which will again read in its entirety, Psalms 39. I said I will guard my ways that I may not sit with my tongue. I will guard my mouth with the muzzle, so long as the wicked are in my presence. I was mute and silent. I held my peace to no avail, and my distress grew worse. My heart became hot within me as I muse the fire burn that I spoke with my tongue. O Lord, make me know my inn, and what is the measure of my days. Let me know how fleeting I am. Behold, you have made my days like a few hand breaths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath. Surely a man goes about as a shadow. Surely for nothing they are, surely for nothing they are in turmoil. Man heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather. And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you. Deliver me from all my transgressions do not make me the scorn of the fool. I am mute. I do not open my mouth for it is you who have done it. Remove your stroke from me. I am spent by the hostility of your hand. When you discipline a man, when you discipline a man with rebukes for sin, you consume like a moth, what is dear to him? Surely all mankind is a mere breath. Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry. Hold not your peace at my tears. For I am a soldier with you, a guest like all my fathers. Look away from me that I may smile again before I depart and am no more. May God richly bless both the reading and the hearing of his holy word. Now, this is another Psalm of David. And I want to actually begin with the bottom line here of what David desires. His desire is to be able to smile again, to be able to smile again. That's his desire. Whether he means a physical smile on his face or whether he is speaking of a different disposition, David is acknowledging a season of distress, and therefore his desire is to smile again. I think he could even make the case that his desire is to enjoy what it means to be a child of God again. It's not that he's no longer a child of God, but something there are things that have hindered him from understanding and fully appreciating all that it means for him to be a child of God. What I want to do is move as we come back to that final statement, which is where we want to end, that I may smile again. I want to divide it along three lines. First off, we'll look at the three main issues that David raises in this particular Psalm. And then, because he does mention discipline, we will give a broader view of biblical discipline. And then thirdly, we will see how God ministers to David, or how he is called to sort of take self inventory through this period. So let's look at three things. The three things that are evident in this particular Psalm is number one. We see in verse two that for David, this Psalm reflects a season of distress. It was this season of distress that prompts him to write. Now, we're not told particularly what it is that he is going through or what we do know why, and we'll see that in a moment, but it's not a joyful time. And I think that's important. One of the things that we should have learned as we go through the various Psalms, that number one, it is possible to be a Christian and not always be smiling face. There are dark seasons. And it doesn't mean that we have any less faith. It doesn't mean that we are any less safe, but there are any number of things that can cast us into a season of distress. It could be the loss of the life of a loved one. It could be the loss of possessions. It could be diminishing health. In this case, there is something in particular that God uses to press down on David in a particular way. But it is possible. It's almost insulting when we hear some of the portrayals of Christianity that if you are despondent, if you are depressed, if you are distressed, then there's something deficient in your faith. But David certainly is, and I've said this often, that if I could only preach to one person at any given time, if I only had an audience of one of any saint, pastor, president, who was the one person I'd want to preach to, trust me, it would be David. It would be a, it would be on and popping. If I had a chance to preach in front of David, because if anyone understood the depths of sin, and if anyone understood the riches of God's grace and his promise of salvation, trust me, it would be King David. So David is writing the 39th Psalm in a season of distress. And then he not only says that it's a season of distress, but he makes it clear that even though he tried to do different things, his distress only got deeper. So it was sort of a pit that he found himself in. Here's the second thing that David is clear about, or clear about in this particular Psalm. He recognizes that his distress has been issued from the hand of God. He's not shy about this, that whatever it is that's caused him to be in this fuck, to be in this period of distress has been issued directly from the hand of God. At the end of verse 9, he says, for it is you who have done this, it is you who have done it. And then in the opening of verse 10, he says, remove your stroke from me, for I am spent by the hostility of your hand. David is not a matter of karma that I have you do bad things, bad things happen to you. David is not even deluded into thinking that somehow he is void of God's love. But he does understand that the love of God also, it's not interrupted even during this period of distress. That's one of the reasons he has no qualms about crying out to God. He doesn't try to earn his way back, he understands that what is happening to me has been issued from your hand. And when you remove your hand in this season, it will be better. In fact, again, that's what he's asking for. Lord, turn your face back towards me or turn this particular posture of your face away from me so that I can smile again. And so David is in a season of distress. He understands that this distress has been issued from the hand of God. And then thirdly, we see in verse 11, David recognizes that this hostility of God, this hostile hand of God is indeed an act of divine discipline. He recognizes that in verse 11, he says when you discipline a man with rebukes for sin, you consume like a moth, what is dear to him. In other words, you make those things that are dear to him, you make those things shrivel up. And even if they don't disappear, what he's saying is the joy that I had in those things is simply not there anymore. But David is understanding that his condition is an act of divine discipline. Now a couple of things before we look and make some general biblical observations on the discipline of God for his children. A couple of things to note first. First off, as it relates to David, whatever this discipline of the Lord is, it doesn't mean that he was ever excommunicated from God's presence. And I want to make that clear because oftentimes, I know what's meant, but I think we can flake the ideas when sometimes when we have to exercise church discipline, people say that the aim of discipline is restoration, but that's not true. Because God's communication is only one form. It's the final version of discipline. The discipline of God begins when he confronts your sin. And so therefore, whether it's through the ordinary preaching of the word, whether it's through study from the word, whether it's through the confrontation of a loving brother or a sister or two or three, or the exercise of church discipline from the church, the aim of discipline of divine discipline is repentance. And the reason we say it's restoration because, and here's a problem with that, when you say restoration, then you are assuming excommunication. And of course, the aim, and we excommunicate people with the desire and the hope that they would be restored to fellowship, but what precipitates restoration is repentance. So the goal of discipline is repentance. Now, here's why this is important. In the life of David, we know of a few situations where his sins became public, but he was never removed from the fellowship of worship or the covenant community. He was never removed from the throne as an act of discipline from God. So whatever discipline David experienced, he experienced it personally, and he understood that it was discipline being issued from God. Now, that's kind of important here because that means that what David is writing about in a very public way, maybe others did not realize that he was actually being disciplined by God. Now, a few weeks ago, when we looked at the Psalm in which the basis of it is when David took the census of the people. Now, the reaction to his census was public, and so therefore it was evident. In fact, the Lord gave him an option of how he could handle this. So it was evident that the hand of the Lord was against Israel when he struck down the 10,000 people, after David had numbered the people even before he brought pestilence on the land. It was evident. You can make a one-to-one correlation that this is because of that, and certainly that is what the prophet told him that this is what God is going to do. But in this situation, we don't know what season it is. We don't know what action it was. There was no physical or there was no obvious repercussions because of his sin with Bathsheba other than the fact that the child died. But we don't know what it was that brought about this discipline from the hand of the Lord, but David is convinced that God is disciplining him for a particular sin. We do need to tread careful when we look at the various things in our lives, and we associate this as an act of God for that. We need to be careful on that, but God does discipline his people, which brings us to a second category. And this is where sort of an aside, and here we want to make three observations, biblical observations, general biblical observations on the subject of disciplining God's disciplining his people. In the first place, and we'll reference two portions of New Testament scripture here, first in Hebrews chapter 12, and we'll look at verses 5-8, but here's the point. God only disciplines or chasins those that he loves, those that he loves, and I should add, those that he loves redemptively. Therefore, the discipline of God is paternal in nature. He only disciplines those that he has redeemed, and those that he claims as children. Hebrews chapter 12 verses 5-8 says, beginning in verse 5, and you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons. My sons do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him, for the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives. It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as a son, or as sons, for what son is there whom his father does not discipline. If you are left without discipline in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. So again, as it relates to the discipline of God, he only disciplines those that he has loved redemptively. Therefore, his discipline should be understood as an exercise of paternal or parental love. Here is the second thing. In verses 9-11, also in Hebrews chapter 12, God's discipline of his children is for their growth and their good. It is for their growth and their good. Beginning in verse 9, he says, besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us, and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the father of spirits and live, for they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them. But he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. So discipline, divine discipline is something that God only issues towards his children. And this discipline is ultimately for our good and for our growth. The writer of Hebrews identifies the purpose of God's discipline as training us, training us in righteousness. So therefore God does discipline, and he disciplines his children, and the end of his discipline of his children is for their good and their growth. Here's the third thing, and again from the New Testament, 1 Corinthians chapter 11, and we'll look at verses 31 and 32. And here's the point that we'll discuss, that the discipline of God's children should not be confused with judicial divine condemnation. The discipline of God's children should not be confused with judicial and divine condemnation. 1 Corinthians chapter 11, beginning in verse 31, the Apostle Paul writing to the Corinthians concerning the Lord's table, and by the way he says because of this self examination that he exhorts them to, he warns them to examine themselves whether they eat or drink in a proper manner, and then he says previously he says for this reason many are sick, many are weak, and many sleep. And then he goes on to explain it this way, beginning in verse 31 he says but if we judged ourselves truly then we would not be judged, but when we are judged by the Lord we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world. So God does chase him, he chases those that belongs to him, and is chastening although at times uncomfortable and painful, and it can be very disruptive and as we see with this 39 Psalm it can throw you into a season of distress but ultimately the purpose of God's disciplining or the aim of his disciplining of his children is for their good. It is to bring them to repentance and in repenting to renew in them their love for what he has given to them in salvation. And that seems to be usually what gets us, we get off, we get sidetracked and sometimes we, it's not that we don't know that we are saved but sometimes we act like the children of the world. And God because we belong to him, he disciplines us, he reminds us who we belong to, and in disciplining us it's for it's to train us in righteousness, it's to cause us to love who we are, it's to cause us to love even more what we have been given, and the purpose of it is so that we would reflect and respond to God's grace to us in Christ. So again, there's danger, always danger when it comes to discipline because we always want to find, we always want a good answer as to why we're going through this season. And I think it is sometimes very trite on the part of Christians that you know God wouldn't put you through this storm unless there's something for you to learn. Let's not say that, right? Yeah, there is something in general for us to learn but at the end of our trials he doesn't give us the test. Now what did you learn? No, no, sometimes what we learn is not, we're not able to articulate, it just changes a perspective. So there's not always easy answers, God is not bringing this to bear on your life until you learn this and then you learn how to do that. No, no, that's not it. David understands his situation as certainly being an act of divine discipline. And he says it is because of sin, in his case it's because of sin, that his love for the things of the world which has outweighed his love for God in that instance has caused the loving God who has redeemed him by the righteousness of another to lay a heavy hand on him to intentionally make him uncomfortable. Now having said that, let's observe three things that at least seem to be brought home to David while he is in the season of distress, three things. And sometimes by the way, when God's hand is heavy on us, we learn some things about ourselves. We learn, he does kind of teach us. And in this instance one of the things that seems to be made clear to David and we see this in verse one is that he recognizes that within him there is a possibility and potential for him to use his mouth to complain to God when he knows he has no right. That's the gist of verse one. I was actually, I began looking at verse one in preparing this from this song and was my intent to actually use it in conjunction with something else that we'll be looking at as it relates to the sin of language or the word sins, verbal sins, that David addresses elsewhere. But here he's very specific about his song. He says, I said, I will guard my ways that I may not notice this sin with my tongue. Now this isn't a general commitment that David is making as he does and we'll be looking at that in the few weeks from Psalms 19. You know, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you. But this is not, this is not him generally saying, Lord, guard my tongue so that I don't say careless things. Well, this is in particular about his season of distress. David is recognizing that Lord your hand is heavy upon me and being heavy upon him. David is now, he is, he is aware of thoughts that have surfaced in his heart that are about to travel the space from heart to mouth. And he's about to get his whole being to to cooperate in saying something that he shouldn't say about God in this situation. And therefore, look at what he does. He says, I, he says, I, I said, I will guard my ways that I may not sin with my tongue. I will guard my mouth with a muzzle so long as the wicked are in my presence. And I love that at least, you know, not in the presence of others. I don't want to say these things. I don't want to say what I shouldn't say about God knowing that God's hand upon me is as a loving father. Then he goes on, he says, I, I was mutant. I was silent. I held my peace. So I didn't speak. I didn't say what I could have said. I didn't say what I wanted to say. And so he is acknowledging that sometimes, and certainly that is, I think true for any of us, sometimes when we hurt, regardless of the reason, sometimes when we are uncomfortable, there is a very strong possibility and potential for us to add to whatever the season we're going through by saying something because I'm not as sophisticated as David. I'll say this, we are always on the verge of saying something spiritually stupid. I like what Steve Brown once said about Peter. He says Peter often had nothing to say, but it never stopped him from saying it. And sometimes even in our distress, that's when we will pontificate or we will point fingers and we have a tendency to say things to God or say things about God that are unwarranted. When we look at it at our moment, in that situation, in light of the bigger picture of God's grace towards us in Christ. And so therefore the season of distress causes David to take inventory of himself, and he is very much aware of the fact that it's not beyond him to say something stupid. And so he says, I'm Muslim myself. I kept my peace. I tried not to say anything. And then he says, and when I help my peace, it got worse. See, that's the thing about God. When patience is what he's working, if patience is what he's doing is nurturing more patience within us, then you know what he does? But he does. He surrounds us sometimes with situations where our impatience always comes out. So David says, he challenges himself. He says, well, boy, I thought that. And I almost said it, but I muscled myself. And then when I kept my mouth, then things got worse. And then he was still tempted to speak. And then he goes on to say, but I held my silence. I held my tongue and I didn't say anything. So David, during this period of divine chastening, during this period of distress because of that chastening, David becomes aware that, and think about this, he is the biggest contributor to the book of Psalms. And so, and how many Psalms of David have been, have been just a wonderful testimony to us. How many of us have favored some of our favorite verses are in the Psalms? Psalms 23, Psalms 27, Psalms 40, Psalms 1. How many of us have taken great delight in reading the godly words of David, the godly meditations that come from David. But David sees himself not as they call him the sweet singer of Israel. David was not just the sweet singer of Israel, but in his season of distress, he also knew that the sweet singer of Israel could also be the bitter weeper. And rather than allow his voice to be given over to bitter crimes about the god, and he has spoken so profoundly about the grace that he has spoken so profoundly about, those things that he has written for others to sing, and we continue to sing and cite to this day to our god. David says, wow. Yeah, I almost said something that probably shouldn't be in the Psalms. So he says, I guarded myself, I muscled my mouth, because I knew that I discovered in this season where there are words of praise and worship that can issue forth from me, I also have the potential to say some things that I should not say. James says this, he asks the question rhetorically, and we answer it sometimes in the absolute. James says can a fountain give both pure and bitter water at the same time? Well, no, James, a fountain can't, but a human can. And see, that's our problem. We are prone to wander, not just with our feet, but with our thoughts, and also with our words. Here's the second thing that David seems to be made clear of, and we see this in verses four through six. This season, this season of distress that is brought about by the chastening hand of god has made him more conscious of the fleeting nature of his temporal existence. And I think there's a reason for that. In other words, if you look in verses four through six, he says, oh lord, make me to know my end. And what is the measure of my days? Let me know how fleeting I am. Now he addresses this later in other Psalms that let me, let me measure my days. And perhaps what it was that perhaps put him on the course that led him to me. That led him to whatever sin he is being disciplined from the discipline by God from maybe what calls him to do it is he forgot for a moment. He got a little beside of him, the little beside himself. Maybe he was caught up in the moment and forgot that he's fleeting. Maybe it's what date with what Paul admonishes in second Corinthians when he says that we should be mindful of those things that are unseen rather than the things that are seen. That we are to strive for those things. In other words, we should have a heavenly perspective on all of our, all of our things because sometimes when we don't, we get caught up in that which is temporal. Isn't that what happened with David and Bathsheba? It was a season of prosperity. All kings go out to war and he chose not to go out to war. And so because he wasn't where he was supposed to be, it wasn't that it wasn't unusual for a woman to bathe or even for her to be accidentally seen. David saw himself in a different light. For in that moment he didn't just see himself as a servant to God. He didn't see himself as God's king. He started seeing himself like a pagan king. You know how Mel Brooks put it best in history of the world when he says sometimes it's good to be king. Maybe that's what David was. It was good to be king and he used his privilege and his prerogative because he saw things that are temporal and he attached to them greater significance to those things. Isn't that what we do sometimes when we get sidetracked, whether it's possessions, whether it's whether it's whether it's, it's, it's relationships. Isn't that what happens with our stuff that we attach more value to those things and in this season when God's hand is heavy on David. It makes him look at himself and now he's no longer the champion that killed Goliath. He's made mindful of the fact that I'm my, my breath, my life is like a breath that is fleeting away. And his point is the point that that Peter makes in the New Testament when he says that here's his admonishment that we ought to give ourselves open to the service of God. And Peter says, haven't we wasted enough of our time doing serving the flesh? Maybe David got caught up in the flesh and attached more value, attached eternal value to those things that are temporal and fleeting. Maybe he made a God of his appetite. Maybe David was just too proud of the things. Maybe he got a moment in a moment where there was a moment in his pondering of things where he became like Nephi Kinesa. Maybe David was walking out and looking at the piece of Jerusalem. Maybe he was looking at all of those who were paying tribute to him. Maybe he was proud of his accomplishments. Maybe like Nephi Kinesa. Remember, Nephi Kinesa was a little puffed up and he, everything was under his control, he had overthrown all of these various empires and he looked out from his garden wall. This is my, look at my kingdom, look at Babylon, look at all that I have done. Look at what I have accomplished. And he got puffed up and says, this is great Babylon, that I have built. Daniel says while the words were still warm in his mouth, the Lord drove him crazy for season. The next words that we hear from Nephi Kinesa are words of wisdom. Lord, you are the one who is sovereign. You are the one who raises nations up and you are the one that overthrows nations. You are sovereign. Do what you want to do. Maybe in this moment where David considers his frailty and his temporal status. Maybe something whatever it was that the Lord put in his path. Whatever it was that allowed him to know that he without a doubt you are being disciplined by God. I love you, but you are disciplined. Maybe in that season David began to see himself in the way that he didn't see himself when he was overtaken by that particular sin. And so now in this season of distress he speaks like a philosopher. In the season of distress he puts things in perspective. He says that, yes, that I am like a shadow and notice what he says. He says, let me know how fleeting I am. Behold, you have made my days a few hand breaths and my lifetime is as nothing before you. And I think that's sometimes one of the things that gets us sidetracked is when we measure ourselves against the wrong things, things, things and people that we may outlast or that we may have more of. But God makes David look at himself against a different standard. He says, no, against you. I'm like nothing. All that I have has been given to me. So he understands the temple. He understands the nature of his temple existence. And it's not that he doesn't know these things, but somehow in while he's laid up, while the hand of the Lord is heavy upon him, those truths are brought home even more. But there's something else that David becomes conscious of and we see this in verse 8. He makes this declaration. It's almost a plea. He says, don't make me the scorn of the fool. Don't make me the scorn of the fool. David becomes aware of the fact that this wise sweet singer of Israel who can potentially curse the very God that he is praise. He understands that if he doesn't act right in this season, then he will be an object less than for the fool to say, you ought not be like that. In other words, don't let me become a testimony for the fool to say, that's not how you ought to be. In fact, it ought to be the reverse. I remember years ago, barbershop I used to go to when I was a little kid and there was a statement up on the wall. It says, if you argue with the fool, those who are walking up won't know which one is the fool. And you think about that and what David is basically saying, Lord, don't let me get so caught up in me that future generations of unbelievers will look at something that I have done. And look at something that I have said and that's not how you ought to be. In other words, don't let me be a poor representative of you who has given me everything. Don't let me be the scorn of fools. If somebody is going to rebuke me, let it be another wise person. If someone is going to say, you ought to think better than that. You ought to act better than that. Let it be someone else who has been saved. Let it be someone else who is in a relationship with God. That's one of the things that we love about the way that the Lord connects his body. He brings to us even when we are confronted with our sins. He brings another forgiven center over to us to say, brother, you know, you're out of line here. And so we can't just say, well, no, you're not without, no, we're not saying that. We're all, none of us are without spots. But that spot right now is standing out. Thank God for the rebuke of the righteous. But the flip side of that is that if we don't carry ourselves or conduct ourselves in a particular way with the grace that we have been given, then others will look at us who are outside of the faith. And they will look at us and say, no, that's not how you ought to do it. That's true of us individually. That's also true of us collectively. That we can be a bad witness, and that's what David is aware of. Let me touch myself because here's what is implied by his final petition. What is implied is that this man who has spoken of the joy of the Lord, this man who has spoken so profoundly of one thing that I have desired, and though that I have also sought for, and that is that I would dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, this man who has said, I'd rather be a doorkeeper in the house of the Lord than to be a guest in a din of sinners. This man has lost his ability to smile at the grace of God. In other words, David perhaps has been made aware of the fact that he has been caught up in a pity party. And so his final request, after he can't ponder all of these things, after he acknowledges that the hand of the Lord is upon him, chasing him. David has one request. He says, Lord, before I leave here, turn your frown away from me so that I can smile again. Understand, this is not the frown of a judge. It's the look of a father who's disappointed in his child. And David is saying that, Lord, here's what I want. I want to be able to smile again. I want to be able to physically reflect my joy in being your child. Brothers and sisters, God loves us with an everlasting love. And God forbid that we should ever go through a season, even as we are being chasinged of God. We don't have a reason among sinful men to radiate with the glory of his favor and smile. David says in Psalm 51, make me glad with the bones that you have broken. Restore it to me, the joy of my salvation. You know what he says then? He says, then I'll be able to tell sinners, teach sinners in the way. Maybe David in this song is acknowledging, Lord, I'm in the process of writing out invitations to my pity party. Stop me so that I can smile again. Stop me so that others would see the joy of being your child. Reflect it in my countenance so that I can smile again, not just in your presence, but as I go in and out among your people. David is aware that he might say the wrong things in his season of distress. He is aware that he might give off the wrong message to unbelievers in his distress more importantly. He understands that he is not reflecting in that present moment in this season of distress, that he is not reflecting the great joy of what it means to belong to the Lord of hosts. I pray that there is no season that we can go through that can hinder our smile even when we are overwhelmed by grief and loss and distress. I pray that sin is never the reason that we lose our ability to smile as the children of God. Let's pray. Gracious God our Father, we thank you again for your word, we thank you for the candor in which you present the stories of your people. Because as the Apostle Paul has said, these have been given to us as examples. Surely if David is the great songwriter in the book of songs, if he has the capacity and potential of not reflecting and radiating and reflecting your grace because of his own pride and because of his own sin, we do pray that you would touch those things that have become more dear to us than reflecting your love and grace in this world so that we would have a reason to smile even before we leave this life. Thank you Father for your grace, thank you for your Holy Spirit. We pray that we would hear these words and in hearing them we would speak to ourselves that we would know your hand when it is upon us. It doesn't mean that we have been cast off but we are children. Teach us not to pout, not even spiritually. Teach us to smile and reflect your grace. It is in Jesus' name that we pray. Amen. Would you please stand. Now may the grace of God and the love of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the sweet communion of the Holy Spirit rest, rule and abide with you both now and forever. Let all of God's people say, Amen.