Here is the great joy and comfort of my heart - MY TIMES ARE IN THE HAND OF MY GOD! David was a man after God's own heart. He was a man of remarkable character. David was truly one of those "holy men of old". He loved the Lord and was loved by the Lord. He was chosen, redeemed, and regenerated by Divine grace. This man, David, walked before God with a true heart of humility, submission, love, and faith. The great concerns of his heart were for the glory of God, the will of God, and thc people of God. Yet, David spent his life in grief. His years were spent in sorrow and sighing. He was a man, like you, with many troubles. King Saul, whom he loved and faithfully served hunted him like a wild beast. His wife hated his God and mocked his faith. David's sons brought shame to his name. One of his sons, Absalom led a rebellion against his throne and tried to kill him. That same son publicly defiled his father's wives. David's trusted friend, Ahithophel, betrayed him. And David, God's beloved child and faithful servant, became the object of public scorn and ridicule. This man who was highly honored and favored of God, this man who walked with God as few men do, was a man well acquainted with grief, pain, heartache and sorrow.
Yet, David was extraordinarily a man of peace and joy before God. He recognized something that gave him peace in the midst of trouble and joy in the midst of sorrow. He looked to the Lord his God in the midst of his sorrow and pain, and said - "I trusted in thee, O Lord: I said, Thou art my God. My times are in thy hand" (Ps. 31:14-15). DAVID ENJOYED THE PEACEFUL REALIZATION OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE. HE LOOKED UPON HIMSELF AND ALL THE AFFAIRS OF HIS LIFE AS BEING ENTIRELY AT GOD'S DISPOSAL. My friends; this is the truth which we must learn and in which we ought to rejoice. My heart finds great peace in this fact - ALL THAT CONCERNS ME AS A BELIEVER IS IN THEE HANDS OF THE ALMIGHTY, MY GOD AND MY SAVIOR - "My times are in thy hand." Can you rejoice in this fact?
"MY TIMES" - They change and vary from day to day; but they change only in accordance with his unchanging love. They vary, but only according to the purpose of him in whom there is no variableness nor shadow of turning. "MY TIMES" - That is to say, my ups and my downs, my health and my sickness, my prosperity and my adversity, my wealth and my poverty, my good times and my bad times - all my times are in the hand of my Lord and Redeemer, who arranges and appoints the length of my days and the darkness of my nights according to his wise and holy will. My times of refreshing and my times of depressing are in his hand; and I AM GLAD THAT IT IS SO.
"MY TIMES" All of my times, in the beginning of life, in the course of life, and in the end of life, "ARE IN THY HAND'. The close of my life is no more at the disposal of fate, or chance, or Satan than the beginning of my life was. MY LIFE SHALL NOT CLOSE UNTIL THE HAND OF HIS LOVE CLOSES IT. I will not die before my time; and I will not be forgotten and left on the stage of time too long. I want you to get the sense of this. If you can, it will strengthen your heart and comfort your soul - Not only are we all in the hand of the Lord, but EVERYTHING THAT SURROUNDS US IS INN HIS HAND. All the people, all the things, and all the events that make up the environment of our existence are in the hand of our God. We dwell in the palm of God's hand. We are absolutely at his disposal. And everything that concerns us is arranged by the hand of his love, grace, and power. May the Lord graciously enable us to enter into this peaceful realization of Divine providence. Take this word of grace with you through your day - "MY TIMES ARE IN THY HAND!"
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