Please turn to the 39th psalm. We'll be preaching out of the 39th psalm. There's 13 verses there. We just read them a moment ago. I'm going to go through the psalm. The psalm is about suffering. David wrote the song and as it says, and it's part of the psalm, he wrote it to the choir master, to Jonathan, a psalm of David. He wrote it and sent it to him apparently. It was for him and this is a psalm that David wrote while he's going through some type of suffering. I don't really know what it is that he was suffering at the time. I suspect it was probably some sort of sickness. And he was probably in a sick bed suffering something that was pretty significant, at least. This is more than some temporary thing that comes and goes in a day or two. This is something he had been suffering for a little while. And I think that's pretty evident in the psalm. And it's just his response to his suffering. We all are going to suffer. As a believer, we're certainly going to suffer. We're going to be tested. We know that. Jesus said that. You're going to have these things happen to you. You're going to go through some form of suffering, some form of testing. And it happens to every believer. There isn't one of us who's going to escape that. If you're a child of God, you are going to suffer at some point if you haven't already. And most of us, well, we're older and we've gone through some significant suffering already. Some have gone through very significant suffering and testings in their way and things that have happened to them that that I would marvel at how God has kept them and enabled them and helped them through their way. And this psalm, I think, is helpful to us to know how our response ought to be when we're going through our trials, when another trial should come. You may not be going through one now, but you will be. And as I said, most of us, we're old enough, we've already gone through trials and suffering already. But this is helpful to us to know how to respond, to see how David responded in his time of testing, in his time in trouble. And you should also say, and it's a valid argument, people will say, well, increase your thirties, I don't want you to suffer. I mean, who doesn't suffer? The unsaved also suffer. The unsaved get cancer. The unsaved have great illnesses. The unsaved lose their loved ones. The unsaved have trials, just like the saved, don't they? And the truth is, well, yes, they do. They go through those same things, too. But the difference is, is that for the saved, There's great purpose behind it, purpose behind the unsaved suffering too, but the purpose behind the suffering and the trials that a believer goes through is God's directed purpose to raise them up and strengthen them and enable and encourage them. The great difference though is how the two look at suffering. The perspective of the two, perspective of the unsaved versus the saved. The unsaved look at suffering as when will it end so I can go back to my life, the life I enjoy, the life that I strive for, the things that I love. That's what I want to return to. But for the saved, it's different. The saved have a heavenly perspective, have an eternal perspective, and have to learn that this life here on earth, the things that we may enjoy and want and desire on earth are not necessarily the things that we need to go back to. are not the things that we want to live for or strive for. So the perspective is entirely different. For the saved, for the believers, it's an eternal perspective. For the unsaved, it's purely the present and the now that concerns them. So the perspective is entirely different. Pay attention to David's perspective and his suffering as he goes through this, and he starts off He says, I said I will guard my ways that I might not sin with my tongue. I will guard my mouth with a muzzle so long as the wicked are in my presence. And so what David is saying, he's going to be very careful about not only his ways, but the things that he says. This word guard is the same word used when Adam was placed in the garden, and what was his purpose to do there? His purpose was to guard it, was to take care of the garden, was to watch over it and intend it. It's the same thought there. He was supposed to watch over that garden, intend things, but he didn't do that. Instead, a serpent came in, an evil came in, and he allowed it, and he took no action. And when the serpent tempted his, or not tempted, but fooled Eve, he took no action to protect her, guard her. and then took part in the sin, too. So Adam did not do what he was set to do. He was created by God to walk with him and enjoy him and praise him. But yet he did not do those things. Instead, he did not guard the gardens. But David said, I'm going to guard, using the same term, the same thought, I'm going to guard my ways. I'm going to be careful. About what I do and what I think about and I think really the emphasis is is what he's thinking about I'm going to guard my thoughts And he said I'm not going to sin with my mouth. I'm going to guard my mouth with a muzzle And especially so long as the wicked are in my presence. So we see right there that David's suffering is not some solitary thing. I'm sick and people don't really know about it, but I'm suffering right now. No, there are enemies about. There are enemies who see his suffering. And David, of course, is the king. And when you're the king, when you're the leader, when you're the person who others are looking up towards or to, when you're responsible, Trust me, there are going to be plenty of people who will disagree with you. You will have plenty of enemies. Everybody knows how to do things better than you, and they're going to be upset about whatever you do. He's the king, and so he has enemies, and those enemies are looking at him, and they're saying, David's sick. Getting what he deserves is what he's getting. God's doing to him what David deserves to have done to him, and he's suffering, and that's good. And they gloat in those things, and they wag their tongues at him and their heads at him, knowing that David is suffering. They're no help at all. But David says, I'm going to be very careful with my thoughts. I'm going to be very careful with my tongue. I'm going to put a muzzle on it. So I don't say something that would be wrong. So I don't say something that would be dishonest. So I don't respond like they do to me because I don't want to be like them. And if you've read through the Bible, if you've read through The Psalms or Proverbs, you have to have seen it over and over again. What does it talk so much about? Guard your tongue. Watch that mouth of yours. It's uncontrollable. It spews out things that should not be said. You have to guard your tongue so carefully. You have to really guard your tongue carefully when you're suffering. You have to be very careful. Probably both when you're suffering and when you're When you feel as if you're greatly blessed, guard your tongue. Be so careful with what you say. There are endless number of passages to demonstrate that. I could go on for a long time quoting them. James said, in James chapter one, he talks about our reaction to suffering. He said, when you're suffering, be quick to listen and slow to speak. Pay attention and keep that mouth shut. Be very slow, be very careful about your speech. Proverbs 21-23, whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble. Watch what you say in Ephesians 4-29, let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. Wow! What a powerful lesson that is. How often our speech is careless. How often we talk and we say things that ought not to be said, that are foolish words, careless words, thoughtless words, that just spew out of our mouth because we want to talk. Psalm 141, set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth. Keep watch over the door of my lips. In Matthew, chapter 15, verse 11, Jesus said, it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth. This defiles a person. Be careful what you say. Words cause great harm sometimes. Words cause wounds to be ever so much more painful at times. So guard what you say. Guard what comes out of that mouth. In fact, Matthew chapter 12, Jesus said, I tell you on the day of judgment, people will give account for every careless word they speak. Think about that. Let that set in for a moment. Every careless word that's said. Every time we react with some harsh word in response to someone, every time something comes out of our mouth, that's less than edifying. We don't give account for that. Those things are recorded. Let that not come out of our mouth. It's so, so very important that we guard what comes out of our mouth. In Proverbs, it's often talked about the fool and his talking, because the fool likes to be heard. The fool likes to have many words come out of their mouth. They talk all the time. They want to be heard. They want others to hear them. So they talk and they talk and they talk. They have an opinion on everything. And they're happy to tell you their opinion all the time. And that's the language, that's the mannerism of a fool. And that's not to be the mannerism of a Christian. And in times of suffering, when we're going through our times of testing, our times of trouble, it's ever so important then that we guard what we say, that we guard what comes out of our mouths. And so David is, right at the very outset, he's careful. He's going to guard his ways. And like I said, I think that means his thoughts. He's going to guard what he's going to say. And so often we do this. I see it in myself constantly, and I have to watch it all the time. It stresses me greatly that often when we're hurt, what happens when somebody has offended us, when somebody has hurt us, we tend to think about it. We dwell on it. And then we start imagining things, don't we? I do. We start imagining sometimes very foolish things. I bet if I died, they'd never come to my funeral. They would shun us completely. They don't love us anymore. And we start thinking like this. Oh, how foolish. That's the thought process of a fool. We ought to guard ourselves against those things, because when we start to think those things, they come out of our mouth. Jesus said, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. You know, we sometimes are careful and things that come out of our mouth might be good, but watch a person when they're not being careful, when they're not guarding themselves, the things that come out of their mouth, the things that they say, the way that they say things, that's what's on their heart. Because it's out of the abundance of the heart, the thoughts of the heart that the mouth speaks. Oh, how we need to be careful about those things. Oh, how we need to guard ourselves against those things. We all battle it. We all struggle those things. We all do the same kind of thing. So David says that I'm going to guard against that. Because right now I'm suffering. And I have those who are my enemies, those who don't like me, are talking about me. They're saying things that are hurtful. They're saying, yeah, David, he's getting what he deserves, finally. And you come around to him. He'll get what he deserves. And he's suffering now. And he ought to suffer for it. And they kind of laugh at those things. Those are those people who maybe would never do something overtly, but they would smile when something bad happens to you because they're enemies. We should not be surprised at these people. There are many of them, and that's what they do. David says, I'm going to be very careful about this. that this does not come, this does not happen in my life, so long as the wicked are my presence." Why is David so careful about the wicked being in his presence? Because it's his testimony now that he's talking about. He does not want to bring a bad testimony, not only to himself, But I think his concern is really for the Lord. I don't want to say something that's demeaning, something that's disgraceful, something that dishonoring to our Lord. So I've got to be careful now. I've got to guard my mouth while the wicked are present around me. And so he says, I was mute and silent. Who else was mute and silent during their time of suffering? Jesus was. He kept his mouth shut. While they accused him falsely, while they accused him of treason and all kinds of false things and beat him, he kept his mouth quiet. He was silent. as a lamb before his slaughter because that was the father's will and he was determined to do that so then we ought to take that too and be silent and be mute during these times. I held my peace to no avail, David says, and my distress grew worse. My heart became hot within me. As I mused, the fire burned. What's going on in David's heart right now? Well, he's suffering. He's enduring the harsh words of his enemies. They're talking about him, and it hurts. It's painful. And he wants to say something, but he's not going to say something that's demeaning. And he's just silent now, and it's burning within him. It reminds me actually somewhat of Job. In fact, I should say on the outset here, you see a picture of Job in several things here, don't we? We see that. We also see a picture of the words of Ecclesiastes in here. Ecclesiastes was wrote by Solomon, so it's a time later, but maybe he drew from this. You see a picture of both things in here. You see Job's suffering and his silence and the problem with words, and you see Ecclesiastes in here, too. We'll see a clearer picture of that, too, as we go along. David is suffering here. He's burning within. He wants to say something, and so he does. And he says, then I spoke with my tongue. And we would think, then I finally spoke. And most people would say, yeah, let him have it, David. Tell them what you're thinking. Tell them what they're doing and how rotten they are. And you let them have it. That's the man way, the human way of doing things. The man-centered, the self-centered way of responding. to this kind of thing. That's what we would want to see here. That's what we would expect to see here. And that's what people would cheer and finally say, yeah, let him have it. But that's not what he said, is it? That's not what he did. Instead, what his words came out of his mouth were, oh, Lord, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days. Let me know how fleeting I am. And so David's cry is not against those who are talking about him. It's not in defense of himself. It's not in defense of his situation. David's cry is to the Lord. That's what was causing him to burn inside. That's what was killing him. See, we should be silent when we're suffering. Don't respond to others. Don't talk out to others and tell them what for, and defend yourself. Rather, cry out to God. Cry out to your Savior instead. And that's what he did. He cried out to Him. And what was his cry? Lord, show me, let me know my end. And what is the measure of my days? Let me know how fleeting I am. And then he said, Behold, you have made my days a few hand breaths, and my lifetime is nothing before you. Isn't that an amazing thing to cry out before God in your suffering? In your time of trial, in the time of your attacks by others, what David wants to know is how mortal he is. And you could divide up the Psalms, I think, in this way. In verses one through three, you see David's silence we just talked about. And in verses four through six, you could see his vanity, or really his mortality. The word vanity is said over and over and over again in Ecclesiastes. What is he referring to? The briefness of man. We're here, he's here and he's gone. He's nothing but a vapor. His lifetime is nothing. And he strives and he gives all this effort, but his lifetime on earth is so short. And that's what David is crying out for. So in verses 4 through 6, you can see the vanity, the immortality of David. And then there's a change in verses 7 through 13. You see the hope of David. And in verse 13, it looks somewhat depressing, really, until I think you dig into it a bit and you realize that that's not depressing, actually, that's his hope. But we'll talk about that when we get there. And so we see the silence of David. He was silent before his enemies. He was silent in his suffering. He was silent in those things. And when he finally did speak out, his cry was not against those who were his enemies or shake his fist at God. And I'll never forget the story of someone told me of their neighbor who They saw standing out in the front yard screaming and cursing at God and shaking her fist at him and saying, why? Why are you doing this to me? That was not David's cry. Instead, David's cry was, Lord, show me who I really am. Show me how brief I really am and how brief this life really is to me. Show me that. What David is asking for here is not some head knowledge. If you were to go to ask the, or go tell the unsaved, do you know, are you going to die one day? Do you know that? They would look at you and, well, yeah, everybody knows that. Everybody dies someday. We're all going to die. They know that. They're well aware of that. It can't be ignored. Everybody will die one day. We all know that. They all expect to live a very long life, of course. And they all desire to live a very happy life and life filled with pleasures on this earth until the day that they die. And they really don't want to think about that day. But that day is coming. And they all know it. So that's not news to them. They know that. They have the head knowledge of that. It's not what David's after. He knows that, too. It's obvious. We all know that. David understands that. What David is saying, I want to know it. I want it to mean something to me. I want it to have an effect on my life. I want it to direct my thoughts and my ways so that I live a life in that knowledge. That's a different kind of a no. You can say that somebody knows Jesus. Well, what they really mean is that I know about him, yeah. But they don't know him. And there's a difference in that way. It's the kind of intimate knowledge that David is referring to that you would have between a husband and wife. They know one another. You may know the husband and you may know the wife, but you don't know them like the husband and wife do, know each other. They know one another. And that's the kind of intimacy, that's the kind of intimate knowledge that David is asking for. I want to know it. I want it to mean something to me. I want it to direct my thoughts and my ways so that the words that come out of my mouth have that knowledge behind them, so that the actions that I take have that knowledge behind it, knowing that I'm brief, that my life is but a vapor. And in fact, he says it's just a couple of hand breaths. In an infinite universe, it's inches. It's so little. That's what he wants to know. That's the kind of knowledge that David is asking for here. It's but a couple of hand breaths. And he says, my lifetime is nothing before you. You are the eternal God. My lifespan here on earth, the days that I have are nothing to that. They mean nothing. They're so short. helped me to know that and live in that knowledge. And it is and then it really, and I should say this, a lot of times I've heard people say that Ecclesiastes is one of their favorite books. It was, I felt the same way. Years ago when I was a young man and I struggled with what is, you want to say, what is the meaning of life? What are we doing here? Life is so short. We struggle, we try, and we battle things, and we do things, and yet one day then we get old and then we die. And what is the real, what is the true meaning of things? And I thought about these things for years. And I understood that our life is mortal, that it's vanity. I understood those things. And it was through the book of Ecclesiastes that I really began to understand, oh, I think I'm getting it. And I used to take my kids. We live fairly close to a cemetery, and around here trees are a big thing. We were talking about that a moment ago. And the cemetery has beautiful trees. It's shaded in there. So I used to take my kids for walks through the cemetery, and I wanted them to see the graves. I wanted them to see the headstones there and understand that it's not just a bunch of elderly people. that died in their 90s and after many decades. No, there's young people in here, too. There's a lot of them. There's a lot of young people in that cemetery that have died. And I would point out, see, that one's only 12. That one was only 12 years old when she died. And that one was just a baby. when that one died. And I wanted them to understand that, because I wanted them to understand that there's no guarantee to life, there's no guarantee that you're going to live a long, healthy, prosperous life, and then when you die, you'll go to heaven, and everything will be wonderful. That there's going to be suffering along the way, and there's going to be difficulties, there's going to be trials, and in fact, this life is brief. I wanted them to get that, and I wanted to understand it myself. It's through the book of Ecclesiastes, I think, that it first became really begin to be really clear to me. I get it now. I see what the preacher, as it says, is saying, and that what is the end of it all? To serve God and honor Him. That's what it's all about. And so I wanted to know that, and I think that's what David is asking for here. I want to know that. I want to understand those things. I want it to have real meaning to me in my life. And so that's why I think so many people who have read through the book of Ecclesiastes and you see all this vanity, all this vanity, you know, it means something. It is vanity. All the striving, all the effort, all the work to save up your treasures and prepare for what? For your death. because you're going to die. And this life is not what it's all about, this brief existence we have here. And so then David says, he makes a statement in verse 5, at the end of verse 5, he says, Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath. And you don't see this so clearly In the English, you understand what that says. Surely all mankind is a mere breath. In other words, surely all mankind is brief. Their life is but a breath. Understand what he's saying there, but it's not exactly what he's saying here. He's saying it in a more powerful way, and we missed it in the English. The word mankind, so surely all mankind, what is that word that he's using? It's Adam. Adam. So what he's saying is that surely all Adam, those in Adam, stands as a mere breath. What is the word breath? Well that's what Abel was named, breath, prophetically named that. Abel was killed by his brother Cain. He lived a very short life. In a time when men and women were living hundreds of years, their lifespans span centuries, Abel lived a very short life because he was murdered by his brother. He was prophetically named Breath. You're here and you're gone. You're just a breath. And Abel, mankind, hear the same word used as as mankind here is, of course, the sin. We enable our sinners. And sin came to this earth, and what did it bring? Death with it, and destruction, and suffering, and trials, and tribulations. Man was not made for that. Man was made for communion with God. We demonstrate that here at the table. Man was made for communion with God, not suffering and trials and death. But sin brought that into the world. That's why we ought to hate sin. With every fiber of our being, we ought to hate it, what it has done to us. It has brought us the death that we suffer when a loved one dies. That's sin. It's sin that killed him, sin that came into the world, and sin brought death with it. And so all men die. And it's sin that brought suffering and disease and the curse on the ground and the struggle for life that we now have. Man was made to work. Man was made to tend the garden. But it wasn't laborious, hard, striving kind of work. It was enjoyable work. Tend the garden. Guard it. That's your job. That's what you're to do. But instead, sin brought labor and struggle and toil and just to survive. That's what sin brought to this world. And so what David is saying here is surely in Adam, we are all but a breath. In essence, that's what he's saying here. In Adam, who brought the sin into the world with all sinners in Adam, now life is a breath. It's brief. That's what Abel's death, his murder, demonstrated before us, the awful effects of sin. I've said this before, but I listened to a man one time talk about he was at a friend's funeral. His friend died in his 40s and left behind his wife and a couple of small kids. And I don't know what he, I think it was a heart attack that he died of. And he said he began to get angry and he realized it wasn't a heart attack that killed his friend, it was sin that killed him. Because sin brought in the destruction of the body and the decay of the body that creates the heart attacks and the disease. And we ought to hate it. We have to despise sin and flee from it and fight against it because of the curse, the awful curse that it brought into this world. And then it says, and then he says, surely man goes about as a shadow. Surely for nothing they are in turmoil. What does he mean by the word shadow? Well, a shadow is, of course, Not an imprint, but it's a reflection of something. What David is saying here, we go about as a reflection of God. We're made in the image of God. Even sinful man is made in the image of God. Even sinners are image bearers of God. They go about bearing His image. That's what he's saying here. So they go about bearing His image, and why? For nothing. The same word, really, it's actually the same word as breath here, translated as nothing. It's the same word used. So they go about burying his image for a moment, for a breath, they bury his image. And they are in turmoil. A man heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather. He's referring to sinful men. This is the way of the world. Again, this goes back to Ecclesiastes. This is the point. One of the main points of it is man goes about his business, working hard, building up, saving, planning for that retirement, planning for what they're going to do, planning their day, and working hard to get it all done. Why? They're just going to do it for a breath, and then they're going to be gone. They do it in turmoil. against one another often and struggling, hoping, trying to prepare for this brief little existence that they have on this earth. Totally ignoring the eternity that's coming. That's what sinful man does. They strive and it's all vanity. It's all vanity before them. And so, We see the contrast here between a child of God and a sinner, an unsaved person. One strives endlessly to provide, to plan, to make life better, to build up that retirement account, to get that bigger house, the better car, the better place to live. better, whatever it is, always striving, always fighting and trying to serve himself and his own pleasures with no thought that he's but a mist. He's here and he's gone. Compare that really with the centuries that man lived at the beginning. After the curse, when the earth was still a place that was much different, much more habitable and healthy, and lifespans went into the centuries, and now they go into the decades. Our lifespan is measured in nothing but a few decades, a handful of decades. The normal lifespan is nothing. It's nothing. Are we going to live for that? Is that what we're going to strive for? We're going to give everything for that little brief time that we have here on earth, rather than the eternal things? This is what David is referring to. This is why he wants to know how brief his life is. This is what he wants to understand and have meaning in his life. And so we see a change then. And in verse 7, and he said, And now, O Lord, For what do I wait? And the word wait is really hope. What do I hope in? My hope is in you. That's the difference. between the saved and the unsaved. The unsaved strive and hope in the things of this world. They see the things. They hope in the things that they see with their eyes, with their physical eyes. They hope in the things that they can feel with their hands and the things that they can taste and hear. That's what they hope for. That's what they strive for all the day long. That's what they hope and strive for. But David says, There's a different hope. His hope is in the Lord. My hope is in you, he said. That's my only hope. So David says, and now, oh Lord, what do I hope in? What do I wait for? My hope is in you. And he says, deliver me from all my transgressions. Do not make me the scorn of the fool. And the word fool here, who is named fool in the Bible? Abigail's husband. And when David was a young man fleeing from Saul, and he asked Nabal for help. Well, Nabal was a fool. He was a wealthy fool, but he was a fool. And he mocked David and refused to help him. And so what did David in his young immaturity do? He pulled out his sword, he gathered his men, He said, we're going to kill him. We're going to kill every one of them. All of his servants are all going to die for refusing us. And he rode out in his anger. And who stood in his way? Well, thank God that he sent Abigail to stand in the way and calm David down and said, don't act like a fool. Don't respond like the fool. Don't respond in anger. Don't respond in like the fool respond because that's what fools do. Fools attack back. Fools say things back. They respond in angry words with you. They defend themselves and say, that's not true, you know, and I demand that you take those words back and they get angry. And that's exactly what David says, I don't want to do. I don't want to respond that way. I don't want to respond like a fool responds in anger. So he says, deliver me from my transgressions. Do not make me the scorn of the fool. Don't make me act like that. Help me to swear I don't behave like a fool behaves, like Nabal behaves. And so he said, I am mute. I do not open my mouth. I won't respond that way, for it is you who have done it. Understand this, when we go through trials, when we go through our suffering, who is it that's responsible for those things? It's Him. He has done it. It's not chance. It's not happenchance. It's not something that happened to us. Sure, we may suffer for bad decisions. We may suffer for some sin that we've done or some foolish thing that we've done, but even in that, God is in it. God that does these things. In fact, that's exactly what David is saying. He says, deliver him from his transgressions. David is not saying that I am sinless, that I have not done anything that deserves your wrath, O Lord, on me. He says, no, I have. I have transgressions for sin. In fact, he says that in verse 11, when you discipline a man with rebukes for sin, David understands why he is being rebuked, why he is suffering. It's sin. And he knows that. And so he cries out, deliver me from all my transgressions. Don't let me act like a fool. I do not open my mouth, for it is you who have done it. Isn't that what Job also acknowledged? In fact, it was indisputed in Job's suffering that God had done this. Job, God has caused all this to come upon you and all your suffering, all the death that you've seen, your family wiped out, all your possessions and everything that you had all taken away from you. And now you're incredible physical suffering. God has done all this to you. You understand that. They understood that. There was no question about that. God has done this to me. And David says, remove your stroke from me. But also we see Job in this too, when he says, I am mute. I do not open my mouth. You know, when Job went through his suffering, Job had four friends who came to see him. And those four friends, when they got up to him, what did they do? Well, for seven days, nothing. For seven days, they sat with him, and in a sense, suffered with him. They said nothing. For seven days, they did that. You know, we don't like to, nobody likes really to go and try and comfort people who are going through great suffering all the time, because they don't really know what to say. You know, it's hard to come up with words. And, you know, sometimes we say foolish things like, you know, I had a friend tell me one time, he said, well, I have learned that when I go through suffering, that just trust in the Lord. That's what I have learned. And I thought, well, I've seen you before, and I've seen your actions, and it didn't seem like you learned that very well. Because when you suffered, you cried out. in pain, and it's not untrue to say those things, but sometimes the best thing to do is don't say anything at all. Just be with them. And for seven days, Job's friends just sat with him and said nothing. But being men, they could not stay that way. And they had to talk. And pretty soon, they began to talk. And they had to have answers. And so, Job, why are you suffering? Well, of course, because you sin and God is punishing you for your sins. And that's why you're suffering. And of course, Job would answer back, and they would argue back. And so I think there's, what, 39 chapters of something like that, anyways, of back and forth, back and forth. Here's what you did. No, I didn't. Here's what you did. No, I didn't. And really, and that's the way it goes until finally, really, the youngest of them, the only one who really spoke the truth, but really what What happened was then God spoke. And God said, Job, were you there when I created it all? Were you there when I set the heavens in order and made all the magnificent things that I had made? Did you help me with this? Were you planning with me on this? And of course, the answer is no. No, you are mighty. You are awesome. You are wonderful. You are wise in all things that you do. And of course, as you know, God never gave Job the reason for his suffering. We see it because we have the scripture before us. And we can look at that and say, we see why, Job, because you had to be an example. You had to prove God and be a magnificent example of Him and His wisdom for us. But Job didn't know that, at least at the time. And so Job went through all the suffering, but the problem is that there were many words. And those words became painful. And they caused heartache and trouble. It had to be forgiven. In fact, God, when He finally spoke, told Job's friends that if Job forgives you, I'll forgive you. And Job, of course, forgave them, and God forgave them. And they all went away, learned who God really is. And so what David is saying is a similar thing. You have done this, Lord. I'll be silent. I'm not going to commit the same mistake, the same sin that Job did, and with many words of defense, I'll be silent because you have done this. You are the Almighty God. You guide things in your wise way, so I'll be silent. But that doesn't mean you can't cry out to Him. for help, and he does. His silence is not in crying out for help. His silence is in complaining. I'm not going to complain. Lord, you are wise, and what you do is good. So I won't complain, but I do ask for mercy. I do ask for relief from my suffering. So he says, remove your stroke from me. I am spent by the hostility of your hand. When you discipline a man with rebukes for sin, David understands who he is, understands he's a sinner, understands that he deserves no good thing from God. But his hope is in him that somehow he'll provide that Redeemer, that promised one, his own son, a son of David, to redeem him. And that's who his hope is in. And so, David says, you consume like a moth what is dear to him. Surely all mankind is a mere breath. And what does he mean by that? Well, when we're rebuked by God, when we go through suffering, it gives us a whole new picture of what life is all about. Or once we may have been longing for a new car, a new home, a boat, some wonderful thing, some planning, some great thing that we're hoping and longing for, and then suffering comes along and changes our plans. And what does it do? It causes us to focus on something else, something greater than cars and boats and homes and retirements and vacations and all these things. It causes us to focus on something far more long lasting, far more eternal, far greater than that. And so it consumes what David is saying is that those things that were once so great that this world strives after with all their strength and thinks is going to be their salvation, suddenly become gone like a moth is destroyed. It's gone. And now my focus is different. It's on things far greater than that. And so it says, surely all mankind is a mere breath. David has understanding of it now. He understands, not just knows it, but he understands it now. He knows it in an intimate way that his life is but a breath. It's temporary. And then so we see his cry out for mercy. He says, hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry. Hold not your peace at my tears. For I am a sojourner with you. David recognizes that his time on this earth is not his place. It's not his eternity. He understands that we're just visitors here. We're temporarily here. This is our sojourning land. This is our wandering through the desert. This is not our home. And he understands that now. Now, I'm a sojourner, he says. And he says, with you, a guest like all my fathers. It's a prophetic, too. I know that like my fathers who came and wandered on this earth, searching for that land, that promised land that you promised them, and yet never saw that fulfilled, we'll see it fulfilled. And so I know that. I'm just like them. And he said, look away from me that I may smile again before I depart and am no more. And this is hard to understand. And so I struggled with this too. And it's what is David saying here when he says, look away from me that I may smile again before I depart and am no more. It sounds very somber and somewhat of a downer. We're used to, you know, I'm suffering, it's hard, help me, Lord, bless me, and then we see the victory at the end, and everything is great. But this sounds somewhat down, and I think it's misunderstood. You know, the Aaronic blessing is, may the Lord's face shine upon you. David is saying, look away from me. that I may smile again before I depart and am no more." In other words, that I may smile again in this little bit of life that I have. That I may have a little bit more smile, that I may enjoy a little bit of that before I am gone. Think what David is saying here when he says, look away from me. What David, I believe, is saying is that, take away your chastening hand from me. I understand. You have chastened me for my sin, for my transgressions. I see that. Take that chastening hand from me, Lord, I pray, that this little life that I have left, that I might live that life in the pleasure, in the knowledge of eternity. I think that's what he's saying here. Before I depart, I am no more. He's not saying take it away from me so that I can go back to striving to obtain possessions and to obtain and chasing after the earth's fleeting vain things. He's not saying that. He said take away your chasing them from me so that I may live that life. knowing that you are God and that you rule all things and that you will guide me, you will strengthen me, you will enable me, you will protect me. And one day I will be with you. I have hope in you. I think that's what he's saying here. So I don't think it's a somber ending at all. I think it's a magnificent ending. Father, that I may live with that knowledge, that understanding that what I have here, it's fleeting. It's all vanity. And what I have in you, though, is eternity and forever. That's the way we need to look at our suffering. That's the way we need to endure our times of testing when they come again, and they will, when we go through them, to trust in the Lord, know that He is able to guard our mouth to guard what we say, guard what we think, so that we may honor Him, and in this brief life that we have, that we might smile and enjoy Him until we go to be with Him. I think it's a magnificent lesson that is there before us in the 39th Psalm. It's absolutely applicable in whatever age that we live in now. And certainly we are in that age. We see suffering all around us. We see You know, people talk about in the end times when difficult things come, you realize that in a very short time, this earth has seen millions and millions of people slaughtered. We've watched as millions and millions have died of starvation. And right now, you know, we see multiple thousands slaughtered in Ukraine and cities destroyed and a great amount of suffering. We are living through those times right now. But these are all things of the Lord. He is guiding all things in His great will and His great wisdom. And in our hope, just like David, our hope is in Him. And that's when we'll wait on Him to fulfill that. Let's pray.