(Psalm 39:4-13)…..“Lord, make me to know my end, And what is the measure of my days, That I may know how frail I am. 5 Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths, And my age is as nothing before You; Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor. Selah 6 Surely every man walks about like a shadow; Surely they busy themselves in vain; He heaps up riches, And does not know who will gather them. 7 “And now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in You. 8 Deliver me from all my transgressions; Do not make me the reproach of the foolish. 9 I was mute, I did not open my mouth, Because it was You who did it. 10 Remove Your plague from me; I am consumed by the blow of Your hand. 11 When with rebukes You correct man for iniquity, You make his beauty melt away like a moth; Surely every man is vapor. Selah 12 “Hear my prayer, O Lord, And give ear to my cry; Do not be silent at my tears; For I am a stranger with You, A sojourner, as all my fathers were. 13 Remove Your gaze from me, that I may regain strength,
Before I go away and am no more.”
What are you planning on doing tomorrow? How about next week? Got plans for next month, or even next year? I’m starting with this question this morning because we think that life is both predictable and controllable in our own strength. I know that when I was a young man I didn’t give much thought to the end of life. I like many others think that I have plenty of time, not till I am 50 – 60- 70 do I have to have such concerns, right? Whether we want to think about it or not – the length of our lives in this world is not guaranteed (James 4:13-14) (Proverbs 27:1). (Psalm 39) seems to be a continuation of (Psalm 38), in (Psalm 38) we find that David is being chastised of God for sin. He finds himself alienated from God and friends – his sorrow – his conviction of sin all way heavy on him – causing him to cry out to God. In (Psalm 39) he picks up where he left off – with conviction heavy upon him he decides not to let his mouth get the best of him – accusing God of anything – in front of the wicked (39:1). This brings us to the prayer of David’s in (Psalm 39:4-13).
David’s prayer centers around (39:4-5), maybe the most important thing we can see from this passage is to truly understand life is short. Do you know what the average life span of a human beings is? World wide – 67 years. In the U.S. 77 years (M – 74, F – 80). But what does the Bible tells us (Psalm 90:1-10) Here is the truth of the matter – we all have an appointed number of years from the Lord and death will come – whether you are 6 – 16 – 26 – 96 – etc. – life is short and it will end. Notice David’s request of the LORD, “Lord, make me to know mine end,” (39:4).
When we look on death as a thing at a distance we are tempted to avoid the necessary preparations for it – we don’t want to think that all this (what we have in this world) will come to an end – but when we consider how short life is – it gives us a different perspective (Ecclesiastes 7:1-4). To consider the measure of my days – that they are measured in the counsel of God – our end is a fixed end – the measure of it is short – (Job 14:1-5) (Psalm 139:13-18). What can we do to change what He has set in stone? – Nothing!