Psalm 31:15 My times are in your hand: deliver me from the hand of my enemies, and from them that persecute me. I. THE FACT EXPRESSED IN THE TEXT. 1. In a general sense, every man's "times" are in God's "hand." It is a happy thing, and it certifies the stability of the wide realm of being, that the great Ruler will not suffer one thread of His government to pass for a moment out of His grasp. 2. In a special sense, which renders it worthy of grateful mention, the good man's "times" are in God's "hand." You are helpless: will that slacken God's care that all shall be best with you? You are dependent, and you try to be trustful: will that set to sleep the vigilance of Him who has all the ordering of your way? You are ignorant and erring: will that give occasion to infinite pity to mislead you or neglect you, and you right upon your march towards the opportunity of scanning all His dealings with you, and of scanning them in the light of a knowledge which it is His purpose shall eternally increase? Nay: your "times," every one of every shade and shape, are at home in the centre of all safety. II. THE TEMPER IN WHICH THIS FACT IS EXPRESSED IN THE TEXT. 1. The psalmist gives to the fact his cordial personal consent. It is not a statement merely; it is a self-gratulation also, with something of a thanksgiving besides. 2. When the responsibility would be the heaviest if he did have his "times" in his own hand, he remembers they are in God's, and breathes freely because the weight of them is not at all upon himself, but altogether upon Him who bears the burdens of eternity and doth not weary. Our part is patience, obedience, brave submission. 3. It allays all his anxiety about his "times." Fears about ourselves, fears about friends whom we love better than ourselves, apprehensions about life, apprehensions about death — about death perhaps most of all, with its when and where and how, — every one of them would be gone from these hearts of ours, if only they held within them the plain fact of our text as firmly as they hold many a fact that has a thousand times less of deep personal interest for us. (J. A. Kerr Bain, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me.WEB: My times are in your hand. Deliver me from the hand of my enemies, and from those who persecute me. |
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