Have you ever wanted and needed to talk to someone about something but for whatever reason you felt constrained not to? You needed to find an ear to listen but you couldn’t? This is the way David felt when he penned the 39th Psalm.

1

David has a problem - about which he wants to talk. There is some crisis in David’s life although from the text it is impossible to determine exactly what it is. He only speaks of God’s scourge and the blow of God’s hand (verse 10). It is some affliction that has come directly from the hand of God - "...you are the one who has done this." (verse 9) It involves something about which he is apparently ashamed and wishes God would look away (verse 13) It is something about which David is tempted to speak, to complain, to seek sympathy.

But he determines that the problem is such that he can’t safely or appropriately discuss this, at least in the presence of the wicked who presumably would not be sympathetic and might be likely to use what he says against him. It wouldn’t look good for him to be complaining about his particular problem because there are enemies out there who might use his words against him. Maybe he has done something wrong and gotten caught and it would be dangerous to discuss it with just anyone.

It is a sad set of circumstances indeed when in the midst of some crisis or problem one doesn’t feel it safe or appropriate to tell anyone about it. He doesn’t feel safe talking to most people about it. And those he can safely tell about it let it be known that they really don’t want to listen or be bothered with other peoples’s problems. Such, it seems, was the fate of David which causes him to make a determination to keep quiet about his problems and just bottle them up. "I will watch..."

2-3

But when you really need to talk, sometimes you just have to find someone to tell. Sometimes you just can’t keep quiet even if you feel it might be dangerous to speak or if you feel people don’t want to listen. Such was the emotional state of David. But observe to whom David speaks!...

4a

"Show me, O Lord..." In breaking his silence, he speaks not to men but to God! What a blessing that when for whatever reason we feel as though we cannot speak to men, we can always speak to God and tell him exactly how we feel about anything that troubles us.

And what does David say to God?

4-6

Some think that David is asking God to show him how much longer he has to endure his problems, that that is the meaning of "Show me..." , that David is saying something like, "God, just get it over with." It is certainly true that sometimes people get to the point in the midst of their sickness or troubles that they just want it all to end. They reach the point where they would rather die.

I think, it is more likely, though, that David is here giving vent to the belief that if God will help him to see with a clear vision the fact that life will end, that life is short and that the acquisition of material things is ultimately so vain and so relatively insignificant in the grand scheme of things, this knowledge and perspective will help him bear up under his load. Intepreted in this light, David’s prayer can be put to practical use for us. David prays that God will:

1. Show him his life’s end. "Make me know my end. Show it to me, that it is not only my father and mother and neighbor who die. I am going to die, that I am going down the same road all the billions who have lived and died travelled before me, that the whole living human race is in a giant funeral procession. Some are in front. Some are in back. But life is one huge procession to the cemetery. Unless Jesus comes first, I am going to die. It’s a fact. Bring this fact home to me, that the time will come when I will die. I will probably get sick and feeble like those who died before me. There will be the hospital bed, the sleepless nights, maybe my share of pain. The family will come to visit to give their awkward goodbye’s."

   "And show me, God, that my end will be just that, an end. An end to all things in this life and in this world as far as I am concerned, an end to my making of money, an end to my earthly source of income, an end to deeds of ownership or properties here, an end to taking care of lawns and gardens here, an end to TV and computers, an end to my sin as far as this world is concerned, an end to my service to God on this earth, an end to opportunities for me to do something for God in this world, an end to the chance to give of my bounty to the orphans and the poor, an end to going to Sunday School, an end to my telling of the gospel to family and friends, an end to missionary trips taken. Lord, help us to anticipate it."

   When the end comes, it is often the case that the one passing has many regrets that he did not devote more of his substance, give more of his money and talent and time to the things that ultimately matter, but in many respects it is too late to do anything about it.

   "And Lord, make us to see the final results of our end, the eternal prospects that are ours at the end." For the end of our brief life here is also the beginning of an eternal world there. The moment one dies, he enters by far the most solemn part of his existence - eternity either with God or apart from him, eternity in a place of unimaginable bliss or a place of unimaginable agony, heaven or hell. First, the soul will go before God to receive preliminary sentence, either to a place of torment or to Abraham’s bosom. Then, at the end of time, the final judgment, the resurrection of all to either condemnation or eternal life, either the words, "I was hungry and you gave me meat, thirsty and you gave me drink, sick and in prison and you visited me. Come, ye blessed, enter in to the joy of my abode." Or the words, "I was hungry and you gave me no meat, thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, sick and in prison, and you did not come to visit me. Depart into the fire prepared for the devil and his angels."

   "Yes, Lord, make me to contemplate my end, what will happen to me when this life ends, where I will be going, that I may get my house in order and prepare for my eternal future for it is the most significant portion of my existence."

   So it is wise to look forward to the event. It is good to think of death daily, that we may become familiar with it and be prepared everyday for it.
   
   

2. "And Lord, show me the measure of my days, that although from everlasting to everlasting you are God, that my days are indeed numbered, that there is limit to my days on this earth, that today I have one less day than I had yesterday.

   "Lord, show me the insignificance of the number of my days, that if I live to be a hundred, that is only a breath compared to eternity, that time is short and time is passing so very quickly."

   Denny and I have been talking to each other in terms of the maximum amount of time we might have left to really do something serious for the spread of the gospel and the saving of the souls of our fellow man. Our calculation? Maybe 25 good years left.

   I’ve been married 24 years. That’s how much time I have left for serious missionary work - maximum!

   "So Lord, show me the insignificance of the number of my days that I might be impressed with the shortness of it and not waste it on foolish things. And show me on the other hand the significance of my time, the great importance of the short measure of my days, that though my days are numbered, I can affect eternity with my time. It is this life which, so far as we are concerned, decides the next. In this life a faithful Christian, and in the next one eternal life. In this life an unbeliever, and in the next life everlasing judgment from God. And it is in this life and by this life that I can affect the eternal destiny of my fellow man. So momentous is the measure of our days.

   "And Lord, make me know the uncertainty of the measure of my days, that although you know the measure of my days, I don’t, that I may live another many years or I might die this year, that someone in my church and in my family will be the next to die, but no one knows whom it will be. Help me to know how frail I am and how fleeting life is, how tenuous it is, how fragile it is, that I may die at any time on any day, that on any occasion when I leave the house, it may be the last time my family sees me, that I may die the next time I get in a car, that I may die in my sleep, that I may die before I go to work in the morning." (I distinctly remember saying good bye to Dad. It was four o’clock in the morning and I was on my way to Ukraine. He was in bed but awake. I told him I would see him later. I remember thinking it might be the last time I would see him, but I didn’t really think it would be. It was.)

David’s prayer is an exceedingly good one for us to pray. Because life is lived better when lived from the perspective of eternity. Troubles, financial loss, sickness and whatever can all be handled better when God helps us see our end and beyond our end and that our end is certain, when God helps us get ready for it, when God shows us our days are measured, limited, that they are short but really significant in terms of what we can accomplish for eternity, that their measure is completely uncertain.

In view of the end of life and the short measure of our days, the only proper response in the midst of whatever comes our way is to say with David, "But now, Lord, ... my hope is in you." (Verse 7) No matter what happens, even on our darkest day, there is hope in God. One can find hope in God. Our hope is not to rest on life here, an indefinite continuation of life here, or days without trouble or affliction here. Hope in any of that is sure all in vain. But we can always hope in God.