READ: PSALM 74:1-23 TEXT: v16
The day is thine (v16)
The best place to see the worth of any profession of faith is in the white heat of the furnace of affliction
In the parable of the sower, we read of the good seed that fell where the soil was very thin
At first sight, it appeared that there was going to be crop
The hearer represented by the soil received the word gladly
But when the sun arose – denoting persecution – then it began to wilt away and die, yielding no crop
This was because it had not been able to put down any roots
Again, we may make mention of Job whose poor afflicted body became the battlefield between God and Satan
Satan’s taunt was that Job served God just for his own gain
In response, God permitted Satan to afflict Job as a trial
As we all know, Job’s faith (although badly shaken) withheld the strongest of attacks upon it
Therefore when tried, Job came forth from the furnace as pure gold
It was no longer a war of mere words
Satan retired from the battle field in utter defeat
It really does take the furnace to sort out who is who
In our Psalm, the COI are in the midst of the furnace
The enemy has come in like a great flood as the words clearly show
So much so, (v1) that the COI felt themselves to be utterly forsaken
Yet, they did not lose hope in God
The very fact that they addressed themselves to God indicates that some
faith was left (v1) and asked Him to remember them (v2) and (v3)
intervene all indicate that they retained some faith
By the time, you get down to our verse, you can see how they were beginning to warm to their subject
They have been invoking the Lord’s power
And in this invocation, we get the words/our text
The day is Thine
These might seem very basic words to you
But there is nothing basic in the word of God at any time
There is certainly nothing basic when the saints of God are in such affliction
Rather, I see these words as deeply instructive and encouraging
3 main thoughts:
1) THE DOCTRINE OF OUR TEXT:
A/ Please note: In their affliction, they made recourse to the Word/God
So often, when afflicted, the Bible is the first thing to go out/window
Our Bible reading/study seems to be a hobby for when the times are good
But once the boat starts to rock – we put it away and try/battle storms/own
That’s not what happened here
Yes – they gave vent to their feelings of despair etc., (Natural – not Stoics)
But they buttressed their response with arguments based on God’s word
And so must we in our troubles
B/ Reference/text is to God’s creative power as recorded in Genesis 1
Who divided the night from the day as He made both? (text)
Not chance or evolutionary fate
These things just did not happen and that’s that
The Day is God’s
And if God creates the day – then it is truly His
And being His – then He can intervene as He sees fit
C/ Reference not only to Creation, but to Providence
God does intervene as He sees fit
Some of the old Deist preachers used to portray God like the watchmaker who created the timepiece, wound it up and walked away to let it tick without another thought
Therefore they dismissed the miraculous and supernatural
They denied that God intervened in the affairs of individuals, or of groups of people or of the nations of the world
That is hardly the creed you need for your time of trouble!
Why would you pray for Divine Intervention if you didn’t believe in it?
Why would you expect comfort or be able to impart it to others?
We say: God is a very present help in trouble (Psalm 46:1)
They say: No He is not. He is a far distant and remote Deity
No wonder people forsook their churches as quickly as they could!
So Creation started it all off – Providence keeps it going:
[i] Even the most powerful among us cannot keep it going
Proverbs 27:1 declares: we do not even know what a day brings forth
Of course, we must plan but only according to very sketchy info
The day, in that sense, is not ours
We could stand helpless and see our planned day crumble around us
[ii] It takes the mighty power of Jesus Christ to see to these things
By Him, all things consist (Colossians 1:17)
[iii] Bible speaks of God intervening in the natural order of things
The day being His – He has the authority/power to cause the sun to stand still (Joshua 10:13)
And
the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged
themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of
Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not
to go down about a whole day.
Again in 2 Kings 20:8-10
And
Hezekiah said unto Isaiah, What shall be the sign that the LORD will
heal me, and that I shall go up into the house of the LORD the third
day? And Isaiah said, This sign shalt thou have of the LORD, that the
LORD will do the thing that he hath spoken: shall the shadow go forward
ten degrees, or go back ten degrees? And Hezekiah answered, It is a
light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but let the
shadow return backward ten degrees.
[iv] There’s a wee thought
in here too for these scare mongering days of so called global warming
and Gordon Brown’s “50 days to save the Planet” comic book stuff
God tells us how the planet will end
And while He doesn’t tell us when – yet we know that it is in His timing
Of course, we are not to pollute our planet & recycling etc., is advantageous
But let us not be carried away with the godless Green agenda
The Doctrine in our text tells us: God is in sovereign control
The day is His – and tomorrow also
2) THE DEVOTION IN OUR TEXT:
A/ Note our order here
We cannot devotion without doctrine
Devotion without doctrine is sugary, flabby and totally meaningless
What some folk call “Devotion” is little more than dressed up “Delusion”
We cannot offer God devotion that is not based on what is revealed/Word
B/ Our text: The day is thine is a good text to wake up with/mind
Before we put a foot out/bed – we should ponder what it means devotionally
[i] NEGATIVELY: It means that we are not going to give place to the Devil
Why should we give him any portion/time in a day that is not his to have?
Devil has already the waking hours of the ungodly
Psalmist (36:4) says that even the night hours/wicked belong to the Devil:
He deviseth mischief upon his bed; he setteth himself in a way that is not good; he abhorreth not evil.
We know that every day belongs to God
But esp. the Christian Sabbath or the Lord’s Day
Our WCF clearly teaches:
As
it is the law of nature, that, in general, a due proportion of time be
set apart for the worship of God; so, in His Word, by a positive,
moral, and perpetual commandment, binding all men, in all ages, He hath
particularly appointed one day in seven, for a Sabbath, to be kept holy
unto Him (21:7)
But do we not witness the concentrated efforts of the ungodly to destroy the sanctity of this day?
Why is this?
Because
a day set aside for religious worship will (or at least should) bring
men into contact with the word/God and so: Romans 10:17
But for the Christian, as said, every day belongs to God
We should be fighting the Devil every single day andwarring against those fleshly lusts that war against the soul
If we do nothing about this, then we give the day to Satan by default
Idle days are in his domain
Which is why the Bible says that we are to actually redeem the time i.e. buy it back and use it for the glory/God
[ii] POSITIVELY: We are use each day for God
God has something to say to every Christian every single morning:
Son, go work to day in my vineyard (Matthew 21:28)
What a tremendous privilege this is
Worjing every day in God’s vineyard is not a drudge
Christ’s yoke is easy and His burden is light (Matthew 11:28)
His commandments are not grievous (1 John 5:3)
Adam worked in Paradise past – Glorified work in Paradise/come
Our Great Exemplar (Christ) did not find God’s will cumbersome
He said: “I delight to do thy will, O God” (Psalm 40:8)
Please note: Christ is the great Example to the Christian
He is not (first/foremost) an Example to the unregenerate
He is a Saviour, first/foremost, to the ungodly
Don’t let anyone still unsaved think that they can follow the “Christ walk” or the “Christ Example” without the new birth
That which is born/flesh always remains flesh and always profits nothing
But He is the example to the redeemed people of God
Peter said so: (1:2:21)
For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:
Therefore, just as Christ awoke each morning and said:
“I delight to do thy will of God”
So ought we when we say: The day is thine
Let me not soil this day with sin nor neglect it with sloth and indifference
C/ Please notice that the text is part of a prayer - not merely a statement
This makes it devotional
Of course (as said) it must be based on doctrine to be truly devotional
We have already expounded the reasoning behind the devotion
But here we have the Psalmist coming to God
(Coming, as seen, in the most harrowing of circumstances)
And he gives the day ahead to God
Yesterday obviously wasn’t a great day for him (outwardly speaking)
But faith commits the new day into God’s care and accepts it as such
3) THE DO-ABILITY OF THE TEXT:
A/ This is a text that can be spoken any morning – no one day was in mind
It is therefore a text for today as much as any other
Do not be/the habit of putting off for tomorrow what should be done today
B/ Obviously the best tine to give the day to God (as He is entitled to it) is early in the morning
Bible gives us a number of examples of those who were about the Master’s business at an early hour:
[i] We read that Abraham was an early riser in this regard
And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the LORD: (Genesis 19:27)
Having pleaded for Sodom, he could not lie on/bed without getting up to observe the Lord’s dealings with him
Perhaps the most poignant rising of Abraham was in Genesis 22
And
God said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and
get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt
offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. And
Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two
of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for
the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God
had told him. (Genesis 22:2-3)
The day was God’s and all the events therein belonged to Him
Of course, we know how Abraham coped with these matters
None of God’s people were fatalists or robots
By
faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had
received the promises offered up his only begotten son, :Of whom it was
said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: accounting that God was
able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received
him in a figure. (11:17-19)
It is faith that enables us to say to God: The day is thine
C/ Even if we have slept in here in this matter – then hear the word of the Lord:
Awake thou that sleepest! (Ephesians 5:14)
It is better late than never
If you cannot give your whole day to God – at least give Him what remains
There was work to do even for the men in the vineyard at the 11th hour
D/ Anyone can breathe these words:
[i] A little child
[ii] A young-in-faith Christian
[iii] A returning backslider
E/ Please remember: We are told: The night comes when no man can work
Yes – the night also belongs unto God (text)
But we cannot work in the night – it must be during the day
F/ Let us repeat these words then to God in our devotions and do- ability with all our heart and soul and mind
It is only then that we really give them any sense of meaning
Many years ago, A Baptist hymnwriter called Marianne Hearn wrote:
Just as I am, Thine own to be/ Friend of the young, who lovest me,
To consecrate myself to Thee/ O Jesus Christ, I come.
In the glad morning of my day/My life to give, my vows to pay,
With no reserve and no delay/With all my heart I come.
I would live ever in the light/I would work ever for the right;
I would serve Thee with all my might/Therefore, to Thee I come.
Just as I am, young, strong, and free/To be the best that I can be
For truth, and righteousness, and Thee/Lord of my life, I come.
With many dreams of fame and gold/Success and joy to make me bold,
But dearer still my faith to hold,/For my whole life, I come.
And for Thy sake to win renown, And then to take the victor’s crown,
And at Thy feet to cast it down,/O Master, Lord, I come.
Let us make these words to be ours and give our day to God
Amen!
THE END
