This Fleeting Life
Notes
Transcript
We’ve spent a few weeks in the psalms this summer already.
The psalms are good for my soul. The book of Psalms gives language to my struggles. It helps me express my concerns and worries. The psalms warm my cold heart and help me worship. I’m thankful we get to spend time in Psalms together.
We picked up this summer in Psalm 36—a psalm about the hesed love of God in a wicked world.
And then we hit Psalm 37 which really felt like reading a long collection of Proverbs—little snippets of wisdom made up the psalm.
Psalm 38 was almost like turning to Job and listening to him in his suffering.
And today, Psalm 39, sounds like another of the wisdom books. Proverbs, Job, and then today, it’s almost like we’re reading Ecclesiastes.
I even entitled this sermon with Ecclesiastes in mind— “This Fleeting Life”—because Psalm 39 has the same feel as Ecclesiastes.
Three times the word which dominates the book of Ecclesiastes shows up in Psalm 39. The word is hevel— “vanity, meaninglessness”—is here in Psalm 39 translated breath or in vain.
Hevel appears in verses 5, 6, and 11. The central section of the psalm, the section that pretty well sets the theme of the psalm—verses 4-6—really does feel like something out of Ecclesiastes.
But it’s not Ecclesiastes. This is a psalm, a song for the congregation of God’s people—then and now.
If you have your Bible (and I hope you do), please turn with me to Psalm 39. If you’re able and willing, please stand for the reading of God’s Holy Word:
For the director of music. For Jeduthun. A psalm of David.
1 I said, “I will watch my ways
and keep my tongue from sin;
I will put a muzzle on my mouth
while in the presence of the wicked.”
2 So I remained utterly silent,
not even saying anything good.
But my anguish increased;
3 my heart grew hot within me.
While I meditated, the fire burned;
then I spoke with my tongue:
4 “Show me, Lord, my life’s end
and the number of my days;
let me know how fleeting my life is.
5 You have made my days a mere handbreadth;
the span of my years is as nothing before you.
Everyone is but a breath,
even those who seem secure.
6 “Surely everyone goes around like a mere phantom;
in vain they rush about, heaping up wealth
without knowing whose it will finally be.
7 “But now, Lord, what do I look for?
My hope is in you.
8 Save me from all my transgressions;
do not make me the scorn of fools.
9 I was silent; I would not open my mouth,
for you are the one who has done this.
10 Remove your scourge from me;
I am overcome by the blow of your hand.
11 When you rebuke and discipline anyone for their sin,
you consume their wealth like a moth—
surely everyone is but a breath.
12 “Hear my prayer, Lord,
listen to my cry for help;
do not be deaf to my weeping.
I dwell with you as a foreigner,
a stranger, as all my ancestors were.
13 Look away from me, that I may enjoy life again
before I depart and am no more.”
May God add His blessing to the reading of His Holy Word!
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The psalms we’ve studied together so far this summer seem to be connected around a theme: struggle regarding the wicked, the evil in the world, how the faithful deal with the wicked.
Even if they aren’t grouped together thematically, they all have something in common: they are all authored by David and each of the psalms comes out of his life’s experience. He’s dealing with how to live in this evil and wicked world, among evil and wicked people.
Psalm 39 is a song written for the director of music, the choirmaster, for Jeduthun—one of the chief musicians appointed by David to lead public worship in the tabernacle, before the ark of the covenant.
This psalm must have been intended for corporate worship; David wrote the song and gave it to the director of music. It’s included here, in our collection of psalms, because the LORD wants it to work on us.
In Psalm 39, David reveals
The Struggle of Suffering (vv. 1-3)
The Struggle of Suffering (vv. 1-3)
What David discusses in verses 1-3 is certainly not the only struggle of suffering, but it’s what David’s struggling with here. There’s something David really wants to say, but he won’t say it in the presence of unbelievers—so long as the wicked are in [his] presence.
David knows that he needs to watch what he does and to bridle his tongue. He’s learned the lesson many of us need to learn.
Okay, everyone, stick out your tongue.
Every couple of years I get you all to stick out your tongues. One of my favorite things! Thanks for playing along.
The truth is, I didn’t need you to stick out your tongues, but I do need us to be thinking about what the Bible has to say about guarding our mouths.
26 Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.
23 Those who guard their mouths and their tongues
keep themselves from calamity.
“Be careful little mouth what you say...”
All my life, it’s been my mouth that gets me in trouble. My dear mother told me when I was 12-13 years old: “You’re a bully with your mouth.” I really was. Still can be.
I held the record for detentions at Delmer Day Elementary School. Not for any physical behavior, but because of the things I would say.
In Junior High, my friend Jessica Riegel was giving a presentation in class and said something like, “More ‘pacifically’ the school needs to give us…”
I interrupted Jessica and asked, “Pacifically?! As opposed to atlantically?”
I had to move my desk to the hall for that one.
I did not do a very good job keeping my tongue from sin. My mouth needed a muzzle most of my way through school, and even now (though, by the grace of God, I’m better than I was).
David’s main concern is keeping his tongue, watching his mouth while in the presence of the wicked.
This is admirable. This is a matter of witness. David will not speak about his struggle, his suffering at the hand of God while in the presence of those who don’t know God.
David kept silent until he couldn’t, and even then, he didn’t speak about his struggle to the wicked, but rather to the LORD.
There’s some stuff going on with David. As we read in Psalm 38, he’s being disciplined by the LORD and being rebuked by the LORD because of his sin.
If Psalm 39 is a carry-over or a continuation of Psalm 38 (I think it is), what David is saying is that he’s not going to complain about what he’s going through because he doesn’t want his words to reflect poorly on the LORD.
The struggle of suffering is that sometimes, like David, it’s better to suffer silently than it is to sully God’s name.
David knew how his words could/would be misunderstood and misused by others. He didn’t want it to come off to them like he was criticizing God and His ways.
You can be honest with God and honest with other mature Christians about your suffering, but we need to be careful when speaking to non-believers about our suffering and our struggles, lest we give them the wrong idea about our God.
It’s better to be silent than to say things that can be used against God by unbelieving people. We should bring our troubles to God.
David keeps silent while among the wicked. But when he could no longer hold it in, as his anguish grew, he turned to the LORD and reflected upon
The Reality of Earthly Existence (vv. 4-6)
The Reality of Earthly Existence (vv. 4-6)
What David wouldn’t say in public, he says now to the LORD. David asks to see his life’s end, how fleeting his life is, the number of his days.
The key word here (as mentioned earlier) is hevel—translated breath (v. 5), in vain (v. 6), or in Ecclesiastes, meaningless.
Ecclesiastes 1:2 “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.”
David sounds a little like that.
David wants to know how long his life will be. He knows life is fleeting; he wants to know just how fleeting his life will be.
William Shakespeare expressed the troubling thought of how short life is in Macbeth:
Psalms, Volume 1: (Psalms 1–41): An Expositional Commentary Out, Out, Brief Candle!
Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more; it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing (act 5, scene 5).
Now, King David is not King Macbeth. David is bothered by the same issue—the brevity and apparent vanity of life—but David isn’t bothered in the same way.
David unburdens himself to God. David seeks wisdom from God.
Verse 4 isn’t David saying, “I’m so sick of all this suffering. Just tell me when I’m going to die!” That’s not what David is getting at.
David is asking the LORD, “Please help me to know, help me to understand how short this life is, so that in my suffering I will entrust myself to you more fully, more completely.”
David is asking the LORD about this life, because he believes the LORD determines our days. God has fixed the span of human years.
You have made my days a mere handbreadth.
Our days are relatively short. Like the width of a hand (3 inches), your life is ___.
Your life is ___ and eternity is infinite.
The span of our years is nothing before the LORD, the Creator of all, the Eternal One.
Everyone is but a breath. This is something even unbelievers can grasp.
In one episode of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, Jerry Seinfeld picks up his good friend, Michael Richards who played Kramer on Seinfeld. The two friends go grab a cup of coffee.
Kramer (Michael Richards) is nervous about going out in public and being seen by the masses. So he puts on a wig and sunglasses, hoping no one will notice him.
He tells Jerry, who’s walking around without disguise, “I really think you should wear a hat and some sunglasses or something.”
Jerry responds with the most amazing statement: “Oh, Michael, free yourself. We’re just raindrops on a windshield, Michael.”
Michael quips back, “Well, I wanna know who’s wiping us off!”
“Just raindrops on a windshield” is pretty good theology. Here’s Seinfeld, a billionaire and world-famous comedian and he realizes how fleeting this life is.
No matter how important a person thinks they are, no matter their successes and impact here in the handbreadth that is their life, they’re “just raindrops on a windshield,” here for a moment and gone in an instant.
A breath. A vapor. A mist A mere phantom. A shadow. All terms the Bible uses to describe us.
God has fixed the span of life for each of us. Even as long as life here may seem, it’s short; it’s fleeting.
But this is no accident; life has meaning. And life is good, because the author of this puzzling reality is our good God.
The reality of our earthly existence is that life here is fleeting.
Life is short, and the only real meaning of a man or a woman’s existence must be in relationship to God.
Apart from a relationship with God through Jesus Christ here and now, eternity is hell—separation from God, punishment for sins; eternal, conscious torment.
When you have a relationship with God by faith in Jesus Christ, there is the assurance of eternity with the LORD—there will be true joy and fellowship with Him, forever and ever.
David knows this earthly existence is temporary, fleeting, and so he turns his attention to the LORD,
The Location of Hope (vv. 7-11)
The Location of Hope (vv. 7-11)
David states it plainly: My hope is in you. This is a common refrain of the psalms, but repetition doesn’t mean insincere. David means it.
God’s people mean it. Even in the most difficult seasons of life, those who belong to God know to place their hope in Him.
My hope is in you. These are powerful, meaningful words. These are words of trust.
David’s problems haven’t instantly, immediately gone away, but what is uncertain about life is dwarfed by what he believes about God.
David turns to God asking Him to save him from his transgressions. David’s asking that the LORD would remove His disciplining hand from David’s life.
David knows his suffering is due to his own sinfulness and also the rebuke and discipline of God (read Psalm 38 again if you doubt David believes this).
David has, like the rest of us, fallen into a common trap. I think David had started to look at the things of this world to give him some security, some peace, some comfort.
Why do I think this? Good question. Thanks for asking.
Verse 11 is what leads me to believe David (like most of us have) started to trust in the wrong things.
Ps 39:11 “When you rebuke and discipline anyone for their sin, you consume their wealth like a moth— surely everyone is but a breath.”
David says that when the LORD disciplines a person, He consumes like a moth what is dear to them.
When we place our hope in the things of this world, the LORD will break down that idol (whatever it is).
He will consume what is dear to us—whatever we place above Him, whatever we place our hope in. He will rip it from our hands.
And He does this, lovingly, even though it’s painful. It’s painful, but it’s for our good. If our hope is in anyone but the LORD, anything but the LORD, it’s misplaced and it will fail us.
The LORD, good and gracious, will help us to realize our hope is found in Him alone.
My hope is in you. David knows hope is found in the LORD, and in Him alone. There is no other hope for David.
There is no other hope for you and me. Our hope is in Christ alone. He is where our hope is found.
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
David ends with a prayer to:
The Source of Help (vv. 12-13)
The Source of Help (vv. 12-13)
David turns to the LORD and prays to the One who hears, who listens to his cry for help, to the One who is not deaf to Him.
David’s in need of help, and so turns to the Helper.
David is admitting here his helplessness and his homelessness.
David sees himself as a foreigner and stranger during his fleeting earthly existence, just as his ancestors were.
It may sound bleak, but foreigners and strangers were a special object of God’s care. Israel, the OT people of God, learned to show foreigners/strangers the same care God did, because the Israelites had been aliens and strangers in the land of Egypt. Abraham was a stranger in the land. David was still one, even when he ruled the land.
There’s something about recognizing your place, your true home. I’ll fill you in or remind you of this: your home is not here and now. David had no earthly home of any lasting measure. Neither do we.
The author of Hebrews writes that God’s people are looking for a better country—a heavenly one.
David knows his help comes from above. He’s a stranger and alien here.
The very concept of the alien and the stranger holds within itself another of the OT pointers to the NT hope of heaven.
The fact of all these people having no real home here implied that in the mind of their loving LORD, they would eventually have a proper home somewhere better.
Tents for now. One day a city.
9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
If that’s not heaven, I don’t know what is.
When we pray with proper perspective about where our help comes from, and about who we are, we learn to view our suffering and fleeting earthly life differently.
16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
This fleeting life brings with it all manner of suffering and struggle. Don’t believe anyone who tells you this life is all prosperity, happiness, health and wealth.
It’s simply not true. Listen to Jesus:
33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
You will struggle. You will face people who don’t like you, who mock your faith.
Hold your tongue. Keep your mouth in check.
Hang onto HOPE. That is, cling to Jesus. He will hold you fast! You are safe and secure in the palm of His hand, Christian.
Reach out to Him for help. You cannot walk this life alone. Can’t do it. You need Him—His help and provision—to get you through.
Cling to Jesus. Cry out to Him. Say, like David, “My hope is in you, LORD!”