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The Sin of Slander
Psalms 109
June 13, 2021

Well there is an eye-opening Psalm for you.
It’s actually quite shocking to read if you aren’t ready for it.

Some might even wonder how a song like that even made it into the Bible.
Certainly we would expect a strong rebuke from God toward David
For even thinking, let alone writing, such a Psalm.

We’ve read lots of those Imprecatory Prayers,
But this one just seems to go to a whole new level.

(10) “Let his children wander about and beg; And let them seek sustenance far from their ruined homes.”

Really?

(12) “Let there be none to extend lovingkindness to him, Nor any to be gracious to his fatherless children.”

I mean that is harsh isn’t it?

One commentator I read noted that such Psalms
Almost make a Christian blush with shame when they read them.

I mean, could you imagine
• A non-believer coming up to you,
• Reading you this Psalm,
• And then asking you to explain how claim that you serve a loving God?

The Psalm presents a dilemma to say the least.

Well, just because we used it for a hypothetical,
I’ll go ahead and give you the answer.

If a non-believer does come up to you and quote Psalms 109
And then asks you how it is that you claim that you serve a loving God
THEN HERE IS THE ANSWER.

1. God hates sin, that’s never been denied.
2. God judges sinners, that’s never been denied.

But the reason we maintain Him to be a loving God
Is because God also sent His Son to atone for the sin He hates
And to save the sinners He is willing to judge.

Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

BUT WHILE YOUR AT IT,
• Be sure that the unbeliever who brought up the text
• Understands that Psalms 109 gives them a very detailed view of exactly what God thinks of sin.

And though God is most certainly a loving God,
Psalms 109 shows us what God will do to sinners
Who do not repent and trust in the atoning work of His Son.

YOU MIGHT THINK Psalms 109 merely represents David on a bad day.
• It may appear that David is having one of those “James and John moments”
• Where he wrongly wants to call down fire on the Samaritans.

But let me go ahead and set the record straight for you.

Look especially at verse 8.
(8) “Let his days be few; Let another take his office.”

Now let me read you another passage.
Acts 1:16-20 “Brethren, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. “For he was counted among us and received his share in this ministry.” (Now this man acquired a field with the price of his wickedness, and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his intestines gushed out. And it became known to all who were living in Jerusalem; so that in their own language that field was called Hakeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) “For it is written in the book of Psalms, ‘LET HIS HOMESTEAD BE MADE DESOLATE, AND LET NO ONE DWELL IN IT’; and, ‘LET ANOTHER MAN TAKE HIS OFFICE.’”

TWO THINGS that are very important in that passage.

1. One is the obvious thing that Peter here is quoting Psalms 109:8
in reference to Judas.

2. But the other thing that is very important is that at the beginning
of that passage Peter also reveals who said that.

“Brethren, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David concerning Judas…”

Perhaps that changes your perspective a little bit on Psalms 109.
David sang it alright, but he did so under the directive of the Holy Spirit.

• Psalms 109 is NOT “David Gone Rogue”
• Psalms 109 is God’s genuine feeling toward those who accuse His children.

• Is the wrath intense? Yes
• Is the anger severe? Yes
• Is the prescribed judgment shocking? Yes

Well that is God’s wrath; God’s anger;
God’s prescribed judgment on those who slander His children.

SO BEFORE YOU ARE TEMPTED TO APOLOGIZE
That such harsh passages are in the Bible,
First you should point out what a terrible sin slander is in the eyes of God.

And then, while you’re at it, you can go ahead and ALSO POINT OUT that
Despite God’s fierce wrath toward accusers,
His love is demonstrated in that GOD SAVES EVEN SLANDERERS.

Psalms 109 DOES NOT flow contrary to the gospel.
Psalms 109 ENHANCES the gospel.

This Psalm was written by the Holy Spirit and it addresses
“The Sin of Slander”

This Psalm was written by the Holy Spirit
To remind victims of slander that
God saves His children from those who judge their soul.

BUT FIRST TONIGHT let’s lay a foundation
To remember just how badly GOD HATES SLANDER.
• God is livid over character assassins.
• God loathes those who accuse His children.
• If you don’t believe me, just read again this Psalm that the Holy Spirit gave to David.

But this should not be new information to you.

Earlier in our study of Psalms
• David wrote in Psalms 15 asking “Who may abide in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy hill?”

Part of the answer was this:
Psalms 15:3 “He does not slander with his tongue, Nor does evil to his neighbor, Nor takes up a reproach against his friend;”

We also already studied Psalms 50:
Psalms 50:16-23 “But to the wicked God says, “What right have you to tell of My statutes And to take My covenant in your mouth? “For you hate discipline, And you cast My words behind you. “When you see a thief, you are pleased with him, And you associate with adulterers. “You let your mouth loose in evil And your tongue frames deceit. “You sit and speak against your brother; You slander your own mother’s son. “These things you have done and I kept silence; You thought that I was just like you; I will reprove you and state the case in order before your eyes. “Now consider this, you who forget God, Or I will tear you in pieces, and there will be none to deliver. “He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me; And to him who orders his way aright I shall show the salvation of God.”

And of course you know that the New Testament
Rightly continues the confrontation of that sin.

In His famous “Sermon on the Mount” Jesus likened slander to murder.
Matthew 5:21-22 “You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’ “But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.”

Paul taught:
Ephesians 4:31 “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.”

Colossians 3:8 “But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.”

Peter reminded:
1 Peter 2:1 “Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander,”

James taught:
James 3:8-10 “But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way.”

So you get the idea.
• It is a severe sin to slander your brother.
• It is a severe sin in the eyes of God to be an accuser of your brother.

In fact, an interesting tidbit in this Psalm.

You see the word “accusers” or “accuser” 4 times in this Psalm. (4,6,20,29)

Do you want to know what the actual Hebrew word there is?
SATAN

That is one of the words that is attributed to the devil as an actual name.
• Devil means “adversary”
• Satan means “accuser”
• He is also called the serpent, a liar, a murderer, ect.

But you see the point.
When you slander your brother you are actually acting like Satan.

Revelation 12:10 “Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night.”

And so you also understand why slander and accusation and character assassination brings with it the highest of emotions from God.

You understand why it angers God so much.
You understand why Psalms 109 is so intense in its judgment.

Psalms 109 explains to us the intense vengeance of God
On those who attack His children.

That is why Peter rightly applied it to Judas.

NOW – IT IS IMPORTANT THAT WE ALSO HAVE BALANCE

While we hear David here really laying it down on his accusers
We DO NOT NULLIFY our New Testament commands.

Romans 12:14-17 “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men.”

Romans 12:19-20 “Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord. “BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM, AND IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD.”

Luke 6:28 “bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”

Jesus DIDN’T say to “pray against those” but to “pray FOR those”

We do remember that famous story where James and John wanted
To call down fire on the Samaritans and Jesus rebuked them harshly.

Luke 9:5 “When His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what kind of spirit you are of; for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” And they went on to another village.”

We certainly remember Jonah
Jonah 4:9-11 “Then God said to Jonah, “Do you have good reason to be angry about the plant?” And he said, “I have good reason to be angry, even to death.” Then the LORD said, “You had compassion on the plant for which you did not work and which you did not cause to grow, which came up overnight and perished overnight. “Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many animals?”

All of those passages remind us that
• While there is certainly such a thing as “righteous indignation”
• While we are certainly to “hate what is evil”
• While we are to “leave room for the wrath of the LORD”
• While we do lift up our prayers for justice to God like that widow in Luke 18.

At the same time we must always remember that
At the heart of the matter
The desire of God is not to judge men but to save them.

The CHIEF AIM and the HIGHEST DESIRE
Is not to see sinners destroyed but to see them redeemed.

• That does not mean we love their sin or even tolerate their sin.
• Certainly we cry out for their repentance from sin and their salvation.
• And we do expect that one day God will judge those who persecute His children if they do not repent.

Psalms 109 merely shows us God’s just anger on those who slander.
And we need to understand it.
Indeed we need to use it when we preach the gospel.

In fact we need to remember it in the church.
Colossians 3:6-8 “For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience, and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them. But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.”

We certainly do not wish to walk in the sins that
Cause God to feel the way Psalms 109 causes Him to feel.

So Psalms like this one are important.
• They help us understand God’s hatred of sin and why we must repent of it.
• And they help us understand God’s love and mercy since He does forgive even slanderers when they repent.

We also gain a great understanding of passages like:
Hebrews 10:31 “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

And they also help us understand that
Because God hates slander so much,
He will absolutely save His children when they are victims of it.

Well, anyway, after such a lengthy introduction let’s now take a look at the Psalm.
It’s really not hard to understand, more than anything it’s merely hard to swallow.

4 points.
#1 THE FRUSTRATION OF THE ACCUSED
Psalms 109:1-5

When you read those first 5 verses it is absolutely evident that
DAVID HAS BEEN BLIND-SIDED BY HIS ACCUSERS.

He is totally shocked at their response to his love.

“O God of my praise, Do not be silent!”
• David wants an immediate response from God.
• David calls for an immediate judgment.

WHY?
“For they have opened the wicked and deceitful mouth against me; They have spoken against me with a lying tongue. They have also surrounded me with words of hatred, And fought against me without cause.”

The first cry of David is in regard to the fact that
The words spoken about him were filled with hatred and deceit.

• They spoke awful things about him and things that were not true.
• And it is apparent that they spoke a lot of them.
• David said, “They have surrounded me with words of hatred”

It is a hard pill to swallow anytime someone has hateful words about you.
It is even harder when those words aren’t true.

• No one likes to be slandered.
• No one likes to be falsely accused.
• David was and he is shocked.

But what has David more shocked than anything is that
IT IS TOTALLY UNDESERVED.

(4-5) “In return for my love they act as my accusers; But I am in prayer. Thus they have repaid me evil for good And hatred for my love.”

This was the real sting for David,
Namely that he felt their rage to be totally undeserved.

Following the mindset of the preacher in Ecclesiastes
• Who recently reminded us that there is “a time for love and a time for hate”
• David saw their response to him as totally inappropriate.

They should have responded with love; they responded with hate.
• He prayed for them, they slandered him.
• He gave them good, they gave him evil.
• He loved them, they hated him.

And so you understand why David is so shocked and frustrated.
Their response was totally wrong.
It was totally undeserved.

Now, perhaps that is true on David’s part.

We do have a tendency to view ourselves better than we ought.

• Carrie and I have seen this many times with our boys.
• Zech would goad Zek relentlessly day in and day out as boys do.
• And, as boys will do, Zek would eventually retaliate and throw Zech around.
• Zech would then come tell on Zek and say, “He threw me into the wall for no
reason at all.”

Sometimes we have a tendency to overlook our own offense
And that is why we are shocked when someone retaliates.

AND PERHAPS THAT WAS DAVID.

But one thing we know for sure, that certainly wasn’t true of Jesus.

And these first 5 verses drip of Jesus.
• They lied about Him
• They slandered Him
• They accused Him
• They hated Him
• And all He ever did was love them.

Was His love at times harsh and confrontational? Yes
But it was love none the less.

He would have forgiven and saved any one of those Pharisees
If they had repented of their sins, but they would not.
Instead they attacked Him.

And chief on that list, according to Peter, was Judas.
• Who gave perhaps the most inappropriate response to Jesus that any man ever gave.
• He literally repaid Jesus evil for good and hatred for His love.

But you see the frustration of the afflicted
#2 THE FURY OF THE ACCUSED
Psalms 109:6-20

The longest section of the Psalm and certainly the most inflammatory.
• David is hot!
• He has had enough.
• And inspired by the Holy Spirit David lays out his expectation of judgment.

And again, while this comes across as extremely harsh,
Let it show you just how angry God is
At those who slander His own.

I remind you again that Peter told us that this Psalm (as they all are)
Was inspired by the Holy Spirit.

This is God’s rage against those who accuse His Son.

David talks about THE ACCUSERS FATE
(6-8) “Appoint a wicked man over him, And let an accuser stand at his right hand. When he is judged, let him come forth guilty, And let his prayer become sin. Let his days be few; Let another take his office.”

As we said, Peter applied that to Judas.
• Any man who has the audacity to slander and accuse God’s Son certainly deserves such a fate.
• And any who does the same to those who are clothed in the righteousness of God’s Son suffers that fate as well.

Do you understand that?
• Believers in Christ stand before God clothed in the righteousness of Christ.
• When they are slandered, it is seen by God as a slander of Christ.

This is severe and David lays it out as such.

We also see THE ACCUSERS FAMILY
(6-10) “Let his children be fatherless And his wife a widow. Let his children wander about and beg; And let them seek sustenance far from their ruined homes. Let the creditor seize all that he has, And let strangers plunder the product of his labor. Let there be none to extend lovingkindness to him, Nor any to be gracious to his fatherless children. Let his posterity be cut off; In a following generation let their name be blotted out.”

It is not just to do away with this sinner,
But also to root out any influence that he has left behind.
• Many times in the ancient world, when a king was assassinated all of his heirs were assassinated as well so as to make sure that there was no retribution.
• When Achan sinned and troubled Israel, Achan was judged alone. All his family and all that he owned was stoned to death as well.

That is the sort of picture we see here.
Don’t just judge him, but root out any and all lingering influences
that he may have left behind.

THERE IS NO PLACE FOR SUCH A MAN
Or for his ideology which may survive in his children.

No doubt that is severe.

We also see THE ACCUSERS FATHER
(14-15) “Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD, And do not let the sin of his mother be blotted out. Let them be before the LORD continually, That He may cut off their memory from the earth;”

Now David goes backward to pick up the accusers parents.
• Certainly they do not escape guilt since they raised such a vile man.

And David wants them to also suffer the consequences
Of failing as parents and not instilling better judgment in their child
Than to respond in such an inappropriate way.

We see also THE ACCUSERS FOLLY
(16-19) “Because he did not remember to show lovingkindness, But persecuted the afflicted and needy man, And the despondent in heart, to put them to death. He also loved cursing, so it came to him; And he did not delight in blessing, so it was far from him. But he clothed himself with cursing as with his garment, And it entered into his body like water And like oil into his bones. Let it be to him as a garment with which he covers himself, And for a belt with which he constantly girds himself.”

This man
• Had no compassion; no mercy; no sense of justice at all.
• He had no loyalty to God nor to man.
• He did not care for the poor or the humble.
• He had no mercy for those who begged and pleaded.
• He ran from blessing and instead preferred cursing.

David said he actually clothes himself in cursing.
He loves it.

He loves to malign and accuse and attack.
It is his very nature.

It reminds of Paul’s compilation of sinful men in Romans 3.
Romans 3:13-14 “THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE, WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING,” “THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS”; “WHOSE MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND BITTERNESS”

He is just a vile man who greatly deserves the fury of God.

And that is why David says, (20) “Let this be the reward of my accuses from the LORD, And of those who speak evil against my soul.”

This is the very fury of God for those slander God’s children.
• This was inspired by the Holy Spirit
• This was fulfilled in Judas
• It is applied to any who accuse God’s children

THAT IS A SEVERE WARNING AGAINST SLANDER

The Frustration of the Accused; The Fury of the Accused
#3 THE FRAILTY OF THE ACCUSED
Psalms 109:21-29

And here we see the MOTIVE behind David’s prayer.
• He could have very easily entitled this as another one of those “Destroy Not” Psalms
• Where in David was held back by the command to never take your own revenge.

Certainly we saw that in the meekness of Christ.
1 Peter 2:23 “and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously;”
• It wasn’t that Jesus couldn’t fight back,
• But in His meekness He refused to fight back.
• He was constrained by His obedience to the will of the Father.

Perhaps David saw himself as under those same constraints.
Either way David speaks of himself as a helpless man,
Unable to defend himself, and unable to right the wrongs against him.

(21-25) “But You, O GOD, the Lord, deal kindly with me for Your name’s sake; Because Your lovingkindness is good, deliver me; For I am afflicted and needy, And my heart is wounded within me. I am passing like a shadow when it lengthens; I am shaken off like the locust. My knees are weak from fasting, And my flesh has grown lean, without fatness. I also have become a reproach to them; When they see me, they wag their head.”

You can almost see Christ on the cross here.
• He is reviled
• They wag their head
• They divide with the tongue
• They accuse and malign and slander Him

And this is where David sits.
All He can do at this point is
“entrust Himself to Him who judges righteously”

And so David prays:
(26-29) “Help me, O LORD my God; Save me according to Your lovingkindness. And let them know that this is Your hand; You, LORD, have done it. Let them curse, but You bless; When they arise, they shall be ashamed, But Your servant shall be glad. Let my accusers be clothed with dishonor, And let them cover themselves with their own shame as with a robe.”

He cries out to God for His great loyalty.
• “Save me according to Your lovingkindness”
He cries out to God for His vindication
• “let them know that this is Your hand”
He cries out to God for His judgment
• “Let them curse, but You bless”
He cries out to God for His vengeance
• “Let my accuses be clothed in dishonor”

It is a cry to God.
It is an appeal to God from David.
He cannot defend himself and so God must defend Him for them.

SOME MAY HAVE DIFFICULTY SEEING CHRIST HERE
For we know His prayer for His accusers while He hung on the cross.

He actually prayed:
Luke 23:34 “But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”

And there seems to be quite a disconnect here.
Certainly Jesus could not pray for forgiveness with His mouth
And at the same time pray for vengeance with His mind.

Not at all.

So how do we handle it?
• Is David out of touch?
• Or more appropriately were the Holy Spirit and Jesus in conflict on this subject?

NO, OF COURSE NOT.

It is only a conflict if you imagine that a desire for mercy
Cannot coexist with a commitment to justice.

God is merciful AND holy.
• He will judge sinners
• He will forgive sinners
• Both are well within His right and prerogative.

ON THE CROSS
• we do not see Christ desiring vengeance or judgment in the least.
• He came to save sinners and we are grateful that He did.
• AND YET, AT HIS SECOND COMING you will certainly the very vengeance of
this Psalm come forth.

Just because Christ desired mercy
Does not mean that He is not committed also to justice.

Slanderers are welcome to Him in repentance.
In fact, He said:
Luke 12:10 “And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him.”

• Those who come to Him seeking mercy will have it.
• Those who reject the Holy Spirit’s call to come to Him will receive the very
vengeance spoken of here.

And we also see Christ in this passage
• In His meekness by the fact that though He would have been justified,
• He chose to leave judgment in the hands of God.
• Though He was strong He became weak for us.

The Frustration of… The Fury of… The Frailty of the Accused
#4 THE FAITH OF THE ACCUSED
Psalms 109:30-31

And here we get even more at the heart of the matter.

Psalms 109, though it is graphic and severe and detailed,
Is NOT primarily about the judgment of the wicked.

It is PRIMARILY ABOUT the salvation of the accused.

• When God’s children are slandered, God rises up to vindicate and save His children from their attacks.
• He will most certainly do this with Satan when he saves us ultimately from his accusations.

But in reality, Christ does this for us continually.
Romans 8:33-34 “Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.”

And David seemed to understand this.
(30-31) “With my mouth I will give thanks abundantly to the LORD; And in the midst of many I will praise Him. For He stands at the right hand of the needy, To save him from those who judge his soul.”

• David cried to God because he knew God would agree with the wrong.
• David cried to God because he knew God would be angry at the wrong.
• David cried to God because he knew God would be sympathetic to his weakness.
• David cried to God because he knew God would ultimately save him.

And it reminds us again why we do not take our own revenge.
Our God will certainly save us from the accuser.

If we live like Christ in this world we can expect to be treated like Christ.
• We can expect to be accused
• We can expect to be wrongly accused
• We can expect to be hated and lied about
• We can expect hatred to be returned for our love

• And all the while we seek to live like Christ and bless instead of cursing.

However, we know that our God avenges His children.
“For He stands at the right hand of the needy, To save him from those who judge his soul.”

That is our hope and that is good news.

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What Time Is It? – Part 2
Ecclesiastes 3:1-11
June 13, 2021

LAST TIME we met we worked our way through this important text.
• We noticed that the preacher has now jumped subjects.
• He has covered the temptations of wisdom, pleasure, and legacy.
• Then he jumped to another subject the young man needed to understand and that is time.

We covered the entire text last time, but there is so much more than still needs to be said and understood
Regarding the time before we move on even to verse 12.

What was made abundantly clear to us last time was this.

GOD IS SOVEREIGN over all time and events.

We read:
Ecclesiastes 3:1 “There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven”

• The preacher was clear that there is an “appointed” time.
• Events aren’t random.
• God is sovereign over time and over the events of earth.

And we learned that there are APPROPRIATE RESPONSES to all that God orchestrates.

This was the preacher’s point in verses 2-8
Ecclesiastes 3:2-8 “A time to give birth and a time to die; A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted. A time to kill and a time to heal; A time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to weep and a time to laugh; A time to mourn and a time to dance. A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones; A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing. A time to search and a time to give up as lost; A time to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear apart and a time to sew together; A time to be silent and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate; A time for war and a time for peace.”

What you have listed there are reminders that
There are appropriate times for all events under heaven.

For example,
Take the last part of verse 2, “A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.”

• You know that is true.
• Right now it is summer and perhaps you are planting black-eyed peas or okra,
• But if you’re planting onions or broccoli, you’re too late.
• You don’t plant tomatoes in November, and you don’t harvest them in January.

WHY?
Because God has appointed the seasons.
God has sovereignly determined when seed will germinate
And when plants will grow and produce fruit.

SO, there is an appropriate response to every event which God orchestrates under heaven.
• Sometimes it is appropriate to plant, sometimes to harvest.
• Sometimes to kill, sometimes to heal.
• Sometimes to mourn, sometimes to dance.
• Sometimes to love, sometimes to hate.

And that is the point of the preacher.

Understand that there are appropriate responses
To the events that God orchestrates under heaven
And each event may require a different response.

NOW, because God is the One who sets the event,
Then we also learn something else.

THERE IS A JUDGMENT in which man answers to God for how they responded to life, or how they managed their time.

We learned this in verses 9-11
Ecclesiastes 3:9-11 “What profit is there to the worker from that in which he toils? I have seen the task which God has given the sons of men with which to occupy themselves. He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.”

Now first the preacher followed his custom by asking that famous thought-provoking question: “What profit is there..?”

He loves that question.
He loves to get you thinking about how important your actions really are.

And the first application is depressing.
• If God is sovereign over all events and all times under heaven, then really,
what are you accomplishing through all your work?

And the answer is that here, you aren’t really accomplishing anything.

In fact the preacher actually said that “I have seen the task which God has given the sons of men with which to occupy themselves.”

It may just be that God is merely keeping you occupied.
• I told you about my cousin who was asked to join us in painting the barn, but
because he was little, my grandpa only gave him water in his paint bucket.
• He soon figured it out and wanted to know the same thing. What is the point?

Well that is what the preacher asked.

BUT THE POINT OF IT ALL IS SEEN LATER.

For the preacher went on to tell us that God “has made everything appropriate in its time.”

God is the one who determined whether or not
Your response to His sovereign event is appropriate or not.

And “He has also set eternity in their heart”
• God has instinctively taught us that there is more than this life.
• Somehow, inwardly, we know that this life is not all there is.
• We know that after this life ends there is One to whom we will answer.

Now, God HAS NOT given us all the information.
“man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.”

• God hasn’t chosen to give you all the answers.
• God doesn’t expect you to know why He does what He does.

But God does expect you to respond appropriately
To all the events that He orchestrates.

God expects you to use your time on earth appropriately,
Because some day you will give an account for how you lived.

The payoff is not here, the payoff is in eternity.

And so the overarching point to be made by the preacher is that
God has not put us here to live for today, but rather to live for eternity.

We are in time, making decisions that will have eternal significance.

Or to quote R.C. Sproul again.
“We live in time, but we live for eternity.”

And this causes us to have to answer the question each day, “WHAT TIME IS IT?”

THAT WAS THE QUESTION WE CLOSED WITH LAST TIME
And before we move on to the next text,
I just want to spend one more moment thinking about it.

• I gave you some passages in closing last time, but I want to revisit them a little
• And perhaps consider a few others because I think this issue of understanding our time is so important.

I do want to SHIFT YOUR TERMINOLOGY a little if I can as we begin.

When we talk about time this morning, I want you to think about it,
Not simply as a moment on a clock, or a date on a calendar.

I want you to think about it as “YOUR ALLOTTED TIME”
Perhaps it is better to say it as your “life span”.

Ephesians 5:15-16 “Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.”

Think about your “allotted time”
The time in which God has allotted for you to live upon this earth.

• What are you doing with the time God has given you?
• Are you making the most of your time? (As Paul would encourage)

And secondly I want you to think about APPOINTED TIME
That is God’s sovereign timetable.

Acts 17:26 “and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation,”

We learned from the preacher last week that God is sovereign over it all.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 “There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven”

• We know that God’s timetable is real.
• There is a timeline that God has orchestrated.
• He has set all events and knows their times.

Consider passages like:
Matthew 24:36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.”

Jesus spoke of THE FATHER’S TIMETABLE;
A time which while on earth even Jesus didn’t know.

Remember:
Revelation 9:15 “And the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released, so that they would kill a third of mankind.”

• That is a future judgmental event from God,
• But you’ll notice the hour and day and month and year are set.
• We are barreling at it at the rate of 60 seconds per minute.

The point is that God has appointed the timing of events.

So we have God’s APPOINTED time,
Which is His orchestration of all events of eternity,
And then we have our ALLOTTED time which is
The small portion of time God has given you to live on earth.

God who appoints all things,
And God who allots us a small amount of that time.
For perspective purposes
YOUR LIFESPAN AS COMPARED TO ETERNITY
Is actually considered a vapor by James.

James 4:14 “Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.”

Or as Moses taught:
Psalms 90:10-12 “As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, Or if due to strength, eighty years, Yet their pride is but labor and sorrow; For soon it is gone and we fly away. Who understands the power of Your anger And Your fury, according to the fear that is due You? So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.”

Or as David taught:
Psalms 39:4-5 “LORD, make me to know my end And what is the extent of my days; Let me know how transient I am. “Behold, You have made my days as handbreadths, And my lifetime as nothing in Your sight; Surely every man at his best is a mere breath. Selah.”

By comparison, we are not allotted much time.
But we do have time; our allotted time; our lifespan.

And the objective of humanity is to determine
What is our appropriate response to God’s appointed times
As we live in our allotted time.

• The goal IS NOT to understand everything.
• The goal IS NOT to know why God does what He does.
• The goal IS simply to make the most of our allotted time.

I read to you last week a passage that really spells this out.
Acts 1:6-8 “So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

Knowing God’s appointed times is not for us.
We are to concern ourselves with faithfulness during our allotted time.
Hopefully that makes sense to you.

So it brings back the question where we left off last week.
WHAT TIME IS IT?

• What time is it in your life?
• What time is it in the life of your spouse?
• What time is it in the life of your children?
• What time is it in the life of this church?
• What time is it in the scope of our ministry to this world?

Is it a time to plant or a time to uproot?
• Should you be pouring something into your life or weeding something out of your life?
• Should you be pouring something into the life of your spouse or kids or should you be weeding something out of their life?
• Should we be planting seeds of truth in our community or challenging weeds of deception in our community?

What time is it right now for us to be faithful to God’s eternal purposes?

Is it a time to kill or a time to heal?
• Are there things that must be destroyed, or are there things that must be repaired?

There is a quote I love from Martin Luther:
“If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved; and to be steady on all the battlefield besides, is more flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point.”
(sited in: MacArthur, John; The Truth War, Fighting for Certainty in an Age of Deception; [Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, TN; 2007] pg. 26)

That is exactly what Luther was saying.
You can do the right thing, but if your timing is off, it is still inappropriate to your calling.

What is the appropriate response to the times in which we live?
Because if you respond the right way at the wrong time
You are missing what is appropriate.

• OUR WORLD is hung up on being positive all the time.
• OUR WORLD is hung up on being “loving” at all times.
• OUR WORLD is hung up on being tolerant at all times.

There are times when those things are certainly appropriate responses,
But there is also a time to kill and a time to hate and a time to tear apart.

You get the idea.
• Is it a time to tear down (Jeremiah)?
• Or a time to build up (Nehemiah)?

Is it a time to weep or to laugh; to mourn or to dance?

Jesus healed people and the Pharisees mourned;
• Their response was wrong.
John preached repentance and the religious elite scoffed;
• Their response was wrong.

Matthew 11:16-19 “But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market places, who call out to the other children, and say, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’ “For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon!’ “The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”

Is it a time to throw stones or a time to gather stones?
Is it a time to embrace or to shun embracing?
Is it a time to search or a time to give up as lost?
Is it a time to keep or a time to throw away?
Is it a time to sew or a time to rend?
Is it a time to be silent or a time to speak?
Is it a time to love or a time to hate?
Is it a time for war or a time for peace?

What time is it?

Consider Paul’s admonition to Timothy:
2 Timothy 4:1-5 “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”

What time was it?
• It was time to preach.
• It was to “reprove, rebuke, and exhort”

Now, that wasn’t going to be easy because it was also “out of season”;
Meaning the world didn’t want to hear it.

They had already gathered a multitude of teachers to tell them what their itching ears wanted to hear, but that was inappropriate according to God’s eternal mandate.

Paul told Timothy, it’s time to stand and preach.
Don’t respond wrongly to the time in your life.

Now I just want you to think for a moment
About your life and the events of your life
And the events of the lives of those around you.

(What is going on in your life right now?)

We know that God has sovereignly appointed them all.
(3:1) “There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven.”

• There are all kinds of varying events that are taking place under heaven according to the sovereign prerogative of God.
• And our calling is to recognize the appropriate response to those events.

BUT HERE IS THE IMPORTANT POINT.

When we contemplate what time it is,
We must make the decision not based upon today,
But BASED UPON ETERNITY.

And this is the preacher’s point.

In the life of your spouse or your children or your community,
What is the appropriate response in regard to their eternity?

If your objective is not to make today better, but to make eternity better,
Is it more appropriate to plant or uproot?

If your objective is not to make today better, but to make eternity better,
Is it more appropriate to tear apart or to sew together?

This is perhaps the BIGGEST MISTAKE we make in our lives as parents, friends, spouses, and even ministers of the gospel in our communities.

When we lose sight of the eternal goal
We tend to make decisions based on what makes today better
Instead of what makes eternity better,
And this is totally out of step with God, who always works for eternity.

God knows that this life is a mere vapor
And to work for it is vanity and striving after wind.

SO AGAIN, WHAT TIME IS IT?

Someday in eternity everything regarding how you lived this life
Will be brought to light.

Matthew 10:26 “Therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.”

And so you must consider eternity as you live in this small allotted time.

TO THAT END we read a couple of passages to end up last week.
Romans 13:11-14 “Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.”

Certainly we should consider:
Matthew 16:26 “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”

Consider:
Romans 8:18 “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

We would also do good to consider:
Hebrews 3 and 4.

TURN TO: HEBREWS 3

Look at verse 7, “Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, “Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as when they provoked Me”

• God had delivered those people out of Israel,
• But they quickly grumbled against God and hardened their hearts against Him.

The writer of Hebrews speaks there of the opportunity of every man.
The opportunity to respond to the spoken word of God
Or the opportunity to reject it.

And he points to “Today” as your day to respond.
Israel failed, you shouldn’t.

He goes on down in verse 12, “Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God.”

Look at the children of Israel and consider “Today”
And the opportunities you have today that you might not have tomorrow.

Furthermore know that David took that same passage about “Today”
And OFFERED IT AGAIN to his contemporaries in Psalms 95,
Which means God is still calling men.

You see it in 4:7 “He again fixes a certain day, “Today,” saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before, “Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.”

Do you get that?
• Back in the Exodus, that was their allotted time and they blew it.
• David offered it again to his contemporaries and that was their allotted time.
• And now we read it today.

TODAY IS YOUR DAY, TODAY IS YOUR TIME.
You don’t know how much more time you get, but you get today.
DON’T WASTE IT.

Because of this the writer of Hebrews also says:
Hebrews 9:27 “And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment,”

God has placed eternity in your heart.
• You know eternity is real (even if you wish you didn’t)
• You know there is a judgment coming
• You know that the soul will live forever either in heaven or hell
• God has seen to it that you know that

And you understand that today you are making decisions
That will have profound impact on your eternity.

2 Corinthians 6:2 “for He says, “AT THE ACCEPTABLE TIME I LISTENED TO YOU,
AND ON THE DAY OF SALVATION I HELPED YOU.” Behold, now is “THE ACCEPTABLE TIME,” behold, now is “THE DAY OF SALVATION”

AND THIS IS SOMETHING THAT YOU MUST CONTEMPLATE.
WHAT TIME IS IT?

If we have learned nothing else from the year of 2020 and beyond
We should have learned that time is not guaranteed.

Your time, your life-span has been appointed by God.
Psalms 139:16 “Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them.”

And the days that God has given you are so that
You might call upon Him and prepare for eternity.

Let me go back to that great statement by Paul to the Athenians.
Acts 17:26-31 “and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’ “Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man. “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”

Do you grasp that?

If you asked Paul what time it was
He would say it was time to repent and seek God because judgment was coming.

If you asked John the Baptist what time it was he would say:
Matthew 3:2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

If you asked Jesus what time it was He would say:
Matthew 4:17 “From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

I HOPE YOU GRASP THAT.

WHAT TIME IS IT?
In your life

And what time is it in the lives of those around us?
• It is not about trying to make this life better.
The preacher asked (9) “What profit is there to the worker from that in which he toils?”

And if you are seeking this life the answer is: NOTHING
But if you are working for eternity the answer is: GREAT PROFIT

Men are today making decisions to repent and trust in Christ
And it makes all the difference for their eternity.

Even in ministry how we use today is of great significance, consider Paul again:
Romans 1:13-15 “I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that often I have planned to come to you (and have been prevented so far) so that I may obtain some fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles. I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.”

• Paul saw ministry today as an opportunity to gain fruit for tomorrow.
• He saw work today as a chance to gain treasure in heaven.

THIS IS THE BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE
THAT WE MUST HOLD REGARDING TIME.

• Time is precious
• Time is a gift from God
• Time is mysterious
• Time is fleeting
• Time is sacred and we must make the most of it.

There will come a day, and you don’t know when,
When your time on earth is over, when your allotted days are done.

God already has an appointed day when He will put an end to your allotted days.

And all you will have before you is eternity.

And here is the sobering truth.
In eternity you cannot change your path or your fortune.

• There is no opportunity for repentance in eternity
• There is no opportunity for salvation in eternity
• There is no chance to store up more treasure in eternity
• There is no chance to witness to your friend in eternity
• There is no chance to confront sin in your child in eternity
• There is no chance to comfort the bereaved in eternity

All of that must be done now.
WHAT TIME IS IT?

“We live in time, but we live for eternity.”

“Make the most of your time because the days are evil.”

That is the message of the preacher to the young man.

How many of us, as we age,
Can look back on our life and see the waste that is there.

• Surely we understand the grief of the preacher as he talks about his quest for wisdom…
• Surely we understand the grief of the preacher as he talks about his quest for pleasure…
• We even understand the grief of the preacher as he realizes the futility of trying to sustain a legacy…

But how many of us can also look back and see wasted time?
• Not because we weren’t busy
• Not because we didn’t accomplish stuff in the world.

BUT BECAUSE WE ONLY ACCOMPLISHED STUFF IN THE WORLD.

• The futility of raising a child for 18 years and ONLY teaching them manners or how to live in the world.
• The futility of coaching a little league team and ONLY teaching them about baseball.
• The futility of working and building and ONLY leaving buildings behind.

It is the cry of the preacher:
DON’T WASTE YOUR LIFE

Don’t waste this precious time which God has allotted you under heaven.

So again, WHAT TIME IS IT?
Contemplate that in your life and start making decisions
Based on a Biblical view of time and not a worldly view.

And because we certainly view all passages through a gospel perspective I most certainly tell you that it is time for you to repent and trust in Christ.

God placed you on this earth to seek for Him and to find Him only through Christ.
• Only Jesus Christ satisfied the righteous requirements of God.
• Only Jesus Christ propitiated the holy wrath of God.
• Only Jesus Christ offered to do both of those things for you.

He is the only way for a man to be prepared for eternity.

And so this morning, I’m telling you that
TODAY IS THE DAY for you to repent of your sins,
To trust in the work of Jesus Christ,
And to confess Him as your Lord.

Today is the day of salvation.

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Remembering Deliverance, Remembering Defeat
Psalms 108
June 6, 2021

Perhaps you pick up on it when we read through Psalms 108
But there seems to be a sort of peculiar jump that takes place
Between verses 5 and 6.

The first 5 verses are all praise and adoration with David declaring
• His sincerity to God
• His urgency to praise
• His zeal for making God known
• His discernment of the greatness of God
• And his goal that God is exalted above all the earth.

It is filled with praise and adoration.

And then sort of without warning he jumps into verse 6 which says, “That your beloved may be delivered, Save with Your right hand, and answer me!”

It’s almost like he got bad news
Right in the middle of singing a praise song.

And the rest of the song sort of follows the struggle.
• In verses 7-9 he reminds himself that God has chosen Israel.
• In verses 10-13 he actually speaks of God’s rejection and need for God’s help
or else there can be no victory.

In reading the Psalm it really seemed to me
To sort of jump in between verses 5 and 6.

It would have helped if I had immediately recognized the words David wrote, but I didn’t until opening a commentary.

The reason for the noticeable jump in thought is because
Nothing in Psalms 108 is original.

Psalms 108 is actually parts of two different Psalms
Which David puts together.
And they actually break in between verses 5 and 6.

• Verses 1-5 are actually taken verbatim from Psalms 57:7-11
• Verses 6-13 are taken verbatim from Psalms 60:5-12

I don’t expect you to immediately pull to your memory those Psalms;
As I certainly didn’t upon starting my study.

BUT:
Psalms 57 was a Psalm written when David was hiding in cave from Saul.
• It was written according to “Al-Tashheth” which you remember as one of the “Destroy Not” Psalms.
• It was a Psalm in which David learned to trust God’s judgment and to therefore withhold his own.
• David exalted God in Psalms 57 because God proved that He could and would take care of David’s enemies and David only needed to trust Him.

Psalms 60 was quite different. It was a Psalm of defeat.
• It also came with a context indicator saying, “A Mikhtam of David, to teach; when he struggled with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, and Joab returned, and smote twelve thousand of Edom in the Valley of Salt.”
• The difficult part of that Psalm is that while we can find David fighting Aram and Joab fighting Edom, aside from Psalms 60 we don’t have any record of Edom ever defeating Israel.
• It occurred, it is just omitted from the books of 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles.
• Anyway Psalms 60 relates how David was humbled by the defeat
• It reveals how God reminded David of His sovereign selection of Israel.
• And it reveals how it reminded David that regardless of his military might, true victory was only found in the hands of God.

So you have a Psalm of Deliverance and a Psalm of Defeat.
And here in Psalms 108
David took part of both them and put them together.

While we know the original context of both of the Psalms David borrowed, We don’t know the context or the setting of Psalms 108
As to why David visited them again.

• Perhaps it is purely memorial as David reflects on past lessons learned.
• Perhaps it is again relevant and David is again afflicted and drawing strength
from past deliverance.
• Perhaps David is sharing it with others who need the same truth.

WE DON’T KNOW WHY

But David has visited them again, extracted from each of them,
And put them together in Psalms 108 for us to remember.

What is going to allow for us tonight is a PROGRESS REPORT
We get to revisit texts we studied previously and see how we are doing.
• Can we like David still sing those same songs?
• Or do we need to learn them again?

TURN TO: PSALMS 57

As we pointed out earlier you see the sub heading to Psalms 57
Which gives us great insight

“For the choir director; set to Al-tashheth. A Mikhtam of David, when he fled from Saul in the cave.”

Again you notice the “Al-tashheth” distinction
Which of course means to “Destroy Not”

(It is a heading which we see in Psalms 57, 58, 59, and 75.)
It is NOT a prayer for God to “destroy not”
As those Psalms make abundantly clear.

Rather it is a message from David to Israel that they should “Destroy Not”

It is rather a reminder of what Paul taught in the New Testament.
Romans 12:19 “Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord.”

And you are well aware of that point as we have discussed it repeatedly
In the study of those former Psalms.

The setting is also given that it is “when he fled from Saul in the cave”
• And certainly you remember that story.
• 1 Samuel 24 outlines how David fled from Saul and Saul hunted him down.

1 Samuel 24:1-7 “Now when Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, saying, “Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.” Then Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel and went to seek David and his men in front of the Rocks of the Wild Goats. He came to the sheepfolds on the way, where there was a cave; and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the inner recesses of the cave. The men of David said to him, “Behold, this is the day of which the LORD said to you, ‘Behold; I am about to give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it seems good to you.'” Then David arose and cut off the edge of Saul’s robe secretly. It came about afterward that David’s conscience bothered him because he had cut off the edge of Saul’s robe. So he said to his men, “Far be it from me because of the LORD that I should do this thing to my lord, the LORD’S anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, since he is the LORD’S anointed.” David persuaded his men with these words and did not allow them to rise up against Saul. And Saul arose, left the cave, and went on his way.”

David learned a great lesson that day.
• He learned that it was not for him to take his own revenge,
• But that God could and would in His timing.

• David turned the other cheek in that cave.
• David spared Saul’s life.
• David left room for the vengeance of God.

And in response to what David learned in that cave, he penned Psalms 57.

Now you can read the first 6 verses of Psalms 57
(which David does not include in Psalms 108)
And you can learn again about David’s learning process.

YOU SEE DAVID’S CONFIDENCE (1-3)
• Namely that when in danger David cried out to God for his deliverance.

YOU SEE DAVID’S CONFIRMATION (4-6)
• Namely when Saul entered that cave David learned that God could definitely handle his enemies.

And then the part that David did copy and include for us was:
DAVID’S COMMITMENT (7-11)

“My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises! Awake, my glory! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn. I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to You among the nations. For Your lovingkindness is great to the heavens And Your truth to the clouds. Be exalted above the heavens, O God; Let Your glory be above all the earth.”

The overwhelming desire of David was that God be exalted.
• David has just understood that if he delivers himself by his own hand then God receives no glory.
• However, if David is steadfast and full of faith and allows God to be his deliverance then God alone is glorified and exalted.

In our country we are told to “Never take the law into your own hands”

And yet people still do at times: WHY?
• People take the law into their own hands when they have no confidence in the
legal system or the justice system.
• Either they don’t think the police can catch the criminal
• Or they don’t think the judge will convict the criminal and so they take care of it
themselves.

Well, when we take our own revenge we say the same things about God
And thus we rob Him of His glory as the righteous Judge.

Well David learned that in the cave and Psalms 57 was about that truth.

So it was a Psalm about TRUSTING GOD’S VENGEANCE

Even though you are afflicted you need not take your own revenge,
For God, who has chosen you, will in fact deal with your enemies.

That was the lesson of Psalms 57.

From there we move to the other Psalm David quotes.
TURN TO: PSALMS 60

The common denominator of both Psalms
Is that David is attacked in each of them.

• He is attacked by Saul in Psalms 57
• And he is apparently attacked by Edom in Psalms 60.

Psalms 60 also has a subtitle.
“For the choir director; according to Shushan Eduth. A Mikhtam of David, to teach; when he struggled with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, and Joab returned, and smote twelve thousand of Edom in the Valley of Salt.”

• Now, while we can read 2 Samuel 8 and read about David defeating Aram
• And we can read 2 Chronicles 18 and read about Joab defeating Edom in the Valley of Salt
• We have no record of any defeat at the hands of Edom which took place.

Just because it is not included in the narrative of Samuel or Chronicles
Does not mean it didn’t occur, clearly according to Psalms 60 it did.

Most likely, while David was up attacking Aram,
Edom attacked from the south and defeated Israel.

This defeat blindsided David.
• Psalms 60 is the song where David humbled himself and confessed to God that apart from God’s help there could be no victory.
• Psalms 60 is a Psalm about what David learned in defeat.

Those are good lessons.
• Like Paul’s thorn in the flesh.
• Paul didn’t learn true strength until he fully understood his own weakness.

SO DAVID ALSO.
Once he truly understood his own vulnerability,
He better understood his desperate need for God.

In Psalms 60 we saw David speak of A SHOCKING REJECTION in verses 1-3 (which David does not include in 108)

• You can really feel how shaken the confidence of David was.
• He just lost a battle he did not expect to lose.

In verses 4-5 (We get 5 in 108) we saw A SIMPLE REQUEST

• After David acknowledged in verse 4 that all his battles are for the glory of God
• David then cried out to God for deliverance.
• He wanted God to step in and deal with the enemy who had afflicted him.

In verses 6-8 (108:7-9) we see A SOVERIEGN REALITY

Here is where despite the defeat
David remembered what God had spoken in the past.

(60:6-8 / 108:7-9) “God has spoken in His holiness: “I will exult, I will portion out Shechem And measure out the valley of Succoth. Gilead is Mine, Manasseh is Mine; Ephraim also is the helmet of My head; Judah is My scepter. Moab is My washbowl; Over Edom I shall throw My shoe; Over Philistia I will shout aloud.”

The point to be made is that the Sovereign God of the universe,
Who owns all things has already declared who gets what.

• Shechem and the valley of Succoth are Israel’s land.
• Gilead belongs to God.
• Manasseh belongs to God.
• Ephraim and Judah belong to God and are honored as weapons of war.

No one made God determine that,
But in HIS SOVEREIGN PREROGATIVE He chose to determine that.

That was His decision, not theirs.

And conversely
• “Moab is my washbowl” a lowly servant carrying water to wash His feet.
• “Over Edom I shall throw My shoe” like a slave to whom you kick off your sandals and tell him to deal with them.
• “Over Philistia I will shout aloud” indicating dominance and control.

So the point that David remembered is that
Even though God had allowed a victory for Edom over Israel
It does not change that God has chosen Israel and not Edom.

It did not override God’s sovereign prerogative.

But what it did to was humble David.
• It reminded David that the only reason he ever has any victory
• Is not because of his own military might,
• But because God has chosen to give the victory.

And that understanding is clearly spelled out
In the final 4 verses of the Psalm.

We saw A SINCERE RELIANCE

(60:9-12 / 108:10-13) “Who will bring me into the besieged city? Who will lead me to Edom? Have not You Yourself, O God, rejected us? And will You not go forth with our armies, O God? Oh give us help against the adversary, For deliverance by man is in vain. Through God we will do valiantly, And it is He who shall tread down our adversaries.”

You can hear the humility and the lessons that David learned.
• There is no victory apart from God.
• If God rejects David cannot win.

• “For deliverance by man is in vain”
• And yet, “Through God we will do valiantly, And it is He who shall tread down our adversaries.”

So while David was crushed against the rock of his own weakness,
He was lifted by the power of God.

And David learned not to trust his own strength
But rather to TRUST GOD’S SOVEREIGN GRACE

That is to say, to trust that God will in fact
Deliver those whom He has chosen to deliver.

It reminds of the famous passage in Zechariah:
Zechariah 4:6 “Then he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel saying, ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the LORD of hosts.”

David learned that through his defeat.

So we have two Psalms that appear to be
The opposite sides of the same coin.

In both of them David is afflicted.
• In the first he is taught to trust God’s vengeance and let God fight his battles.
• In the second he is taught to trust God’s grace and not his own strength in battle.

And now in Psalms 108
David brings part of them back together for us to remember tonight.

• David remembers a time of deliverance where he learned to trust God’s
vengeance.
• David remembers a time of defeat where he learned to trust God’s grace.

Now he puts them together.

So let’s look at Psalms 108 now quickly
And remember what David was trying to remind us of.

We’ll break the Psalm where it naturally breaks.
#1 REMEMBERING COMMITMENT IN DANGER
Psalms 108:1-5

• Perhaps David finds himself in danger again like he did back in the days of Saul,
• Or perhaps he is encouraging someone else who is trying to learn what it means to leave room for the vengeance of God.

Either way David is compelled to sing this song again.

And again it begins with a tremendous statement of commitment.

“My heart is steadfast, O God;”

It brings to your mind the great statement of Paul which is rooted in the resurrection of Christ.

1 Corinthians 15:58 “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.”

• Because death is defeated and heaven is certain Paul calls for believers to be
steadfast.

David still believes that God will care for His own, and he confesses it again.
• He is not a vacillating man.
• He is not a half-hearted follower like the one whose seed was sown among the thorns.
• He is not a shallow-hearted follower like the one who seed was sown on the rocks.

Both of those only talk a good game until the going gets tough.

No David would be wholly devoted.
David would be committed no matter the danger.
And even though danger has arrived again David remains steadfast.

Notice also HIS SINCERITY
“I will sing, I will sing praises, even with my soul.”

This is evidence of a regenerate heart.
• David is not forcing a song against his will.
• David’s soul is so confident in God that it is filled with singing.

See HIS URGENCY
“Awake, harp and lyre; I will awaken the dawn!”

There is no time like the present.
There is no time to wait.
• It is not time to make battle plans.
• It is not time to double-check the defenses.
• It is not time to secure the rations.

It is time to praise the God who saves.
It is first on his agenda.

We see HIS ZEAL
“I will give thanks to You, O LORD, among the peoples, And I will sing praises to You among the nations.”

• This was no private devotion.
• This was no intimate song.
• David’s song was meant to be a declaration to the God who avenges His own.

It was important to David that the world know
Where his trust was in the midst of danger.

Notice HIS DISCERNMENT
“For Your lovingkindness is great above the heavens, And Your truth reaches to the skies.”

• Why is David steadfast?
• Why is David sincere?
• Why is David urgent in praise?
• Why can David announce it to the world?

Because David knows how great the loyalty of God is.
He knows that God is for him.
He knows that God is with him.

He has sung this song before in faith,
Now he sings it in confident experience.
God will care for him again.

And we see HIS GOAL
“Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, And Your glory above all the earth.”

• There is a purpose in the danger.
• There is a sovereign reason behind it.

God is going to use this to glorify Himself
And David is still happy to be a part of it.

He saw God do this before with Saul.
• He saw God glorify Himself by preserving David and placing him on the throne.

Now He will see God glorify Himself again
By continuing to secure David’s throne even in new trials.

IT IS GREAT PERSPECTIVE FROM DAVID.
He has sang this song before and he will sing it now again.

He also remembers when God taught him humility by allowing him to suffer defeat and David is good with that too!

#2 REMEMBERING HUMILITY IN DEFEAT
Psalms 108:6-13

• Perhaps God will deliver like He did in the cave.
• Perhaps God will teach David humility like He did with the Edomites.
• Either way David is committed.

He knows that God and only God can deliver.
And so by singing this song again, David reiterates to God
That he has not forgotten that lesson learned long ago.

As he waits for victory he makes sure to confess again
That victory apart from God is impossible.

You see again his plea for salvation.
(6) “That Your beloved may be delivered, Save with Your right hand, and answer me!”

David still wants deliverance.

You see again that he has remembered God’s sovereign election of Israel over other nations.
(7-9) “God has spoken in His holiness: “I will exult, I will portion out Shechem And measure out the valley of Succoth. “Gilead is Mine, Manasseh is Mine; Ephraim also is the helmet of My head; Judah is My scepter. “Moab is My washbowl; Over Edom I shall throw My shoe; Over Philistia I will shout aloud.”

God’s sovereign grace in selecting Israel
Is still the very root of David’s confidence.

And you see again David’s humility and commitment to understand that deliverance only comes from God.
(10-13) “Who will bring me into the besieged city? Who will lead me to Edom? Have not You Yourself, O God, rejected us? And will You not go forth with our armies, O God? Oh give us help against the adversary, For deliverance by man is in vain. Through God we will do valiantly, And it is He who shall tread down our adversaries.”

The refreshing thing about the repeat found in Psalms 108
Is that we see that in David’s life NOTHING HAS CHANGED.

It is heartbreaking to us when we see men or women
Who seemed to trust God only to fall away from Him in future trials.
DAVID WAS NO SUCH DEFECTOR.

In Psalms 57 and 60 David LEARNED great things about God.
In Psalms 108 David is CONTINUING TO APPLY what he learned.

• It’s not like we only face certain trials once.
• It’s not like we only face danger once and then never again.
• It’s not like we only face opposition once and then never again.

No, each time we face it there is a lesson involved
To help us face it even better the next time.
That is part of the process of sanctification.

I suppose the good question tonight for us to ponder would be
“Do I trust those things?”

When we looked at Psalms 57
We talked about how a lack of meekness is actually an indictment against God.
• When we refuse to turn the other cheek…
• When we insist on getting our own revenge…
• We are actually saying that we don’t think God will handle it.

• Psalms 57 taught us to “Destroy Not” and leave room for the vengeance of God.
• Psalms 57 taught us to be meek like Jesus who even though He was reviled He did not revile in return.

Have you learned that lesson?

My notes say we studied that text on December 15, 2019.
(about 19 months ago)

Well we certainly had a year of frustration
Where we had every opportunity not to take our own revenge,
But to leave room for the wrath of God.

On December of 2019 none of us had a clue what 2020 was going to bring.

Did we learn the lesson?
Can we still sing 108 with David and say, “Absolutely, I am still steadfast in my belief that God will avenge”?

Or how about the lesson of Psalms 60.
I show that we studied it on January 19, 2020.

David taught us that the defeats and the hardships of life
Were meant to humble him.
David taught us that we were supposed to learn
That there is no victory apart from God.

Well again we saw 2020 come.
• We saw an election year.
• We saw defeats and struggles and hardships.

Did they humble us and teach us to rely on God
Or did they only anger us and cause us
To take matters into our own hands.

It is a pretty unique progress report God just dropped in our lap.

• We were first taught those truths a year and a half ago
• And then we were given every opportunity to see if we learned them.

• And now God has brought them around again to remind us
• And to give us a barometer by which to test our progress.

I’m not about to tell you how I think we did or you did.
I can certainly tell you that I don’t think I like the grade on my scorecard.

But it is a reminder to do better.

That when we face danger or trials or hardships,
• Don’t take your own revenge but leave room for God and He will deliver.

And when we face defeats,
• Don’t get angry,
• Be humble and recognize that God disciplines those whom He loves
• And He humbles them so they will rely on Him and Him alone for their future.

Tonight we are reminded again to TRUST GOD’S JUDGMENT
And to TRUST GOD’S SOVEREIGN GRACE.

• God has chosen us.
• God loves us.
• God has determined to work all things for our good.

And God has promised that we do not have to take our own revenge,
For He will do that for us.
That is good news.

Perhaps over the next 18 months
We’ll do a better job of applying that truth to our lives.

Download Here:

What Time Is It?
Ecclesiastes 3:1-11
June 6, 2021

In his letter to the Ephesians the apostle Paul wrote:
Ephesians 5:15-17 “Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”

Paul certainly said a mouthful there
In regard to understanding the proper use of our time.

• Paul knew that we live in an evil day.
• He also understood that there was kingdom work to be accomplished.
• And so Paul encouraged the Ephesians not to be foolish but to “make the most of your time.”

IT’S THE ISSUE OF PRODUCTIVITY.
(or as we have said, not wasting your life)

AND YOU UNDERSTAND THAT.
Especially in America we are tapped in to the concept of time.

• One of the things that many of us have found so refreshing about Africa is the “laid back” atmosphere.
• They don’t plan events according to the clock
• They don’t figure in how long something will take
• They sort of just live in the moment and things happen when they happen
• There is an African proverb which says, “Americans have all the watches, but Africans have all the time.”

If you go to Africa you will either find that mindset
To be refreshing or it will drive you absolutely insane.

We are definitely linked to time in America.
• We run on watches, day planners, schedules, and calendars.
• We plan mornings, afternoons, and evenings.
• We question how long an event lasts so that we can plan the event after that.
• And when something pushes us outside of our schedule it can breed instant panic, anxiety, and even anger and frustration.

TO AMERICANS TIME IS A UNIQUE CURRENCY.
(some value their time even more than their money…my dad did)

In many ways we think about time the same way we think about money.
• People try to save money, and they try to save time.
• People will spend money, and people will spend time (i.e. I’ve got time to help)
• People can waste money, and they can certainly waste time.

The main difference between the money and time is that
While it is possible to know exactly how much money you have,
No one knows how much time they have.

It is a currency in our culture, but it is an uncountable one.

TIME IS ALSO AN UNYIELDING OPPONENT.
Time always wins.

Think about sporting events.
• Think about football or basketball or hockey.
• There is the same winner for every single one of those games.
• The clock wins every single game.

While the competing teams play each other,
They are also playing the clock, but the clock always wins.

Baseball is of course the exception, having refused the constraint of the clock,
But even it is called “The American Pastime”
Reminding us that if you watch or participate you are letting time pass.

Time is an unyielding opponent – it will win.

TIME IS AN ELUSIVE ATTRACTION.
• We think of New Year’s Eve.
• Many celebrations and parties as people await a countdown of 3-2-1,
• And in a split second that anticipated moment becomes the past
• And it can never be visited again.

You anticipate it, and in a moment it is gone.
We like to say that “Time waits for no man”

WHAT YOU UNDERSTAND ABOUT TIME THEN IS THIS.
• It is sought but never owned.
• It is saved but never secure.
• It is spent but never sufficient.
• It is used but never mastered.

All we can do is manage the time we have.
Or as Paul said we “make the most of your time”.

And the overwhelming message of Scripture on the subject is that
How we manage time here has ripples that last for eternity.

Well, this is the next message that the preacher has for the young man.

• He has addressed those common temptations of wisdom and pleasure and legacy,
• And now he addresses another very important issue that the young man needs to understand.

He’s going to talk about how the young man views time.

And this is so important.
• You understand how important it is to have a biblical view of money.
• You understand how important it is to have a biblical view of relationships.
• IT IS ALSO SO IMPORTANT THAT WE HAVE A BIBLICAL VIEW OF TIME.

And that is what the preacher is about to give us
Here in the 3rd chapter of Ecclesiastes.

We’re going to break our text down into 4 points this morning.
#1 THE ANNOUNCEMENT
Ecclesiastes 3:1

The preacher clearly SHIFTS GEARS here now in his sermon.
• He has momentarily moved on from wisdom and pleasure and the stuff of life
• And has now decided to talk about time.

And he opens with what is a very important truth about time.
“There is an appointed time for everything.”

This is a very important statement, if you will ponder it for a moment.

What is immediately clear is that as the preacher talks about time,
He is NOT so much talking about a cyclical view of time.

We often think of time in a cyclical way.
• There are 60 seconds to every minute
• There are 60 minutes to every hour
• There are 24 hours to every day
• There are 7 days to every week
• There are roughly 4 weeks to a month
• And it is a cycle that goes on and on and on and on

The preacher isn’t so much talking of time in that way,
So much as he is speaking more of
OPPORTUNITY or APPROPRIATENESS in our actions.

For example, as you will see in a moment he makes that famous group of statements, “A time to give birth and a time to die; A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted…”

• He is speaking of events, behaviors, actions, emotions.
• He is speaking of what is appropriate in any given moment.
• He is not talking about timing life, but rather your timing in life.
• He is speaking about living in time correctly or appropriately.

It is NOT a question of how long your life is,
But rather how did you use the time you have?
That is his perspective.

But there is also a very important clue
That must be understood right off the bat.

The preacher says, “There is an appointed time for everything.”

• He DOESN’T just say that “There is…[a] time for everything”
• But rather that there is an “appointed” time for everything.

In other words,
• There is someone who is pulling the strings.
• There is someone who is in control.
• There is someone who is sovereignly delegating out time.

And of course we know this is God.

Acts 17:26 “and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation,”

Psalms 139:16 “Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them.”

While we do not have power over time there is One who does.
We merely live in time, but God reigns over it.

We think of miracles in the Old Testament
• Like when God caused the sun to stand still for Joshua
• Or when He caused the shadow to move backward 10 steps as a sign for Hezekiah.

We think of Jesus purposely waiting 4 days to raise Lazarus.
• It not only demonstrated His power over death.
• But also His power over time.

Time does not constrain God.
Time bows to Him.

• There is a sovereign over our time.
• There is a sovereign over our days.
• There is a sovereign over the events of our life.

YOU MUST GRASP THAT.
YOU MUST UNDERSTAND THAT.

You are not in control of your time at all.

Jesus would ask questions like:
Luke 12:25 “And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life’s span?”

• Certainly it was a rebuke about worrying, but you might also ask, “What event can you perform to add a single hour to your life’s span?”

None of us has control like that.

David understood that, and he understood that God alone did have that power.
He said:
Psalms 39:4-5 “LORD, make me to know my end And what is the extent of my days; Let me know how transient I am. “Behold, You have made my days as handbreadths, And my lifetime as nothing in Your sight; Surely every man at his best is a mere breath. Selah.”

There is a sovereign who sits above time and who controls it.
We have no control, but He appoints it all.

The preacher goes on to say:
“And there is a time for every event under heaven”

That is to say that nothing that occurs here is by mistake.

There are certainly events that seem wrong or even untimely to us
But not to the One who sits sovereign over all things.

God appoints every event.
God is sovereign over them all.

And this is the first announcement of the preacher to the young man.
You had better first get this right in your mind.

• You are not in control over the span of your life.
• You are not in control over the events of life.
• BUT THERE IS ONE WHO IS.

There is a sovereign God who is at work,
“And there is a time for every event under heaven.”

The Announcement
#2 THE EXPLANATION
Ecclesiastes 3:2-8

Here is perhaps the most famous passage from the book of Ecclesiastes;
Namely because of the song sung by The Birds.

Here the preacher gives 14 examples of what he means when he says that “there is a time for every event under heaven.”

And the key word here to help you understand
Would be the word “appropriate”.

There are events orchestrated by the sovereign hand of God alone,
And there are appropriate and inappropriate responses to them.

The first is a great example of that.
(2a) “A time to give birth and a time to die.”

You don’t have any control over either of those things.
It is the universal biography of all men.

• When you go to a cemetery and you look at a headstone,
• There may be a statement there regarding the life of the person,
• But what they all have in common is a bracket of dates. 1923 – 1984 etc.
• They represent a person’s life span.
• And that person had no say in them.
• They were ordained by God while they were yet in their mother’s womb.

Paul and David both said that.

So there are some events here that orchestrated by the sovereign hand of God.

But the bulk of the list speaks more to
How we respond to the sovereign appointment of God.

Most of what the preacher discusses
Is not regarding what God sovereignly does,
(we often don’t know what that is)
But rather if we respond appropriately in life to what God does.

For example:
(2b) “A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.”

Farmers and gardeners understand this.
• There is a time to plant and a time to harvest.
• You don’t just get to plant whenever you want.
• You don’t just get to harvest whenever you want.

But God has sovereignly designed the seasons
Which dictate when you can do both of those things.

When will it be warm enough?
When will it be wet enough?
When will it be light long enough?

So the point is that you must respond appropriately
To the sovereign timeline of God.

HE CONTROLS THE SEASONS,
You simply respond at the right time to what God is doing.

And you can go on through the list
And see that this is what the preacher is talking about.

(3a) “A time to kill and a time to heal”

• It may sound harsh that the Bible says there is a time to kill,
• But if you encounter a rattlesnake when you get home this afternoon
• You’ll understand the appropriateness of “a time to kill”.

There is a time in the orchestrated events of God that killing is appropriate
Just as there are times when healing is the appropriate response.

(3b) “A time to tear down and a time to build up.”

You remember the prophet Jeremiah and how God told him:
Jeremiah 1:10 “See, I have appointed you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms, To pluck up and to break down, To destroy and to overthrow, To build and to plant.”

Jeremiah was the prophet who announced the tearing down of Jerusalem.
• It was appropriate because God’s people had sinned against Him
• So discipline was appropriate in order to turn His people back to Him.

• There are times when brokenness is certainly appropriate.
• There are times when you break behaviors or attitudes in your children;
• There are times when you build them back up.

If you do either of those at the wrong time
Then you miss the sovereign work of God.

(4) “A time to weep and a time to laugh; A time to mourn and a time to dance.”

Think funerals and weddings here.
• It is inappropriate to laugh at a funeral or to weep at a wedding.
• It is inappropriate to dance at a funeral or to mourn at a wedding.

It is to respond incorrectly to what God is doing in time.

Romans 12:15 “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.”

(5a) “A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones”

• Sometimes you need a road and stones must be scattered,
• Sometimes you desire a field and stones must be removed.

It is simply the point of appropriate behavior to the time you encounter.

(5b) “A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing”

You’ve likely learned this in marriage.
• There is a time when it is appropriate to hug your wife.
• There is a time when you may be taking your life in your own hands to do so.

(6a) “A time to search and a time to give up as lost;”

• If you’ve ever played golf you understand this.

(6b) “A time to keep and a time to throw away.”

• This is the decision you make when you plan for a garage sale.

(7a) “a time to tear apart and a time to sew together.”

To a Jew you understand the sign of repentance which was to tear you garments.
• During moments of repentance that was very appropriate,
• But it’s not always appropriate to go around ripping your clothes.

Again, there are sovereign appointed times in which we live
And then there are appropriate responses to those times.

If you do the right thing at the wrong time it’s inappropriate.
If you do the wrong thing at the right time it’s still inappropriate.

(7b) “A time to be silent and a time to speak”

Someone once said, “Sometimes silence is golden, other times it’s just plain yellow.”

(8a) “A time to love and a time to hate;”

People again see trouble with this one.
Since it seems like we should never hate.

And yet we read:
Romans 12:9 “Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.”

There are times certainly even in our culture where things should be hated.
• I learned a few days ago that June is being labeled “Pride Month”.
• I hate that.
• I don’t homosexuals for we once also were foolish ourselves.
• But I hate that our culture feels the desire to celebrate sinful behavior and even take pride in it.

There are appropriate and inappropriate response
To all events under heaven.

(8b) “A time for war and a time for peace.”

• When Jesus walked into the temple and saw the chief priests fleecing the flock, it was “a time for war”.

• And when He walked into that upper room after He rose from the dead it was peace which He offered.

Obviously we could spend a lot more time talking about when those various behaviors or responses are appropriate or inappropriate
BUT YOU GET THE IDEA OF WHAT THE PREACHER IS SAYING.

There is a sovereign God who sets sovereign over everything and every event.
• “There is an appointed time for everything” because God has appointed it.
• “And there is a time for every event under heaven” because God has
ordained it.
• And then there is the appropriate response of humanity to those events.

God is sovereignly ordaining the events of life
And you and I will either respond appropriately or inappropriately to them.

Does that make sense?

He’s already shaping the way now you are viewing time.

• You are NOT in control of the major events of time
• But you ARE in control of how you respond to what God is doing.

• You are NOT in control of the time you have
• But you ARE in control of how you use the time you have.

Do you see that?

Well let’s go one.
#3 THE QUESTION
Ecclesiastes 3:9-10

And there is that question he likes to ask so much.

Ecclesiastes 1:3 “What advantage does man have in all his work Which he does under the sun?”

Ecclesiastes 2:22 “For what does a man get in all his labor and in his striving with which he labors under the sun?”

Well here it is again.
“What profit is there to the worker from that in which he toils?”

Now keep that question IN CONTEXT.
The preacher is talking about time which you cannot control.

And he asks “What profit is there to the worker from that in which he toils?”

It is another way of asking that common question.
• Why am I here?
• What am I accomplishing?
• If God is sovereign over it all then what I am doing…really?

If I have no control over my days…
If I have no control over the events that take place under heaven…
Then what am I really accomplishing in all my labor in this life?

CAN YOU PONDER THAT FOR A SECOND?
Well the preacher strikes again doesn’t he?

He just made me feel totally insignificant and he made my life feel utterly pointless.
He has a way of totally crushing my ideas of self-importance.

That’s because if we’re living only for this life then it really is.
You have to see that.

You are trapped in time.
You have no control over it.

A QUARTERBACK on a football field can make all kinds of decisions,
And he can even manage the clock, but he cannot control it.

Neither can you in life.

And the preacher wants you to realize that.

Now that was the question.
“What profit is there to the worker from that in which he toils?”

And he goes on to explain the reason for the question a little better.

“I have seen the task which God has given the sons of men with which to occupy themselves.”

When the preacher mentions “the task”, he is talking about LIFE.

And notice how the preacher describes it.
“I have seen the task which God has given the sons of men with which to occupy themselves.”

• Have you ever had a job that was really important that you needed to get done, but your kids were all in the middle of everything?
• Did you ever give them something to do to keep them occupied?

Did you see what the preacher just said?

My sister and I have 4 cousins on my dad’s side of the family.
• One summer my grandpa decided to get all 6 of us together to pain his barn.
• But he was afraid my youngest cousin was too little.
• So while 5 of us got brown pain, my youngest cousin got a bucket full of water.
• It wasn’t long before my youngest cousin asked my grandpa if he could have
some brown in his water.

My grandpa let him feel like he was really doing something,
But the reality was he was only keeping him occupied.

And it wasn’t long before my young cousin asked,
“What profit is there to the worker for that in which he toils?”

Now do you grasp the difference between
What God is accomplishing in time and what we are accomplishing?

And the preacher feels like his life again is meaningless and pointless.
So he asks “What profit is there to the worker from that which he toils?”

What profit is there to painting with water?

SO THERE AGAIN THE PREACHER
HAS MANAGED TO PIN US UP AGAINST OUR OWN FUTILITY.

Well here is where we really start to learn.

The Announcement, The Explanation, The Question
#4 THE ANSWER
Ecclesiastes 3:11

Well let’s learn something here about God.

Remember the point of the preacher is that you don’t control time,
But you do control whether you respond appropriately to the events of this life.

Now let me ask you another question.
Who determines what is appropriate?

The preacher just said that there is “a time to plant and a time uproot”.
Who determines that time? God does.

The preacher said there is “a time to weep and a time to laugh”.
Who determines that time? God does.

Well listen to him here.
“He has made everything appropriate in its time.”

God has determined what the appropriate response in time is.
When God works, He has also determined how you should respond.

What the preacher is doing is:
Introducing to you the concept of a Sovereign Judge.
• There is One who is at work in time.
• That same One is giving you opportunity to respond to what He is doing.
• And He is watching to see if you respond appropriately or not.

He is watching to see if you weep when you should and laugh when you should,
If you mourn when you should and dance when you should, etc.

“He has made everything appropriate in its time.”
• He is the great Judge
• He is the great determiner of what is appropriate.

And then the preacher says:
“He has also set eternity in their heart”

When you read Romans 1 you read how God put the “knowledge of Him” in the human heart.
• Men instinctively know there is a God.
• Now they may seek to suppress that knowledge, but God put it in there.

Well here we learn that
God also put it instinctively in the heart of man to know eternity is real.
• Men just know that there is something beyond death.
• That certainly explains the rise of so many false religions.
• Men are trying to gain understanding to eternity because they instinctively know that eternity is real.
• Somehow man knows that there is more after this life.
• God did that.

Now, GOD DID NOT give man all the answers.

“yet so that man will not find out all the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.”

That is to say that God allows man to know eternity is real,
But God does not allow man to know everything.

A great verse here is:
Deuteronomy 29:29 “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law.”

• There are a lot of things that God knows that He has not allowed us to know.
• God has revealed all that we need to know in order to know and obey Him.
• We don’t get it all, but we do get all we need to know.

NOW, LET ME PUT ALL THIS TOGETHER.

• We have a God who is sovereign over time and all the events under heaven.
• We have man who is merely responding appropriately or inappropriately to
all those events.
• We have God who determines whether or not that response is appropriate.
• And we have man who doesn’t know everything, but somehow does know that
after this life he will answer to the sovereign Judge about how he lived.

And with that in mind the preacher asked you a question.
(9) “What profit is there to the worker from that in which he toils?”
If God is in control what good does it do for me to work?

Well the answer is that the profit comes in eternity
When you give an account to God.

• GOD DID NOT put you on this earth to be sovereign over the events of earth.
• GOD DID NOT put you on this earth to be in control of all things.
• GOD PUT YOU on this earth to prepare you for eternity; which He instinctively taught you is real.

To quote R.C. Sproul here: “We live in time, but we live for eternity.”

The God who is sovereign over time.
The God who makes “an appointed time for everything”
The God who makes “a time for every event under heaven”

That God has set all things up for the purpose of eternity.

That means that if you are working for here,
You are in conflict with God because He is working for eternity.

So what is your profit in all your labor here?
• Nothing if you’re trying to get your payoff here.
• But there is great profit if you work for eternity.

My cousin was accomplishing nothing by painting with water,
Except that he was pleasing my grandfather
Who would pay him just like he paid the rest of us.

And this is the message of the preacher to the young man.

As you go out into this world and you face various situations and events
• Know that each of these events is meant to prepare you for eternity
• And your objective is to learn what God’s appropriate response is to all these things.

There is really so much more that could be said here,
But we’ll have to wait until next time.

Let me just leave you with this thought for next seek.

“What time is it?”

And I don’t mean time on the clock
As to whether or not we should be getting out of church.

I’m talking about:
• What time is it in your life?
• What time is it in the life of your spouse?
• What time is it in the life of your child?

Are you responding appropriately in light of eternity?

When a football game starts drawing close to the end, the coach concerns himself with two things:
• The Score
• The Clock

• If he’s ahead in the score he runs the ball and hopes to run out the clock.
• If he’s behind he hopes to throw the ball and preserve the clock.

But all his decisions are made based on
Where he would be when the clock runs out.

Do you understand that?
• You were not put on this earth to live for today.
• You were put here to live for eternity.
• Are you ready when time runs out?

There is a sovereign God who has already ordained your beginning and your end. You have no control over that.

But how you respond to that God while you are in this life
Makes all the difference.

God hasn’t told you everything about what He is doing,
But He has told you that.

Now listen to the final sermon of Jesus.
Acts 1:6-8 “So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

The disciples wanted to know about the time.
• Jesus said, that is outside of your paygrade.
• You need to rather learn to make the most of the time you have.

Ephesians 5:15-17 “Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”

Romans 13:11-14 “Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.”

• What time is it?
• What is your appropriate response to today that will profit you in eternity?

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A Reminder To The Redeemed
Psalms 107
May 30, 2021

Last week we read Psalms 106
And saw a tremendous testimony to God’s AMAZING GRACE.

• We saw people who had literally infuriated God.
• The Psalmist said that God “abhorred” them.
• And yet, He saved them.

It is a tremendous testimony that our God saves His enemies.
Certainly we marvel at such grace.

Psalms 107 seems to take the next logical step.
• While Psalms 106 focused on the degree of the rebellion which God forgave.
• Ps. 107 focuses on the magnificence of the redemption which God performed.

• Psalms 106 pushed us down into despair at the depth of our wickedness.
• Psalms 107 lifts our hands in praise at the magnitude of God’s deliverance.

We could easily title this Psalm “Amazing Loyalty”

6 times in the Psalms we come across that wonderful Hebrew word CHECED
Which speaks of “God’s loyal covenantal love”.

It is a Psalm that highlights for us
Just how good God has been to helpless humanity.

But it is also a Psalm that highlights God’s loyalty for a purpose.
And it drives home for us two main points.

1. The obligation of those who have been delivered.
2. The necessity of contemplating who God delivers

You actually read it in the last verse.
(43) “Who is wise? Let him give heed to these things, And consider the lovingkindnesses of the LORD.”

There is a call there
To understand God’s loyalty and who He shows it to.

This would call us then to BE THE TYPE OF PERSON
Who enters that type of a relationship with God.

This Psalm in its entirety
Is asking you to pay attention to the recipients of God’s redemption
So that you might be one who experiences it.

But first the Psalm opens with the obligation of those who have been redeemed and that is where we start as well.
#1 THE OBLIGATION OF REDEMPTION
Psalms 107:1-3

This is a great opening paragraph to the Psalm
And there is so much that is important here to grasp.

Let’s sort of take the truths revealed here in kind of a chronological order, rather than a verse by verse order.

1) THE ADVERSARY

(2) “Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the adversary”

• We speak here of a people in bondage, and they are in bondage to a master.
• They are in bondage to an adversary.
• We know who this is, it is Satan.

2 Timothy 2:24-26 “The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.”

• Paul speaks there of those who are lost and even quarrelsome as those who are “held captive” by the devil.

• When John the Baptist spoke to the Pharisees at the Jordan river he called them “brook of vipers” (literally sons of snakes)

When Jesus addressed the Jews in John 8, He said:
John 8:44 “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

In the garden the adversary showed up and deceived the woman
And the entire human race fell into sin and into slavery to the evil one.
Men were held captive.

Some experience severe and terrible cruelties as a result of this captivity.

For example:
• In Luke 13 we meet a woman who had been bent over for 18 years due to a sickness caused by a spirit. Jesus healed her on the Sabbath.

Luke 13:16 “And this woman, a daughter of Abraham as she is, whom Satan has bound for eighteen long years, should she not have been released from this bond on the Sabbath day?”

Jesus said that Satan had bound her.

Certainly we read of the demon possessed who were terribly and physically afflicted.

But not everyone who is bound by Satan is physically afflicted.
• Some are actually quite healthy and even appear prosperous in life.
• Their captivity is found in their bondage to sin.

Those who are lost are in bondage and often don’t even know it.
The reason is because their fallen will aligns with their captivity.

They are in slavery to the sin which they love
So it often doesn’t feel like slavery.

But if they ever reach a point where they wish they could stop sinning, usually due to outward consequences; then the slavery reveals itself.

• That is when they learn that they can’t stop…
• That is when they learn that they are actually slaves.

This is the adversary,
And all men begin there by reason of Adam and their own sin.

But into this horrible scene we are introduced to:
THE REDEEMER

He is “the LORD”
• Redemption means “to buy back”
• It is to pay off the debt of the person in bondage.

One of the most beautiful pictures of this comes in the book of Hosea
• Where Gomer has been an unfaithful wife.
• Because of her unfaithfulness she is sent away.
• She falls into the arms of cruel captors.
• She incurs a debt of slavery.
• And then Hosea determines to take her back, but she comes with an enormous cost.

Hosea 3:1-2 “Then the LORD said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by her husband, yet an adulteress, even as the LORD loves the sons of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love raisin cakes.” So I bought her for myself for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a half of barley.”

It’s really a remarkable story.
(I always imagine Hosea telling his friends all about his intentions)

God is such a redeemer.
He redeems the unfaithful and pays off the debts they have amassed
So that He might take them back again.

And that lets us talk then about
THE REDEMPTION

(1) “Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, For His lovingkindness is everlasting.”

WHAT A GREAT REALITY!
God’s CHECED is “everlasting”

• That is why He redeems.
• That is why Hosea took Gomer back.
• God’s loyalty is “everlasting”

And because of that loyalty
God “has redeemed them from the hand of the adversary.”

That’s what His redemption is.
• Fueled by His great loyalty
• God pays off the debt of those
• Who are held captive by their enemy.

And so we would also then talk about:
THE REDEEMED

(2) “Let the redeemed of the LORD say so”

This is where the obligation come sin.
“Oh give thanks to the LORD”
• There is a required gratitude.
• There is a required testimony.

• Where you enslaved in sin?
• Did you have a debt you could not pay?
• Was there a cruel enemy who sat as your master?

• Did God come in and pay off your debt?
• Did God deliver you from his grasp?

THEN LET’S HEAR ABOUT IT!
Give thanks and talk about it.

It’s the beauty of the testimony.
I loved that the W.O.M. ladies spent this last year sharing their testimonies.
• For one it is great for unity and fellowship.
• But more importantly it is glorifying to God.

God has stepped in and redeemed us from our mistakes
And delivered us from our captor,
We should tell people about this.

It is the obligation of redemption.
Sharing your testimony is not optional, you are obliged to do this.

Well, that’s how the Psalm opens.

But then we get 4 pictures of what redemption looks like.
#2 THE DESCRIPTION OF REDEMPTION
Psalms 106:4-32

Obviously these break down into 4 stories of redemption.

What you must notice as you look at these 4 stories is
• What did they all have in common that caused God to redeem?
• And, what was their expected response to that redemption?

That is what the Psalmist is wanting you to grasp.

As I said, there are 4 stories here
1) GOD SATISFIES THE HUNGRY (4-9)

Here we find a story of a lost wanderer.
• They are in “a desert region”
• “They did not find a way”
• “They were hungry and thirsty”
• “Their soul fainted”

Certainly you understand a parable when you read it.

This could be a person literally lost in a desert without food or water,
But is a picture of one who has found no satisfaction in life.
This person is Ecclesiastes personified.

They have tried and searched for everything that could satisfy
And they have come up empty.

And I would also point out that this is their fault.

The preacher in Ecclesiastes made this very clear to us this morning.

Ecclesiastes 2:25 “For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without Him?”

God has so ordained it that
There is no satisfaction if you are seeking it apart from Him.

And yet people do seek satisfaction apart from God.
Jeremiah even rebuked the children of Israel for this.

Jeremiah 2:13 “For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, The fountain of living waters, To hew for themselves cisterns, Broken cisterns That can hold no water.”

These are people who made the mistake
Of seeking satisfaction in the world
And they came up way empty.

(6-7) “Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble; He delivered them from their distresses. He led them also by a straight way, to go to an inhabited city.”

They called upon the name of the LORD
And He immediately straightened their path.

He took them RIGHT TO THE SATISFACTION that had alluded them their entire life.
Psalms 23:1-2 “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters.”

That is what He did here.
• He satisfied the hungry
• He satisfied the thirsty soul

And what then is their obligation?
(8-9) “Let them give thanks to the LORD for His lovingkindness, And for His wonders to the sons of men! For He has satisfied the thirsty soul, And the hungry soul He has filled with what is good.”

“give thanks”

Has God satisfied you?
Then tell Him thank you.

God, in His great loyalty satisfies the hungry soul.
And those who have been satisfied should be grateful.

2) GOD RESCUES PRISONERS (10-16)

Analogy number 2 comes to us as prisoners in a dungeon.

(10) “There were those who dwelt in darkness and in the shadow of death, Prisoners in misery and chains.”

These were locked away in a cold dark dungeon.

But let’s make sure and also recognize that
They were there because THEY DESERVED TO BE THERE.

(11-12) “Because they had rebelled against the words of God And spurned the counsel of the Most High. Therefore He humbled their heart with labor; They stumbled and there was none to help.”

They didn’t listen.
• God told them not to go and they went.
• God told them not to do and they did.
• God told them not to touch that tree or eat from it and they did.

And in their rebellion they received far more than they bargained for.
They became slaves.
They were arrested, they were tried, they were convicted,
They were sentenced, and they were incarcerated.

And now they live as prisoners of their cruel master.

And of course we are NOT just talking about actual prisoners here.

We know of addiction and the horrors it can bring.
Alcohol, drugs, pornography, sex, gambling

But also every other sin which will enslave
Gossip, greed, ambition, anger, etc.

People who are ensnared by sin and can’t escape.
And they just rack up more and more debt they can never repay.

It is people who willfully did what God told them not to do
And it landed them in the pit of their consequences.

(13-14) “Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble; He saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death And broke their bands apart.”

They called on the LORD and “He saved them”
• He tore apart their chains
• He ripped away their cell door
• He set them free

No longer did they have to commit the sin they once were enslaved to.
They were now a new creation.

And what is their obligation for such a great deliverance?

(15-16) “Let them give thanks to the LORD for His lovingkindness, And for His wonders to the sons of men! For He has shattered gates of bronze And cut bars of iron asunder.”

They also must “give thanks”

Has God delivered you?
Has God set you free from your sin?
THEN TELL HIM THANK YOU.

God in His loyalty rescues prisoners.
And those who have been delivered should be grateful.

3) GOD SAVES FOOLS (17-22)

Here we come across “fools”
People who just do stupid things and foolish things.

WHY?
(17-18) “Fools, because of their rebellious way, And because of their iniquities, were afflicted. Their soul abhorred all kinds of food, And they drew near to the gates of death.”

They were again people who rebelled against God
And did dumb things that nearly got them killed.

Teenagers seem to particularly identify here.
• We think of all the dumb stuff we did when we were younger that could have gotten us seriously hurt.

But even more than just innocent foolishness,
Here it is rebellious foolishness.

When we actually defied the commands of God
To do what was dangerous because we thought it would be fun.

And in our rebellion we “were afflicted”

We brought horrific consequences on ourselves.
• Not the least of which was the displeasure of God and the promise of hell and judgment.

These people were fools.

(19-20) “Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble; He saved them out of their distresses. He sent His word and healed them, And delivered them from their destructions.”

But in the middle of their stupidity
They called on the LORD and “He saved them”

“He sent His word and healed them”
• Indicating that He gave them instruction on how to escape their perilous
situation.
• When they listened and obeyed, they found themselves delivered.

They had been redeemed from their foolishness.

How should they respond?
(21-22) “Let them give thanks to the LORD for His lovingkindness, And for His wonders to the sons of men! Let them also offer sacrifices of thanksgiving, And tell of His works with joyful singing.”

Here we see gratitude again.

And we see an “also” thrown in.
“and tell of His works with joyful singing”

They should declare it at the top of their lungs
With magnificent songs of praise to God!

God in His loyalty saves fools.
And the fools He saves should respond with gratitude and praise.

4) GOD DELIVERS THE HOPELESS (23-32)

These were people who weren’t necessarily
Doing something foolish or even rebellious,
But they were caught simply in the realities of the curse.

This life is hard and this world is dangerous and they were caught in it.
And it didn’t matter how hard they worked they couldn’t get out.

(23-27) “Those who go down to the sea in ships, Who do business on great waters; They have seen the works of the LORD, And His wonders in the deep. For He spoke and raised up a stormy wind, Which lifted up the waves of the sea. They rose up to the heavens, they went down to the depths; Their soul melted away in their misery. They reeled and staggered like a drunken man, And were at their wits’ end.”

It doesn’t mention rebellion.
• I suppose you could sort of read between the lines and accuse them of greed since they were doing business, but that is hardly a sin.

In reality it was just people caught in the storms of life.
Sometimes that happens even without adamant rebellion or foolishness.

The problem is that even though they didn’t necessarily cause it,
They still had no answers for it.

They “were at their wits’ end.”
• There was no hope.
• The situation had defeated them.

(28-30) “Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, And He brought them out of their distresses. He caused the storm to be still, So that the waves of the sea were hushed. Then they were glad because they were quiet, So He guided them to their desired haven.”

In their trouble they called on the LORD and “He brought them out”.
And “He guided them to their desired haven.”

HE DELIVERED THEM IN HIS LOYALTY.

How should they respond?
(31-32) “Let them give thanks to the LORD for His lovingkindness, And for His wonders to the sons of men! Let them extol Him also in the congregation of the people, And praise Him at the seat of the elders.”

You see it again.
• “give thanks”
• “Let them extol Him also in the congregation”
• “and praise Him at the seat of the elders”

Give God gratitude and glory!

God in His loyalty delivers the hopeless.
And those He delivers should thank and praise Him.

Now those are the descriptions of God’s redemption for humanity.

And certainly as we read
You saw the fingerprints of Jesus all over this Psalm.

JESUS SATISFIES THE HUNGRY.

• We could easily read about Him feeding the 5,000
• We could easily read about the woman at the well and Him offering her living water.

John 6:32-35 “Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. “For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.” Then they said to Him, “Lord, always give us this bread.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.”

Jesus alone is satisfaction.
Jesus alone gives life and life abundant.
Certainly that story is about Him.

JESUS RESCUES PRISONERS

He said it Himself:
Luke 4:17-21 “And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written, “THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED, TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.” And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

• We think about that man born blind who was consigned to darkness.
• We think about that cripple at the Bethesda pool whom Jesus healed and told him to sin no more.
• We think about that paralytic lowered through the roof and the first thing Jesus did was forgive His sin, and then healed him.

Matthew certainly understood that
Those “who dwelt in darkness and in the shadow of death” needed Jesus.

He saw Jesus and wrote:
Matthew 4:12-16 “Now when Jesus heard that John had been taken into custody, He withdrew into Galilee; and leaving Nazareth, He came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “THE LAND OF ZEBULUN AND THE LAND OF NAPHTALI, BY THE WAY OF THE SEA, BEYOND THE JORDAN, GALILEE OF THE GENTILES — “THE PEOPLE WHO WERE SITTING IN DARKNESS SAW A GREAT LIGHT, AND THOSE WHO WERE SITTING IN THE LAND AND SHADOW OF DEATH, UPON THEM A LIGHT DAWNED.”

And Jesus said of Himself to those in darkness.
John 8:12 “Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”

Those who fell into sin and addiction and slavery to sin,
Jesus alone has the ability to give them back their life.

He alone can pay off their debts and release the prisoners.
Certainly that story is about Him.

JESUS SAVES FOOLS

Matthew 17:14-18 “When they came to the crowd, a man came up to Jesus, falling on his knees before Him and saying, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic and is very ill; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. “I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him.” And Jesus answered and said, “You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me.” And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured at once.”

• Jesus is there seen saving that lunatic.
• Or go to the Gadarene demoniac who is living among the tombs and see Jesus deliver him from a legion of demons.

Jesus saves fools who do stupid things.

Titus 3:3-7 “For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

Certainly that story is about Jesus.

JESUS DELIVERS THE HOPELESS

That story is almost verbatim to the story in the New Testament
When Jesus calms the sea.

• Men in danger of the sea and Jesus rebukes the waves and the sea becomes calm.
• It was a picture of how Jesus can deliver us from what we have no power to deliver ourselves from.
• Many of those disciples were fishermen and they knew a thing or two about a storm, but on that night their strength was not enough.

We find that in life.

And to those people Jesus says:
Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Those who have no hope of saving themselves.
He delivers them.

We read how “He guided them to their desired haven.”
• I can’t help but think about God brought to Carrie and I the great deliverance
from her depression when we had all but given up.
• We have often called it our “Island of Malta” because God delivered us from
that storm to an island we didn’t even know existed.

He does those things in His loyalty.

Have you experienced any or all of them?
• Have you ever been empty?
• Have you ever been enslaved?
• Have you ever been foolish?
• Have you ever been hopeless?

Did Jesus redeem you?

Then “give thanks”
“Let the redeemed of the LORD say so!”

Well, there is one more point tonight.
#3 THE LESSON OF REDEMPTION
Psalms 107:33-43

When you read verses 33-38
What you see is the sovereign prerogative of God.

You notice that God has the ability to make life hard any time He wants.
• He can send a drought
• He can make life hard

And you notice that He can make life easy.
• He can send rain and grow crops and do all sorts of things like that.

By His sovereign prerogative
He has the ability to do whatever He desires with life.

But when you get to verse 39
You begin to see that BOTH OF THOSE HE DOES FOR A PURPOSE.

• If He makes life hard and squeezes a person it is for a reason.
• And if He makes life easy and blesses a person it is for a reason.

And that reason is what you SHOULD HAVE NOTICED
During the first 32 verses of the Psalm.

God brings calamity so that men might do what?
• What is it that all 4 of those stories had in common?

(6,13,19,28) “Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble”

God wants faith and submission and for you to call on His name.
That is the Psalmist explanation for your affliction.

And then when God delivers and redeems and turns struggle into blessing, why is it that God does that?

(8,15,21,31) “Let them give thanks to the LORD for His lovingkindness”

So God places men in difficulty.
• (12) “He humbled their heart with labor”
• (25) “He spoke and raised up a stormy wind”

So that they will call on Him.
And then credit Him for their redemption and praise Him for it.

WHAT DO YOU LEARN FROM THAT?

Bound up all throughout this Psalm is the one foundational truth
That everyone should know now by heart.

James 4:6 “But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.”

(39-43) “When they are diminished and bowed down Through oppression, misery and sorrow, He pours contempt upon princes And makes them wander in a pathless waste. But He sets the needy securely on high away from affliction, And makes his families like a flock. The upright see it and are glad; But all unrighteousness shuts its mouth. Who is wise? Let him give heed to these things, And consider the lovingkindnesses of the LORD.”

God can squeeze anyone He wants to squeeze
And God can exalt anyone He desires to exalt.

And it is always the same criteria.
That man will humble themselves and call on His name.

• If idolatry landed them in their distress then certainly they must confess that idolatry when they call.

• If rebellion landed them in their distress then certainly they must confess that rebellion when they call.

• If foolishness landed them in their distress then certainly they must confess that foolishness when they call.

• If weakness landed them in their distress then certainly they must acknowledge that weakness when they call.

But when they humbled themselves and call on His name,
He redeems!
That is the point!

And when they are redeemed they are obliged to give thanks and say so!

“Who is wise? Let him give heed to these things, And consider the lovingkindnesses of the LORD.”

We could easily go on for many hours tonight on this topic,
But the point I hope is clear.

This week,
• If you are in peril humble yourself and call on the LORD.
• If you have been redeemed then give thanks and tell someone about it.