In Psalm 31:15 David confesses, “My times are in Thy hand.’’ Though this is true of all men, in that they live and move and have their being in God, yet the confession is one which only God’s redeemed children can make.
The ungodly deceive themselves and in the folly of their unbelief they imagine that their times are their own to use as they please. More and more they seek to press time into their own service, thinking even to conquer death and decay that they may live forever. But even when they must die, “their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue forever, and their dwelling places to all generations’’ (Ps. 49:11). All this shall finally issue in the Kingdom of Antichrist and the great delusion of the man of sin himself, who shall “think to change times and laws’’ (Dan. 7:25). This, as Daniel confesses, and as every child of God knows, is something that belongs to God alone. He only has power and might to change times and seasons and to control the destiny of men (Dan. 2:20, 21).
In the end these delusions are their undoing, for while they seek to use time for their own ends and glory, they are so ruled by time as a servant of Almighty God, that every moment of time serves to bring down on them the displeasure and wrath of God. And as time hurries them on for judgment and destruction, they find that all their life is vanity and vexation of spirit. Perhaps more than anything else it is the swift passing of time with its “sudden warnings” as it also brings death that leaves them no peace and hope.
The mark of God’s saints is the confession that their times are not their own but God’s. This confession shows them to be delivered from folly and vanity through the mercy of God and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And when, by grace, that confession becomes ours, then we find too that time is no more an enemy, but once again a servant which works together with all things for our good.
In the mouths of God’s people, therefore, this confession is first of all an acknowledgement that God uses the times and seasons of this present creation to bring us His great salvation. This is also part of David’s confession in Psalm 31; “Into Thy hand I commit my spirit: Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth. . . . Oh how great is Thy goodness, which Thou hast laid up for them that fear Thee: which Thou hast wrought for them that trust in Thee before the sons of men!” (Ps. 31:5, 19). Thus there are according to the eternal good pleasure of God times of promise (Acts 7:17) and in the “fullness of time” a time of fulfilment of the promises (Gal. 3:4ff). And through the fulfilment of His promises there are times of mercy (Ps. 102:13), times of acceptance with God (Ps. 69:13), times of deliverance and help in trouble (Is. 49:8), of salvation (II Cor. 6:2), of possessing the Kingdom (Dan. 7:22), of trial and suffering, but also of mercy and grace in those times of need (Heb. 4:16), times of persecution but also of patience and victory for God’s saints. And even though time still brings death for God’s people, it no longer brings death as the punishment of their sins, but as the last and greatest victory.
The wonder of it all is that the eternal God entered into our times through the incarnation of His Only Begotten Son, in order that he might bear for us all the sufferings and sorrows of this present time and give the times and seasons of our life back to us filled with the benefits and blessings of salvation.
This confession that our times are in the hands of God is also our acknowledgement that by the same power of grace we are once again able to make proper and profitable use of time as a gift of God to us. By grace we redeem the time (Eph. 5:16), that is, by the power of grace we purchase the times and opportunities that God has given us, take advantage of them, and make profit from them, just as a trader redeems his time spent in the marketplace by making careful and wise use of every moment and by profiting from every opportunity. The profit that we make in redeeming the time, however, is not earthly nor any gain for the flesh, but spiritual gain for the glory of God.
The wonder of grace is, once again, that we are able to make this profit in all the circumstances and seasons of our life. We are able to redeem the times of instruction (and youth is especially a time for this) when we learn to say in the schoolroom, in the Catechism class, and in our Young People’s Societies, “My God, how great Thou art.” The hours of each day that are spent at work are redeemed when we seek through our labors the coming of the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ. We redeem our times of fellowship when we use them, not for foolish talking and jesting, but for helping and comforting one another. Even times of loneliness and discouragement can be redeemed through meditation and prayer. Times of trial and suffering, of temptation and sin are also redeemed when we learn in such times to fear and trust Jehovah with all our heart. Nevertheless we do these things and redeem these times only in and through the redeeming power of the cross and suffering of our Savior. Then even the shortness of time, especially of that time which is given to us, rather than becoming a burden and a sorrow, becomes a constant motivation to walk in wisdom and to rejoice in the Lord.
Finally, in making this confession, each of us remembers that this present time shall come to an end, not only through the return of our Lord Jesus, but for each one of us at the time of our death. When these present times have served their God-appointed purpose, and when through them all the will of God concerning our salvation is fulfilled, then the need for time, at least as we now know it shall be gone, and time itself shall pass away.
This is the word of the great angel in Revelation 10, when he announces the finishing of the mystery of God. He declares and swears by Him Who lives forever and ever “that there should be time no longer” (verse 6). It is not so easy to determine what these words of the angel mean, since Scripture says very little about the new creation and the relation to time that we shall have there. Certainly these words do not mean that we shall become eternal as God Himself is eternal and unchangeable, even though we shall receive from Him the life that never dies, not only in our hearts as we have it now, but in our bodies also when they are raised and changed into the likeness of the glorious body of Jesus Christ. In the second place we can certainly say that time as we now know it shall be no more. Scripture does speak of a “time” to come, but if there is time in the new creation, then it will no longer be measured as it now is, by the movement of sun, moon, and stars for in that Kingdom sun and moon shall pass away (Rev. 21:23), nor shall time be measured by the rise and fall of kingdoms, by life and death, and by the changes of history, for the Kingdom of our Lord is a Kingdom which cannot be moved and even death shall be banished from the streets of that Kingdom. Perhaps we can say that time, which is now our greatest limitation, cutting short all our works and hurrying us through life to death, will in the new creation be our greatest asset, for we shall have day without night and without weariness and sin, and that everlasting day, shall be a season for perfect praise and worship, and an opportunity to enjoy God and the blessedness of life with Him forever.
1 Rev. H. Hoeksema explains Revelation 10:6 in the sense of “no more delay” (cf. Behold He Cometh, pp. 334-348). I believe that this interpretation is not possible for several reasons:
(1) The word used here is the Greek word “chronos” from which we get our word “chronology” and is a word which refers to time as we experience it, as the succession of moments, hours, days, and years.
(2) This word is never once used in Scripture in the sense of “delay,” and therefore ought not be taken in that sense here.
(3) There are other words in Scripture which could and would be used if that was the idea of this verse, not only the word “delay” but also such words as “tarrying” “waiting” even perhaps the word “longsuffering”.