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Psalm 39:9-11  I was silent; I would not open my mouth, for you are the one who has done this.  Remove your scourge from me; I am overcome by the blow of your hand.  When you rebuke and discipline anyone for their sin, you consume their wealth like a moth – surely everyone is but a breath.

Tim & Kathy Keller’s devotional book, ‘The Songs of Jesus’ (also published as ‘My Rock, My Refuge’), deals with Psalm 39 as a whole in the comment for 22 March.  Today’s verses are at the heart of King David’s deep anguish and complaint expressed in the psalm, and I found the Kellers’ comments very helpful in my own circumstances, so I repeat them here in the hope that they might provide the same help to others [You might find it helpful to read the whole Psalm]:

“Desperation. Everything in life is eventually taken away from us after a tragically brief time of enjoyment (verses 4-5).  The bleakness of this can lie heavy on the soul.  The psalm ends without a note of hope, and that is instructive.  It is remarkable that God not only allows his creatures to complain to him of their ills but actually records those wails in his Word.  Quoting from Derek Kidner’s Commentary, they write: ‘The very presence of such prayers in Scripture is a witness to His understanding.  He knows how men speak when they are desperate.’  God is confident that we will look back at that and close our mouths, lost in wonder at the spectacular love that planned even our darkest moments.

“Prayer: Father, I can get so confused and angry at your dealings that I might also say, “Look away from me”.  But your Son lost your presence on the cross, so that now you patiently stay near me even when I don’t deserve it.  I praise you for being a God who understands.  Amen.”

Long-time readers of TQW may be weary of my quoting Questions 26-28 of the Heidelberg Catechism, but I find them to be important reminders (and rebukes) to me in this context:

“Question 26. What do you believe when you say: ‘I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth’? A. That the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who out of nothing created heaven and earth and everything in them, who still upholds and rules them by his eternal counsel and providence, is my God and Father because of Christ, his Son.  I trust him so much that I do not doubt he will provide whatever I need for body and soul, and he will turn to my good whatever adversity he sends me in this sad world.  He is able to do this because he is almighty God; he desires to do this because he is a faithful Father.”

Question 27. What do you understand by the providence of God?  A. Providence is the almighty and ever present power of God by which he still upholds, as with his hand, heaven and earth and all creatures, and so rules them that leaf and blade, rain and drought, fruitful and lean years, food and drink, health and sickness, prosperity and poverty – all things, in fact, come to us not by chance but from his fatherly hand.”

Question 28. How does the knowledge of God’s creation and providence help us?  A. We can be patient when things go against us, thankful when things go well, and for the future we can have good confidence in our faithful God and Father that nothing will separate us from his love.  All creatures are so completely in his hand that without his will they can neither move nor be moved.”

– Bruce Christian