Lord, thou hast been our dwelling
place in all generations. This puts perspective on who God is to us. Religion talks about getting
saved and getting things right with God. It kind of equates
a relationship with God with setting your earthly affairs
in order. It's something you need to take care of while you're
on this earth. Kind of like getting life insurance
or something like that. Or they talk about going to heaven
when they die as though God is nothing but a means of getting
us what we want. That's what religion is to most
people. And these things are subtle because
who doesn't want to go to heaven when they die? I kind of do,
don't you? But many don't care anything
about worshiping God or honoring Him here on this earth, and yet
they talk about going to be with Him forever. Why in the world
would you want to be with Him if you don't care anything about
Him now? Well, you see, it's not about that. It's not about
being with God for them. It's about golden streets and a mansion
over the hilltop. That's why they want to go there,
not because they care anything about God, because they evidently
don't. If you don't like him now, you're
sure enough not going to like him face to face. What Moses writes here is that
we live in God right now. Believers, he's our, he's our
dwelling place. This is completely different
language than most people ever even think about with regard
to our relationship with God. He's our home now here. We're not just looking for our
home in the sky. He's our home right now. It's
not that this earth is our home now and then one day heaven will
be our home. No, it really doesn't have to do with earth or heaven
so much. It has to do with him. God is our dwelling place and
always has been for the believer. And that just becomes true in
a greater sense when we go to meet him face to face. You see
that? God is more to us than just a
ticket to paradise, whatever our, you know, mansion, golden
street, all the materialistic things that are heaven to most
people. Salvation's a person, our joy and peace, a person. Heaven's a person. You see that
in this word, God himself is our habitation and always will
be. He always will be. Once he is, you're never gonna
move out. Everything that a home is, God
is to us. Shelter, love, safety, comfort,
provision, place of rest. God is that, all of that and
more. to the believer. And here in verse two, before
the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou had formed the earth
and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, you are God. Now this is a song of Moses and
Moses is putting some perspective here. And there's going to be
a great contrast revealed in this, in this chapter. And first
he starts with God. God is eternal. God is everlasting. God is infinite. God was God
before you were ever born. And long after we die, he'll
be God. Man loves to talk about the eternal
spirit of man. You know, as though that adds
some dignity to us. That makes us something great.
What about the eternal God without whom we wouldn't exist? That's
who we need to be glorifying. Man even loves to talk about
how old the Earth is. This mentions the Earth and God
having, you know, being before the Earth was. Have you ever
noticed that, though, about science? They love to talk about billions
of years ago, the dinosaurs roamed the Earth. And that's supposed
to give some kind of dignity, you know, to our science, our
knowledge or something. The truth is that the Earth is
probably only about 6,000 years old. But what difference does it make?
God made it when he pleased him to make it. And when he's pleased,
he will destroy it. And he makes it for his glory.
Global warming is not going to destroy the earth. Me building
a fire in my backyard is not going to destroy the earth. Or
driving a pickup truck won't destroy the earth. Even if it
would, do you think I'd give up my truck to stay in this place,
this world? No way. Would you? I'm ready
for it to end anyway. Let's drive our trucks until
it's over. But here's the truth, that God
at the appointed time, God who long before there was an earth,
didn't need an earth. And when this one's destroyed,
he's gonna make a new one and he's still gonna be God being.
You see this perspective, these two verses together are wonderful
too, aren't they? By the way, God, this eternal
God is my hope. I'm never going to be homeless.
Never. God is where I live. And considering this psalm as
a whole, we see the contrast starkly in verse two there, where
we just read God before there ever was an earth. And then he
made the earth. And then until everlasting, he's God. He's always
been God. He always will be God. He's the
great I am. Moses said, Who am I going to
tell? Tell them sent me down there in Egypt. I am that I am
hath sent you. In verse two, compare verse two
with verse 10. The days of our years are three
score years and 10. And if by reason of strength,
they be four score years, it is their strength, labor and
sorrow. For it is soon you see that word
soon, soon it's cut off. And we fly away. the eternal
God, and us grasshoppers. And all through this psalm, this
is sort of the theme, he puts perspective on who God is and
who we are and our relationship with him soon. But right away here, even in
verse three, we begin to see the contrast. I just wanted to
point out that verse 10 there, but look at verse three. Thou
turnest man to destruction, and sayest, Return, ye children of
men. Man was created to be infinite.
Adam and Eve in the garden didn't age or get sick. They would have
lived forever if not for sin. But it's not that way now, is
it? Because of sin, and of course, God, why did sin come? Thou turnest man to destruction. This is all in the eternal purpose
and decree of God, of course. God's not guilty of sin, but
this is all in his divine providence. Even ignorant, reprobate man
knows that if there's a God, then he could have prevented
sin from entering into the world. They argue about it all the time.
They say that, and people, everybody knows it's true. The difference
is that natural man denies God it. They mock and say, if there
was a sovereign God, there wouldn't be any sin. He could have stopped
it. Well, of course he could have. But those who know him,
to whom he reveals himself, bow to him in it. And worship him
and reverence him in it. And see, with great awe and adoration,
his purpose to redeem a people by the blood of his son, his
only begotten son. But God has turned us to destruction. We're born dying. We're bent to destruction, we're
constantly headed that way. And this word destruction, the
word for destruction there means dust. We're headed for the dust. And it's God that has made it
that way, Moses said. We're self-destructive. Too,
aren't we? As far as destruction, turning
it into dust. It has to do with being crushed into dust. We're
self-destructive. We're killing ourselves every
day. But even if God doesn't allow
us to destroy ourselves, we're soon going to be dust anyway.
The word dakah, the word for destruction there, just means
dust. God said, from dust thou art. And unto dust shalt thou return. But while we're turning to dust, God has something to say to us.
You see that in that verse? He's turned us toward the dust.
The purpose that we shall be dust.
But he also says this, return, return, come home. We're still talking about those
who live in God. This is who this is now. You're
our habitation. You're our dwelling place. And
that's who this is talking about. God says to them, what? Come
home. Return, you children of men.
You creatures of dust, come here to me. You've been saying that
since Adam had a name. Where are you, Adam? This is why God is my home. He turned to me, and I'm turned. That's what the prophet said,
turn us, O Lord, and we'll be turned. And he speaks in power,
says, come home, return, come back to me. Now, this may very
well be saying, return to the dust. He says, return to the
dust. Well, that's true of our bodies, but what about our soul? Our bodies will return to this
earth, but our soul to God that made him. He's gonna change our vile bodies
and fashion them like unto his glorious body. And now in verse four, it's back
to him. You see, he talked about God and then us, we're dust and
gonna be dust again. But now back to him, a thousand
years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it's past. And
as a watch in the night, God's not like us. That's one of the
main things that Moses is saying in this psalm. Look at the difference
between us and him. Does this put some perspective
on our lives? A day to us can seem like a long
time. God inhabited the eternity. Now
this is important because Moses prays in verse 12 that God would
give us some perspective on our lives. And this is part of that. That's what numbering your days
is. It's to have the proper perspective on your life. And this is part of that. Look
at your time here in the perspective of eternity. From the perspective
of God, to whom a thousand years is as a day. Live your life in the perspective
of who God is. and see things from his perspective,
from the right perspective. People talk about, we're going
to change the world, let's change the world. What impact do you really think
you are going to have on this world? And I'm all for being ambitious,
I'm all for changing things if we can, but we need to, if we're
going to number our day, we need to see This thing in the proper
perspective now. Moses wrote this over 3000 years
ago. What evidence is there in this
world right now that Moses ever existed? You know, whatever this book
right here. And this ain't Moses book. This
is God's book. You see what I'm talking about?
It ain't about us making a change. God used Moses very mightily
Very mightily. You think about all the ways
God used Moses, but that's God doing something, not Moses doing
something. Number your days like that and
understand you're not going to change anything. Honor the one
who makes all things new and every change that's made, he
makes it. He can change the leopard spots
and the Ethiopian skin. He can lift one nation up and
put down another, but not me. We're not going to do that. Realize that your life is a vapor
that appears for a short time and then vanish it the way. And
if it's going to mean anything at all, God's going to have to
have something to do with it. And realize this more importantly,
that your life is not about you anyway. It's about him. Look at these next three verses
verse five thou carries them away as with a flood They are
as asleep in the morning. They're like grass which groweth
up in the morning. It flourishes and groweth up
But in the evening, it's cut down and withereth. Have you
ever thought about this while you're mowing the grass? How
many blades of grass did I just run over and chop down? That's
like man God makes it rain a little bit
longer than it usually does, and thousands of people are destroyed. That's God. Live your life in
the perspective of who God is and who you are. The picture of a flood here,
he's saying like a flood. He's not saying God destroys
people with a flood. Sometimes he does do that. But he does
it, it's like a flood. He carries them away as with
a flood. And that's talking about the
reality that currently, every morning currently on this earth,
150,000 people have died the day before. You ever thought
about that? 150,000 people die every day as though
an invisible flood has washed through this earth and just carried
away 150,000. Less than 3,000 people died in
the World Trade Center buildings on September 11, 2001. And that's
the greatest tragedy I ever in my lifetime, by far. And we experienced that in some
sense, didn't we? I sat there and watched the buildings fall.
I saw people jump out of them. And so that impacts us, 3,000
people almost. But what we don't see every day
is the 150,000 that are here and gone. You see what Moses
is doing here? He's putting perspective on life,
but more importantly, he's giving us some perspective on God that
does all these things. Our lives are probably not what
we think they are. Unless we've seen it in the perspective
of eternity. In the perspective of God and
what's important to him. And our lives are not what we
think they are. We are in the hand of God. What is your life? What is your life without God?
Do you see why he started the song the way that he did? God
is our dwelling place, not this earth. This earth is going to
be before this earth ever existed. God was God. And when it's gone,
God will still be God. I'm glad this is not my home.
Aren't you? My home is him. The one who made
this place. Not a house made with hands.
All of this goes away. God is God from everlasting to
everlasting. When my father died, he was in
intensive care for a couple of weeks, I believe. Jack Shanks
and I were there at the hospital visiting one day, and the maternity
ward was on the same floor, and I'll never forget this. We sat
there together out in the hall outside my dad's room, A little
newborn baby started crying down the hall and I looked down there.
And I looked down where my dad was and I thought, there it is.
Just a short hallway between our first breaths and our last.
Just a little hallway. That's all it is. And I looked
at Jack, I could see he was thinking the same thing. Not trying to be morbid. We don't
go around talking about thinking about death all the time. But
we need to live our life. We need to number our days and
have the right perspective on things, what this is. God just created an earth for
his glory, just for a little while. And we live on it for
an even littler while. What's it all about? Well, I'll tell you this. Verse
eight, thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins
in the light of thy countenance. God has shined his light on our
sins. Do you know what that is? That's
Christ. Does that surprise you? Do you
remember what he said? Before I came, they had no sin,
but now light is coming to the world and they can't hide their
sins. That's what that's talking about
right there, the light of His cabinet, that's Christ. Christ, if you
want to know what sin is, look to Him. If you want to know how evil sin
is, look to Him on the cross. We can't have a conversation
about life and God and time and our days and the right perspective
on things without acknowledging our sin and what must be done
about it. He who looks with but a glance
and a thousands of years are laid open before him looks upon
us in our iniquity and nothing escapes his notice. Some people
live here on this 6,000 year old earth made by the infinite
God for a few brief years and then are swept into hell like
they never existed. Like grass cut down. Most people. And it's because they spend those
few days cursing the God that made them. That's what our sin
is now. Our problem is not we ate an
apple we weren't supposed to have. Like, you know, you tell
your kids, don't you eat any of those cookies? And you come
in there later and they got crumbs on their mouth and you say, did
you eat a cookie? That's not what this is. Our
sin is we hate God. We despise God. God said, you
do this and you won't do this because I'm your God. And we
defied him to his face. Satan said, you know, you could
be as God's. And that's what we want. Did
then and still do. The problem is we ain't God. We ain't gonna be God. And to
pretend that you are, to presume to be anything but a worm of
the dust, is idolatry. It's defiance against the God
of heaven. It's high treason against God Almighty. And we
curse him in these few days that we have, and we refuse to glorify
him as God, even when we know that he ought to be glorified.
Romans chapter one, no excuse for not glorifying him as God.
We just flat willfully refuse to give him the glory. And many
will stand before him when he says no, when he refuses them. They'll stand there and say,
well, what about all of our good works though? Our wonderful works. And this is the clear, simple
lesson of this song so far. You are on the very cusp of destruction. You're turning into dust before
my very eyes and I am before yours. You're one breath away. Psalm 104, 28 says that thou
givest them, they gather, Thou openest thine hand, they are
filled with good. Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled.
Thou takest away their breath, they die and return to their
dust. Is God gonna kill us with a germ?
With a flood? With a car wreck? Just old age? I don't know, but I know this.
It is appointed unto man once to die. And after this, the judgment. And we are all full of sin before
God. And God sees every one of them.
He shines the light of his countenance upon us. And the judge of all
the earth sheds his light upon us. And nothing can be hidden. And Moses impresses upon us the
urgency of this. He continues to do that in verse
nine. Look at it. For all our days are passed away
in thy wrath. Now, by nature, this is the way
we are. The days of our years are threescore
and 10. We spend our years, the last
part of verse nine, as a tale that is told. The days of our
years are threescore years and ten, and if by reason of strength,
they be fourscore years. And by the way, that ain't our
strength. That's if he gives us some strength to live a little
bit longer, we will. Yet is their strength labor and
sorrow, for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. Who knoweth
the power of thine anger? Even according to that fear.
So is that right? So teach us to number our days. You see what Moses is teaching
here. God is eternal. We're dust. Just
have a little time here. And God sees all of our sin.
This is how we're to live our lives. Understanding these principle,
basic gospel truths. Teach us, Lord. Teach us. That's a good prayer. Seeing
that these things are true, that you're the eternal holy God,
and we are but dust and sinful dust at that. And we just have
a little time here. And so many millions upon millions
are just, they grow up and they're strong and vibrant for a little
while, and then they begin to fade, and they're cut down. and not fit for anything but
burning. Do we ever think about that? Dear God, Moses is saying, Dear
God, don't let me spend my few years here on this earth in vanity. Don't let me do that. Don't let
me do that. You remember what Solomon said?
He lived this life to the fullest. Now he had everything that a
man could possibly attain him to. earthly pleasures and pursuits
of this world. He was rich, powerful, influential,
wise, more than anybody. He said, I didn't withhold from
myself anything that the flesh could possibly indulge in. And
he declared at the end of it all, every bit of it is vanity
and vexation of spirit. What is your life? And Solomon said, after all of
that, In the book of Ecclesiastes, the conclusion of the whole matter
is this, fear God and do what he says do. And what does God say do in this
book? Keep my law? That's the old covenant. What's
the message of this book though? The message of this whole book,
believe on my son. These are written that you might
believe on my son. Bow to my son. Come to my son. Believe on my son. Honor my son. We spend our lives as a tale.
Now you think about this. Moses who wrote this, what is
his life now? It's just a story, isn't it?
It's just a story that we tell. But here's the difference. Here's
here's the important. This is the key to this whole
song right here. Moses life is a story of the glory and grace
of God Almighty. What about our lives? It's a story of Christ, the Passover
lamb. It's a story of standing still
and seeing the salvation of God. It's a story of redemption. Will
your story be about your achievements, your accomplishments, your experiences,
or even your faith? Or will it be a story of the
mercy of God in Christ? The Lord teaches to apply our
hearts unto wisdom. You remember that from The Book
of Proverbs, Solomon's earnest plea to his son, he said, son,
oh my son, apply, apply thine heart unto wisdom. Lord, teach
us to do that. You're not just going to wake
up one day applying your heart to wisdom. God's got to teach
us that. He does that by his gospel. You're not just going to wake
up one day with the proper perspective on things. May our prayer be for us and
for those that we love. Lord, teach us. Teach us to number our days.
What does it mean specifically to number your days? Well, to
see how brief they are. That's kind of clear here, isn't
it? Just a little while, soon, the word soon. As we see our
loved ones die before our eyes and think about how many are
cut down like grass every day, May we think about that and use
the days that we have here wisely. Ephesians 5, 16, redeeming the
time because the days are evil. Because of the horrible, evil,
vile world we live in, we tend to just kind of waste our days,
don't we? Colossians 4, 5, walking wisdom
toward them that are without redeeming the time. Oh my, what a rebuke this is
to me. How many relationships do we
have in this world? How many people do we know? How
many people do we influence in this world? The time is short. Do we spend our time just talking
about vain things Experiencing vain things, and I know that
there's nothing wrong with that, but we can't just talk about
fishing if you care about them at all. If you care about them
at all. Do you like to think of people
that you care about, you like to think of them as grass that
grows up and just cut off and thrown in hell? I don't want
to see them that way, do you? toward them that are without. When we think about serving God,
may we redeem the time, number our days. Listen to John 9, 4.
Our Lord said, I must work the works of him that sent me while
it is day, because the night is coming soon. You see how that,
the time, our days, it puts a perspective on everything, doesn't it? Our
service to God. If we're going to do anything
for God and we know we don't really do anything for him. When
we do something for him, it's him doing something for us. We
know that. But you understand we use common language. If we're
going to do anything for God, we better get to doing it. Can
we learn that from our master? I must work the works of him
that sent me while I can right now, while it's day. The night
cometh when no man can work. When we think about the ministry,
this church, let's number our days. Listen to what Peter said,
2 Peter 1, 12. Wherefore, I will not be negligent
to put you always in remembrance of these things. And if you look
at the context, it's the gospel, of course, though you know them
and be established in the present truth. Yea, he said, I think
it is meet as long as I'm in this tabernacle. Don't know how
much longer, but as long as I'm here, to stir you up by putting
you in remembrance, knowing that shortly, I must put off this,
my tabernacle. I don't know how long it is,
but however long it is, it ain't long, is it? Shortly, I must
put off this, my tabernacle. And so I'm gonna remind you of
what matters. Oh, may we do that toward them
that are without. And may that be Our delight among
us who are with, rather than the vain things of
this world. When we think about our time together, with those
that we love, with our brothers and sisters in Christ, listen
to this. Our Lord said in John 13, 33,
little children, get a little while, I'm with you. Just for a little bit longer,
I'm gonna be with you. That's true of all of us, too, isn't
it? In this world, the way things
are now, under these circumstances, in these bodies, just for a little
while, I'm with you. You'll seek me, and as I said
to the Jews, where I go, you can't come. So now I say to you,
a new commandment I give to you. While I'm here, while I'm still
with you, here's something real important. Love one another. We just have a little time, don't we? Love one another as I've
loved you. You know, there's one more way
that we should think about this when we worry, when we're afraid. Or when we suffer, Lord, teach
us to number our days. Teach us to realize it's just
for a little while. 2 Corinthians 4 16. For this cause
we faint not, although our outward man perish, turning into dust
right before our eye. Yet the inward man is renewed
day by day. For our light affliction, which
is but for a moment. Worketh for us a far more exceeding
and eternal weight of glory. While we look not at the things
which are seen, but at the things which are not seen, Lord, teach
us to do that. Because the things which are
seen are here and gone. The things which are not seen
are forever. Apply our hearts. Apply our hearts. Don't let our lives be spent
just in doing and thinking and saying and everything. Don't
live this life without some heart. Apply your heart. Lord teaches
to apply our hearts to this thing. your wisdom, your way, your will,
your glory. The last five verses of Moses
Psalm here are prayer. He says, Lord, you return, you
come back. He talked about us returning
to the Lord. Our bodies returning to dust, our souls returning
to him. And now Moses is saying, Lord, you come back. John said,
even so, Lord Jesus, come quickly. Come quickly. And then in the
next verse, look at this one, the key word in the next verse. His mercy, oh, satisfies early. with our mercy, that we may rejoice
and be glad all of our days. What are you rejoicing? Really
now? What are you rejoicing? Until
you have mercy from God, you'll never be satisfied. That we may
rejoice and be glad. Those last three words, he talked
about our days through this whole psalm. We're turning back to
dust. Teach us to number our days.
Our days are three score and 10 and maybe a little bit more.
But he's saying here, whatever our days are. May we rejoice
in thy mercy. On every last one. You see that? All all our days. Whatever they are. However many days we live on
this earth, may we rejoice in thy mercy. If you satisfy us with your mercy,
that's what we'll do. You see that? That we may. If
you do, we will. I don't know how many days I
have. I know it's not very many. But by God's grace, I know what
happiness is. I know what a sinner can rejoice
in and be satisfied with. Verse 15, make us glad according
to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us and the years wherein
we have seen evil. How many days have we just wasted
in this world? And so we pray, Lord, make us
glad. Make us glad, turn us, change us, teach us. May the number of our glad years
be at least as many. As our evil ones. We're 16. Let that work appear
into the servants and that glory. Onto their children. In these
these few days, let me let us see what you did. You've done
what you're doing, what you will do. Show us your glory Moses
said that quite a bit didn't show me your glory Let me see
your glory That's Christ, too And then verse 17 let the beauty
of the Lord our God be upon Be upon us let us see your beauty
your glory, but also make us beautiful with your comeliness You see that? And Lord, establish
thou the work of our hands upon us, yea, the work of our hands
establish thou it. What are we doing here? God got
some work for us to do. You know, our Lord prayed in
the garden of Gethsemane, Father, don't take them out of this world.
Keep them from the evil, but don't take them out of this world.
You ever wonder about that? We don't know. All the things
that were in our Lord's heart there, but we know some of them
from his word, don't we? Paul said, it's more beneficial
for me to stay here with you now. I'd rather go. But it's
better. It's better now. For me to keep
doing what I'm doing. God's given us work to do here
and Lord, may you prosper it. You know, Paul said, and when
the gospel is preached, it's always a victory. God always
causes us to triumph. Through Christ. Christ is honored. God is honored when the gospel
goes forth, whether it's the saver of life or death. To those
that hear it. And so may we persevere and be
faithful in what God has given us to do. Make our lives worth
something. What are we doing with our lives?
What are we accomplishing? What work? Are we doing? Oh my. The little things that we do
in this world, they're all gonna burn up one
of these days. And even before that happens,
a year after we're dead, there's gonna be little evidence we ever
lived. Our life will just be a story that people tell. By
God's grace, Maybe a story of God's love and
mercy. In the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's
pray.