Time Marches On

[0:00] Good morning. You can be opening up your Bibles to Psalm 90. This morning we'll be taking a look at a prayer of Moses.!

[0:30] We got through it and we're here. So it's good. It was good for me to even drive by some places that I used to be at when I was younger and just to have some memories come back into my mind.

[0:42] Memories that really don't feel like they were all that long ago. Just a reminder of the sermon that I'm about to preach. Time flies, you know.

[0:53] It goes by very quickly. I was thinking if you have, so we're in the year 2026, if you have a 2016 model car, it might sound new, but your car's already a decade old.

[1:08] The brake lines are probably already getting a little rusty, right? So time flies if you think about it. We have one of our youth group leaders at our church. I remember, and this is several years ago that this happened, he was leading the youth group and he made a reference to September 11th.

[1:27] And as he made this reference to 9-11, he realized nobody in his youth group was alive when 9-11 happened. He totally forgot. And it's because time flies.

[1:38] We can probably remember where we were at on 9-11. We can probably remember even as the ball dropped and we turned into the new millennium, what we were doing. And maybe some of us, like myself, were pretty young back in those days, but still, it just feel like time flew on by.

[1:57] We're going to talk about that as we look into Psalm 90. So let your eyes glance across this psalm as I read it.

[2:08] This is the Word of God, Psalm 90. A prayer of Moses, the man of God. Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations.

[2:23] Before the mountains were brought forth, wherever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting, you are God.

[2:33] You return man to dust and say, return, O children of man. For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night.

[2:48] You sweep them away as with a flood. They are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning. In the morning it flourishes and is renewed.

[3:00] In the evening it fades and withers. For we are brought to an end by your anger. By your wrath we are dismayed. You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence.

[3:17] For all our days pass away under your wrath. We bring our years to an end like a sigh. The years of our life are 70, or even by reason of strength, 80.

[3:31] Yet their span is but toil and trouble. They are soon gone and we fly away. Who considers the power of your anger and your wrath according to the fear of you?

[3:47] So teach us to number our days. That we may get a heart of wisdom. Return, O Lord. How long?

[3:59] Have pity on your servants. Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love. That we may rejoice and be glad all our days.

[4:13] Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us. And for as many years as we have seen evil. Let your work be shown to your servants.

[4:24] Let your glorious power to their children. Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us. And establish the work of our hands upon us.

[4:35] Yes. Establish the work of our hands. That's the end of the reading of the word of God. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, we come to you this morning needing to hear from you.

[4:53] Lord, we desperately need encouragement from your word. And we desperately need to have a look at the big picture that Moses is showing us here. Lord, would we see Christ more clearly?

[5:07] And would you change us as we leave this place later? Be with us now, Lord. Would your spirit work mightily through us, we pray in Christ's name.

[5:20] Amen. So here in Psalm 90, we're going to see that the everlasting God in verses 1 and 2 is going to be contrasted with sinful man in verses 3 through 11.

[5:35] And the question is, as we look at this contrast before an eternal God and sinful man whose life is very brief, whose life is very short, the question is, does man lay this to heart?

[5:51] Does man lay this to heart and respond accordingly? And so the question for you is going to be the same. Do you take these things to heart that you're about to hear from Psalm 90?

[6:03] Do you consider them? Will you meditate upon them so that you might have a heart of wisdom? We're going to see some glorious truths in Psalm 90.

[6:16] And we see what Moses is going to do here in his prayer. This is a prayer of Moses. He's going to take a step back. And we're going to take a look at the big picture here in Psalm 90.

[6:27] So we're thinking of mankind as a whole. We're thinking of Adam's fallen race, the descendants of Adam, as we consider all of mankind before a holy and just God who is eternal.

[6:43] And so first, we're going to focus on the eternality of God. So first things first, God is eternal. And these are simple truths that we're going to look at this morning.

[6:54] But these simple truths are powerful and they demand some thinking through on our part. So God is eternal. Now, this is a prayer of Moses.

[7:06] It says there, the man of God. And so let's see how a man of God prays. Starting in verse one. Moses prays, he says, Lord.

[7:18] And that word for Lord, the word that he's using there to address God is Adonai. And this is looking to God as almighty, as God almighty, who is the ruler of the heavens and the earth, because he is the creator of the heavens and the earth.

[7:34] So we're thinking about God as as the ruler, God as the judge. So Moses calls upon the judge of the earth. He says, Lord, you have been our dwelling place.

[7:48] These are comforting words for the people of God to think about. And this is a timeless truth. This is a truth that is true of all the saints of all generations. This is true.

[7:59] You can think of Noah. Surely Noah found God to be his dwelling place as he was on the ark, as the flood came. God was his refuge.

[8:10] God was his stronghold. You could say the same for Moses as he was helping the people of God as they wandered through the wilderness. They found God to be their dwelling place.

[8:25] And of course, we know it wasn't all that pretty. They had rebelled against the Lord on several occasions. Nevertheless, God was always the dwelling place of his people. And this carries on throughout the Old Testament.

[8:37] And it is true of us today. God is our refuge. God is our dwelling place in all generations. Now, we'll see this blessed truth here in verse one, that God is our dwelling place.

[8:55] And it's sort of magnified as we transition into verse two. As we look at the eternality of God. See, God is truly a God that can be known by his people.

[9:07] I mean, if you're a Christian and you're here this morning, you actually know God. You truly know the Lord. However, it's this wonderful and amazing truth that though we know the Lord, we can't quite comprehend God, right?

[9:23] We can't know everything there is to know about God. God is so much more than what our finite minds can comprehend. And so, though we can truly with confidence call God our dwelling place, it is also true that this is the everlasting God who man cannot quite comprehend.

[9:43] Verse two, before the mountains were brought forth, wherever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting, you are God.

[9:54] Now, children, don't let that discourage you that we can't figure out God. Maybe you've had some of these thoughts where it's like, okay, God doesn't make sense to me.

[10:08] You know, God, I can't determine how does God not have a beginning? Like, how did God come into existence? And that might cause problems for you in your mind as you're trying to figure that out.

[10:20] Because the reality is, you can't figure that out. But let me give you a little bit of comfort this morning. It actually should be comforting to you that you can't discern God's end.

[10:33] That you can't comprehend his ways with clarity, with fullness. It is helpful for us to know that if we could actually discern God's beginning, would he be a God worth worshiping?

[10:50] Would he be a God who's truly sovereign and in control of things if somehow he was created? But of course, it's not true. God is not a created being.

[11:02] God is God from everlasting to everlasting. God simply is. God is eternal. and that should cause us to worship, and that should give us great comfort that nothing can thwart the plans of Almighty God. And so, young people, we take comfort in the fact that we can't figure everything out about God. It's a comfort to us. From everlasting to everlasting, you are God.

[11:32] And so, we see that God is eternal. Simple truth, a truth that we've all come to believe and to love, but yet a complex truth, too, because we can't get all that figured out.

[11:49] So, we've seen that God is eternal, and now let's make this transition into man is sinful. So, we're going to look at mankind as a whole here. We think after the fall of Adam. Verse 3, Moses prays, you return man to dust, and say, return, O children of man. So, you can remember that God formed Adam from the dust, and then you can remember Adam sins against God. Now, Adam must return to the dust.

[12:20] God returns man to the dust. Our days are in his hands, aren't they? Now, that is either terrifying to you, or that is extremely comforting to you, that our life, the span of our life, every minute, every second of our life is in the hands of Almighty God. Verse 4, Moses prays, for a thousand years in your sight, our sight, are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night. And I think when we see that thousand years there, we should be reminded of Genesis chapter 5, especially, particularly the years that those people would live back before the flood. Remember, they lived a very long time, almost a thousand years. And I think that's what Moses has in mind here. Moses is saying, even people that lived that long are nothing compared to an eternal God. I mean, just take, for example, you have, it says, Adam lived, Adam lived 930 years, and he died. Enosh lived 905 years, and he died.

[13:36] Jared lived 962 years, and he died. And it goes on and on and on. People who lived long spans of life, they died. Even Methuselah, who lived longer than them all. Methuselah lived 969 years, and Genesis 5 is quick to remind us, and he died. A thousand years in the sight of God is nothing, let alone our 70 or 80. Verse 5, Moses prays, you sweep them away as with a flood.

[14:18] Our lives are swept away as a flood. You think of all the pride and the pomp of man. You know, sometimes we really think we're something. We look at some people, and we think, wow, look at that person. Maybe they're a celebrity. Maybe they're a famous athlete. But they're nothing before God.

[14:40] I was just reminded last night, my wife and I, we just figured out, actually, the Winter Olympics are just starting out. And we started, we turned them on last night, and then I realized, oh, the Super Bowl's today. I didn't know that either. And so just think about the Super Bowl. Think about today in several hours, whatever it is, all these fans are going to pour into this stadium.

[15:04] There's going to be all these shouts, all these cries, all this emotion that's going to happen over this game. Then guess what? Tomorrow morning, you're not going to hear a thing in that stadium.

[15:16] You might hear the people that are working there, and they're going to be walking by, sweeping up the trash. What happened to all those cries? They're gone with the wind. Long gone. Never to come back again.

[15:31] Gone. Gone. You sweep them away as with a flood. They are like a dream, Moses prays in verse 5. They're like a dream. Think about a dream. I mean, I know every now and then we have a dream that we can remember for the rest of our lives. I still have dreams from when I was younger. But for the most part, we have a dream. That dream's gone by breakfast.

[15:55] You know, you had some kind of dream. It seemed quite profound in your mind, and then it was just gone. Never to be brought back into your mind ever again. Our life is like a dream. We're here for a moment, then we're gone. Moses keeps going on. He keeps giving us more examples. He says at the end of verse 5, like grass that is renewed in the morning. In the morning, it flourishes and is renewed. In the evening, it fades and withers. So you can think, Moses, what he's doing here is he's likening man to a blade of grass. Think of the grass. In the morning, it bolts up strength. But then after a hot day without rain, the grass is withered away. And that's us. Like a single day, we come, we have strength for a moment, and then we wither away. We're gone. We fade and wither.

[16:59] This section here, verses 3 through 6, are worth reflecting upon. I mean, what is your life?

[17:14] James likens our lives to a mist or a vapor. I missed it. It puffs out, and there's the mist, and then all of a sudden, it dissipates. It's gone. That's our lives. My wife and I, we live on the edge of town, and there's a graveyard that we like to walk to. Not because we like graveyards or anything, but just because it's a kind of a peaceful, quiet place. So we can go, and we walk through this graveyard. It's this nice little loop that we do. And you look at these gravestones, and you look at these lifespans of these people from maybe the 1800s or early 1900s, you read their names, you look at the years engraved on the stone, and you think, you know, this person probably had a story to tell. Might have lived some kind of significant life, but they're gone. Nobody can tell it anymore.

[18:17] Most people don't even know who they are. Maybe after the third or fourth generation, somebody's just totally lost, unless they're like that one percent who, you know, makes the history books.

[18:31] So we see that man's life is short in verses three through six. Now, what's the reason for that? Why is life so short? Why does it have to be this way? Why can't we just live long lives where we flourish, and we don't have to worry about this withering part that Moses talks about when he's looking at the grass? Well, the answer in verses seven through 11 are clear.

[19:01] We're brought to an end because of our sin. Let's look at verses seven through 11. As we continue in looking at the sinfulness of man, verse seven, for we are brought to an end by your anger, by your wrath. We are dismayed.

[19:19] You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence. You see, we're exposed before a holy God.

[19:31] God, as sinful men, we cannot hide our sins from God. Our sins are laid bare before God's all-seeing eye, and we can't escape it. It's because God is a just God that he must deal with our sin.

[19:49] Otherwise, he's not a just God. We want God to be a just God. It's a good thing that God is just. It's a good thing that God is concerned about law and order. But we're exposed before God.

[20:05] Verse nine, Moses says, For all our days pass away under your wrath. We bring our years to an end like a sigh. The years of our life are 70, or even by reason of strength, 80.

[20:21] So Moses now has in mind the time after the flood where man's days or years are shortened to 120. He says, even in strength, 80 years.

[20:32] And maybe some of you will live longer than 80 years. Maybe you'll make it even to 100. But we're not going past 120. He continues in verse 10. He says, If you were to turn quick to Genesis 47.

[21:02] We'll consider the words of Jacob. So if you remember, Joseph comes up with this plan. He's going to save the world, basically, by providing food in Egypt.

[21:18] And so Jacob's family, they come down and they settle in Goshen. And Joseph brings his father, Jacob, to meet Pharaoh.

[21:29] And Pharaoh says to Jacob, How many are the days of the years of your life? Here's Jacob's answer to Pharaoh. He says, The days of the years of my sojourning are 130 years.

[21:42] Now, children, think about that. 130 years. That's a long life. 130 years. And then here's what Jacob says about those 130 years. Few and evil have been the years of my life, of my fathers in the days of their sojourning.

[22:02] Few and evil. David, or yeah, David. Jacob considers the 130 years that he has, and even the longer years that his father had, as few and evil.

[22:17] And we ought to take this to heart. They are soon gone and we fly away, says Moses. But then here in verse 11, I see some sort of climax here.

[22:29] As Moses kind of breaks out in his prayer with this rhetorical question. Moses says, Who considers the power of your anger and your wrath according to the fear of you?

[22:43] So here's the question. Do you take these things to heart? Do you take the fact that God is an eternal God, worthy of our worship?

[22:54] Do you take that to heart? And then, do you take it to heart that we have rebelled against God? We have sinned against our creator. And the wages of our sin is death.

[23:07] Who considers these things? We must consider these things. We must consider the power of the anger of God and the wrath of God.

[23:18] We must have hearts that fear God. So how do we get a heart such as this? You know, it's interesting, the placement of this psalm in the Psalter.

[23:34] You see, this is a psalm of Moses. And when they're putting together the Psalter, Moses is not alive. Moses is dead. He's been dead for a long time. And so I think we should see this as a psalm that is strategically placed right here at the beginning of Book 4 in the Psalms.

[23:53] Now, why do I say that? If you were to go one psalm before it, so this is the last psalm in Book 3. That's Psalm 89. Psalm 89 is a psalm that reflects upon God's covenant with David.

[24:08] And you remember God's promise to David. There would be a king in his line. It would be an everlasting reign. Now, we see those who come after David.

[24:19] There's the ups and downs of those who have his throne on their head. In Psalm 89, the end of Book 3, leaves us questioning the Davidic line.

[24:34] It depicts David's crown as being in the dust. And if you're an Israelite, you're concerned about that.

[24:47] And so what do we have here in Psalm 90 with the Davidic throne in question? We have here a prayer of Moses. And what is it that Moses would do?

[24:59] What is it that Moses would do for the Israelites in particular times of rebellion? Well, Moses would intercede for the people. And so here, I think what we have in Psalm 90 is an intercessory prayer for Israel.

[25:18] An intercessory prayer for the people of God, saying, Lord, we have rebelled against you. We are just like the world, even though we are your chosen people, and we've sinned against you.

[25:30] And here comes Moses, in a sense, interceding for the people through this prayer. But the problem is, like I said, Moses is dead.

[25:42] This is a prayer from the past. And so what hope does sinful man have before an eternal, holy God, except to face judgment?

[25:54] And the reality is, we have a greater Moses to look forward to. One who's already come. He's suffered and died for our sins.

[26:05] And he was raised from the dead. Our Lord Jesus interceded for us, and he continues to intercede for us to this day. Our sins are dealt with in Christ.

[26:17] And so we see that God is eternal, and we see that man is sinful, and yet we see that God is faithful, giving man hope.

[26:34] And that's where we'll transition into verses 12 through 17. God is faithful, giving man hope. Moses continues in verse 12, so teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.

[26:48] And you'll notice the connection there with verse 11. You must fear God to have a heart of wisdom. We understand that from Proverbs, don't we? The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

[27:01] So we must fear God. We must believe in him. We must appreciate him for the way in which he has provided for us. Verse 13, return, O Lord.

[27:15] We think, man, we saw it back in verse 3. We are to return to the dust. And though we are to return to the dust, we have Moses crying to God, no, you return to us.

[27:27] It's a prayer of faith. We need you, Lord. Return to us. And you'll even notice there, in your Bible, the word Lord there might be in all capital letters. This is God's covenant name, Yahweh.

[27:39] So he goes from verse 1, where he addresses God as Adonai, that's the ruler or the judge. But now in verses 12 through 17, as we transition into this section of hope, Moses calls upon God's covenant name, a name that reminds him of God's covenant faithfulness to the people of God.

[28:02] He's reminding God, God, you are a God who entered covenant with us. You are the God who's faithful. Return, O Lord, to us.

[28:15] There's this anticipation. How long? Have pity on your servants. But then there's hope. There's hope for a new day. You see, our lives are likened to a single day here in Psalm 90.

[28:28] And yet in verse 14, Moses prays, satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love. Moses is saying there's another day coming. There is hope that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.

[28:49] Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us. Now think about that. Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us. Now if you feel that you're over the hill, if you feel like you've already lived out those days, how can God restore those days?

[29:04] How can you redeem the time if most of your life is already gone? It's because Moses has an eye on eternity. What the Lord Jesus has done for us is he's given us an eternal life in the presence of God rather than an eternal life facing the judgment of God because he has suffered in our place if you've believed in Christ.

[29:30] He paid the penalty for our sin and he has risen and he has ascended on high. And if you've placed your trust in Christ, you get to look forward to an eternity, an eternal day where the dwelling place of God will be with man.

[29:51] Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us and for as many years as we have seen evil. Verse 16, let your work be shown to your servants and your glorious power to their children.

[30:08] He's even looking forward at future generations. Let the favor of the Lord, our God, be upon us. You can even think of that word favor being beauty.

[30:18] Do you ever think of the beauty of God? It's this idea of a child of God looking at God, beholding his or her God with affections, with admiration.

[30:32] The beauty of the Lord. Let the beauty or the favor of the Lord God be upon us and establish the work of our hands upon us. Yes, establish the work of our hands.

[30:45] And that's what God does for those whom he has redeemed. We can redeem the time. Your labors now, if you're in Christ, are no longer in vain.

[30:58] You don't have to wake up and say, well, I just cut the grass three days ago and now I got to cut the grass again because it's already grown up and this is what life is.

[31:10] It's just one mundane task to the next. No, we can redeem the time. We can have a new perspective on our work, on our raising of children, on the work in the shop or the work in the office.

[31:25] The Lord has given us this opportunity that though our days here on this side of eternity might be few, we can live them out with joy because we look forward to a new day.

[31:37] Has the Lord established the work of your hands? If you haven't placed your faith in Jesus Christ, this is not for you.

[31:51] Your days will still be lived out in vain. Your life is going to go by very quickly. And my friend, I plead with you because all you have to look forward to is the judgment seat of Christ.

[32:03] But if you would turn to Him, if you would trust that He is who He said He was, the Son of God, the Christ, the one who suffered and died in your place, if you would place your trust, place your faith in Him, there's much joy for you.

[32:31] There's much satisfaction in Christ, more than what we know. Turn to 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15, starting in verse 47.

[33:03] The Apostle Paul says this, The first man was from the earth, a man of dust.

[33:15] The second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust. And as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven.

[33:30] Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

[33:45] Brothers and sisters, we have great hope in what the Lord Jesus has done for us. And we can finish out our days with joy and purpose. And so may this be an encouragement to you as you rest today and go into your labors tomorrow.

[34:02] May the Lord establish the work of your hands. God is worthy of our worship. He's our everlasting God. And yet we have sinned against Him.

[34:15] And yet He sent His Son to deal with our sins. That our works would be established and pleasing to Him.

[34:26] Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, we rejoice in the fact that you have been so gracious to us through your Son, Jesus Christ.

[34:39] And Lord, there are moments where we fall into anxiety and worry. There are moments where our lives seem very mundane. And yet you give us purpose.

[34:52] You give us a reason to live this life to your glory. May we do so this week. Would your Spirit guide us?

[35:04] Would your Spirit always remind us through the Word of God how glorious our everlasting God is? We pray this in Christ's name. Amen. Amen.

[35:16]