Psalm 90
From Everlasting to Everlasting
Accepting our inevitable death is the path to wisdom, freedom, security, joy and true life.
That’s because, as Moses shows in this Psalm, it lifts our eyes to the only eternal One, who is ever for us and with us.
A prayer of Moses the man of God.
1 Lord, you have been our dwelling-place
throughout all generations.
2 Before the mountains were born
or you brought forth the whole world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.3 You turn people back to dust,
saying, ‘Return to dust, you mortals.’
4 A thousand years in your sight
are like a day that has just gone by,
or like a watch in the night.
5 Yet you sweep people away in the sleep of death –
they are like the new grass of the morning:
6 In the morning it springs up new,
but 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 Our days may come to seventy years,
or eighty, if our strength endures;
yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow,
for they quickly pass, and we fly away.
11 If only we knew the power of your anger!
Your wrath is as great as the fear that is your due.
12 Teach us to number our days,
that we may gain a heart of wisdom.13 Relent, 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 splendour to their children.17 May the favour of the Lord our God rest on us;
establish the work of our hands for us –
yes, establish the work of our hands.
The hope of God’s people is that God is not like us!
Where we can trace our beginning, God has no start point. Before your birth, the coronation of Elizabeth II, the Versailles Treaty, the Krakatoa Eruption, the Act of Union, Magellan’s journey, the building of Hadrian’s wall, the collapse of Rome, Alexander the Great’s conquests, the construction of the hanging gardens of Babylon, David defeating Goliath, the formation of the mountains, the stars bursting into the night sky or any other event in history, God was.
This is what Moses tells us when he says that God is “from everlasting to everlasting”.
There wasn’t ever a time when God was not. But he was also there before time and he is outside of time. Time does not change him like it does us.
And in v1, we are told why this is such good news. It means he is our eternal refuge. He is not just good for one group of people but all his people throughout all time. As Stephen Charnock puts it, “His providence is not wearied, nor his care fainting”.
In stark contrast to God, our lives are fleeting. Moses uses a striking image to convey this in 5-6. New grass rises up in the morning dew but under the heat of the sun, it does not survive until the evening. This is like us. James 4.14 tells us that we are but a mist that appears for a moment but then vanishes.
In 7-8, Moses writes about how God has exposed our sin. When the light of God’s eternal righteousness shines on the darkness of our hearts, it is deeply uncomfortable. But I think there is a link between God’s eternal nature and our sin. In v12, Moses prays for us to know our mortality. Why? Because through it we gain wisdom. But let’s consider the negative side of that. If we don’t know our mortality, we will be in folly and therefore sin.
Adam and Eve sought to be like God (Genesis 3.4-5). They sought to be immortal like God, trying to be something they were not. This is the essence of sin, trying to steal the throne of God.
This is why knowing our mortality helps. It reminds us we aren’t God and instead compels us to bend the knee to him. Wisdom is what one poet said, “A just man knows he is just a man.”
Those who receive this wisdom then confess their sin and plead for grace. This is the prayer of v13.
And the promise of the gospel is that those who confess their sins in faith will be forgiven and cleansed (1 John 1.9).
But the prayer moves just beyond forgiveness. Because God is not just a judge but he is our Father. Therefore we long to be restored into relationship with him, where his love satisfies us (v14), his joy ignites worship in our souls (v14), his grace gladdens us longer than our sorrows ever lasted (v15), and we behold his radiant splendour (v16).
And so we pray that the immortal God would make good the work of our mortal hands. This is realised through the resurrection of Jesus. As the church, our job is to build up the church. And we know our work is worth it because Jesus is resurrected. We are working on building something that will last. Our homes or hobbies or businesses will eventually crumble. But the church will last forever. As Paul encourages us, “Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Corinthian 15.58).
Glory be to God the Father, who is from everlasting to everlasting.
Glory be to God the Son, who is the same yesterday, today and forever.
Glory be to God the Spirit, who encourages us to stay on the path of true life.
Ever three and ever One.
No Home Group
Just a wee reminder that there are no Home Groups this week, as we will be attending the Healthy Gospel Church Area Prayer Meeting tonight (5th March) in St Peters.