Life is a Vapour
In Psalm 39 we have a prayer of David that seeks to understand why he is going through intense trouble (39:4). David’s prayer challenges believers to examine what they really trust and hope in.
He begins by refusing to defame God’s name to others by complaining about his circumstances. He says he will guard his mouth and be silent (39:1). Even as David pondered his situation and refused to complain, his troubles got worse (39:2-3). Brethren, when times are hard and your situation is perplexing, resist the temptation to complain against God.
He reaches out to God for help (39:4). In suffering he was reminded of an important truth. The lives of men are short, a lifetime is nothing in God’s sight (39:5). Brethren, God will go to great lengths to show you the transitory nature of this life.
David says that even when men and women are at their “best,” their lives can end in a mere breath (39:5). Mankind walks around in such a brevity of life that he is like a “shadow” (39:6). Mankind makes a big to do about riches, when they mean nothing eternally (39:6). Brethren, perceiving the nature of human existence the way God’s sees it gives you the proper perspective and attitude towards life.
David says that through it all he will wait and hope in God (39:7). He understands that God is sovereign and that it is God that has brought this hardship upon him (39:9). God will use sickness and circumstances to consume that which is most precious to men to humble them (39:11). Brethren, God desires that His people hope and depend upon Him and not the things in this life.