My Times Are in Your Hands

PASSAGE FOR THE DAY:

1        In you, LORD, I have taken refuge;

    let me never be put to shame;

    deliver me in your righteousness.

2        Turn your ear to me,

    come quickly to my rescue;

be my rock of refuge,

    a strong fortress to save me.

3        Since you are my rock and my fortress,

    for the sake of your name lead and guide me.

4        Keep me free from the trap that is set for me,

    for you are my refuge.

5        Into your hands I commit my spirit;

    deliver me, LORD, my faithful God.

6        I hate those who cling to worthless idols;

    as for me, I trust in the LORD.

7        I will be glad and rejoice in your love,

    for you saw my affliction

    and knew the anguish of my soul.

8        You have not given me into the hands of the enemy

    but have set my feet in a spacious place.

9        Be merciful to me, LORD, for I am in distress;

    my eyes grow weak with sorrow,

    my soul and body with grief.

10      My life is consumed by anguish

    and my years by groaning;

my strength fails because of my affliction,

    and my bones grow weak.

11      Because of all my enemies,

    I am the utter contempt of my neighbors

and an object of dread to my closest friends—

    those who see me on the street flee from me.

12      I am forgotten as though I were dead;

    I have become like broken pottery.

13      For I hear many whispering,

    “Terror on every side!”

They conspire against me

    and plot to take my life.

14      But I trust in you, LORD;

    I say, “You are my God.”

15      My times are in your hands;

    deliver me from the hands of my enemies,

    from those who pursue me.

16      Let your face shine on your servant;

    save me in your unfailing love.

17      Let me not be put to shame, LORD,

    for I have cried out to you;

but let the wicked be put to shame

    and be silent in the realm of the dead.

18      Let their lying lips be silenced,

    for with pride and contempt

    they speak arrogantly against the righteous.

19      How abundant are the good things

    that you have stored up for those who fear you,

that you bestow in the sight of all,

    on those who take refuge in you.

20      In the shelter of your presence you hide them

    from all human intrigues;

you keep them safe in your dwelling

    from accusing tongues.

21      Praise be to the LORD,

    for he showed me the wonders of his love

    when I was in a city under siege.

22      In my alarm I said,

    “I am cut off from your sight!”

Yet you heard my cry for mercy

    when I called to you for help.

23      Love the LORD, all his faithful people!

    The LORD preserves those who are true to him,

    but the proud he pays back in full.

24      Be strong and take heart,

    all you who hope in the LORD. (Psalm 31, NIV)

REFLECTIONS:

As we've mentioned over the last few days, David often talked about God’s hands and the hands of the enemy. Today, I'd like for us to focus our thoughts on verse 15, which is a marvelous declaration of faith: “My times are in your hands; deliver me from the hands of my enemies, from those who pursue me.” It's important to remember that David didn’t write this from a hotel suite somewhere. He was out in the Judean wilderness, where it was dark and dirty and dry and dangerous. And his life was being hunted by Saul the Deranged.

When I read that phrase—“My times are in your hands”—I felt the Lord impress a number of things all my heart. First, time is important. If I waste time, I'm wasting eternity. If I waste time, I'm wasting opportunity. All I can give to God is my body, my ability, and my time. And if I don’t give him my time, he can’t use my body or my ability. Time is valuable—it ought not to be wasted. Instead, I ought to invest my time in the things of God—seeking to know him, seeking to discern his voice, seeking to be used by him, seeking to impact the lives of others for the sake of God's kingdom. Today is a day that ought to be invested. Every minute of this day ought to be spent in seeking and serving the Lord.

Secondly, I was once again convicted about the importance of surrender. Who controls the available time we have when we’re not working or doing the things that must be done to maintain life—that unregistered, undirected time? Normally, I control that time. And I normally use it in the ways I desire—lounging around, watching television, surfing the web, reading a book, etc. However, if we surrender to the Lord, he can control that time. As a way of intentionally surrendering my entire day to God, I've recently been attempting to meditate upon Psalm 23. First thing in the morning, as soon as I'm up in my wheelchair, I've been prayerfully walking through this song of David, entrusting the entirety of my life to the care of the Good Shepherd. Now, if I have interruptions throughout the day, God's in control. If my plans are changed, he’s in control. If something crazy happens, I find it easier to be at peace because I've intentionally laid my life before him and acknowledged that he's in control.

Lastly, the intentional acknowledgment that “[our] times are in your hands” leads to God's blessings for us. When our times are in his hands, we can trust him; he has blessings especially prepared for us. “How abundant are the good things that you have stored up for those who fear you, that you bestow in the sight of all, on those who take refuge in you” (verse 19). Does this mean that our day will be smooth sailing? That our day is going to be a tiptoe through the tulips? That we'll have no bumps or bruises along the path of life? Absolutely not! However, God promises abundant blessings to those who fear him—to those who look to him in expectant faith and lay their lives before him in surrender. God's blessings are often hidden and hard to discern. His blessings rarely look like the “blessings” of our imagination—financial prosperity, health and safety, comfort and convenience, etc. However, God's blessings are the sort that satisfy the soul. So, rest in the promise that God has some wonderful blessings prepared for you today. But you are not going to enjoy them unless you truly say, “Lord, my time is in your hands.”

POINT TO PONDER:

Time is perhaps our most basic resource. How we use God’s gift of time has a profound effect not only on our own life but on the lives of others. It’s important that we surrender our time to his care. When we give God our time, we surrender it to his control. He promises blessings for those who entrust their lives to his care and control.

WHO AM I?

I am Tres Sansom, and I love the Psalms!