The Bearing of the Context on Well-Known Passages. (1)
May 20, 2014
- by Charles H. Welch
#1. “My times are in Thy hand.”
Many a believer during periods of trial has breathed the words of the Psalmist, “My times are in Thy hand” (Psa. xxxi. 15), and we are sure that the slightest movement towards a more implicit trust in the Lord will always received His encouragement. Yet, like many other oft-quoted passages of Scripture, there is a qualifying context, and our knowledge of this will make the committal all the more real and wonderful.
We observe first that the words “My times are in Thy hand” refer to the external circumstances of life rather than to the more fundamental inner realities. We have a very clear expansion of what these “times” involve in the first eight verses of Eccles. iii.:
“A time to be born, and a time to die . . . . . A time for war, and a time for peace” (Eccles. iii. 1-8).
Here, in a series of fourteen pairs of opposite facts, we have a summing-up of our “times”. These “times”, says the Psalmist to the Lord, “are in Thy hand”—all my outgoings and incomings, all the movements of daily life. If we know anything of the Word, however, we shall also realize that it is impossible for any man to commit his whole life to the Lord unless his heart and soul go with it. If we look back to verse 5 of the same Psalm we shall find that this thought has already been expressed:
“Into Thine hand I commit my SPIRIT; Thou hast redeemed me” (Psa. xxxi. 5).
Here we have the inner aspect of the matter. Before we can truly say “My times (that is, the externals of life) are in Thy hand” we must also be able to say: “Into Thine hand I commit my spirit.”
If the reader will refer to verse 15 he will see that the phrase “My times are in Thy hand” is followed by a reference to deliverance “from the hand of his enemies”. Following the reference to the “spirit” in verse 5, on the other hand, we have the words: “Thou hast redeemed me.” The two references, to the “hand” of the Lord, and the “hand” of the enemy, are suggestive, and further study reveals the following arrangement:
A | Psa. xxxi. 5. “Thine hand.” Spirit committed.
B | 8. “The hand of the enemy.” Not shut up.
A | 15. “Thy hand.” Times.
B | 15. “The hand of enemies.” Deliver me.
Let us by all means, and with all our heart, say unto the Lord, “My times are in Thy hand”, but let us also commit our spirit to Him too.
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(From The Berean Expositor Vol. 31, pp. 27.)
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#1. “My times are in Thy hand.”
Many a believer during periods of trial has breathed the words of the Psalmist, “My times are in Thy hand” (Psa. xxxi. 15), and we are sure that the slightest movement towards a more implicit trust in the Lord will always received His encouragement. Yet, like many other oft-quoted passages of Scripture, there is a qualifying context, and our knowledge of this will make the committal all the more real and wonderful.
We observe first that the words “My times are in Thy hand” refer to the external circumstances of life rather than to the more fundamental inner realities. We have a very clear expansion of what these “times” involve in the first eight verses of Eccles. iii.:
“A time to be born, and a time to die . . . . . A time for war, and a time for peace” (Eccles. iii. 1-8).
Here, in a series of fourteen pairs of opposite facts, we have a summing-up of our “times”. These “times”, says the Psalmist to the Lord, “are in Thy hand”—all my outgoings and incomings, all the movements of daily life. If we know anything of the Word, however, we shall also realize that it is impossible for any man to commit his whole life to the Lord unless his heart and soul go with it. If we look back to verse 5 of the same Psalm we shall find that this thought has already been expressed:
“Into Thine hand I commit my SPIRIT; Thou hast redeemed me” (Psa. xxxi. 5).
Here we have the inner aspect of the matter. Before we can truly say “My times (that is, the externals of life) are in Thy hand” we must also be able to say: “Into Thine hand I commit my spirit.”
If the reader will refer to verse 15 he will see that the phrase “My times are in Thy hand” is followed by a reference to deliverance “from the hand of his enemies”. Following the reference to the “spirit” in verse 5, on the other hand, we have the words: “Thou hast redeemed me.” The two references, to the “hand” of the Lord, and the “hand” of the enemy, are suggestive, and further study reveals the following arrangement:
A | Psa. xxxi. 5. “Thine hand.” Spirit committed.
B | 8. “The hand of the enemy.” Not shut up.
A | 15. “Thy hand.” Times.
B | 15. “The hand of enemies.” Deliver me.
Let us by all means, and with all our heart, say unto the Lord, “My times are in Thy hand”, but let us also commit our spirit to Him too.
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(From The Berean Expositor Vol. 31, pp. 27.)
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Posted by Marvin Pagkanlungan.
