Psalms 90:1-17
A Prayer of Moses the man of God.
1 Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.
2 Before the mountains were brought forth,
Or ever You had formed the earth and the world,
Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.
3 You turn man to destruction,
And say, "Return, O children of men."
4 For a thousand years in Your sight
Are like yesterday when it is past,
And like a watch in the night.
5 You carry them away like a flood;
They are like a sleep.
In the morning they are like grass which grows up:
6 In the morning it flourishes and grows up;
In the evening it is cut down and withers.
7 For we have been consumed by Your anger,
And by Your wrath we are terrified.
8 You have set our iniquities before You,
Our secret sins in the light of Your countenance.
9 For all our days have passed away in Your wrath;
We finish our years like a sigh.
10 The days of our lives are seventy years;
And if by reason of strength they are eighty years,
Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow;
For it is soon cut off, and we fly away.
11 Who knows the power of Your anger?
For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath.
12 So teach us to number our days,
That we may gain a heart of wisdom.
13 Return, O LORD!
How long?
And have compassion on Your servants.
14 Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy,
That we may rejoice and be glad all our days!
15 Make us glad according to the days in which You have afflicted us,
The years in which we have seen evil.
16 Let Your work appear to Your servants,
And Your glory to their children.
17 And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us,
And establish the work of our hands for us;
Yes, establish the work of our hands.
What a psalm of praises to God for His being and work! He is the always existing One, eternal in the heavens, He who is who He is. He existed from before time, before the earth and surrounding unseen were spoken into existence to be formed by His word according to His design and plan. And what a design, from spinning atomic particles to the matter they compose to spinning stars of galaxies! This Sovereign Ruler has allowed man to use his will to his own destruction, yet called some according to His predetermined purpose for His glory, calling us to turn away from sin and to follow Him. He did this with Israel again and again to prove the futility of our own effort of reform and turning of repentance to have any lasting change; He Himself had to turn us by the regeneration of a new heart and mind by grace through faith in that work done on our behalf, which is the gospel of Christ Jesus our Lord. Our history seems like long periods of time over our efforts to seek and please God, yet these are moments of an eye blink to the Eternal God above. Time does not control nor govern God or His work with us. We also come and go, but He ever remains constant and unchanging. He also lets us know of His great wrath on our sins of disobedience and disbelief, looking at sin seen and hidden in our hearts, and He compares all we think, say, and do to His countenance of holiness and righteousness. God Himself is our standard of morality, not our compromising rationalizations. By this standard we all come short (Romans 3:20-23). Apart from His intervening grace and mercy, we finish our lives like a defeated sigh under that wrath unless He shows atoning forgiveness according to His word of righteousness and justice. These lives are like smoke or a vapor of fog, transitory and limited to a set number of years according to His predetermination. This then should make us consider (as Moses who penned these words) how God hates sin and why we all deserve His wrath being sons of Adam who inherit the ultimate sin of disobedience to Him in wanting to know good and evil for ourselves, as if we know more or better than our Creator. As is His wrath, so should be our fear. We should count our short days on this earth and make them count for Him, for this is the only way to achieve this wisdom found in His word by lifesaving trust. We also ask for Him to return to us when we sin (1 John 1:9) and show merciful compassion in forgiveness to cover our sin as He did in the Garden of Eden at first sin (Genesis 3:15, 21). We therefore imitate Moses by finding satisfaction in God’s great mercy and rejoicing in Him each and every day, as glad for the number of bad days as the good according to His grace. May we consider all the good work He has done and will continue to do (Philippians 1:6), trusting with God-given faith to see His glory and proclaim it. His beauty of holiness on us and working in us establishes the works of our hands with Philippians 2:12-13 as our guide. Yes, Lord, establish the work of our hands in light of Your wrath and mercy for Your glory, honor, and praise!
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