LORD! TEACH US TO NUMBER OUR DAYS
by Ron Ritchie
What a year this has been! What a decade this has been! We have been part
of or have witnessed some of the most exciting historical events to occur
in centuries. It almost feels like history is in a race. Turning the corner,
it has been speeding up as it sees the finish line! We have watched so many
changes on the local, national and international scene that at times our
heads are spinning. Our minds can hardly interpret these events that directly
or indirectly affect our lives. In our own country we have seen the conflict
over abortion and the struggle to understand AIDS and its victims. We are
shocked at the onslaught of illegal drugs. We are worried about the future
for our children; embarrassed by the needs of the homeless; concerned about
the fast pace of living; disturbed by the shallowness of our convictions
and values; and sobered by the recent earthquake and other natural disasters
across the nation.
Internationally, we experienced a decade of terrorism; wars and rumors of
wars; hostage taking; hijacked airlines; U.S. troops being sent to Lebanon,
and invading Grenada and Panama. Mikhail Gorbachev became the Soviet leader
and ordered his troops home from the war in Afghanistan. He began to face
the problems of his own as well as the Warsaw Pact nations. We witnessed
the slow melting of the Iron Curtain when Reagan and Gorbachev met in Iceland.
We were amazed at open doors in China and the student hunger for democracy.
Following the hard-hearted slaughter of Chinese youth, the doors once again
closed to the West. Lech Walesa, a Polish electrician ("a nobody,"
according to President Bush), become the spiritual leader behind the political
collapse of the nations of Eastern Europe. Some of us visited, and even
now have in our possession, a piece of the Berlin Wall. Borders are being
broken down and gates of freedom are opening up. After four decades, church
doors are being unlocked and people can freely worship God. What a year
and what a decade! What a time in history!
As Christians we need to keep in mind that all of history is His-Story:
It is the story of Christ at work behind and in a history that has a beginning,
a middle and an end. His-Story is the story of mankind, the story of God's
desire to have a loving and redemptive relationship with man although man
continues in rebellion against him. Our sovereign Lord Jesus Christ has
been using visible and invisible forces behind these historical events to
bring fallen man to a clearer understanding of himself in relationship to
his Creator. The eternal God who lives outside his creation has placed man
on this earth for a brief stay so that man might respond in love to him
who first loved us.
Adam sinned against God, and ever since mankind has been born in sin. "For
all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" (Rom.3:23). After
man's brief stay on earth he is then appointed to die and appear before
the Judge of all the earth, either as a son of God or as a sinner against
God, to give account of his life, words, and deeds. Depending on our relationship
with our Creator we will either spend eternity with our Lord Jesus in loving
fellowship, or alone in utter darkness.
The good news is that His-Story of love and redemption will continue until
the end of time. All these visible and invisible historical events are being
used by our Lord to bring many into the kingdom of God. As we stand on the
brink of this new year and this new decade we need to be sober in spirit
and ask ourselves once again, "Who is this God who is behind history,
and what should be our relationship with him now that he has invaded our
history and desires us to become part of His-Story?"
As we look toward the future there is wisdom in looking to the past for
answers. To do this, let us study Psalm 90 to see the insight God gave Moses.
Standing on the shores of the Jordan River Moses looks over to the Promised
Land and cries, "Lord, teach us to number our days!" It is the
end of 40 years in the wilderness and a new decade is beginning. God's people
are beginning a new relationship with their Lord and a new challenge.
Moses was a deliverer, leader, lawgiver, prophet and song writer of Israel.
He composed Psalm 90 during the wilderness journey for Israel to sing as
a rebuke or a praise (see Ex.15; Deut. 31:19,32,33). This prayer was written
to remind the Jews of God's character--eternal, great, powerful, sovereign,
beautiful--in contrast to their own human frailty. It is a call to God's
people to dwell in God alone, as well as a warning to those who continue
in their rebellion against God, the Savior whom we now know as our Lord
Jesus Christ.
I. Lord! You are our Eternal God (1-11)
Lord, Thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations.
Before the mountains were born,
For Thou didst give birth to the earth and the world,
Even from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God (vs. 1-2).
Since God made his covenant with Abraham he has been available to be the
permanent dwelling place of the Jews. They were wandering in the wilderness,
living in tents, and feeling vulnerable to the elements. Although they had
been slaves in Egypt for 400 years the people had been secure in their own
houses and cities, and had protection from the Egyptian army against outside
enemies. God took them out of bondage and placed them in tents, a very temporary
and insecure situation. They were scared by wild animals; different tribes
sought to kill them; local kings wanted to defeat them. So Moses reminds
the Israelites that regardless of how temporary and insecure the circumstances
seem, they are protected by the Eternal God. He is the One who has been
the Jews' dwelling place in the past and will continue to be so in the future,
because he is God and not man.
David said, "In peace I will both lie down and sleep. For Thou alone,
O God, dost make me to dwell safely" (Ps. 4:8). God is willing to be
the believer's dwelling place--the place of security, acceptance, joy, and
peace--forever. For the believer, our Lord's words are full of comfort:
"And now little children abide [dwell, or make yourselves at home]
in him, so that if he should appear, we may have confidence and not shrink
away from him in shame at his coming" (I John 2:28).
Moses looks out on the supposed people of God. They had experienced the
death of a whole generation of rebellious men and women who did not choose
to allow their Eternal God to become their permanent dwelling place. As
a result, Moses could say without God, man falls into four categories.
First, he says that man is but dust.
Thou dost turn man back into dust,
And dost say, "Return, O children of men."
For a thousand years in Thy sight
Are like yesterdays when it passes by,
Or as a watch in the night" (vs. 3-4).
The reference to dust (mud) comes from Genesis 3:19. Adam was created by
God in the Garden of Eden: "...the Lord God formed man of dust from
the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became
a living soul" (2:7). Man came from the ground, was placed in a garden
and told that he could eat the fruit of every tree except the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil: ". . . for in the day you eat of it you
shall die." The created being had disobeyed his Creator, and part of
the penalty for this sin was spoken by God when he said to Adam, "by
the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground,
because from it you were taken; for you are dust and to dust you shall return."
As Adam had rebelled against God, so did Israel in the wilderness. Both
suffered the same fate--physical death.
Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 12:1,6,7: "Remember also your Creator
in the days of your youth, before the evil days come. . . . Remember Him
before the silver cord is broken and the golden bowl is crushed, the pitcher
by the well is shattered and the wheel at the cistern is crushed, then the
dust will return to earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who
gave it." What is time and our transitory physical lives on earth in
light of our "everlasting to everlasting" God? Man without God,
in his arrogance and rebellion, returns to dust. He is but a yesterday,
a 12-hour watch on a city.
But we refuse to let that truth govern our lives. Television documentaries
at this time of year review the lives of movie stars and politicians who
passed away during the past decade. As far as this world is concerned they
are dust, but because of the media, the public will not let them die. For
example, Elvis Presley has been dead for over 10 years, but there are reported
sightings of him daily. Marilyn Monroe probably receives more attention
now than she did when she was alive. I recently read a news article entitled
"Embalmed Body of Lenin to be Mended." The mausoleum that draws
millions of visitors to Red Square each year will be closed for a time to
allow this to happen. Sergei Debov, the expert who has been tending the
embalmed body of the Soviet leader since l950 (Lenin died in l924), is not
divulging just what mending and fixing needs to be done. On the other hand,
as the Soviet Union reassesses its history, there have been suggestions
that Lenin be buried like "a mere mortal" This is another illustration
of man's refusal to admit that without God he is but dust.
Second, fallen man is but grass.
Thou hast swept them away like a flood, they fall asleep;
In the morning they are like grass which sprouts anew.
In the morning it flourishes and sprouts anew;
Towards evening it fades and withers away (vs. 5-6).
As God dealt with the rebellious generation of Noah's day through a flood
of judgment, so he deals with the rebellious generation of Moses' day. In
each case, man in the morning of his life is like grass which sprouts anew.
He is filled with hopes and dreams of being significant without God. Yet
in time all men in the evening of their lives fade and wither away. Noah
watched a whole world of lively, strong, boastful and proud people swept
away in judgment by a flood because they rebelled against God's message
of redemption. Likewise, Moses experienced the judgment of God upon a whole
generation of Jews who died in the wilderness because they rebelled against
God and his promise to take them into a land of milk and honey. Regardless
of how strong, how boastful, how arrogant, how proud, how lively they were
in the wilderness journeys, because of their rebellion they are no more.
Like grass, they have faded away, swept away in a flood of judgment. Physical
death, then, is God's way of putting a check on man's wickedness.
Third, fallen man is but a whisper.
For we have been consumed by Thine anger,
And by thy wrath we have been dismayed.
Thou hast placed our iniquities before Thee,
Our secret sins in the light of Thy presence.
For all our days have declined in Thy fury;
We have finished our years like a sigh (vs. 7-9).
Moses confronted the sin of the Jewish people firsthand in the wilderness,
with the resulting consequence of God's anger and wrath. In spite of all
the signs and wonders--from the parting of the Red Sea to providing water
from a rock--the Jews continued to sin, to rebel and put God to the test.
They lived in unbelief and did not trust in his salvation (Psalms 78).
God reacts to their rebellion in anger because he is a jealous God who watches
as the people he loves disobey him and chase after others gods who are no
gods. Thus, the people experience the wrath of God, the consequences of
their sin, which is the "leanest of their souls"--the emptiness
and meaningless of their lives. They thought much of their sin was in secret,
but in reality it was out in the open in the sight of God. Nothing can be
hidden from his search light. The psalmist says, "If we had forgotten
the name of our God, or extended our hands to a strange god, would not God
find this out? For He knows the secrets of the heart" (Ps. 44:20-21).
Romans 2:16 says: ". . . on that day when according to my gospel, God
will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus."
Likewise, Moses sees that a life of sin against God results in man finishing
his life on earth in a whisper. Although man desires to make his life meaningful
and valuable, when his last word on earth is spoken it is in a whisper,
as though no one even heard what he might have thought were words of great
worth. "We spent our years as a tale that is told," but we end
in a whisper.
In this decade alone we have watched God reveal the secret sins of the great
and the small, from the greed of President and Mrs. Marcos of the Philippines,
to the witchcraft of Noriega in Panama, to the torture chambers and wiretapping
of the former president of Romania. We have seen the lust and greed of former
U.S. senators revealed by former lovers and financiers. We have witnessed
the fall of many religious leaders on a local, national and international
level as their secret sins of lust and greed have been revealed. Sports
figures fell because of their secret sins of gambling and drugs. Only by
the grace and mercy of God have most of us been spared and given time to
deal with our secret sins before God reveals them for all to see. If we
do not repent, these secret sins will reduce our lives to end in a "whisper"
rather then a shout of joy to the praise of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Finally, man's life is limited to a few days.
As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years,
Or if due to strength, eighty years,
Yet their pride is but labor and sorrow;
For soon it is gone and we fly away.
Who understands the power of Thine anger,
And Thy fury, according to the fear that is due Thee? (vs. 10-11).
Moses concludes that most people live between 70 and 80 years, although
he himself was an exception for he lived 120 years. During those years on
the earth he saw that people's lives were motivated by the pride of the
flesh, and thus their few days were filled with "labor and sorrow."
In light of eternity, those few days and years were soon gone, and the people,
like small birds, just flew away because they did not fear the awesome God
who had revealed himself to Israel in the wilderness. Conceiving a "lesser
god" in their mind, they suffered the results of that foolish thinking
by losing the joy of entering the Promised Land and suffering physical death.
The book of Job says, "Do you not know this from of old, from the establishment
of man on earth, that the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy
of the godless momentary? Though his loftiness reaches the heavens, and
his head touches the clouds; he perishes forever like his refuse; those
who have seen him will say "Where is he?" He flies away like a
dream, and they cannot find him; even like a vision of the night he is chased
away. The eye which saw him sees him no more, and his place no longer beholds
him. His sons favor the poor, and his hands give back his wealth. His bones
are full of his youthful vigor, but it lies down with him in the dust"
(Job 20:4-11).
U.S. News & World Report last week gave some statistics on the expected
lifespan of residents in various states in the U.S. For example, the average
life span in North Dakota is 75.7 years; 75.8 years in Utah; 75.8 in Iowa;
76.2 in Minnesota; and 77 years in Hawaii. According to these findings,
man's life span still falls within the 70-80 range, as recorded by Moses
some 2500 years ago.
The scriptures stand true. "It is appointed for man to die once, after
this comes the judgment" (Heb. 9:27). For fallen man, death is filled
with fear, anxiety, anger, dread and emptiness. For the believer who has
made God his dwelling place, however, Paul says to the Corinthians ".
. . we have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to
Him" (II Cor. 5:9). We can go into eternity filled with joy and the
desire to please God because we know the truth that our lives have tremendous
eternal consequences and significance in his sight. We do not get "15
minutes of fame" in this world, as Andy Warhol once proclaimed, but
we get eternal fame in the joy we experience by serving Jesus Christ, not
ourselves.
Moses contrasts the choices that men made in his lifetime. Although he desires
to dwell with his eternal Lord forever he sees that most men choose to rebel
against their Creator. Their life is reduced to dust--grass, a whisper,
a few days of worthlessness. On behalf of God's people who remained alive
in the desert, the prophet prays that the Lord would put aside his anger
and take control of their wasted lives, investing himself in the few years
they have remaining on earth.
II. Lord! May our brief years please you (12-17)
So teach us to number our days,
That we may present to thee a heart of wisdom (v. 12).
Moses is saying, in effect, "Lord, we are but men, and fallen men at
that, but some of us want a loving relationship with you. In our fallen
condition we do not understand the meaning of life, and we do not know how
to live so as to please you. So we come to you as your people. The first
thing we need to learn from you as our teacher is how to number our days."
If one lives to be 70 years, he has 25,550 days to use to the glory of God
or to self-interest. If he lives to be 80, there are 29,200 days. Nevertheless,
all of us must appear before the judgment seat to give an account of our
words, deeds and days. Moses knows that time is passing and his time is
running out. In light of the fact that man gets only so much time on earth,
we must ask for wisdom. Wisdom is the God-given ability to take the knowledge
of God and apply it to reality. It is to evaluate all of life from God's
mind, not the world's viewpoint. It is understanding that God has given
us insight into the world that the unsaved man can never gain unless he
hears it from God.
Proverbs 2:1-6 says, "Make your ear attentive to wisdom, incline your
heart to understanding; for if you cry for discernment, lift your voice
for understanding; if you seek her as silver, and search for her as for
hidden treasures; then you will discern the fear of the Lord, and discover
the knowledge of God, for the Lord gives wisdom and from His mouth comes
knowledge and understanding. He stores up sound wisdom from the upright."
Paul encourages the Ephesians to ". . . be careful how you walk, not
as unwise men, but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days
are evil" (5:15-16). He is asking us to redeem the time, to buy up
opportunities to be used of God and not self-interest. Likewise, Peter exhorted
the Christians of Asia, "And if you address as Father the one who impartially
judges according to each man's work, conduct yourselves in fear during the
time of your stay upon the earth; knowing that you were not redeemed with
perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited
from your forefathers, but with the precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished
and spotless, the blood of Christ" (I Peter 1:17-19).
In my own life, I know that the clock is ticking. Should my Lord extend
mercy and grace, based on Psalms 90 I know that I have between 14 and 24
Super Bowls to go! I have 4,880 to 8,449 days left during my stay on earth
to either choose a life that pleases myself or pleases the Lord. My prayer
is "Lord, teach me to number my days so that I may present to thee
a heart of wisdom."
How many days do you have left? All you have to do is turn to the Lord and
say, "Of the days that I have left, will you teach me to number them
that I may present to you a heart of wisdom?" You have time now to
work it out. You no longer have to live in fear. You can have meaning and
significance now by choosing to let Jesus Christ be Lord of your life, beginning
at this moment.
Do return, O Lord; how long will it be?
And be sorry for Thy servants.
O satisfy us in the morning with Thy lovingkindness,
That we may sing for joy and be glad for all our days.
Make us glad according to the days Thou has afflicted us,
And the years we have seen evil (vs. 13-15).
The relationship between God and his people was broken because of their
secret sins, and Moses pleads with God to restore that relationship based
on his mercy and compassion towards man who is but dust (see Ps.106:40-45).
He implores the Lord, "We now realize that we have suffered because
we chose death instead of life. We have experienced death in our spirits
and souls for many days, but now we want to come back to you. We want to
choose life, for you are the only one who can satisfy our hearts and minds
in this life. Only you can put a song in our hearts all the days we have
left on earth" (see Ps. 44:20-26). Deuteronomy 30:19-20 says, "I
call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before
you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order
that you may live, you and your descendants, to loving the Lord your God,
to obeying His voice, and to holding fast to Him; for this is your life
and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the Lord
swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them."
Let Thy work appear to Thy servants,
And Thy majesty to their children.
And let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us;
And do confirm for us the work of our hands;
Yes, confirm the work of our hands (vs. 16-17).
First, Moses says, "Lord, we as your servants need a review of your
works in creation as well as how you delivered us from Egypt and all our
enemies in the wilderness. We also need to review how you provided all our
needs in the wilderness, giving us light by night and cloud by day"
(Ps. 78).
Second, Moses says, "Lord, let your children see your majesty. Our
generation was privileged to see the majesty of your character: your power,
lovingkindness, guidance, holiness, voice and awesomeness. May our children
see the same glory." Here is how Isaiah saw God's glory: "In the
year of King Uzziah's death, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and
exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above
Him, each having six wings; with two he covered his face, and with two he
covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and
said Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God of Hosts, the whole earth is full
of His glory. And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice
of Him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke" (Isa.
6:1-4).
Third, Moses asks that the favor of the Lord be upon them: "Lord, we
are your servants again. We are back, and we desire to live under your grace.
We desire to please you and ask that you bless us." Psalm 27:4 says,
"One thing I asked from the Lord, that I may seek; that I may dwell
in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of
the Lord, and to mediate in His temple."
Finally, Moses asks that the Lord confirm the work of their hands: "Lord,
we have worked for ourselves in pride and arrogance, but now we have chosen
life. Our desire is to follow you and do what you desire." Psalm 37:23
says, "The steps of a man are established by the Lord; and He delights
in his ways." Paul writes to the Ephesians, "For we are His workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus for good works which God has prepared beforehand
that we should walk in them" (Eph. 2:10). Now that the people have
come back under God's grace and favor, Moses asks the Lord to confirm their
works so that it brings glory and honor to him, and results in joy for them.
We too must ask that our hands no longer be involved in self-interest. As
people of joy and peace we should be seeking to manifest God's character
and life to the world.
As we watch the rapid changes of daily life in politics, culture, geography,
economy, and religion, we are tempted to become physically, emotionally
and spiritually insecure. In the midst of that insecurity, we can cry out
in the spirit of Moses and pray, "Lord! You are our eternal dwelling
place." As our lives wind down, we who have established a personal
relationship with Jesus as our Lord and Savior, can cry out in the spirit
of Moses, 'Lord! May our brief years please you.'" They will if we
ask, "Teach us to number our days that we may present to thee a heart
of wisdom."
History is His-Story; a love story of redemption. God through his Son is
seeking to redeem people from the bondage of the kingdom of darkness and
deliver them into the kingdom of light. As we enter this new year and this
new decade our Lord wants us to be available to be used of him in this wonderful
redemption story. We can begin right here and now with the same prayer that
Moses offered so long ago, "Lord teach us to number our days, that
we may present to Thee a heart of wisdom. . . and let the favor of the Lord
our God be upon us; and do confirm the work of our hands."
Who is this God who is behind history? His name is Jesus Christ. What is
to be our relationship with him? We are to be his sons and daughters, available
in His-Story of love and redemption so that many may be brought into the
kingdom of heaven this year. God is asking us to not spend another day or
minute doing that which displeases him in the days that we have left on
earth. The clock is ticking; time is running out.
Catalog No. 4213
Psalm 90
Ron R. Ritchie
December 31, 1989
Copyright (C) 1995 Discovery Publishing, a ministry of Peninsula Bible Church.
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