreed for you in Jesus Christ. There are no discrepancies. Nothing is outside of His control. There is absolutely nothing in your life right now that God has not decreed for you in love to serve your eternal well-being. He's got more than today on His mind. He's got more than your earthly life in mind. He's got eternity in mind. And all of this is true not just for the things around you. That there is absolutely nothing in your life right now that God has not decreed for you. That's true not just for the things around you, that's also true concerning the things within you. This is the extent of God's providence. Even the things that you carry with you in your own heart, who you are as a person. God is governing it all, working it all for your salvation. as the Catechism says, so that herbs and grass, rain and drought, fruitful and barren years, meat and drink, health and sickness, riches and poverty, yea, and all things come, not by chance, but by his fatherly hand. This is a beautiful confession. My times are in thy hand, in your time of need. These are easy words to remember. This is a beautiful confession, it's also a helpful confession, and here in the second point of the sermon I want to explore four ways with you in which this doctrine of God's providence is helpful for us, and why it is such a beautiful confession, why it's so helpful. First of all, this confession of God's providence is helpful in this way. It works within us a greater sense of the nearness of God. The more I live out of this confession that God is upholding and governing every single thing, the closer God will be to me in my day-to-day events. Nothing happens by chance. There is no such thing as fate. Everything comes from Father's hand. As Job said when he was in deep pain, boils from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet. Job said, God has touched me. He didn't say, what an accident, what a wretched coincidence all these things were. Job didn't say, what poor luck I had. Job said, God has touched me. The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Job, you see, understood the providence of God. and you understood the nearness of God. In Psalm 31, here, David doesn't say, this has just not been my day. Or say, what a wretched hand I've been dealt. No, but for Job and for David in Psalm 31, when he looks at his circumstances around him, he understands, this is the hand of my heavenly Father. My God is carrying out His good will. My times are in thy hand. God does not just ordain things and they happen, and then God is far away the whole time doing something else. No, providence means God is right there. He is in your life making these things happen for you. He is not only a God afar off, but He is a God near at hand. He is there in every moment of your life so that in Him we live and move and have our being. And He is working it all in pity and mercy towards you. He is near unto you in all the events of your life. He's right there, whether you are conscious of it or not. Whether you've forgotten about Him for five minutes and now you remember, well, He was there all along. He's always right there. And now the point is, the more you live in the light of God's providence, not only will it work within you a greater sense of the nearness of God, which is what you need, But it will also then also draw you personally closer to God. When you see in the moment that every small thing comes from your Father's hand of providence, that gives you reason to seek Him out in prayer. You pray for strength for the moment and you give thanks. You can give thanks. And you seek His grace because you know He's there. That's exactly what David is experiencing in Psalm 31. What a blessing, by the way, that David could say, He does mention his sin, but for a child of God, having the righteousness of Christ, living a holy life, he could plead with God. Lord, I have sought Thee out. I put my trust in Thee. Show Thy faithfulness in this moment. Living in the light of God's providence works within us a greater sense of the nearness of God. Second, the confession of God's providence is helpful in this way. It keeps us from temptation. That's important too. What temptations? All temptations. Satan knows how to tempt us, doesn't he? Maybe we're struggling to make ends meet financially. And Satan says to you, just cheat on the system. Cut a few corners here and there at work. Be a little shady, dishonest with your customers. That's how you'll make it through. And you might be tempted to despair and start to agree with Satan. And maybe say, this is how I can provide for my family. Isn't this a good thing? And that's how we give an excuse for our sin. But with God's providence before our minds, we can say this. Satan, my heavenly Father, holds everything in his hand. And it's not my business to provide for my family. That's my father's business. Oh yes, I will work faithfully and diligently and honestly. I will use the means God has provided. But Satan, I look to God to provide for me and my family. Satan, my times are in God's hands. It is His to provide for me as His child. And it is mine to walk uprightly before Him and trust in Him. So put your wicked temptation away from me. I will trust in God. And you see, you must give that kind of a response every time Satan besets you with a temptation. Satan, I trust my Lord. My times are in His hand, in His providence. He will provide, He will give a way of escape. There's no temptation here that's unique. He will lead, He will protect, He will provide. He's my God. So the confession of God's providence is helpful because it keeps us from temptation. We know He's near and that helps us stay away from temptation and to overcome temptation. Third, the confession of God's providence is helpful in this way. It gives us a cure for anxiety. So often with anxiety the case is this. I want to be in control. I want to make sure that everything is going to be well. I want to have security in one way or another. I want to have a guarantee of a certain outcome. And I look to myself to provide that kind of guarantee and to provide that kind of security. And then this is what happens. Through the course of events, one way or another, it becomes very obvious that I am not the one in control. And I can't give myself this security I want. I can't guarantee myself that everything in this moment will turn out the way I want it to. And so I look to others to relieve my anxiety. And it's often only after I exhaust all my earthly hopes that I'm finally driven back to God in prayer and I realize I need to start putting my trust in the Lord more. He needs to be near to me. But when I live in the light of God's providence, then this is what I say right away. My times are in Thy hand. God will watch over me. How will things go for me in old age when I have to retire? How will the needs of my family be met, maybe when I become sick? How will God take care of our spiritual needs? What about our children? What about the grandchildren? My times are in Thy hand. Don't worry about tomorrow. He's got it under control. Just trust in the Lord with all your heart, and He will carry you through. Focus on the responsibilities and the blessings God has given you for today. Focus on His faithfulness right now. Whatever tomorrow brings, He will carry you through. Your times are in His hand. Instead of worrying, we must be praying. And if that means that we're constantly praying without ceasing, That's exactly how God would have it, isn't it? Pray without ceasing. If it's a sickness or disease, I must remember, I'm the redeemed child of God, bought with the shed blood of Christ. God will take care of my body just the way that He wants to take care of it. It's His body. He knows the perfect day of my death. Think of that. God knows the perfect day that I should die. And He knows exactly the perfect way to bring me to death and to glory afterwards. And He will see to it that it takes place just as it is perfect for me as His child. Not one day sooner, not one day later. My times are in Thy hand. That's true for everything. I don't have to be anxious. God's in control. Fourth and finally, the confession of God's providence is helpful in this way. God's providence gives us a sense of peace concerning our regrets, concerning our past mistakes and our daily shortcomings and failings, and even our past sins, when we understand these things rightly. And I think this is an important point. We can carry regrets with us for a long time, Little burdens of guilt that make us sad and miserable. We can look back on certain periods in our life and we can have all kinds of regrets. I wish I had never done that. If only I had done things differently. Now, people know that that's how I lived back then. Maybe I was immature. Maybe I was doubting. I never should have been doubting at all. in our sinful pride, really, I think, we can beat ourselves up about little petty things. Even on a daily basis, we can beat ourselves up about little failings. If only I had done things differently. If only I had done this, as if it does all depend upon me. Yes, you want yourself to be a perfect parent. You want to raise your children the right way, and when you look back at certain times, you see, maybe the way I was doing that wasn't right. You want yourself to be the perfect spouse. You want to be the best employee. You want to be the best teacher or the best student. And we often want ourselves to be the perfect, complete package, having all the gifts, all the abilities, combined into one perfect package that's perfectly put together. As if I'm the beginning of heaven already now here on earth. Because I'm perfect. Now, it's good for us to want to do our best and give our best. Of course, we must, for God's glory. But when we look at God's providence, it's a helpful reminder of this fact. First of all, He's in control of the fact that things aren't perfect right now. We're still living in the midst of a sin-cursed world. But there's also this. God has given me my own unique gifts and abilities. And He's given me some gifts and some abilities. He hasn't given me others. And I ought not to be so arrogant as to beat myself up for all the gifts and abilities that God has not worked within me at this point. Besides all of that, when it comes to my work, God has only given me 24 hours in a day to do my work. And not only do I have to care about my work, but I have to care about myself, my body. and the earthly, real needs of my bodies. At the end of the day, when I've worked my hardest, and I still see all my failings and shortcomings, and I have some regrets, then I can take it to the Lord, and I can say, Lord, I know that Thou art merciful and understanding, and I know that Thou art in control, and Thou wilt use even my weak efforts for the glory of Thy name and the gathering of Thy church. Thou art the forgiving God, and Thou art the God who in perfect wisdom and power uses this. Child of God, you don't need to act as if you're in control or become discouraged when you see in a fresh way that you're not in control and you see just how finite you are. Your God's in control. Your failings, your regrets, God in His perfect wisdom, He was governing those events too. That doesn't excuse us of sin. I mean, we don't have to seek forgiveness when we sin, but that ought to give us peace and a sense of contentment, because we can say at the end of each day, it's in the Lord's hands. And the Lord knows what's best, and the Lord knows how things should go. And this work that the Lord has given me to do, and that with feeble effort and by His Spirit I've done, it's not in vain in the Lord. Our labor is not in vain in the Lord. See, that's the beauty of these words. My times are in thy hands. My past mistakes, what I, from my earthly point of view, regret doing, my present inadequacies, it's all in God's hands. And I can find peace in that. Every single thing in my life right now, it's in the Lord's hands, and that's how I can live in liberty. And I can live in peace. And that makes this confession a very helpful confession. A helpful confession. It's a beautiful confession and a helpful confession. But for all of this to be true, this confession needs to be a personal confession. And that's where it all counts, doesn't it? My times are in thy hand. God is the God of providence. He upholds and governs all things. That needs to live in my thinking. On a personal level, we need to experience God's providence for ourselves. This needs to be real in our lives. You who are sick, maybe you have children who are sick, You have the hospital visits. You're waiting the reports. Your times are in the Lord's hands. Maybe you wish your life would be different. You feel like, I can't do very much because here I am taking care of someone who needs that care. Your times are in the Lord's hands. And He's got a purpose with it. And He's shaping you. He's leading you. You didn't know this was the way that it needed to go. But the Lord is showing you, as your Father, that this is what's good for you. He holds you in the hollow of His hand and nothing can touch you. It's all in accordance with His love. For those who look to the reality of death, Remember, this too is in God's providence, and nothing can separate us from the love of God. Death itself is in Christ's power. For those of you who have discouraging circumstances at work, co-workers that are a trial to your Christian faith, you're looking maybe for a better job, or you're feeling the weight of responsibility The Lord's taking you, taking care of you. He will provide you with the work He knows that will work for your eternal welfare. Think of David, Psalm 31. We don't know when he wrote it. How did the end of his life turn out? He died knowing who he was as the child of the Lord. all these psalms, all these circumstances, all these perplexities, all these calamities, all these sorrows and distresses, and at the end of his life, his outcome was sure, all the time, being taken to glory. For us who have other, more private, personal troubles in our lives, there's no accidents, There's no blind fate. There's nothing outside your Father's control. For those of us who struggle with being discontent, and who doesn't struggle with being discontent? For those of us who are struggling with being discontent in one way or another, remember your Father is in control. Put your quiet trust in Him. Be in prayer. Be mindful that what you have on your plate right now, in the circumstances of your life right now, it's all coming from Father's hand. My times are in Thy hand. I put my trust in Thee. Jehovah is the God of my salvation. He's given me Jesus Christ. He's given me this true faith. He's my Father who loves me. I don't have to worry. He will take care of me. May God cause you to experience the peace of these words. Take them home with you. Use them to shape your prayer lives. Use them in your instruction towards your children. Use them in your marriage. Whatever your struggles are in marriage, use them with your friend that you need to encourage. Use them for yourself and your own soul. My times are in Thy hand. Amen. Our Father, we thank Thee for the Psalms, every one of them, beautiful and rich in its own way, speaking of the feelings and emotions of our hearts. And we know that David went through all these things, and thou wast faithful to him. And these words are written down, that we too, who have the same spirit that ruled in David, that we too might enjoy these thoughts, and be reminded of these thoughts, and directed and guided by these thoughts, to think properly as thy children. We thank thee for Scripture. Write it upon our hearts. Use this preaching to shape us for the week that lies ahead and to give Thee the glory in the midst of our distresses. And Father, we pray that we might be given to prayer, a people fully persuaded of the power of prayer. For as thou didst answer David, thou wilt also answer us. So bless us with the gift of prayer. Give us thy spirit. Bless us in this week. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.