Life

2. April 2009 by Bernice Davis.

Hello: 

Today we are discussing Psalm 90.  I hope you got a change to study it in light of the context information I gave you. 

Here it is again for your review. 

Psalm 90:1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. 2 Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. 3 You turn men back to dust, saying, “Return to dust, O sons of men.” 4 For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night. 5 You sweep men away in the sleep of death; they are like the new grass of the morning– 6 though in the morning it springs up new, by evening it is dry and withered. 7 We are consumed by your anger and terrified by your indignation. 8 You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence. 9 All our days pass away under your wrath; we finish our years with a moan. 10 The length of our days is seventy years– or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away. 11 Who knows the power of your anger? For your wrath is as great as the fear that is due you. 12 Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. 13 Relent, O Lord! How long will it be? Have compassion on your servants. 14 Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. 15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen trouble. 16 May your deeds be shown to your servants, your splendor to their children. 17 May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us– yes, establish the work of our hands. This Psalm fascinated me for several reasons.   First, it is all about time and how our life is short and how we should value the days that God gives us and not waste them or spend them in worry or unproductiveness.    

Verses 1-6 compare our life with the eternity of God.  It reminds us that God is everlasting and we are temporarily and will return to dust.   Remember, our context.  Moses penned this Psalm after watching millions of people die off in the wilderness over a 40 year period.  He has death on a daily basis in record numbers and this psalm is about living. 

He goes on to say how God measures time differently than we do.  He states that a thousand years in God’s sight is like a day that has just for us or a watch in the night.  A watch referred to a 4 hour time period.  He is specific though about saying a watch in the night.  This is the time that we are sleep when we have no consciousness of time.   When we are sleep and you wake up, you really don’t know how much time has passed away. 

Moses then goes on to give us a minimum and maximum for life.  He tells us that seventy is our minimum though we know some people live less than seventy and eighty is our maximum yet we know that some people live longer than eighty.  In those years, Moses says that they are full of trouble and sorrow and unproductively.  In verse #12, Moses asks God to teach us to number our days so that we may gain a heart of wisdom.  The Hebrew word for wisdom means to get skill for living.   Moses is saying that if we are aware that we do not have forever and that life could end for us any day, then we should be living our lives out skillfully.   

This part of the psalm really blessed me.  It actually helped me to get refocused.   It made me start getting things in order, to stop procrastinating, thinking I’ll put it off for another day.   I just really laid before the Lord and thank HIM for my life and asked him to help me apply wisdom to my heart so that I could live out my days skillfully or purposefully.   IT REALLY MADE ME THINK. 

Moses concludes with asking the Lord to satisfy us with HIS unfailing love so that we can live our days out in gladness and bless us according to the years we have seen affliction and trouble and he then asks God to establish or direct the work of our hands. 

I don’t know if this is touching you as it did me, but in it’s context of what Moses went through and now how he views life, it just really made me think.   Let’s just live ………..  Let’s just enjoy life.  Let’s live to the best of our abilities.   Let’s do the best we can.  Let’s be productive.  Let’s be skillful in how we live our lives.   Let’s not worry.  Worry can’t solve anything, it only makes things worst.   Let’s just trust God and live…. 

Be encouraged! 

God Bless!!!!!!!  Don’t forget to pray and read God’s word daily.

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