Let's take our Bibles and turn
to the 90th chapter of Psalms. Psalm 90. Psalm 90. This psalm was written by Moses. That's what it says right there
the top of the psalm. I'm sure your Bible says that. It was written probably in response
to the Lord's people in the desert when they had been taken out
of Egypt. Moses was sensitive of their
trials and their troubles. I want to look at every verse,
just say a few words, just a sentence or two about each verse. A lot
of times I don't do this. A lot of times I'll take a verse
and we'll deal with a verse for 45 minutes. I'd like to deal
with 17 verses for just a very few minutes. We'll have the Lord's
Supper. But after reading this psalm
and considering the depth What I truly feel is the message of
it. It is the honesty of a believer
as he realizes his guilt before God, and all the while knowing
that the Lord has put away the debt, the penalty of that guilt. in the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ, knowing that, we still are in this world and we still
are plagued with the presence of sin. We know as we looked at last
week, last Sunday, that Almighty God chastens His people. The reason we are chastened is
because God Almighty loves us and He will not leave us to ourselves. Now as we look at this chapter,
never forget Almighty God is not dealing with His people in
wrath, but how they view it sometimes. They are absolutely crying out
to the Lord. Lord, help me. Moses begins this chapter and
he said, Lord, Thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations,
every generation from the fall. Their hiding place, their shelter,
their comfort, has always been the Lord Jesus Christ. You've
always been our dwelling place. In all ages, God's people think
and feel just like you do, you that believe. He is our home. before the mountains were brought
forth, for ever Thou hast formed the earth and the world, even
from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God." Believers rest in Him who is
eternal. How comforting it is to know
that He never changes. That blessed truth that was set
forth I have loved you with an everlasting love." And you can sit and muse on that
and find great comfort in it. Lord, You who established my
position in Christ before the world was, You're the one that now is present
with us while two or three are gathered together in Your name. Lord, You're God. You're sovereign
in creation. Creation is making something
out of nothing. You're sovereign in providence.
You work all things after the counsel of Your own will. and
your sovereign in salvation, your God. Thou turnest man to
destruction, and sayest, Return, ye children of men. The word
destruction there is better described in our understanding. It does
mean destruction, but that we understand it, it means dust. Lord, you turn man back to dust. It's appointed unto man once
to die. After this, the judgment. The
Lord who orders man's death is also the one who gave man life. Thou turnest man to destruction
and sayest, return, you children of men. It's necessary. Dying is part
of living. Man who is going to be returned
unto the Lord is going to stand before Almighty God and all this
universe is going to see the justice and the mercy of Him
who does all things well. Verse 4, For a thousand years
in thy sight, but as yesterday when it is past, it has a watch
in the night. You know, even for us here tonight,
the longest reaches of time. Just a point in history. June 6, 1944. What does that
mean to you, Bob? June 6, 1944. D-Day. D-Day. You know? How about 1492? Columbus discovered just, I mean
just, we can perceive. Past history, just a moment,
just a moment, just a moment. Consider what time is to him
who inhabits eternity. This vapor of our life is but
a moment. We're just here. I'm telling
you, we just barely took a breath. Just a moment ago, Carl, you
were born. Just a moment ago, here you are. Verse 5 and 6, Thou carriest
them away as with a flood. They are asleep in the morning. They are like grass which groweth
up in the morning. It flourishes. It groweth up
in the evening. It's cut down and withereth. I saw some pictures. You did
too. You know when that tsunami hit over there Oh, in the islands
of the Philippines or wherever it was. I don't even remember
where it was now. That water started coming in and it just,
it just, it just, nothing stopped it. It just, just a flood just
carrying away cars and people and buildings and trees and stuff. Lord, you, man, you just, like
a flood. Like a sleep. Sleep. You had a deep sleep last night. You didn't even know what happened.
It was so short. You were there and then you were
awake. And like a sleep, it just absolutely
can be disturbed so quickly. Just gone. Verse 7, We are consumed
by thine anger. And by thy wrath are we troubled."
I just mentioned a moment ago, God's people have never been
under the wrath of Almighty God. But I will say this, the reason
that we die, the reason that man is carried away, believers
and unbelievers, is because of sin. Sin is the reason for our
mortality. Here are believers tonight redeemed
by the grace of God, by the blood of Christ. Dying creatures. Do you know
why we are dying? Because we are sinners. Almighty
God is going to deal with sin and anger. But blessed be His
holy name. He has dealt with our sin in
anger and wrath. He said that. We are consumed
We are dying, is what he is saying, physically. Because of thine
anger, by thy wrath are we troubled. That is why we suffer what we
suffer. We are sinners. It was our sin,
all of God's elect, that was made His. And our sin was put
away by Him who has made sin that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. We are consumed by thine anger.
Almighty God is angry with sin. Blessed be His name who is our
substitute and who took our place. Remember, it was our place that
He took. That was our sin made His sin. He died for us. He who knew no
sin, holy, spotless, who was to blame? We are. And He was made what we are.
Thou hast set, verse 8, our iniquities before Thee, our secret sins
in the light of Thy countenance. Almighty God has always taken
note of our sins. Secret sins. I wondered about
that. Secret sins in the light of Thy
countenance. Sins of our thought. Sins of
intent. Sins that we never speak of,
never say anything. But even deeper than that, the
sins of Adam's transgression that was imputed to us. who can know the depth of what
we inherited and then came forth doing our sins that now have
been cast behind His back, never to be brought up again in eternal
judgment, but they are still present with us. And we do not
make light of them. We are grieved over them. The Scripture says, This is life eternal, that they
may know Thee. Do you know what it is, what
the evidence is of a man that truly knows Christ? This is life eternal, that they
may know Thee." Well, if it's just a knowledge of, the devil's
has got that. If that's all it is, that they
may know Thee. Oh, I know who it is. It's not to know the doctrines. True knowledge of Christ. This
is life eternal, that they may know Thee. The evidence of true
knowledge is that you're affected by it. You're affected by it. And you're
affected by it in two ways. Wonderfully thankful for that
which God Almighty has done for you mercifully and in compassion
in Christ. Thankful. And then you grieve. over what you see in you. Paul
says, there is in me, that is, in my flesh, it dwells no good
thing. O wretched man that I am! That's
the evidence of true knowledge. It affects you. You'll walk after
Him. We're going to deal with that
in just a second here. All of our days, verse 9, are
passed away in thy wrath. We spend our years as a tale
that is told. That first statement, for all
our days are passed away in thy wrath, means this. All our days appear
to turn their back upon us because of our sin. It's like our days just absolutely
turn their back upon us because of what we are. Every man has got a story, a
history. We spend our years as a tale
that is told. But every man's history is going
to be told in that day in his relationship to Christ. What
think ye of Christ? What shall be the tale told for
you and for me in the day of judgment?" It's real. God's people, absolutely certain
of God's mercy, grace, and kindness to them. And I'm telling you,
they go through this world struggling every day because of the presence
of sin. And they know! They know! They
know it's God's hatred and anger against it spewed out in eternal wrath in
a substitute. And He deals with us every day
in loving kindness, in chastisements. And we feel the sting of it.
They grieve us for the moment. The days, verse 10, of our years
are threescore years and ten. And if by reason of strength
they be fourscore, yet is their strength labor and sorrow, for
it is soon cut off and we fly away. Seventy years, give or take. Many die younger. A few die older. But listen to this, if by reason of strength beforescore
years, if it makes it to 80, 90, it says, yet their strength, the best that they've got, the
strongest that they've got, is labor and sorrow, it hurts to grow old. But for a believer in the Lord
Jesus, they are to be envied. If by
the grace of God, the Lord does leave them here. We have got
some here tonight that have passed the time Three score and ten
by the grace of God. And I'm glad that the Lord has
kept you here. But I know it's hard on you.
I know it is. But I will say this. You're not
to be pitied. You're to be envied. The sun
will soon set for you. There may be some here that's
under 60 years old that soon will see him by sight, no more
by faith. But as time would have it normally,
our bodies grow weary. The heat of the day is beginning
to ebb and soon mortality is going to put on immortality. Who knoweth the power of thine
anger? Verse 11, Even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath."
It would be impossible to exaggerate
or to depict how angry God is with sin. We think so lightly
of it. I can stand right here and I
can admit and say, O wretched man that I am, And you know what grieves me
is I don't realize how desperate that truth is. I don't know. I cannot exaggerate anger of
Almighty God against sin. The cross gives us a vivid picture
of God's wrath towards sin. He who has made sin But even
in our failings to understand, a believer will admit God's justice
to deal with us as He does. It's in kindness. In kindness. Whatever He brings my way is less than I deserve. That's
a true statement. That's less than I truly deserve. So teach us to number our days
that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. This life is but a vapor. It's
just a hand breath. Teach us to number our days. But this verse of Scripture doesn't
mean to count them. We should. We do realize. that it is but a hand breath.
It is but a vapor. He is here now and gone now. He's just gone. But that's not
what this Scripture means. It teaches us to number our days. The word number means weigh them. Weigh how they're spent. Teach me that this is the day
that You've made. I want to rejoice and be glad
in it. Lord, I'm going to have to go
through this day. I've got a job. I've got this
to do. Lord, teach me that these days
are to be spent. Seeking you. Not seeking after
worldly riches and honor and pleasure. Lord, teach me to weigh
every day. Lord, bring to my mind the understanding
and the necessity. This may be the last day that
I'm on this earth. How would I want to spend it? That's what it means. Teach me
to number. Teach me to weigh them. Let me be found walking
after You. Help me. Teach me, Lord. Teach me, because I'm ignorant. I'm hungry for Your instruction.
And by Your grace, I'm resolved to Your will. Don't, Lord, keep
me from just piddling away this day. Return, O Lord, how long? And
let it repent Thee concerning Thy servants. O, satisfy us early
with Thy mercy, that we may rejoice and be glad all of our days."
Here's what Moses is asking. Lord, come to me again in the
display of Your mercy. Return, O Lord, how long? We see our daily failings, but
we rejoice We are Your servants. Lord, that's
such a good thought. Grant us a fresh sight of Your
kindness and mercy for Christ's sake. That's what he's asking. Satisfy us early with Thy mercy. Lord, would You teach me again?
I forgot. Truly, I'd never forget how merciful
you are. Yeah, I do. Yeah, I do. Help me. Make us glad according
to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us and the years wherein
we have seen evil. Lord, we've been shown mercy. We've seen our need of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And we felt also the affliction
in our soul because of our disobedience. Lord, we don't think as we ought.
We don't talk as we ought. We don't act as we ought. Make us glad according to the
days. Only You can make us glad. Only
You can, by Your Holy Spirit, cause us to see again afresh
that we're justified. by grace, justified by the blood
of Christ, justified by faith, justified by works, justified
by our words. Lord, would you cause us to see
your smile again? That's what he's saying. Let thy work appear unto thy
servants and thy glory unto their children. Look at the wording
of Moses. Let thy work appear unto thy
servants. Not ours, but yours. Let your
work of salvation, your work of mercy, your work of compassion,
Lord, your work of bringing honor and glory to yourself, let thy
work appear unto Thy servants and Thy glory unto their children." How tenderly do we pray for God's
mercy to our children. Lord, let Your opinion be, if
it be so, show mercy in Christ and let it be found to those
that You've given us the care of. And let the beauty of the Lord
our God be upon us, and establish thou the work of our hands upon
us. Yea, the work of our hands, establish
thou it." Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us. Let Christ be found upon us. Let Christ be seen. Let Christ be glorified. Let
His righteousness, Lord, be our robe. Have you ever noticed how
the wording of Scripture is such that that which God has promised
to do is that which the Lord's people ask for? I thought about
David when he said, Take not thy spirit from me. Do you think
God would repent and take his spirit away from one that He
had given in covenant mercy and grace. Gifts of God are without
revenants. But you that believe, you can
enter into that. Lord, don't leave me. Lord, don't
leave me to myself. I am so sorry. I'm so sorry for
the way I thought. I'm so sorry for my inconsistencies. Lord, I'm grieved over my inability
to be able to talk to you and to maintain a consistent line
of thinking. I'm so sorry. Let the beauty
of the Lord our God be upon us. And establish thou the work of
our hands upon us. Yea, the work of our hands establish
thou in it. Establish means direct it. Keep it faithful and cause it
to be stable. That's what it means. I know
and you know that all works of grace within the Lord's people
is a work of God Himself. Faithful is He that calleth you
who will also do it. It is the Lord that worketh in
you to will and do of His good purpose. Without Me you can do
nothing. Yet there is a work of obedience
that is found within the believer. They are not slothful people.
They are not inactive people. They are moved to be faithful. They long after and they walk
after Him who has saved them by Grace. Good works. A work of faith. A labor of love.
That's how Paul said it to the church at Thessalonica. We've
talked about in the book of Proverbs how obedience is the commandments
of God that are obeyed. Trust in the Lord with all thine
heart. Come unto me, all ye of the weak
and heavy laden. I'll give you rest. Those are
commandments that God's people do. by the grace of God, by the
Spirit of God working in them, moving them, drawing them. But
they do believe. You that believe, you believe.
Ecclesiastes 9.10, Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it
with thy might. For there is no work, nor device,
nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave, whether thou goest. You have right now. You have
right now. A believer knows by the grace
of God that he is what he is. Thankful. Thankful that the Lord
keeps him. And he struggles with the presence
of sin. And he knows that the struggling
of the presence of sin It's Almighty God teaching him,
drawing him, showing him of His mercy and grace. We are in school,
as I said last Sunday morning. This life is a school. And when
Almighty God has taught His people that which He's going to teach
them, then He brings them to Himself. He calls and we come. I'll ask the man if he'll come
at this time. And we're going to obey the Lord in remembering
Him in the eating of His supper.